1*syntax.txt* For Vim version 8.0. Last change: 2017 Sep 30 2 3 4 VIM REFERENCE MANUAL by Bram Moolenaar 5 6 7Syntax highlighting *syntax* *syntax-highlighting* *coloring* 8 9Syntax highlighting enables Vim to show parts of the text in another font or 10color. Those parts can be specific keywords or text matching a pattern. Vim 11doesn't parse the whole file (to keep it fast), so the highlighting has its 12limitations. Lexical highlighting might be a better name, but since everybody 13calls it syntax highlighting we'll stick with that. 14 15Vim supports syntax highlighting on all terminals. But since most ordinary 16terminals have very limited highlighting possibilities, it works best in the 17GUI version, gvim. 18 19In the User Manual: 20|usr_06.txt| introduces syntax highlighting. 21|usr_44.txt| introduces writing a syntax file. 22 231. Quick start |:syn-qstart| 242. Syntax files |:syn-files| 253. Syntax loading procedure |syntax-loading| 264. Syntax file remarks |:syn-file-remarks| 275. Defining a syntax |:syn-define| 286. :syntax arguments |:syn-arguments| 297. Syntax patterns |:syn-pattern| 308. Syntax clusters |:syn-cluster| 319. Including syntax files |:syn-include| 3210. Synchronizing |:syn-sync| 3311. Listing syntax items |:syntax| 3412. Highlight command |:highlight| 3513. Linking groups |:highlight-link| 3614. Cleaning up |:syn-clear| 3715. Highlighting tags |tag-highlight| 3816. Window-local syntax |:ownsyntax| 3917. Color xterms |xterm-color| 4018. When syntax is slow |:syntime| 41 42{Vi does not have any of these commands} 43 44Syntax highlighting is not available when the |+syntax| feature has been 45disabled at compile time. 46 47============================================================================== 481. Quick start *:syn-qstart* 49 50 *:syn-enable* *:syntax-enable* 51This command switches on syntax highlighting: > 52 53 :syntax enable 54 55What this command actually does is to execute the command > 56 :source $VIMRUNTIME/syntax/syntax.vim 57 58If the VIM environment variable is not set, Vim will try to find 59the path in another way (see |$VIMRUNTIME|). Usually this works just 60fine. If it doesn't, try setting the VIM environment variable to the 61directory where the Vim stuff is located. For example, if your syntax files 62are in the "/usr/vim/vim50/syntax" directory, set $VIMRUNTIME to 63"/usr/vim/vim50". You must do this in the shell, before starting Vim. 64This command also sources the |menu.vim| script when the GUI is running or 65will start soon. See |'go-M'| about avoiding that. 66 67 *:syn-on* *:syntax-on* 68The `:syntax enable` command will keep your current color settings. This 69allows using `:highlight` commands to set your preferred colors before or 70after using this command. If you want Vim to overrule your settings with the 71defaults, use: > 72 :syntax on 73< 74 *:hi-normal* *:highlight-normal* 75If you are running in the GUI, you can get white text on a black background 76with: > 77 :highlight Normal guibg=Black guifg=White 78For a color terminal see |:hi-normal-cterm|. 79For setting up your own colors syntax highlighting see |syncolor|. 80 81NOTE: The syntax files on MS-DOS and Windows have lines that end in <CR><NL>. 82The files for Unix end in <NL>. This means you should use the right type of 83file for your system. Although on MS-DOS and Windows the right format is 84automatically selected if the 'fileformats' option is not empty. 85 86NOTE: When using reverse video ("gvim -fg white -bg black"), the default value 87of 'background' will not be set until the GUI window is opened, which is after 88reading the |gvimrc|. This will cause the wrong default highlighting to be 89used. To set the default value of 'background' before switching on 90highlighting, include the ":gui" command in the |gvimrc|: > 91 92 :gui " open window and set default for 'background' 93 :syntax on " start highlighting, use 'background' to set colors 94 95NOTE: Using ":gui" in the |gvimrc| means that "gvim -f" won't start in the 96foreground! Use ":gui -f" then. 97 98 *g:syntax_on* 99You can toggle the syntax on/off with this command: > 100 :if exists("g:syntax_on") | syntax off | else | syntax enable | endif 101 102To put this into a mapping, you can use: > 103 :map <F7> :if exists("g:syntax_on") <Bar> 104 \ syntax off <Bar> 105 \ else <Bar> 106 \ syntax enable <Bar> 107 \ endif <CR> 108[using the |<>| notation, type this literally] 109 110Details: 111The ":syntax" commands are implemented by sourcing a file. To see exactly how 112this works, look in the file: 113 command file ~ 114 :syntax enable $VIMRUNTIME/syntax/syntax.vim 115 :syntax on $VIMRUNTIME/syntax/syntax.vim 116 :syntax manual $VIMRUNTIME/syntax/manual.vim 117 :syntax off $VIMRUNTIME/syntax/nosyntax.vim 118Also see |syntax-loading|. 119 120NOTE: If displaying long lines is slow and switching off syntax highlighting 121makes it fast, consider setting the 'synmaxcol' option to a lower value. 122 123============================================================================== 1242. Syntax files *:syn-files* 125 126The syntax and highlighting commands for one language are normally stored in 127a syntax file. The name convention is: "{name}.vim". Where {name} is the 128name of the language, or an abbreviation (to fit the name in 8.3 characters, 129a requirement in case the file is used on a DOS filesystem). 130Examples: 131 c.vim perl.vim java.vim html.vim 132 cpp.vim sh.vim csh.vim 133 134The syntax file can contain any Ex commands, just like a vimrc file. But 135the idea is that only commands for a specific language are included. When a 136language is a superset of another language, it may include the other one, 137for example, the cpp.vim file could include the c.vim file: > 138 :so $VIMRUNTIME/syntax/c.vim 139 140The .vim files are normally loaded with an autocommand. For example: > 141 :au Syntax c runtime! syntax/c.vim 142 :au Syntax cpp runtime! syntax/cpp.vim 143These commands are normally in the file $VIMRUNTIME/syntax/synload.vim. 144 145 146MAKING YOUR OWN SYNTAX FILES *mysyntaxfile* 147 148When you create your own syntax files, and you want to have Vim use these 149automatically with ":syntax enable", do this: 150 1511. Create your user runtime directory. You would normally use the first item 152 of the 'runtimepath' option. Example for Unix: > 153 mkdir ~/.vim 154 1552. Create a directory in there called "syntax". For Unix: > 156 mkdir ~/.vim/syntax 157 1583. Write the Vim syntax file. Or download one from the internet. Then write 159 it in your syntax directory. For example, for the "mine" syntax: > 160 :w ~/.vim/syntax/mine.vim 161 162Now you can start using your syntax file manually: > 163 :set syntax=mine 164You don't have to exit Vim to use this. 165 166If you also want Vim to detect the type of file, see |new-filetype|. 167 168If you are setting up a system with many users and you don't want each user 169to add the same syntax file, you can use another directory from 'runtimepath'. 170 171 172ADDING TO AN EXISTING SYNTAX FILE *mysyntaxfile-add* 173 174If you are mostly satisfied with an existing syntax file, but would like to 175add a few items or change the highlighting, follow these steps: 176 1771. Create your user directory from 'runtimepath', see above. 178 1792. Create a directory in there called "after/syntax". For Unix: > 180 mkdir ~/.vim/after 181 mkdir ~/.vim/after/syntax 182 1833. Write a Vim script that contains the commands you want to use. For 184 example, to change the colors for the C syntax: > 185 highlight cComment ctermfg=Green guifg=Green 186 1874. Write that file in the "after/syntax" directory. Use the name of the 188 syntax, with ".vim" added. For our C syntax: > 189 :w ~/.vim/after/syntax/c.vim 190 191That's it. The next time you edit a C file the Comment color will be 192different. You don't even have to restart Vim. 193 194If you have multiple files, you can use the filetype as the directory name. 195All the "*.vim" files in this directory will be used, for example: 196 ~/.vim/after/syntax/c/one.vim 197 ~/.vim/after/syntax/c/two.vim 198 199 200REPLACING AN EXISTING SYNTAX FILE *mysyntaxfile-replace* 201 202If you don't like a distributed syntax file, or you have downloaded a new 203version, follow the same steps as for |mysyntaxfile| above. Just make sure 204that you write the syntax file in a directory that is early in 'runtimepath'. 205Vim will only load the first syntax file found, assuming that it sets 206b:current_syntax. 207 208 209NAMING CONVENTIONS *group-name* *{group-name}* *E669* *W18* 210 211A syntax group name is to be used for syntax items that match the same kind of 212thing. These are then linked to a highlight group that specifies the color. 213A syntax group name doesn't specify any color or attributes itself. 214 215The name for a highlight or syntax group must consist of ASCII letters, digits 216and the underscore. As a regexp: "[a-zA-Z0-9_]*". However, Vim does not give 217an error when using other characters. 218 219To be able to allow each user to pick his favorite set of colors, there must 220be preferred names for highlight groups that are common for many languages. 221These are the suggested group names (if syntax highlighting works properly 222you can see the actual color, except for "Ignore"): 223 224 *Comment any comment 225 226 *Constant any constant 227 String a string constant: "this is a string" 228 Character a character constant: 'c', '\n' 229 Number a number constant: 234, 0xff 230 Boolean a boolean constant: TRUE, false 231 Float a floating point constant: 2.3e10 232 233 *Identifier any variable name 234 Function function name (also: methods for classes) 235 236 *Statement any statement 237 Conditional if, then, else, endif, switch, etc. 238 Repeat for, do, while, etc. 239 Label case, default, etc. 240 Operator "sizeof", "+", "*", etc. 241 Keyword any other keyword 242 Exception try, catch, throw 243 244 *PreProc generic Preprocessor 245 Include preprocessor #include 246 Define preprocessor #define 247 Macro same as Define 248 PreCondit preprocessor #if, #else, #endif, etc. 249 250 *Type int, long, char, etc. 251 StorageClass static, register, volatile, etc. 252 Structure struct, union, enum, etc. 253 Typedef A typedef 254 255 *Special any special symbol 256 SpecialChar special character in a constant 257 Tag you can use CTRL-] on this 258 Delimiter character that needs attention 259 SpecialComment special things inside a comment 260 Debug debugging statements 261 262 *Underlined text that stands out, HTML links 263 264 *Ignore left blank, hidden |hl-Ignore| 265 266 *Error any erroneous construct 267 268 *Todo anything that needs extra attention; mostly the 269 keywords TODO FIXME and XXX 270 271The names marked with * are the preferred groups; the others are minor groups. 272For the preferred groups, the "syntax.vim" file contains default highlighting. 273The minor groups are linked to the preferred groups, so they get the same 274highlighting. You can override these defaults by using ":highlight" commands 275after sourcing the "syntax.vim" file. 276 277Note that highlight group names are not case sensitive. "String" and "string" 278can be used for the same group. 279 280The following names are reserved and cannot be used as a group name: 281 NONE ALL ALLBUT contains contained 282 283 *hl-Ignore* 284When using the Ignore group, you may also consider using the conceal 285mechanism. See |conceal|. 286 287============================================================================== 2883. Syntax loading procedure *syntax-loading* 289 290This explains the details that happen when the command ":syntax enable" is 291issued. When Vim initializes itself, it finds out where the runtime files are 292located. This is used here as the variable |$VIMRUNTIME|. 293 294":syntax enable" and ":syntax on" do the following: 295 296 Source $VIMRUNTIME/syntax/syntax.vim 297 | 298 +- Clear out any old syntax by sourcing $VIMRUNTIME/syntax/nosyntax.vim 299 | 300 +- Source first syntax/synload.vim in 'runtimepath' 301 | | 302 | +- Setup the colors for syntax highlighting. If a color scheme is 303 | | defined it is loaded again with ":colors {name}". Otherwise 304 | | ":runtime! syntax/syncolor.vim" is used. ":syntax on" overrules 305 | | existing colors, ":syntax enable" only sets groups that weren't 306 | | set yet. 307 | | 308 | +- Set up syntax autocmds to load the appropriate syntax file when 309 | | the 'syntax' option is set. *synload-1* 310 | | 311 | +- Source the user's optional file, from the |mysyntaxfile| variable. 312 | This is for backwards compatibility with Vim 5.x only. *synload-2* 313 | 314 +- Do ":filetype on", which does ":runtime! filetype.vim". It loads any 315 | filetype.vim files found. It should always Source 316 | $VIMRUNTIME/filetype.vim, which does the following. 317 | | 318 | +- Install autocmds based on suffix to set the 'filetype' option 319 | | This is where the connection between file name and file type is 320 | | made for known file types. *synload-3* 321 | | 322 | +- Source the user's optional file, from the *myfiletypefile* 323 | | variable. This is for backwards compatibility with Vim 5.x only. 324 | | *synload-4* 325 | | 326 | +- Install one autocommand which sources scripts.vim when no file 327 | | type was detected yet. *synload-5* 328 | | 329 | +- Source $VIMRUNTIME/menu.vim, to setup the Syntax menu. |menu.vim| 330 | 331 +- Install a FileType autocommand to set the 'syntax' option when a file 332 | type has been detected. *synload-6* 333 | 334 +- Execute syntax autocommands to start syntax highlighting for each 335 already loaded buffer. 336 337 338Upon loading a file, Vim finds the relevant syntax file as follows: 339 340 Loading the file triggers the BufReadPost autocommands. 341 | 342 +- If there is a match with one of the autocommands from |synload-3| 343 | (known file types) or |synload-4| (user's file types), the 'filetype' 344 | option is set to the file type. 345 | 346 +- The autocommand at |synload-5| is triggered. If the file type was not 347 | found yet, then scripts.vim is searched for in 'runtimepath'. This 348 | should always load $VIMRUNTIME/scripts.vim, which does the following. 349 | | 350 | +- Source the user's optional file, from the *myscriptsfile* 351 | | variable. This is for backwards compatibility with Vim 5.x only. 352 | | 353 | +- If the file type is still unknown, check the contents of the file, 354 | again with checks like "getline(1) =~ pattern" as to whether the 355 | file type can be recognized, and set 'filetype'. 356 | 357 +- When the file type was determined and 'filetype' was set, this 358 | triggers the FileType autocommand |synload-6| above. It sets 359 | 'syntax' to the determined file type. 360 | 361 +- When the 'syntax' option was set above, this triggers an autocommand 362 | from |synload-1| (and |synload-2|). This find the main syntax file in 363 | 'runtimepath', with this command: 364 | runtime! syntax/<name>.vim 365 | 366 +- Any other user installed FileType or Syntax autocommands are 367 triggered. This can be used to change the highlighting for a specific 368 syntax. 369 370============================================================================== 3714. Syntax file remarks *:syn-file-remarks* 372 373 *b:current_syntax-variable* 374Vim stores the name of the syntax that has been loaded in the 375"b:current_syntax" variable. You can use this if you want to load other 376settings, depending on which syntax is active. Example: > 377 :au BufReadPost * if b:current_syntax == "csh" 378 :au BufReadPost * do-some-things 379 :au BufReadPost * endif 380 381 3822HTML *2html.vim* *convert-to-HTML* 383 384This is not a syntax file itself, but a script that converts the current 385window into HTML. Vim opens a new window in which it builds the HTML file. 386 387After you save the resulting file, you can view it with any browser. The 388colors should be exactly the same as you see them in Vim. With 389|g:html_line_ids| you can jump to specific lines by adding (for example) #L123 390or #123 to the end of the URL in your browser's address bar. And with 391|g:html_dynamic_folds| enabled, you can show or hide the text that is folded 392in Vim. 393 394You are not supposed to set the 'filetype' or 'syntax' option to "2html"! 395Source the script to convert the current file: > 396 397 :runtime! syntax/2html.vim 398< 399Many variables affect the output of 2html.vim; see below. Any of the on/off 400options listed below can be enabled or disabled by setting them explicitly to 401the desired value, or restored to their default by removing the variable using 402|:unlet|. 403 404Remarks: 405- Some truly ancient browsers may not show the background colors. 406- From most browsers you can also print the file (in color)! 407- The latest TOhtml may actually work with older versions of Vim, but some 408 features such as conceal support will not function, and the colors may be 409 incorrect for an old Vim without GUI support compiled in. 410 411Here is an example how to run the script over all .c and .h files from a 412Unix shell: > 413 for f in *.[ch]; do gvim -f +"syn on" +"run! syntax/2html.vim" +"wq" +"q" $f; done 414< 415 *g:html_start_line* *g:html_end_line* 416To restrict the conversion to a range of lines, use a range with the |:TOhtml| 417command below, or set "g:html_start_line" and "g:html_end_line" to the first 418and last line to be converted. Example, using the last set Visual area: > 419 420 :let g:html_start_line = line("'<") 421 :let g:html_end_line = line("'>") 422 :runtime! syntax/2html.vim 423< 424 *:TOhtml* 425:[range]TOhtml The ":TOhtml" command is defined in a standard plugin. 426 This command will source |2html.vim| for you. When a 427 range is given, this command sets |g:html_start_line| 428 and |g:html_end_line| to the start and end of the 429 range, respectively. Default range is the entire 430 buffer. 431 432 If the current window is part of a |diff|, unless 433 |g:html_diff_one_file| is set, :TOhtml will convert 434 all windows which are part of the diff in the current 435 tab and place them side-by-side in a <table> element 436 in the generated HTML. With |g:html_line_ids| you can 437 jump to lines in specific windows with (for example) 438 #W1L42 for line 42 in the first diffed window, or 439 #W3L87 for line 87 in the third. 440 441 Examples: > 442 443 :10,40TOhtml " convert lines 10-40 to html 444 :'<,'>TOhtml " convert current/last visual selection 445 :TOhtml " convert entire buffer 446< 447 *g:html_diff_one_file* 448Default: 0. 449When 0, and using |:TOhtml| all windows involved in a |diff| in the current tab 450page are converted to HTML and placed side-by-side in a <table> element. When 4511, only the current buffer is converted. 452Example: > 453 454 let g:html_diff_one_file = 1 455< 456 *g:html_whole_filler* 457Default: 0. 458When 0, if |g:html_diff_one_file| is 1, a sequence of more than 3 filler lines 459is displayed as three lines with the middle line mentioning the total number 460of inserted lines. 461When 1, always display all inserted lines as if |g:html_diff_one_file| were 462not set. 463> 464 :let g:html_whole_filler = 1 465< 466 *TOhtml-performance* *g:html_no_progress* 467Default: 0. 468When 0, display a progress bar in the statusline for each major step in the 4692html.vim conversion process. 470When 1, do not display the progress bar. This offers a minor speed improvement 471but you won't have any idea how much longer the conversion might take; for big 472files it can take a long time! 473Example: > 474 475 let g:html_no_progress = 1 476< 477You can obtain better performance improvements by also instructing Vim to not 478run interactively, so that too much time is not taken to redraw as the script 479moves through the buffer, switches windows, and the like: > 480 481 vim -E -s -c "let g:html_no_progress=1" -c "syntax on" -c "set ft=c" -c "runtime syntax/2html.vim" -cwqa myfile.c 482< 483Note that the -s flag prevents loading your .vimrc and any plugins, so you 484need to explicitly source/enable anything that will affect the HTML 485conversion. See |-E| and |-s-ex| for details. It is probably best to create a 486script to replace all the -c commands and use it with the -u flag instead of 487specifying each command separately. 488 489 *g:html_number_lines* 490Default: current 'number' setting. 491When 0, buffer text is displayed in the generated HTML without line numbering. 492When 1, a column of line numbers is added to the generated HTML with the same 493highlighting as the line number column in Vim (|hl-LineNr|). 494Force line numbers even if 'number' is not set: > 495 :let g:html_number_lines = 1 496Force to omit the line numbers: > 497 :let g:html_number_lines = 0 498Go back to the default to use 'number' by deleting the variable: > 499 :unlet g:html_number_lines 500< 501 *g:html_line_ids* 502Default: 1 if |g:html_number_lines| is set, 0 otherwise. 503When 1, adds an HTML id attribute to each line number, or to an empty <span> 504inserted for that purpose if no line numbers are shown. This ID attribute 505takes the form of L123 for single-buffer HTML pages, or W2L123 for diff-view 506pages, and is used to jump to a specific line (in a specific window of a diff 507view). Javascript is inserted to open any closed dynamic folds 508(|g:html_dynamic_folds|) containing the specified line before jumping. The 509javascript also allows omitting the window ID in the url, and the leading L. 510For example: > 511 512 page.html#L123 jumps to line 123 in a single-buffer file 513 page.html#123 does the same 514 515 diff.html#W1L42 jumps to line 42 in the first window in a diff 516 diff.html#42 does the same 517< 518 *g:html_use_css* 519Default: 1. 520When 1, generate valid HTML 4.01 markup with CSS1 styling, supported in all 521modern browsers and most old browsers. 522When 0, generate <font> tags and similar outdated markup. This is not 523recommended but it may work better in really old browsers, email clients, 524forum posts, and similar situations where basic CSS support is unavailable. 525Example: > 526 :let g:html_use_css = 0 527< 528 *g:html_ignore_conceal* 529Default: 0. 530When 0, concealed text is removed from the HTML and replaced with a character 531from |:syn-cchar| or 'listchars' as appropriate, depending on the current 532value of 'conceallevel'. 533When 1, include all text from the buffer in the generated HTML, even if it is 534|conceal|ed. 535 536Either of the following commands will ensure that all text in the buffer is 537included in the generated HTML (unless it is folded): > 538 :let g:html_ignore_conceal = 1 539 :setl conceallevel=0 540< 541 *g:html_ignore_folding* 542Default: 0. 543When 0, text in a closed fold is replaced by the text shown for the fold in 544Vim (|fold-foldtext|). See |g:html_dynamic_folds| if you also want to allow 545the user to expand the fold as in Vim to see the text inside. 546When 1, include all text from the buffer in the generated HTML; whether the 547text is in a fold has no impact at all. |g:html_dynamic_folds| has no effect. 548 549Either of these commands will ensure that all text in the buffer is included 550in the generated HTML (unless it is concealed): > 551 zR 552 :let g:html_ignore_folding = 1 553< 554 *g:html_dynamic_folds* 555Default: 0. 556When 0, text in a closed fold is not included at all in the generated HTML. 557When 1, generate javascript to open a fold and show the text within, just like 558in Vim. 559 560Setting this variable to 1 causes 2html.vim to always use CSS for styling, 561regardless of what |g:html_use_css| is set to. 562 563This variable is ignored when |g:html_ignore_folding| is set. 564> 565 :let g:html_dynamic_folds = 1 566< 567 *g:html_no_foldcolumn* 568Default: 0. 569When 0, if |g:html_dynamic_folds| is 1, generate a column of text similar to 570Vim's foldcolumn (|fold-foldcolumn|) the user can click on to toggle folds 571open or closed. The minimum width of the generated text column is the current 572'foldcolumn' setting. 573When 1, do not generate this column; instead, hovering the mouse cursor over 574folded text will open the fold as if |g:html_hover_unfold| were set. 575> 576 :let g:html_no_foldcolumn = 1 577< 578 *TOhtml-uncopyable-text* *g:html_prevent_copy* 579Default: empty string. 580This option prevents certain regions of the generated HTML from being copied, 581when you select all text in document rendered in a browser and copy it. Useful 582for allowing users to copy-paste only the source text even if a fold column or 583line numbers are shown in the generated content. Specify regions to be 584affected in this way as follows: 585 f: fold column 586 n: line numbers (also within fold text) 587 t: fold text 588 d: diff filler 589 590Example, to make the fold column and line numbers uncopyable: > 591 :let g:html_prevent_copy = "fn" 592< 593This feature is currently implemented by inserting read-only <input> elements 594into the markup to contain the uncopyable areas. This does not work well in 595all cases. When pasting to some applications which understand HTML, the 596<input> elements also get pasted. But plain-text paste destinations should 597always work. 598 599 *g:html_no_invalid* 600Default: 0. 601When 0, if |g:html_prevent_copy| is non-empty, an invalid attribute is 602intentionally inserted into the <input> element for the uncopyable areas. This 603increases the number of applications you can paste to without also pasting the 604<input> elements. Specifically, Microsoft Word will not paste the <input> 605elements if they contain this invalid attribute. 606When 1, no invalid markup is ever intentionally inserted, and the generated 607page should validate. However, be careful pasting into Microsoft Word when 608|g:html_prevent_copy| is non-empty; it can be hard to get rid of the <input> 609elements which get pasted. 610 611 *g:html_hover_unfold* 612Default: 0. 613When 0, the only way to open a fold generated by 2html.vim with 614|g:html_dynamic_folds| set, is to click on the generated fold column. 615When 1, use CSS 2.0 to allow the user to open a fold by moving the mouse 616cursor over the displayed fold text. This is useful to allow users with 617disabled javascript to view the folded text. 618 619Note that old browsers (notably Internet Explorer 6) will not support this 620feature. Browser-specific markup for IE6 is included to fall back to the 621normal CSS1 styling so that the folds show up correctly for this browser, but 622they will not be openable without a foldcolumn. 623> 624 :let g:html_hover_unfold = 1 625< 626 *g:html_id_expr* 627Default: "" 628Dynamic folding and jumping to line IDs rely on unique IDs within the document 629to work. If generated HTML is copied into a larger document, these IDs are no 630longer guaranteed to be unique. Set g:html_id_expr to an expression Vim can 631evaluate to get a unique string to append to each ID used in a given document, 632so that the full IDs will be unique even when combined with other content in a 633larger HTML document. Example, to append _ and the buffer number to each ID: > 634 635 :let g:html_id_expr = '"_".bufnr("%")' 636< 637To append a string "_mystring" to the end of each ID: > 638 639 :let g:html_id_expr = '"_mystring"' 640< 641Note, when converting a diff view to HTML, the expression will only be 642evaluated for the first window in the diff, and the result used for all the 643windows. 644 645 *TOhtml-wrap-text* *g:html_pre_wrap* 646Default: current 'wrap' setting. 647When 0, if |g:html_no_pre| is 0 or unset, the text in the generated HTML does 648not wrap at the edge of the browser window. 649When 1, if |g:html_use_css| is 1, the CSS 2.0 "white-space:pre-wrap" value is 650used, causing the text to wrap at whitespace at the edge of the browser 651window. 652Explicitly enable text wrapping: > 653 :let g:html_pre_wrap = 1 654Explicitly disable wrapping: > 655 :let g:html_pre_wrap = 0 656Go back to default, determine wrapping from 'wrap' setting: > 657 :unlet g:html_pre_wrap 658< 659 *g:html_no_pre* 660Default: 0. 661When 0, buffer text in the generated HTML is surrounded by <pre>...</pre> 662tags. Series of whitespace is shown as in Vim without special markup, and tab 663characters can be included literally (see |g:html_expand_tabs|). 664When 1 (not recommended), the <pre> tags are omitted, and a plain <div> is 665used instead. Whitespace is replaced by a series of character 666references, and <br> is used to end each line. This is another way to allow 667text in the generated HTML is wrap (see |g:html_pre_wrap|) which also works in 668old browsers, but may cause noticeable differences between Vim's display and 669the rendered page generated by 2html.vim. 670> 671 :let g:html_no_pre = 1 672< 673 *g:html_expand_tabs* 674Default: 1 if 'tabstop' is 8, 'expandtab' is 0, and no fold column or line 675 numbers occur in the generated HTML; 676 0 otherwise. 677When 0, <Tab> characters in the buffer text are replaced with an appropriate 678number of space characters, or references if |g:html_no_pre| is 1. 679When 1, if |g:html_no_pre| is 0 or unset, <Tab> characters in the buffer text 680are included as-is in the generated HTML. This is useful for when you want to 681allow copy and paste from a browser without losing the actual whitespace in 682the source document. Note that this can easily break text alignment and 683indentation in the HTML, unless set by default. 684 685Force |2html.vim| to keep <Tab> characters: > 686 :let g:html_expand_tabs = 0 687< 688Force tabs to be expanded: > 689 :let g:html_expand_tabs = 1 690< 691 *TOhtml-encoding-detect* *TOhtml-encoding* 692It is highly recommended to set your desired encoding with 693|g:html_use_encoding| for any content which will be placed on a web server. 694 695If you do not specify an encoding, |2html.vim| uses the preferred IANA name 696for the current value of 'fileencoding' if set, or 'encoding' if not. 697'encoding' is always used for certain 'buftype' values. 'fileencoding' will be 698set to match the chosen document encoding. 699 700Automatic detection works for the encodings mentioned specifically by name in 701|encoding-names|, but TOhtml will only automatically use those encodings with 702wide browser support. However, you can override this to support specific 703encodings that may not be automatically detected by default (see options 704below). See http://www.iana.org/assignments/character-sets for the IANA names. 705 706Note, by default all Unicode encodings are converted to UTF-8 with no BOM in 707the generated HTML, as recommended by W3C: 708 709 http://www.w3.org/International/questions/qa-choosing-encodings 710 http://www.w3.org/International/questions/qa-byte-order-mark 711 712 *g:html_use_encoding* 713Default: none, uses IANA name for current 'fileencoding' as above. 714To overrule all automatic charset detection, set g:html_use_encoding to the 715name of the charset to be used. It is recommended to set this variable to 716something widely supported, like UTF-8, for anything you will be hosting on a 717webserver: > 718 :let g:html_use_encoding = "UTF-8" 719You can also use this option to omit the line that specifies the charset 720entirely, by setting g:html_use_encoding to an empty string (NOT recommended): > 721 :let g:html_use_encoding = "" 722To go back to the automatic mechanism, delete the |g:html_use_encoding| 723variable: > 724 :unlet g:html_use_encoding 725< 726 *g:html_encoding_override* 727Default: none, autoload/tohtml.vim contains default conversions for encodings 728 mentioned by name at |encoding-names|. 729This option allows |2html.vim| to detect the correct 'fileencoding' when you 730specify an encoding with |g:html_use_encoding| which is not in the default 731list of conversions. 732 733This is a dictionary of charset-encoding pairs that will replace existing 734pairs automatically detected by TOhtml, or supplement with new pairs. 735 736Detect the HTML charset "windows-1252" as the encoding "8bit-cp1252": > 737 :let g:html_encoding_override = {'windows-1252': '8bit-cp1252'} 738< 739 *g:html_charset_override* 740Default: none, autoload/tohtml.vim contains default conversions for encodings 741 mentioned by name at |encoding-names| and which have wide 742 browser support. 743This option allows |2html.vim| to detect the HTML charset for any 744'fileencoding' or 'encoding' which is not detected automatically. You can also 745use it to override specific existing encoding-charset pairs. For example, 746TOhtml will by default use UTF-8 for all Unicode/UCS encodings. To use UTF-16 747and UTF-32 instead, use: > 748 :let g:html_charset_override = {'ucs-4': 'UTF-32', 'utf-16': 'UTF-16'} 749 750Note that documents encoded in either UTF-32 or UTF-16 have known 751compatibility problems with some major browsers. 752 753 *g:html_font* 754Default: "monospace" 755You can specify the font or fonts used in the converted document using 756g:html_font. If this option is set to a string, then the value will be 757surrounded with single quotes. If this option is set to a list then each list 758item is surrounded by single quotes and the list is joined with commas. Either 759way, "monospace" is added as the fallback generic family name and the entire 760result used as the font family (using CSS) or font face (if not using CSS). 761Examples: > 762 763 " font-family: 'Consolas', monospace; 764 :let g:html_font = "Consolas" 765 766 " font-family: 'DejaVu Sans Mono', 'Consolas', monospace; 767 :let g:html_font = ["DejaVu Sans Mono", "Consolas"] 768< 769 *convert-to-XML* *convert-to-XHTML* *g:html_use_xhtml* 770Default: 0. 771When 0, generate standard HTML 4.01 (strict when possible). 772When 1, generate XHTML 1.0 instead (XML compliant HTML). 773> 774 :let g:html_use_xhtml = 1 775< 776 777ABEL *abel.vim* *ft-abel-syntax* 778 779ABEL highlighting provides some user-defined options. To enable them, assign 780any value to the respective variable. Example: > 781 :let abel_obsolete_ok=1 782To disable them use ":unlet". Example: > 783 :unlet abel_obsolete_ok 784 785Variable Highlight ~ 786abel_obsolete_ok obsolete keywords are statements, not errors 787abel_cpp_comments_illegal do not interpret '//' as inline comment leader 788 789 790ADA 791 792See |ft-ada-syntax| 793 794 795ANT *ant.vim* *ft-ant-syntax* 796 797The ant syntax file provides syntax highlighting for javascript and python 798by default. Syntax highlighting for other script languages can be installed 799by the function AntSyntaxScript(), which takes the tag name as first argument 800and the script syntax file name as second argument. Example: > 801 802 :call AntSyntaxScript('perl', 'perl.vim') 803 804will install syntax perl highlighting for the following ant code > 805 806 <script language = 'perl'><![CDATA[ 807 # everything inside is highlighted as perl 808 ]]></script> 809 810See |mysyntaxfile-add| for installing script languages permanently. 811 812 813APACHE *apache.vim* *ft-apache-syntax* 814 815The apache syntax file provides syntax highlighting for Apache HTTP server 816version 2.2.3. 817 818 819 *asm.vim* *asmh8300.vim* *nasm.vim* *masm.vim* *asm68k* 820ASSEMBLY *ft-asm-syntax* *ft-asmh8300-syntax* *ft-nasm-syntax* 821 *ft-masm-syntax* *ft-asm68k-syntax* *fasm.vim* 822 823Files matching "*.i" could be Progress or Assembly. If the automatic detection 824doesn't work for you, or you don't edit Progress at all, use this in your 825startup vimrc: > 826 :let filetype_i = "asm" 827Replace "asm" with the type of assembly you use. 828 829There are many types of assembly languages that all use the same file name 830extensions. Therefore you will have to select the type yourself, or add a 831line in the assembly file that Vim will recognize. Currently these syntax 832files are included: 833 asm GNU assembly (the default) 834 asm68k Motorola 680x0 assembly 835 asmh8300 Hitachi H-8300 version of GNU assembly 836 ia64 Intel Itanium 64 837 fasm Flat assembly (http://flatassembler.net) 838 masm Microsoft assembly (probably works for any 80x86) 839 nasm Netwide assembly 840 tasm Turbo Assembly (with opcodes 80x86 up to Pentium, and 841 MMX) 842 pic PIC assembly (currently for PIC16F84) 843 844The most flexible is to add a line in your assembly file containing: > 845 asmsyntax=nasm 846Replace "nasm" with the name of the real assembly syntax. This line must be 847one of the first five lines in the file. No non-white text must be 848immediately before or after this text. Note that specifying asmsyntax=foo is 849equivalent to setting ft=foo in a |modeline|, and that in case of a conflict 850between the two settings the one from the modeline will take precedence (in 851particular, if you have ft=asm in the modeline, you will get the GNU syntax 852highlighting regardless of what is specified as asmsyntax). 853 854The syntax type can always be overruled for a specific buffer by setting the 855b:asmsyntax variable: > 856 :let b:asmsyntax = "nasm" 857 858If b:asmsyntax is not set, either automatically or by hand, then the value of 859the global variable asmsyntax is used. This can be seen as a default assembly 860language: > 861 :let asmsyntax = "nasm" 862 863As a last resort, if nothing is defined, the "asm" syntax is used. 864 865 866Netwide assembler (nasm.vim) optional highlighting ~ 867 868To enable a feature: > 869 :let {variable}=1|set syntax=nasm 870To disable a feature: > 871 :unlet {variable} |set syntax=nasm 872 873Variable Highlight ~ 874nasm_loose_syntax unofficial parser allowed syntax not as Error 875 (parser dependent; not recommended) 876nasm_ctx_outside_macro contexts outside macro not as Error 877nasm_no_warn potentially risky syntax not as ToDo 878 879 880ASPPERL and ASPVBS *ft-aspperl-syntax* *ft-aspvbs-syntax* 881 882*.asp and *.asa files could be either Perl or Visual Basic script. Since it's 883hard to detect this you can set two global variables to tell Vim what you are 884using. For Perl script use: > 885 :let g:filetype_asa = "aspperl" 886 :let g:filetype_asp = "aspperl" 887For Visual Basic use: > 888 :let g:filetype_asa = "aspvbs" 889 :let g:filetype_asp = "aspvbs" 890 891 892BAAN *baan.vim* *baan-syntax* 893 894The baan.vim gives syntax support for BaanC of release BaanIV upto SSA ERP LN 895for both 3 GL and 4 GL programming. Large number of standard defines/constants 896are supported. 897 898Some special violation of coding standards will be signalled when one specify 899in ones |.vimrc|: > 900 let baan_code_stds=1 901 902*baan-folding* 903 904Syntax folding can be enabled at various levels through the variables 905mentioned below (Set those in your |.vimrc|). The more complex folding on 906source blocks and SQL can be CPU intensive. 907 908To allow any folding and enable folding at function level use: > 909 let baan_fold=1 910Folding can be enabled at source block level as if, while, for ,... The 911indentation preceding the begin/end keywords has to match (spaces are not 912considered equal to a tab). > 913 let baan_fold_block=1 914Folding can be enabled for embedded SQL blocks as SELECT, SELECTDO, 915SELECTEMPTY, ... The indentation preceding the begin/end keywords has to 916match (spaces are not considered equal to a tab). > 917 let baan_fold_sql=1 918Note: Block folding can result in many small folds. It is suggested to |:set| 919the options 'foldminlines' and 'foldnestmax' in |.vimrc| or use |:setlocal| in 920.../after/syntax/baan.vim (see |after-directory|). Eg: > 921 set foldminlines=5 922 set foldnestmax=6 923 924 925BASIC *basic.vim* *vb.vim* *ft-basic-syntax* *ft-vb-syntax* 926 927Both Visual Basic and "normal" basic use the extension ".bas". To detect 928which one should be used, Vim checks for the string "VB_Name" in the first 929five lines of the file. If it is not found, filetype will be "basic", 930otherwise "vb". Files with the ".frm" extension will always be seen as Visual 931Basic. 932 933 934C *c.vim* *ft-c-syntax* 935 936A few things in C highlighting are optional. To enable them assign any value 937to the respective variable. Example: > 938 :let c_comment_strings = 1 939To disable them use ":unlet". Example: > 940 :unlet c_comment_strings 941 942Variable Highlight ~ 943*c_gnu* GNU gcc specific items 944*c_comment_strings* strings and numbers inside a comment 945*c_space_errors* trailing white space and spaces before a <Tab> 946*c_no_trail_space_error* ... but no trailing spaces 947*c_no_tab_space_error* ... but no spaces before a <Tab> 948*c_no_bracket_error* don't highlight {}; inside [] as errors 949*c_no_curly_error* don't highlight {}; inside [] and () as errors; 950 except { and } in first column 951 Default is to highlight them, otherwise you 952 can't spot a missing ")". 953*c_curly_error* highlight a missing }; this forces syncing from the 954 start of the file, can be slow 955*c_no_ansi* don't do standard ANSI types and constants 956*c_ansi_typedefs* ... but do standard ANSI types 957*c_ansi_constants* ... but do standard ANSI constants 958*c_no_utf* don't highlight \u and \U in strings 959*c_syntax_for_h* for *.h files use C syntax instead of C++ and use objc 960 syntax instead of objcpp 961*c_no_if0* don't highlight "#if 0" blocks as comments 962*c_no_cformat* don't highlight %-formats in strings 963*c_no_c99* don't highlight C99 standard items 964*c_no_c11* don't highlight C11 standard items 965*c_no_bsd* don't highlight BSD specific types 966 967When 'foldmethod' is set to "syntax" then /* */ comments and { } blocks will 968become a fold. If you don't want comments to become a fold use: > 969 :let c_no_comment_fold = 1 970"#if 0" blocks are also folded, unless: > 971 :let c_no_if0_fold = 1 972 973If you notice highlighting errors while scrolling backwards, which are fixed 974when redrawing with CTRL-L, try setting the "c_minlines" internal variable 975to a larger number: > 976 :let c_minlines = 100 977This will make the syntax synchronization start 100 lines before the first 978displayed line. The default value is 50 (15 when c_no_if0 is set). The 979disadvantage of using a larger number is that redrawing can become slow. 980 981When using the "#if 0" / "#endif" comment highlighting, notice that this only 982works when the "#if 0" is within "c_minlines" from the top of the window. If 983you have a long "#if 0" construct it will not be highlighted correctly. 984 985To match extra items in comments, use the cCommentGroup cluster. 986Example: > 987 :au Syntax c call MyCadd() 988 :function MyCadd() 989 : syn keyword cMyItem contained Ni 990 : syn cluster cCommentGroup add=cMyItem 991 : hi link cMyItem Title 992 :endfun 993 994ANSI constants will be highlighted with the "cConstant" group. This includes 995"NULL", "SIG_IGN" and others. But not "TRUE", for example, because this is 996not in the ANSI standard. If you find this confusing, remove the cConstant 997highlighting: > 998 :hi link cConstant NONE 999 1000If you see '{' and '}' highlighted as an error where they are OK, reset the 1001highlighting for cErrInParen and cErrInBracket. 1002 1003If you want to use folding in your C files, you can add these lines in a file 1004in the "after" directory in 'runtimepath'. For Unix this would be 1005~/.vim/after/syntax/c.vim. > 1006 syn sync fromstart 1007 set foldmethod=syntax 1008 1009CH *ch.vim* *ft-ch-syntax* 1010 1011C/C++ interpreter. Ch has similar syntax highlighting to C and builds upon 1012the C syntax file. See |c.vim| for all the settings that are available for C. 1013 1014By setting a variable you can tell Vim to use Ch syntax for *.h files, instead 1015of C or C++: > 1016 :let ch_syntax_for_h = 1 1017 1018 1019CHILL *chill.vim* *ft-chill-syntax* 1020 1021Chill syntax highlighting is similar to C. See |c.vim| for all the settings 1022that are available. Additionally there is: 1023 1024chill_space_errors like c_space_errors 1025chill_comment_string like c_comment_strings 1026chill_minlines like c_minlines 1027 1028 1029CHANGELOG *changelog.vim* *ft-changelog-syntax* 1030 1031ChangeLog supports highlighting spaces at the start of a line. 1032If you do not like this, add following line to your .vimrc: > 1033 let g:changelog_spacing_errors = 0 1034This works the next time you edit a changelog file. You can also use 1035"b:changelog_spacing_errors" to set this per buffer (before loading the syntax 1036file). 1037 1038You can change the highlighting used, e.g., to flag the spaces as an error: > 1039 :hi link ChangelogError Error 1040Or to avoid the highlighting: > 1041 :hi link ChangelogError NONE 1042This works immediately. 1043 1044 1045CLOJURE *ft-clojure-syntax* 1046 1047The default syntax groups can be augmented through the 1048*g:clojure_syntax_keywords* and *b:clojure_syntax_keywords* variables. The 1049value should be a |Dictionary| of syntax group names to a |List| of custom 1050identifiers: 1051> 1052 let g:clojure_syntax_keywords = { 1053 \ 'clojureMacro': ["defproject", "defcustom"], 1054 \ 'clojureFunc': ["string/join", "string/replace"] 1055 \ } 1056< 1057Refer to the Clojure syntax script for valid syntax group names. 1058 1059If the |buffer-variable| *b:clojure_syntax_without_core_keywords* is set, only 1060language constants and special forms are matched. 1061 1062Setting *g:clojure_fold* enables folding Clojure code via the syntax engine. 1063Any list, vector, or map that extends over more than one line can be folded 1064using the standard Vim |fold-commands|. 1065 1066Please note that this option does not work with scripts that redefine the 1067bracket syntax regions, such as rainbow-parentheses plugins. 1068 1069This option is off by default. 1070> 1071 " Default 1072 let g:clojure_fold = 0 1073< 1074 1075COBOL *cobol.vim* *ft-cobol-syntax* 1076 1077COBOL highlighting has different needs for legacy code than it does for fresh 1078development. This is due to differences in what is being done (maintenance 1079versus development) and other factors. To enable legacy code highlighting, 1080add this line to your .vimrc: > 1081 :let cobol_legacy_code = 1 1082To disable it again, use this: > 1083 :unlet cobol_legacy_code 1084 1085 1086COLD FUSION *coldfusion.vim* *ft-coldfusion-syntax* 1087 1088The ColdFusion has its own version of HTML comments. To turn on ColdFusion 1089comment highlighting, add the following line to your startup file: > 1090 1091 :let html_wrong_comments = 1 1092 1093The ColdFusion syntax file is based on the HTML syntax file. 1094 1095 1096CPP *cpp.vim* *ft-cpp-syntax* 1097 1098Most of things are same as |ft-c-syntax|. 1099 1100Variable Highlight ~ 1101cpp_no_cpp11 don't highlight C++11 standard items 1102cpp_no_cpp14 don't highlight C++14 standard items 1103 1104 1105CSH *csh.vim* *ft-csh-syntax* 1106 1107This covers the shell named "csh". Note that on some systems tcsh is actually 1108used. 1109 1110Detecting whether a file is csh or tcsh is notoriously hard. Some systems 1111symlink /bin/csh to /bin/tcsh, making it almost impossible to distinguish 1112between csh and tcsh. In case VIM guesses wrong you can set the 1113"filetype_csh" variable. For using csh: *g:filetype_csh* 1114> 1115 :let g:filetype_csh = "csh" 1116 1117For using tcsh: > 1118 1119 :let g:filetype_csh = "tcsh" 1120 1121Any script with a tcsh extension or a standard tcsh filename (.tcshrc, 1122tcsh.tcshrc, tcsh.login) will have filetype tcsh. All other tcsh/csh scripts 1123will be classified as tcsh, UNLESS the "filetype_csh" variable exists. If the 1124"filetype_csh" variable exists, the filetype will be set to the value of the 1125variable. 1126 1127 1128CYNLIB *cynlib.vim* *ft-cynlib-syntax* 1129 1130Cynlib files are C++ files that use the Cynlib class library to enable 1131hardware modelling and simulation using C++. Typically Cynlib files have a .cc 1132or a .cpp extension, which makes it very difficult to distinguish them from a 1133normal C++ file. Thus, to enable Cynlib highlighting for .cc files, add this 1134line to your .vimrc file: > 1135 1136 :let cynlib_cyntax_for_cc=1 1137 1138Similarly for cpp files (this extension is only usually used in Windows) > 1139 1140 :let cynlib_cyntax_for_cpp=1 1141 1142To disable these again, use this: > 1143 1144 :unlet cynlib_cyntax_for_cc 1145 :unlet cynlib_cyntax_for_cpp 1146< 1147 1148CWEB *cweb.vim* *ft-cweb-syntax* 1149 1150Files matching "*.w" could be Progress or cweb. If the automatic detection 1151doesn't work for you, or you don't edit Progress at all, use this in your 1152startup vimrc: > 1153 :let filetype_w = "cweb" 1154 1155 1156DESKTOP *desktop.vim* *ft-desktop-syntax* 1157 1158Primary goal of this syntax file is to highlight .desktop and .directory files 1159according to freedesktop.org standard: 1160http://standards.freedesktop.org/desktop-entry-spec/latest/ 1161But actually almost none implements this standard fully. Thus it will 1162highlight all Unix ini files. But you can force strict highlighting according 1163to standard by placing this in your vimrc file: > 1164 :let enforce_freedesktop_standard = 1 1165 1166 1167DIFF *diff.vim* 1168 1169The diff highlighting normally finds translated headers. This can be slow if 1170there are very long lines in the file. To disable translations: > 1171 1172 :let diff_translations = 0 1173 1174Also see |diff-slow|. 1175 1176 1177DIRCOLORS *dircolors.vim* *ft-dircolors-syntax* 1178 1179The dircolors utility highlighting definition has one option. It exists to 1180provide compatibility with the Slackware GNU/Linux distributions version of 1181the command. It adds a few keywords that are generally ignored by most 1182versions. On Slackware systems, however, the utility accepts the keywords and 1183uses them for processing. To enable the Slackware keywords add the following 1184line to your startup file: > 1185 let dircolors_is_slackware = 1 1186 1187 1188DOCBOOK *docbk.vim* *ft-docbk-syntax* *docbook* 1189DOCBOOK XML *docbkxml.vim* *ft-docbkxml-syntax* 1190DOCBOOK SGML *docbksgml.vim* *ft-docbksgml-syntax* 1191 1192There are two types of DocBook files: SGML and XML. To specify what type you 1193are using the "b:docbk_type" variable should be set. Vim does this for you 1194automatically if it can recognize the type. When Vim can't guess it the type 1195defaults to XML. 1196You can set the type manually: > 1197 :let docbk_type = "sgml" 1198or: > 1199 :let docbk_type = "xml" 1200You need to do this before loading the syntax file, which is complicated. 1201Simpler is setting the filetype to "docbkxml" or "docbksgml": > 1202 :set filetype=docbksgml 1203or: > 1204 :set filetype=docbkxml 1205 1206You can specify the DocBook version: > 1207 :let docbk_ver = 3 1208When not set 4 is used. 1209 1210 1211DOSBATCH *dosbatch.vim* *ft-dosbatch-syntax* 1212 1213There is one option with highlighting DOS batch files. This covers new 1214extensions to the Command Interpreter introduced with Windows 2000 and 1215is controlled by the variable dosbatch_cmdextversion. For Windows NT 1216this should have the value 1, and for Windows 2000 it should be 2. 1217Select the version you want with the following line: > 1218 1219 :let dosbatch_cmdextversion = 1 1220 1221If this variable is not defined it defaults to a value of 2 to support 1222Windows 2000. 1223 1224A second option covers whether *.btm files should be detected as type 1225"dosbatch" (MS-DOS batch files) or type "btm" (4DOS batch files). The latter 1226is used by default. You may select the former with the following line: > 1227 1228 :let g:dosbatch_syntax_for_btm = 1 1229 1230If this variable is undefined or zero, btm syntax is selected. 1231 1232 1233DOXYGEN *doxygen.vim* *doxygen-syntax* 1234 1235Doxygen generates code documentation using a special documentation format 1236(similar to Javadoc). This syntax script adds doxygen highlighting to c, cpp, 1237idl and php files, and should also work with java. 1238 1239There are a few of ways to turn on doxygen formatting. It can be done 1240explicitly or in a modeline by appending '.doxygen' to the syntax of the file. 1241Example: > 1242 :set syntax=c.doxygen 1243or > 1244 // vim:syntax=c.doxygen 1245 1246It can also be done automatically for C, C++, C#, IDL and PHP files by setting 1247the global or buffer-local variable load_doxygen_syntax. This is done by 1248adding the following to your .vimrc. > 1249 :let g:load_doxygen_syntax=1 1250 1251There are a couple of variables that have an effect on syntax highlighting, and 1252are to do with non-standard highlighting options. 1253 1254Variable Default Effect ~ 1255g:doxygen_enhanced_color 1256g:doxygen_enhanced_colour 0 Use non-standard highlighting for 1257 doxygen comments. 1258 1259doxygen_my_rendering 0 Disable rendering of HTML bold, italic 1260 and html_my_rendering underline. 1261 1262doxygen_javadoc_autobrief 1 Set to 0 to disable javadoc autobrief 1263 colour highlighting. 1264 1265doxygen_end_punctuation '[.]' Set to regexp match for the ending 1266 punctuation of brief 1267 1268There are also some hilight groups worth mentioning as they can be useful in 1269configuration. 1270 1271Highlight Effect ~ 1272doxygenErrorComment The colour of an end-comment when missing 1273 punctuation in a code, verbatim or dot section 1274doxygenLinkError The colour of an end-comment when missing the 1275 \endlink from a \link section. 1276 1277 1278DTD *dtd.vim* *ft-dtd-syntax* 1279 1280The DTD syntax highlighting is case sensitive by default. To disable 1281case-sensitive highlighting, add the following line to your startup file: > 1282 1283 :let dtd_ignore_case=1 1284 1285The DTD syntax file will highlight unknown tags as errors. If 1286this is annoying, it can be turned off by setting: > 1287 1288 :let dtd_no_tag_errors=1 1289 1290before sourcing the dtd.vim syntax file. 1291Parameter entity names are highlighted in the definition using the 1292'Type' highlighting group and 'Comment' for punctuation and '%'. 1293Parameter entity instances are highlighted using the 'Constant' 1294highlighting group and the 'Type' highlighting group for the 1295delimiters % and ;. This can be turned off by setting: > 1296 1297 :let dtd_no_param_entities=1 1298 1299The DTD syntax file is also included by xml.vim to highlight included dtd's. 1300 1301 1302EIFFEL *eiffel.vim* *ft-eiffel-syntax* 1303 1304While Eiffel is not case-sensitive, its style guidelines are, and the 1305syntax highlighting file encourages their use. This also allows to 1306highlight class names differently. If you want to disable case-sensitive 1307highlighting, add the following line to your startup file: > 1308 1309 :let eiffel_ignore_case=1 1310 1311Case still matters for class names and TODO marks in comments. 1312 1313Conversely, for even stricter checks, add one of the following lines: > 1314 1315 :let eiffel_strict=1 1316 :let eiffel_pedantic=1 1317 1318Setting eiffel_strict will only catch improper capitalization for the 1319five predefined words "Current", "Void", "Result", "Precursor", and 1320"NONE", to warn against their accidental use as feature or class names. 1321 1322Setting eiffel_pedantic will enforce adherence to the Eiffel style 1323guidelines fairly rigorously (like arbitrary mixes of upper- and 1324lowercase letters as well as outdated ways to capitalize keywords). 1325 1326If you want to use the lower-case version of "Current", "Void", 1327"Result", and "Precursor", you can use > 1328 1329 :let eiffel_lower_case_predef=1 1330 1331instead of completely turning case-sensitive highlighting off. 1332 1333Support for ISE's proposed new creation syntax that is already 1334experimentally handled by some compilers can be enabled by: > 1335 1336 :let eiffel_ise=1 1337 1338Finally, some vendors support hexadecimal constants. To handle them, add > 1339 1340 :let eiffel_hex_constants=1 1341 1342to your startup file. 1343 1344 1345EUPHORIA *euphoria3.vim* *euphoria4.vim* *ft-euphoria-syntax* 1346 1347Two syntax highlighting files exists for Euphoria. One for Euphoria 1348version 3.1.1, which is the default syntax highlighting file, and one for 1349Euphoria version 4.0.5 or later. 1350 1351Euphoria version 3.1.1 (http://www.rapideuphoria.com/) is still necessary 1352for developing applications for the DOS platform, which Euphoria version 4 1353(http://www.openeuphoria.org/) does not support. 1354 1355The following file extensions are auto-detected as Euphoria file type: 1356 1357 *.e, *.eu, *.ew, *.ex, *.exu, *.exw 1358 *.E, *.EU, *.EW, *.EX, *.EXU, *.EXW 1359 1360To select syntax highlighting file for Euphoria, as well as for 1361auto-detecting the *.e and *.E file extensions as Euphoria file type, 1362add the following line to your startup file: > 1363 1364 :let filetype_euphoria="euphoria3" 1365 1366 or 1367 1368 :let filetype_euphoria="euphoria4" 1369 1370 1371ERLANG *erlang.vim* *ft-erlang-syntax* 1372 1373Erlang is a functional programming language developed by Ericsson. Files with 1374the following extensions are recognized as Erlang files: erl, hrl, yaws. 1375 1376The BIFs (built-in functions) are highlighted by default. To disable this, 1377put the following line in your vimrc: > 1378 1379 :let g:erlang_highlight_bifs = 0 1380 1381To enable highlighting some special atoms, put this in your vimrc: > 1382 1383 :let g:erlang_highlight_special_atoms = 1 1384 1385 1386FLEXWIKI *flexwiki.vim* *ft-flexwiki-syntax* 1387 1388FlexWiki is an ASP.NET-based wiki package available at http://www.flexwiki.com 1389NOTE: this site currently doesn't work, on Wikipedia is mentioned that 1390development stopped in 2009. 1391 1392Syntax highlighting is available for the most common elements of FlexWiki 1393syntax. The associated ftplugin script sets some buffer-local options to make 1394editing FlexWiki pages more convenient. FlexWiki considers a newline as the 1395start of a new paragraph, so the ftplugin sets 'tw'=0 (unlimited line length), 1396'wrap' (wrap long lines instead of using horizontal scrolling), 'linebreak' 1397(to wrap at a character in 'breakat' instead of at the last char on screen), 1398and so on. It also includes some keymaps that are disabled by default. 1399 1400If you want to enable the keymaps that make "j" and "k" and the cursor keys 1401move up and down by display lines, add this to your .vimrc: > 1402 :let flexwiki_maps = 1 1403 1404 1405FORM *form.vim* *ft-form-syntax* 1406 1407The coloring scheme for syntax elements in the FORM file uses the default 1408modes Conditional, Number, Statement, Comment, PreProc, Type, and String, 1409following the language specifications in 'Symbolic Manipulation with FORM' by 1410J.A.M. Vermaseren, CAN, Netherlands, 1991. 1411 1412If you want include your own changes to the default colors, you have to 1413redefine the following syntax groups: 1414 1415 - formConditional 1416 - formNumber 1417 - formStatement 1418 - formHeaderStatement 1419 - formComment 1420 - formPreProc 1421 - formDirective 1422 - formType 1423 - formString 1424 1425Note that the form.vim syntax file implements FORM preprocessor commands and 1426directives per default in the same syntax group. 1427 1428A predefined enhanced color mode for FORM is available to distinguish between 1429header statements and statements in the body of a FORM program. To activate 1430this mode define the following variable in your vimrc file > 1431 1432 :let form_enhanced_color=1 1433 1434The enhanced mode also takes advantage of additional color features for a dark 1435gvim display. Here, statements are colored LightYellow instead of Yellow, and 1436conditionals are LightBlue for better distinction. 1437 1438 1439FORTRAN *fortran.vim* *ft-fortran-syntax* 1440 1441Default highlighting and dialect ~ 1442Highlighting appropriate for Fortran 2008 is used by default. This choice 1443should be appropriate for most users most of the time because Fortran 2008 is 1444almost a superset of previous versions (Fortran 2003, 95, 90, and 77). 1445 1446Fortran source code form ~ 1447Fortran code can be in either fixed or free source form. Note that the 1448syntax highlighting will not be correct if the form is incorrectly set. 1449 1450When you create a new fortran file, the syntax script assumes fixed source 1451form. If you always use free source form, then > 1452 :let fortran_free_source=1 1453in your .vimrc prior to the :syntax on command. If you always use fixed source 1454form, then > 1455 :let fortran_fixed_source=1 1456in your .vimrc prior to the :syntax on command. 1457 1458If the form of the source code depends, in a non-standard way, upon the file 1459extension, then it is most convenient to set fortran_free_source in a ftplugin 1460file. For more information on ftplugin files, see |ftplugin|. Note that this 1461will work only if the "filetype plugin indent on" command precedes the "syntax 1462on" command in your .vimrc file. 1463 1464When you edit an existing fortran file, the syntax script will assume free 1465source form if the fortran_free_source variable has been set, and assumes 1466fixed source form if the fortran_fixed_source variable has been set. If 1467neither of these variables have been set, the syntax script attempts to 1468determine which source form has been used by examining the file extension 1469using conventions common to the ifort, gfortran, Cray, NAG, and PathScale 1470compilers (.f, .for, .f77 for fixed-source, .f90, .f95, .f03, .f08 for 1471free-source). If none of this works, then the script examines the first five 1472columns of the first 500 lines of your file. If no signs of free source form 1473are detected, then the file is assumed to be in fixed source form. The 1474algorithm should work in the vast majority of cases. In some cases, such as a 1475file that begins with 500 or more full-line comments, the script may 1476incorrectly decide that the fortran code is in fixed form. If that happens, 1477just add a non-comment statement beginning anywhere in the first five columns 1478of the first twenty-five lines, save (:w) and then reload (:e!) the file. 1479 1480Tabs in fortran files ~ 1481Tabs are not recognized by the Fortran standards. Tabs are not a good idea in 1482fixed format fortran source code which requires fixed column boundaries. 1483Therefore, tabs are marked as errors. Nevertheless, some programmers like 1484using tabs. If your fortran files contain tabs, then you should set the 1485variable fortran_have_tabs in your .vimrc with a command such as > 1486 :let fortran_have_tabs=1 1487placed prior to the :syntax on command. Unfortunately, the use of tabs will 1488mean that the syntax file will not be able to detect incorrect margins. 1489 1490Syntax folding of fortran files ~ 1491If you wish to use foldmethod=syntax, then you must first set the variable 1492fortran_fold with a command such as > 1493 :let fortran_fold=1 1494to instruct the syntax script to define fold regions for program units, that 1495is main programs starting with a program statement, subroutines, function 1496subprograms, block data subprograms, interface blocks, and modules. If you 1497also set the variable fortran_fold_conditionals with a command such as > 1498 :let fortran_fold_conditionals=1 1499then fold regions will also be defined for do loops, if blocks, and select 1500case constructs. If you also set the variable 1501fortran_fold_multilinecomments with a command such as > 1502 :let fortran_fold_multilinecomments=1 1503then fold regions will also be defined for three or more consecutive comment 1504lines. Note that defining fold regions can be slow for large files. 1505 1506If fortran_fold, and possibly fortran_fold_conditionals and/or 1507fortran_fold_multilinecomments, have been set, then vim will fold your file if 1508you set foldmethod=syntax. Comments or blank lines placed between two program 1509units are not folded because they are seen as not belonging to any program 1510unit. 1511 1512More precise fortran syntax ~ 1513If you set the variable fortran_more_precise with a command such as > 1514 :let fortran_more_precise=1 1515then the syntax coloring will be more precise but slower. In particular, 1516statement labels used in do, goto and arithmetic if statements will be 1517recognized, as will construct names at the end of a do, if, select or forall 1518construct. 1519 1520Non-default fortran dialects ~ 1521The syntax script supports two Fortran dialects: f08 and F. You will probably 1522find the default highlighting (f08) satisfactory. A few legacy constructs 1523deleted or declared obsolescent in the 2008 standard are highlighted as todo 1524items. 1525 1526If you use F, the advantage of setting the dialect appropriately is that 1527other legacy features excluded from F will be highlighted as todo items and 1528that free source form will be assumed. 1529 1530The dialect can be selected in various ways. If all your fortran files use 1531the same dialect, set the global variable fortran_dialect in your .vimrc prior 1532to your syntax on statement. The case-sensitive, permissible values of 1533fortran_dialect are "f08" or "F". Invalid values of fortran_dialect are 1534ignored. 1535 1536If the dialect depends upon the file extension, then it is most convenient to 1537set a buffer-local variable in a ftplugin file. For more information on 1538ftplugin files, see |ftplugin|. For example, if all your fortran files with 1539an .f90 extension are written in the F subset, your ftplugin file should 1540contain the code > 1541 let s:extfname = expand("%:e") 1542 if s:extfname ==? "f90" 1543 let b:fortran_dialect="F" 1544 else 1545 unlet! b:fortran_dialect 1546 endif 1547Note that this will work only if the "filetype plugin indent on" command 1548precedes the "syntax on" command in your .vimrc file. 1549 1550Finer control is necessary if the file extension does not uniquely identify 1551the dialect. You can override the default dialect, on a file-by-file basis, 1552by including a comment with the directive "fortran_dialect=xx" (where xx=F or 1553f08) in one of the first three lines in your file. For example, your older .f 1554files may be legacy code but your newer ones may be F codes, and you would 1555identify the latter by including in the first three lines of those files a 1556Fortran comment of the form > 1557 ! fortran_dialect=F 1558 1559For previous versions of the syntax, you may have set fortran_dialect to the 1560now-obsolete values "f77", "f90", "f95", or "elf". Such settings will be 1561silently handled as "f08". Users of "elf" may wish to experiment with "F" 1562instead. 1563 1564The syntax/fortran.vim script contains embedded comments that tell you how to 1565comment and/or uncomment some lines to (a) activate recognition of some 1566non-standard, vendor-supplied intrinsics and (b) to prevent features deleted 1567or declared obsolescent in the 2008 standard from being highlighted as todo 1568items. 1569 1570Limitations ~ 1571Parenthesis checking does not catch too few closing parentheses. Hollerith 1572strings are not recognized. Some keywords may be highlighted incorrectly 1573because Fortran90 has no reserved words. 1574 1575For further information related to fortran, see |ft-fortran-indent| and 1576|ft-fortran-plugin|. 1577 1578 1579FVWM CONFIGURATION FILES *fvwm.vim* *ft-fvwm-syntax* 1580 1581In order for Vim to recognize Fvwm configuration files that do not match 1582the patterns *fvwmrc* or *fvwm2rc* , you must put additional patterns 1583appropriate to your system in your myfiletypes.vim file. For these 1584patterns, you must set the variable "b:fvwm_version" to the major version 1585number of Fvwm, and the 'filetype' option to fvwm. 1586 1587For example, to make Vim identify all files in /etc/X11/fvwm2/ 1588as Fvwm2 configuration files, add the following: > 1589 1590 :au! BufNewFile,BufRead /etc/X11/fvwm2/* let b:fvwm_version = 2 | 1591 \ set filetype=fvwm 1592 1593If you'd like Vim to highlight all valid color names, tell it where to 1594find the color database (rgb.txt) on your system. Do this by setting 1595"rgb_file" to its location. Assuming your color database is located 1596in /usr/X11/lib/X11/, you should add the line > 1597 1598 :let rgb_file = "/usr/X11/lib/X11/rgb.txt" 1599 1600to your .vimrc file. 1601 1602 1603GSP *gsp.vim* *ft-gsp-syntax* 1604 1605The default coloring style for GSP pages is defined by |html.vim|, and 1606the coloring for java code (within java tags or inline between backticks) 1607is defined by |java.vim|. The following HTML groups defined in |html.vim| 1608are redefined to incorporate and highlight inline java code: 1609 1610 htmlString 1611 htmlValue 1612 htmlEndTag 1613 htmlTag 1614 htmlTagN 1615 1616Highlighting should look fine most of the places where you'd see inline 1617java code, but in some special cases it may not. To add another HTML 1618group where you will have inline java code where it does not highlight 1619correctly, just copy the line you want from |html.vim| and add gspJava 1620to the contains clause. 1621 1622The backticks for inline java are highlighted according to the htmlError 1623group to make them easier to see. 1624 1625 1626GROFF *groff.vim* *ft-groff-syntax* 1627 1628The groff syntax file is a wrapper for |nroff.vim|, see the notes 1629under that heading for examples of use and configuration. The purpose 1630of this wrapper is to set up groff syntax extensions by setting the 1631filetype from a |modeline| or in a personal filetype definitions file 1632(see |filetype.txt|). 1633 1634 1635HASKELL *haskell.vim* *lhaskell.vim* *ft-haskell-syntax* 1636 1637The Haskell syntax files support plain Haskell code as well as literate 1638Haskell code, the latter in both Bird style and TeX style. The Haskell 1639syntax highlighting will also highlight C preprocessor directives. 1640 1641If you want to highlight delimiter characters (useful if you have a 1642light-coloured background), add to your .vimrc: > 1643 :let hs_highlight_delimiters = 1 1644To treat True and False as keywords as opposed to ordinary identifiers, 1645add: > 1646 :let hs_highlight_boolean = 1 1647To also treat the names of primitive types as keywords: > 1648 :let hs_highlight_types = 1 1649And to treat the names of even more relatively common types as keywords: > 1650 :let hs_highlight_more_types = 1 1651If you want to highlight the names of debugging functions, put in 1652your .vimrc: > 1653 :let hs_highlight_debug = 1 1654 1655The Haskell syntax highlighting also highlights C preprocessor 1656directives, and flags lines that start with # but are not valid 1657directives as erroneous. This interferes with Haskell's syntax for 1658operators, as they may start with #. If you want to highlight those 1659as operators as opposed to errors, put in your .vimrc: > 1660 :let hs_allow_hash_operator = 1 1661 1662The syntax highlighting for literate Haskell code will try to 1663automatically guess whether your literate Haskell code contains 1664TeX markup or not, and correspondingly highlight TeX constructs 1665or nothing at all. You can override this globally by putting 1666in your .vimrc > 1667 :let lhs_markup = none 1668for no highlighting at all, or > 1669 :let lhs_markup = tex 1670to force the highlighting to always try to highlight TeX markup. 1671For more flexibility, you may also use buffer local versions of 1672this variable, so e.g. > 1673 :let b:lhs_markup = tex 1674will force TeX highlighting for a particular buffer. It has to be 1675set before turning syntax highlighting on for the buffer or 1676loading a file. 1677 1678 1679HTML *html.vim* *ft-html-syntax* 1680 1681The coloring scheme for tags in the HTML file works as follows. 1682 1683The <> of opening tags are colored differently than the </> of a closing tag. 1684This is on purpose! For opening tags the 'Function' color is used, while for 1685closing tags the 'Type' color is used (See syntax.vim to check how those are 1686defined for you) 1687 1688Known tag names are colored the same way as statements in C. Unknown tag 1689names are colored with the same color as the <> or </> respectively which 1690makes it easy to spot errors 1691 1692Note that the same is true for argument (or attribute) names. Known attribute 1693names are colored differently than unknown ones. 1694 1695Some HTML tags are used to change the rendering of text. The following tags 1696are recognized by the html.vim syntax coloring file and change the way normal 1697text is shown: <B> <I> <U> <EM> <STRONG> (<EM> is used as an alias for <I>, 1698while <STRONG> as an alias for <B>), <H1> - <H6>, <HEAD>, <TITLE> and <A>, but 1699only if used as a link (that is, it must include a href as in 1700<A href="somefile.html">). 1701 1702If you want to change how such text is rendered, you must redefine the 1703following syntax groups: 1704 1705 - htmlBold 1706 - htmlBoldUnderline 1707 - htmlBoldUnderlineItalic 1708 - htmlUnderline 1709 - htmlUnderlineItalic 1710 - htmlItalic 1711 - htmlTitle for titles 1712 - htmlH1 - htmlH6 for headings 1713 1714To make this redefinition work you must redefine them all with the exception 1715of the last two (htmlTitle and htmlH[1-6], which are optional) and define the 1716following variable in your vimrc (this is due to the order in which the files 1717are read during initialization) > 1718 :let html_my_rendering=1 1719 1720If you'd like to see an example download mysyntax.vim at 1721http://www.fleiner.com/vim/download.html 1722 1723You can also disable this rendering by adding the following line to your 1724vimrc file: > 1725 :let html_no_rendering=1 1726 1727HTML comments are rather special (see an HTML reference document for the 1728details), and the syntax coloring scheme will highlight all errors. 1729However, if you prefer to use the wrong style (starts with <!-- and 1730ends with -->) you can define > 1731 :let html_wrong_comments=1 1732 1733JavaScript and Visual Basic embedded inside HTML documents are highlighted as 1734'Special' with statements, comments, strings and so on colored as in standard 1735programming languages. Note that only JavaScript and Visual Basic are currently 1736supported, no other scripting language has been added yet. 1737 1738Embedded and inlined cascading style sheets (CSS) are highlighted too. 1739 1740There are several html preprocessor languages out there. html.vim has been 1741written such that it should be trivial to include it. To do so add the 1742following two lines to the syntax coloring file for that language 1743(the example comes from the asp.vim file): 1744 1745 runtime! syntax/html.vim 1746 syn cluster htmlPreproc add=asp 1747 1748Now you just need to make sure that you add all regions that contain 1749the preprocessor language to the cluster htmlPreproc. 1750 1751 1752HTML/OS (by Aestiva) *htmlos.vim* *ft-htmlos-syntax* 1753 1754The coloring scheme for HTML/OS works as follows: 1755 1756Functions and variable names are the same color by default, because VIM 1757doesn't specify different colors for Functions and Identifiers. To change 1758this (which is recommended if you want function names to be recognizable in a 1759different color) you need to add the following line to either your ~/.vimrc: > 1760 :hi Function term=underline cterm=bold ctermfg=LightGray 1761 1762Of course, the ctermfg can be a different color if you choose. 1763 1764Another issues that HTML/OS runs into is that there is no special filetype to 1765signify that it is a file with HTML/OS coding. You can change this by opening 1766a file and turning on HTML/OS syntax by doing the following: > 1767 :set syntax=htmlos 1768 1769Lastly, it should be noted that the opening and closing characters to begin a 1770block of HTML/OS code can either be << or [[ and >> or ]], respectively. 1771 1772 1773IA64 *ia64.vim* *intel-itanium* *ft-ia64-syntax* 1774 1775Highlighting for the Intel Itanium 64 assembly language. See |asm.vim| for 1776how to recognize this filetype. 1777 1778To have *.inc files be recognized as IA64, add this to your .vimrc file: > 1779 :let g:filetype_inc = "ia64" 1780 1781 1782INFORM *inform.vim* *ft-inform-syntax* 1783 1784Inform highlighting includes symbols provided by the Inform Library, as 1785most programs make extensive use of it. If do not wish Library symbols 1786to be highlighted add this to your vim startup: > 1787 :let inform_highlight_simple=1 1788 1789By default it is assumed that Inform programs are Z-machine targeted, 1790and highlights Z-machine assembly language symbols appropriately. If 1791you intend your program to be targeted to a Glulx/Glk environment you 1792need to add this to your startup sequence: > 1793 :let inform_highlight_glulx=1 1794 1795This will highlight Glulx opcodes instead, and also adds glk() to the 1796set of highlighted system functions. 1797 1798The Inform compiler will flag certain obsolete keywords as errors when 1799it encounters them. These keywords are normally highlighted as errors 1800by Vim. To prevent such error highlighting, you must add this to your 1801startup sequence: > 1802 :let inform_suppress_obsolete=1 1803 1804By default, the language features highlighted conform to Compiler 1805version 6.30 and Library version 6.11. If you are using an older 1806Inform development environment, you may with to add this to your 1807startup sequence: > 1808 :let inform_highlight_old=1 1809 1810IDL *idl.vim* *idl-syntax* 1811 1812IDL (Interface Definition Language) files are used to define RPC calls. In 1813Microsoft land, this is also used for defining COM interfaces and calls. 1814 1815IDL's structure is simple enough to permit a full grammar based approach to 1816rather than using a few heuristics. The result is large and somewhat 1817repetitive but seems to work. 1818 1819There are some Microsoft extensions to idl files that are here. Some of them 1820are disabled by defining idl_no_ms_extensions. 1821 1822The more complex of the extensions are disabled by defining idl_no_extensions. 1823 1824Variable Effect ~ 1825 1826idl_no_ms_extensions Disable some of the Microsoft specific 1827 extensions 1828idl_no_extensions Disable complex extensions 1829idlsyntax_showerror Show IDL errors (can be rather intrusive, but 1830 quite helpful) 1831idlsyntax_showerror_soft Use softer colours by default for errors 1832 1833 1834JAVA *java.vim* *ft-java-syntax* 1835 1836The java.vim syntax highlighting file offers several options: 1837 1838In Java 1.0.2 it was never possible to have braces inside parens, so this was 1839flagged as an error. Since Java 1.1 this is possible (with anonymous 1840classes), and therefore is no longer marked as an error. If you prefer the old 1841way, put the following line into your vim startup file: > 1842 :let java_mark_braces_in_parens_as_errors=1 1843 1844All identifiers in java.lang.* are always visible in all classes. To 1845highlight them use: > 1846 :let java_highlight_java_lang_ids=1 1847 1848You can also highlight identifiers of most standard Java packages if you 1849download the javaid.vim script at http://www.fleiner.com/vim/download.html. 1850If you prefer to only highlight identifiers of a certain package, say java.io 1851use the following: > 1852 :let java_highlight_java_io=1 1853Check the javaid.vim file for a list of all the packages that are supported. 1854 1855Function names are not highlighted, as the way to find functions depends on 1856how you write Java code. The syntax file knows two possible ways to highlight 1857functions: 1858 1859If you write function declarations that are always indented by either 1860a tab, 8 spaces or 2 spaces you may want to set > 1861 :let java_highlight_functions="indent" 1862However, if you follow the Java guidelines about how functions and classes are 1863supposed to be named (with respect to upper and lowercase), use > 1864 :let java_highlight_functions="style" 1865If both options do not work for you, but you would still want function 1866declarations to be highlighted create your own definitions by changing the 1867definitions in java.vim or by creating your own java.vim which includes the 1868original one and then adds the code to highlight functions. 1869 1870In Java 1.1 the functions System.out.println() and System.err.println() should 1871only be used for debugging. Therefore it is possible to highlight debugging 1872statements differently. To do this you must add the following definition in 1873your startup file: > 1874 :let java_highlight_debug=1 1875The result will be that those statements are highlighted as 'Special' 1876characters. If you prefer to have them highlighted differently you must define 1877new highlightings for the following groups.: 1878 Debug, DebugSpecial, DebugString, DebugBoolean, DebugType 1879which are used for the statement itself, special characters used in debug 1880strings, strings, boolean constants and types (this, super) respectively. I 1881have opted to chose another background for those statements. 1882 1883Javadoc is a program that takes special comments out of Java program files and 1884creates HTML pages. The standard configuration will highlight this HTML code 1885similarly to HTML files (see |html.vim|). You can even add Javascript 1886and CSS inside this code (see below). There are four differences however: 1887 1. The title (all characters up to the first '.' which is followed by 1888 some white space or up to the first '@') is colored differently (to change 1889 the color change the group CommentTitle). 1890 2. The text is colored as 'Comment'. 1891 3. HTML comments are colored as 'Special' 1892 4. The special Javadoc tags (@see, @param, ...) are highlighted as specials 1893 and the argument (for @see, @param, @exception) as Function. 1894To turn this feature off add the following line to your startup file: > 1895 :let java_ignore_javadoc=1 1896 1897If you use the special Javadoc comment highlighting described above you 1898can also turn on special highlighting for Javascript, visual basic 1899scripts and embedded CSS (stylesheets). This makes only sense if you 1900actually have Javadoc comments that include either Javascript or embedded 1901CSS. The options to use are > 1902 :let java_javascript=1 1903 :let java_css=1 1904 :let java_vb=1 1905 1906In order to highlight nested parens with different colors define colors 1907for javaParen, javaParen1 and javaParen2, for example with > 1908 :hi link javaParen Comment 1909or > 1910 :hi javaParen ctermfg=blue guifg=#0000ff 1911 1912If you notice highlighting errors while scrolling backwards, which are fixed 1913when redrawing with CTRL-L, try setting the "java_minlines" internal variable 1914to a larger number: > 1915 :let java_minlines = 50 1916This will make the syntax synchronization start 50 lines before the first 1917displayed line. The default value is 10. The disadvantage of using a larger 1918number is that redrawing can become slow. 1919 1920 1921LACE *lace.vim* *ft-lace-syntax* 1922 1923Lace (Language for Assembly of Classes in Eiffel) is case insensitive, but the 1924style guide lines are not. If you prefer case insensitive highlighting, just 1925define the vim variable 'lace_case_insensitive' in your startup file: > 1926 :let lace_case_insensitive=1 1927 1928 1929LEX *lex.vim* *ft-lex-syntax* 1930 1931Lex uses brute-force synchronizing as the "^%%$" section delimiter 1932gives no clue as to what section follows. Consequently, the value for > 1933 :syn sync minlines=300 1934may be changed by the user if s/he is experiencing synchronization 1935difficulties (such as may happen with large lex files). 1936 1937 1938LIFELINES *lifelines.vim* *ft-lifelines-syntax* 1939 1940To highlight deprecated functions as errors, add in your .vimrc: > 1941 1942 :let g:lifelines_deprecated = 1 1943< 1944 1945LISP *lisp.vim* *ft-lisp-syntax* 1946 1947The lisp syntax highlighting provides two options: > 1948 1949 g:lisp_instring : if it exists, then "(...)" strings are highlighted 1950 as if the contents of the string were lisp. 1951 Useful for AutoLisp. 1952 g:lisp_rainbow : if it exists and is nonzero, then differing levels 1953 of parenthesization will receive different 1954 highlighting. 1955< 1956The g:lisp_rainbow option provides 10 levels of individual colorization for 1957the parentheses and backquoted parentheses. Because of the quantity of 1958colorization levels, unlike non-rainbow highlighting, the rainbow mode 1959specifies its highlighting using ctermfg and guifg, thereby bypassing the 1960usual colorscheme control using standard highlighting groups. The actual 1961highlighting used depends on the dark/bright setting (see |'bg'|). 1962 1963 1964LITE *lite.vim* *ft-lite-syntax* 1965 1966There are two options for the lite syntax highlighting. 1967 1968If you like SQL syntax highlighting inside Strings, use this: > 1969 1970 :let lite_sql_query = 1 1971 1972For syncing, minlines defaults to 100. If you prefer another value, you can 1973set "lite_minlines" to the value you desire. Example: > 1974 1975 :let lite_minlines = 200 1976 1977 1978LPC *lpc.vim* *ft-lpc-syntax* 1979 1980LPC stands for a simple, memory-efficient language: Lars Pensj| C. The 1981file name of LPC is usually *.c. Recognizing these files as LPC would bother 1982users writing only C programs. If you want to use LPC syntax in Vim, you 1983should set a variable in your .vimrc file: > 1984 1985 :let lpc_syntax_for_c = 1 1986 1987If it doesn't work properly for some particular C or LPC files, use a 1988modeline. For a LPC file: 1989 1990 // vim:set ft=lpc: 1991 1992For a C file that is recognized as LPC: 1993 1994 // vim:set ft=c: 1995 1996If you don't want to set the variable, use the modeline in EVERY LPC file. 1997 1998There are several implementations for LPC, we intend to support most widely 1999used ones. Here the default LPC syntax is for MudOS series, for MudOS v22 2000and before, you should turn off the sensible modifiers, and this will also 2001assert the new efuns after v22 to be invalid, don't set this variable when 2002you are using the latest version of MudOS: > 2003 2004 :let lpc_pre_v22 = 1 2005 2006For LpMud 3.2 series of LPC: > 2007 2008 :let lpc_compat_32 = 1 2009 2010For LPC4 series of LPC: > 2011 2012 :let lpc_use_lpc4_syntax = 1 2013 2014For uLPC series of LPC: 2015uLPC has been developed to Pike, so you should use Pike syntax 2016instead, and the name of your source file should be *.pike 2017 2018 2019LUA *lua.vim* *ft-lua-syntax* 2020 2021The Lua syntax file can be used for versions 4.0, 5.0, 5.1 and 5.2 (5.2 is 2022the default). You can select one of these versions using the global variables 2023lua_version and lua_subversion. For example, to activate Lua 20245.1 syntax highlighting, set the variables like this: 2025 2026 :let lua_version = 5 2027 :let lua_subversion = 1 2028 2029 2030MAIL *mail.vim* *ft-mail.vim* 2031 2032Vim highlights all the standard elements of an email (headers, signatures, 2033quoted text and URLs / email addresses). In keeping with standard conventions, 2034signatures begin in a line containing only "--" followed optionally by 2035whitespaces and end with a newline. 2036 2037Vim treats lines beginning with ']', '}', '|', '>' or a word followed by '>' 2038as quoted text. However Vim highlights headers and signatures in quoted text 2039only if the text is quoted with '>' (optionally followed by one space). 2040 2041By default mail.vim synchronises syntax to 100 lines before the first 2042displayed line. If you have a slow machine, and generally deal with emails 2043with short headers, you can change this to a smaller value: > 2044 2045 :let mail_minlines = 30 2046 2047 2048MAKE *make.vim* *ft-make-syntax* 2049 2050In makefiles, commands are usually highlighted to make it easy for you to spot 2051errors. However, this may be too much coloring for you. You can turn this 2052feature off by using: > 2053 2054 :let make_no_commands = 1 2055 2056 2057MAPLE *maple.vim* *ft-maple-syntax* 2058 2059Maple V, by Waterloo Maple Inc, supports symbolic algebra. The language 2060supports many packages of functions which are selectively loaded by the user. 2061The standard set of packages' functions as supplied in Maple V release 4 may be 2062highlighted at the user's discretion. Users may place in their .vimrc file: > 2063 2064 :let mvpkg_all= 1 2065 2066to get all package functions highlighted, or users may select any subset by 2067choosing a variable/package from the table below and setting that variable to 20681, also in their .vimrc file (prior to sourcing 2069$VIMRUNTIME/syntax/syntax.vim). 2070 2071 Table of Maple V Package Function Selectors > 2072 mv_DEtools mv_genfunc mv_networks mv_process 2073 mv_Galois mv_geometry mv_numapprox mv_simplex 2074 mv_GaussInt mv_grobner mv_numtheory mv_stats 2075 mv_LREtools mv_group mv_orthopoly mv_student 2076 mv_combinat mv_inttrans mv_padic mv_sumtools 2077 mv_combstruct mv_liesymm mv_plots mv_tensor 2078 mv_difforms mv_linalg mv_plottools mv_totorder 2079 mv_finance mv_logic mv_powseries 2080 2081 2082MATHEMATICA *mma.vim* *ft-mma-syntax* *ft-mathematica-syntax* 2083 2084Empty *.m files will automatically be presumed to be Matlab files unless you 2085have the following in your .vimrc: > 2086 2087 let filetype_m = "mma" 2088 2089 2090MOO *moo.vim* *ft-moo-syntax* 2091 2092If you use C-style comments inside expressions and find it mangles your 2093highlighting, you may want to use extended (slow!) matches for C-style 2094comments: > 2095 2096 :let moo_extended_cstyle_comments = 1 2097 2098To disable highlighting of pronoun substitution patterns inside strings: > 2099 2100 :let moo_no_pronoun_sub = 1 2101 2102To disable highlighting of the regular expression operator '%|', and matching 2103'%(' and '%)' inside strings: > 2104 2105 :let moo_no_regexp = 1 2106 2107Unmatched double quotes can be recognized and highlighted as errors: > 2108 2109 :let moo_unmatched_quotes = 1 2110 2111To highlight builtin properties (.name, .location, .programmer etc.): > 2112 2113 :let moo_builtin_properties = 1 2114 2115Unknown builtin functions can be recognized and highlighted as errors. If you 2116use this option, add your own extensions to the mooKnownBuiltinFunction group. 2117To enable this option: > 2118 2119 :let moo_unknown_builtin_functions = 1 2120 2121An example of adding sprintf() to the list of known builtin functions: > 2122 2123 :syn keyword mooKnownBuiltinFunction sprintf contained 2124 2125 2126MSQL *msql.vim* *ft-msql-syntax* 2127 2128There are two options for the msql syntax highlighting. 2129 2130If you like SQL syntax highlighting inside Strings, use this: > 2131 2132 :let msql_sql_query = 1 2133 2134For syncing, minlines defaults to 100. If you prefer another value, you can 2135set "msql_minlines" to the value you desire. Example: > 2136 2137 :let msql_minlines = 200 2138 2139 2140N1QL *n1ql.vim* *ft-n1ql-syntax* 2141 2142N1QL is a SQL-like declarative language for manipulating JSON documents in 2143Couchbase Server databases. 2144 2145Vim syntax highlights N1QL statements, keywords, operators, types, comments, 2146and special values. Vim ignores syntactical elements specific to SQL or its 2147many dialects, like COLUMN or CHAR, that don't exist in N1QL. 2148 2149 2150NCF *ncf.vim* *ft-ncf-syntax* 2151 2152There is one option for NCF syntax highlighting. 2153 2154If you want to have unrecognized (by ncf.vim) statements highlighted as 2155errors, use this: > 2156 2157 :let ncf_highlight_unknowns = 1 2158 2159If you don't want to highlight these errors, leave it unset. 2160 2161 2162NROFF *nroff.vim* *ft-nroff-syntax* 2163 2164The nroff syntax file works with AT&T n/troff out of the box. You need to 2165activate the GNU groff extra features included in the syntax file before you 2166can use them. 2167 2168For example, Linux and BSD distributions use groff as their default text 2169processing package. In order to activate the extra syntax highlighting 2170features for groff, add the following option to your start-up files: > 2171 2172 :let b:nroff_is_groff = 1 2173 2174Groff is different from the old AT&T n/troff that you may still find in 2175Solaris. Groff macro and request names can be longer than 2 characters and 2176there are extensions to the language primitives. For example, in AT&T troff 2177you access the year as a 2-digit number with the request \(yr. In groff you 2178can use the same request, recognized for compatibility, or you can use groff's 2179native syntax, \[yr]. Furthermore, you can use a 4-digit year directly: 2180\[year]. Macro requests can be longer than 2 characters, for example, GNU mm 2181accepts the requests ".VERBON" and ".VERBOFF" for creating verbatim 2182environments. 2183 2184In order to obtain the best formatted output g/troff can give you, you should 2185follow a few simple rules about spacing and punctuation. 2186 21871. Do not leave empty spaces at the end of lines. 2188 21892. Leave one space and one space only after an end-of-sentence period, 2190 exclamation mark, etc. 2191 21923. For reasons stated below, it is best to follow all period marks with a 2193 carriage return. 2194 2195The reason behind these unusual tips is that g/n/troff have a line breaking 2196algorithm that can be easily upset if you don't follow the rules given above. 2197 2198Unlike TeX, troff fills text line-by-line, not paragraph-by-paragraph and, 2199furthermore, it does not have a concept of glue or stretch, all horizontal and 2200vertical space input will be output as is. 2201 2202Therefore, you should be careful about not using more space between sentences 2203than you intend to have in your final document. For this reason, the common 2204practice is to insert a carriage return immediately after all punctuation 2205marks. If you want to have "even" text in your final processed output, you 2206need to maintain regular spacing in the input text. To mark both trailing 2207spaces and two or more spaces after a punctuation as an error, use: > 2208 2209 :let nroff_space_errors = 1 2210 2211Another technique to detect extra spacing and other errors that will interfere 2212with the correct typesetting of your file, is to define an eye-catching 2213highlighting definition for the syntax groups "nroffDefinition" and 2214"nroffDefSpecial" in your configuration files. For example: > 2215 2216 hi def nroffDefinition term=italic cterm=italic gui=reverse 2217 hi def nroffDefSpecial term=italic,bold cterm=italic,bold 2218 \ gui=reverse,bold 2219 2220If you want to navigate preprocessor entries in your source file as easily as 2221with section markers, you can activate the following option in your .vimrc 2222file: > 2223 2224 let b:preprocs_as_sections = 1 2225 2226As well, the syntax file adds an extra paragraph marker for the extended 2227paragraph macro (.XP) in the ms package. 2228 2229Finally, there is a |groff.vim| syntax file that can be used for enabling 2230groff syntax highlighting either on a file basis or globally by default. 2231 2232 2233OCAML *ocaml.vim* *ft-ocaml-syntax* 2234 2235The OCaml syntax file handles files having the following prefixes: .ml, 2236.mli, .mll and .mly. By setting the following variable > 2237 2238 :let ocaml_revised = 1 2239 2240you can switch from standard OCaml-syntax to revised syntax as supported 2241by the camlp4 preprocessor. Setting the variable > 2242 2243 :let ocaml_noend_error = 1 2244 2245prevents highlighting of "end" as error, which is useful when sources 2246contain very long structures that Vim does not synchronize anymore. 2247 2248 2249PAPP *papp.vim* *ft-papp-syntax* 2250 2251The PApp syntax file handles .papp files and, to a lesser extend, .pxml 2252and .pxsl files which are all a mixture of perl/xml/html/other using xml 2253as the top-level file format. By default everything inside phtml or pxml 2254sections is treated as a string with embedded preprocessor commands. If 2255you set the variable: > 2256 2257 :let papp_include_html=1 2258 2259in your startup file it will try to syntax-hilight html code inside phtml 2260sections, but this is relatively slow and much too colourful to be able to 2261edit sensibly. ;) 2262 2263The newest version of the papp.vim syntax file can usually be found at 2264http://papp.plan9.de. 2265 2266 2267PASCAL *pascal.vim* *ft-pascal-syntax* 2268 2269Files matching "*.p" could be Progress or Pascal. If the automatic detection 2270doesn't work for you, or you don't edit Progress at all, use this in your 2271startup vimrc: > 2272 2273 :let filetype_p = "pascal" 2274 2275The Pascal syntax file has been extended to take into account some extensions 2276provided by Turbo Pascal, Free Pascal Compiler and GNU Pascal Compiler. 2277Delphi keywords are also supported. By default, Turbo Pascal 7.0 features are 2278enabled. If you prefer to stick with the standard Pascal keywords, add the 2279following line to your startup file: > 2280 2281 :let pascal_traditional=1 2282 2283To switch on Delphi specific constructions (such as one-line comments, 2284keywords, etc): > 2285 2286 :let pascal_delphi=1 2287 2288 2289The option pascal_symbol_operator controls whether symbol operators such as +, 2290*, .., etc. are displayed using the Operator color or not. To colorize symbol 2291operators, add the following line to your startup file: > 2292 2293 :let pascal_symbol_operator=1 2294 2295Some functions are highlighted by default. To switch it off: > 2296 2297 :let pascal_no_functions=1 2298 2299Furthermore, there are specific variables for some compilers. Besides 2300pascal_delphi, there are pascal_gpc and pascal_fpc. Default extensions try to 2301match Turbo Pascal. > 2302 2303 :let pascal_gpc=1 2304 2305or > 2306 2307 :let pascal_fpc=1 2308 2309To ensure that strings are defined on a single line, you can define the 2310pascal_one_line_string variable. > 2311 2312 :let pascal_one_line_string=1 2313 2314If you dislike <Tab> chars, you can set the pascal_no_tabs variable. Tabs 2315will be highlighted as Error. > 2316 2317 :let pascal_no_tabs=1 2318 2319 2320 2321PERL *perl.vim* *ft-perl-syntax* 2322 2323There are a number of possible options to the perl syntax highlighting. 2324 2325Inline POD highlighting is now turned on by default. If you don't wish 2326to have the added complexity of highlighting POD embedded within Perl 2327files, you may set the 'perl_include_pod' option to 0: > 2328 2329 :let perl_include_pod = 0 2330 2331To reduce the complexity of parsing (and increase performance) you can switch 2332off two elements in the parsing of variable names and contents. > 2333 2334To handle package references in variable and function names not differently 2335from the rest of the name (like 'PkgName::' in '$PkgName::VarName'): > 2336 2337 :let perl_no_scope_in_variables = 1 2338 2339(In Vim 6.x it was the other way around: "perl_want_scope_in_variables" 2340enabled it.) 2341 2342If you do not want complex things like '@{${"foo"}}' to be parsed: > 2343 2344 :let perl_no_extended_vars = 1 2345 2346(In Vim 6.x it was the other way around: "perl_extended_vars" enabled it.) 2347 2348The coloring strings can be changed. By default strings and qq friends will be 2349highlighted like the first line. If you set the variable 2350perl_string_as_statement, it will be highlighted as in the second line. 2351 2352 "hello world!"; qq|hello world|; 2353 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^NN^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^N (unlet perl_string_as_statement) 2354 S^^^^^^^^^^^^SNNSSS^^^^^^^^^^^SN (let perl_string_as_statement) 2355 2356(^ = perlString, S = perlStatement, N = None at all) 2357 2358The syncing has 3 options. The first two switch off some triggering of 2359synchronization and should only be needed in case it fails to work properly. 2360If while scrolling all of a sudden the whole screen changes color completely 2361then you should try and switch off one of those. Let me know if you can figure 2362out the line that causes the mistake. 2363 2364One triggers on "^\s*sub\s*" and the other on "^[$@%]" more or less. > 2365 2366 :let perl_no_sync_on_sub 2367 :let perl_no_sync_on_global_var 2368 2369Below you can set the maximum distance VIM should look for starting points for 2370its attempts in syntax highlighting. > 2371 2372 :let perl_sync_dist = 100 2373 2374If you want to use folding with perl, set perl_fold: > 2375 2376 :let perl_fold = 1 2377 2378If you want to fold blocks in if statements, etc. as well set the following: > 2379 2380 :let perl_fold_blocks = 1 2381 2382Subroutines are folded by default if 'perl_fold' is set. If you do not want 2383this, you can set 'perl_nofold_subs': > 2384 2385 :let perl_nofold_subs = 1 2386 2387Anonymous subroutines are not folded by default; you may enable their folding 2388via 'perl_fold_anonymous_subs': > 2389 2390 :let perl_fold_anonymous_subs = 1 2391 2392Packages are also folded by default if 'perl_fold' is set. To disable this 2393behavior, set 'perl_nofold_packages': > 2394 2395 :let perl_nofold_packages = 1 2396 2397PHP3 and PHP4 *php.vim* *php3.vim* *ft-php-syntax* *ft-php3-syntax* 2398 2399[note: previously this was called "php3", but since it now also supports php4 2400it has been renamed to "php"] 2401 2402There are the following options for the php syntax highlighting. 2403 2404If you like SQL syntax highlighting inside Strings: > 2405 2406 let php_sql_query = 1 2407 2408For highlighting the Baselib methods: > 2409 2410 let php_baselib = 1 2411 2412Enable HTML syntax highlighting inside strings: > 2413 2414 let php_htmlInStrings = 1 2415 2416Using the old colorstyle: > 2417 2418 let php_oldStyle = 1 2419 2420Enable highlighting ASP-style short tags: > 2421 2422 let php_asp_tags = 1 2423 2424Disable short tags: > 2425 2426 let php_noShortTags = 1 2427 2428For highlighting parent error ] or ): > 2429 2430 let php_parent_error_close = 1 2431 2432For skipping a php end tag, if there exists an open ( or [ without a closing 2433one: > 2434 2435 let php_parent_error_open = 1 2436 2437Enable folding for classes and functions: > 2438 2439 let php_folding = 1 2440 2441Selecting syncing method: > 2442 2443 let php_sync_method = x 2444 2445x = -1 to sync by search (default), 2446x > 0 to sync at least x lines backwards, 2447x = 0 to sync from start. 2448 2449 2450PLAINTEX *plaintex.vim* *ft-plaintex-syntax* 2451 2452TeX is a typesetting language, and plaintex is the file type for the "plain" 2453variant of TeX. If you never want your *.tex files recognized as plain TeX, 2454see |ft-tex-plugin|. 2455 2456This syntax file has the option > 2457 2458 let g:plaintex_delimiters = 1 2459 2460if you want to highlight brackets "[]" and braces "{}". 2461 2462 2463PPWIZARD *ppwiz.vim* *ft-ppwiz-syntax* 2464 2465PPWizard is a preprocessor for HTML and OS/2 INF files 2466 2467This syntax file has the options: 2468 2469- ppwiz_highlight_defs : determines highlighting mode for PPWizard's 2470 definitions. Possible values are 2471 2472 ppwiz_highlight_defs = 1 : PPWizard #define statements retain the 2473 colors of their contents (e.g. PPWizard macros and variables) 2474 2475 ppwiz_highlight_defs = 2 : preprocessor #define and #evaluate 2476 statements are shown in a single color with the exception of line 2477 continuation symbols 2478 2479 The default setting for ppwiz_highlight_defs is 1. 2480 2481- ppwiz_with_html : If the value is 1 (the default), highlight literal 2482 HTML code; if 0, treat HTML code like ordinary text. 2483 2484 2485PHTML *phtml.vim* *ft-phtml-syntax* 2486 2487There are two options for the phtml syntax highlighting. 2488 2489If you like SQL syntax highlighting inside Strings, use this: > 2490 2491 :let phtml_sql_query = 1 2492 2493For syncing, minlines defaults to 100. If you prefer another value, you can 2494set "phtml_minlines" to the value you desire. Example: > 2495 2496 :let phtml_minlines = 200 2497 2498 2499POSTSCRIPT *postscr.vim* *ft-postscr-syntax* 2500 2501There are several options when it comes to highlighting PostScript. 2502 2503First which version of the PostScript language to highlight. There are 2504currently three defined language versions, or levels. Level 1 is the original 2505and base version, and includes all extensions prior to the release of level 2. 2506Level 2 is the most common version around, and includes its own set of 2507extensions prior to the release of level 3. Level 3 is currently the highest 2508level supported. You select which level of the PostScript language you want 2509highlighted by defining the postscr_level variable as follows: > 2510 2511 :let postscr_level=2 2512 2513If this variable is not defined it defaults to 2 (level 2) since this is 2514the most prevalent version currently. 2515 2516Note, not all PS interpreters will support all language features for a 2517particular language level. In particular the %!PS-Adobe-3.0 at the start of 2518PS files does NOT mean the PostScript present is level 3 PostScript! 2519 2520If you are working with Display PostScript, you can include highlighting of 2521Display PS language features by defining the postscr_display variable as 2522follows: > 2523 2524 :let postscr_display=1 2525 2526If you are working with Ghostscript, you can include highlighting of 2527Ghostscript specific language features by defining the variable 2528postscr_ghostscript as follows: > 2529 2530 :let postscr_ghostscript=1 2531 2532PostScript is a large language, with many predefined elements. While it 2533useful to have all these elements highlighted, on slower machines this can 2534cause Vim to slow down. In an attempt to be machine friendly font names and 2535character encodings are not highlighted by default. Unless you are working 2536explicitly with either of these this should be ok. If you want them to be 2537highlighted you should set one or both of the following variables: > 2538 2539 :let postscr_fonts=1 2540 :let postscr_encodings=1 2541 2542There is a stylistic option to the highlighting of and, or, and not. In 2543PostScript the function of these operators depends on the types of their 2544operands - if the operands are booleans then they are the logical operators, 2545if they are integers then they are binary operators. As binary and logical 2546operators can be highlighted differently they have to be highlighted one way 2547or the other. By default they are treated as logical operators. They can be 2548highlighted as binary operators by defining the variable 2549postscr_andornot_binary as follows: > 2550 2551 :let postscr_andornot_binary=1 2552< 2553 2554 *ptcap.vim* *ft-printcap-syntax* 2555PRINTCAP + TERMCAP *ft-ptcap-syntax* *ft-termcap-syntax* 2556 2557This syntax file applies to the printcap and termcap databases. 2558 2559In order for Vim to recognize printcap/termcap files that do not match 2560the patterns *printcap*, or *termcap*, you must put additional patterns 2561appropriate to your system in your |myfiletypefile| file. For these 2562patterns, you must set the variable "b:ptcap_type" to either "print" or 2563"term", and then the 'filetype' option to ptcap. 2564 2565For example, to make Vim identify all files in /etc/termcaps/ as termcap 2566files, add the following: > 2567 2568 :au BufNewFile,BufRead /etc/termcaps/* let b:ptcap_type = "term" | 2569 \ set filetype=ptcap 2570 2571If you notice highlighting errors while scrolling backwards, which 2572are fixed when redrawing with CTRL-L, try setting the "ptcap_minlines" 2573internal variable to a larger number: > 2574 2575 :let ptcap_minlines = 50 2576 2577(The default is 20 lines.) 2578 2579 2580PROGRESS *progress.vim* *ft-progress-syntax* 2581 2582Files matching "*.w" could be Progress or cweb. If the automatic detection 2583doesn't work for you, or you don't edit cweb at all, use this in your 2584startup vimrc: > 2585 :let filetype_w = "progress" 2586The same happens for "*.i", which could be assembly, and "*.p", which could be 2587Pascal. Use this if you don't use assembly and Pascal: > 2588 :let filetype_i = "progress" 2589 :let filetype_p = "progress" 2590 2591 2592PYTHON *python.vim* *ft-python-syntax* 2593 2594There are six options to control Python syntax highlighting. 2595 2596For highlighted numbers: > 2597 :let python_no_number_highlight = 1 2598 2599For highlighted builtin functions: > 2600 :let python_no_builtin_highlight = 1 2601 2602For highlighted standard exceptions: > 2603 :let python_no_exception_highlight = 1 2604 2605For highlighted doctests and code inside: > 2606 :let python_no_doctest_highlight = 1 2607or > 2608 :let python_no_doctest_code_highlight = 1 2609(first option implies second one). 2610 2611For highlighted trailing whitespace and mix of spaces and tabs: > 2612 :let python_space_error_highlight = 1 2613 2614If you want all possible Python highlighting (the same as setting the 2615preceding last option and unsetting all other ones): > 2616 :let python_highlight_all = 1 2617 2618Note: only existence of these options matter, not their value. You can replace 2619 1 above with anything. 2620 2621 2622QUAKE *quake.vim* *ft-quake-syntax* 2623 2624The Quake syntax definition should work for most any FPS (First Person 2625Shooter) based on one of the Quake engines. However, the command names vary 2626a bit between the three games (Quake, Quake 2, and Quake 3 Arena) so the 2627syntax definition checks for the existence of three global variables to allow 2628users to specify what commands are legal in their files. The three variables 2629can be set for the following effects: 2630 2631set to highlight commands only available in Quake: > 2632 :let quake_is_quake1 = 1 2633 2634set to highlight commands only available in Quake 2: > 2635 :let quake_is_quake2 = 1 2636 2637set to highlight commands only available in Quake 3 Arena: > 2638 :let quake_is_quake3 = 1 2639 2640Any combination of these three variables is legal, but might highlight more 2641commands than are actually available to you by the game. 2642 2643 2644READLINE *readline.vim* *ft-readline-syntax* 2645 2646The readline library is primarily used by the BASH shell, which adds quite a 2647few commands and options to the ones already available. To highlight these 2648items as well you can add the following to your |vimrc| or just type it in the 2649command line before loading a file with the readline syntax: > 2650 let readline_has_bash = 1 2651 2652This will add highlighting for the commands that BASH (version 2.05a and 2653later, and part earlier) adds. 2654 2655 2656RESTRUCTURED TEXT *rst.vim* *ft-rst-syntax* 2657 2658You may set what syntax definitions should be used for code blocks via > 2659 let rst_syntax_code_list = ['vim', 'lisp', ...] 2660< 2661 2662REXX *rexx.vim* *ft-rexx-syntax* 2663 2664If you notice highlighting errors while scrolling backwards, which are fixed 2665when redrawing with CTRL-L, try setting the "rexx_minlines" internal variable 2666to a larger number: > 2667 :let rexx_minlines = 50 2668This will make the syntax synchronization start 50 lines before the first 2669displayed line. The default value is 10. The disadvantage of using a larger 2670number is that redrawing can become slow. 2671 2672Vim tries to guess what type a ".r" file is. If it can't be detected (from 2673comment lines), the default is "r". To make the default rexx add this line to 2674your .vimrc: *g:filetype_r* 2675> 2676 :let g:filetype_r = "r" 2677 2678 2679RUBY *ruby.vim* *ft-ruby-syntax* 2680 2681 Ruby: Operator highlighting |ruby_operators| 2682 Ruby: Whitespace errors |ruby_space_errors| 2683 Ruby: Folding |ruby_fold| |ruby_foldable_groups| 2684 Ruby: Reducing expensive operations |ruby_no_expensive| |ruby_minlines| 2685 Ruby: Spellchecking strings |ruby_spellcheck_strings| 2686 2687 *ruby_operators* 2688 Ruby: Operator highlighting ~ 2689 2690Operators can be highlighted by defining "ruby_operators": > 2691 2692 :let ruby_operators = 1 2693< 2694 *ruby_space_errors* 2695 Ruby: Whitespace errors ~ 2696 2697Whitespace errors can be highlighted by defining "ruby_space_errors": > 2698 2699 :let ruby_space_errors = 1 2700< 2701This will highlight trailing whitespace and tabs preceded by a space character 2702as errors. This can be refined by defining "ruby_no_trail_space_error" and 2703"ruby_no_tab_space_error" which will ignore trailing whitespace and tabs after 2704spaces respectively. 2705 2706 *ruby_fold* *ruby_foldable_groups* 2707 Ruby: Folding ~ 2708 2709Folding can be enabled by defining "ruby_fold": > 2710 2711 :let ruby_fold = 1 2712< 2713This will set the value of 'foldmethod' to "syntax" locally to the current 2714buffer or window, which will enable syntax-based folding when editing Ruby 2715filetypes. 2716 2717Default folding is rather detailed, i.e., small syntax units like "if", "do", 2718"%w[]" may create corresponding fold levels. 2719 2720You can set "ruby_foldable_groups" to restrict which groups are foldable: > 2721 2722 :let ruby_foldable_groups = 'if case %' 2723< 2724The value is a space-separated list of keywords: 2725 2726 keyword meaning ~ 2727 -------- ------------------------------------- ~ 2728 ALL Most block syntax (default) 2729 NONE Nothing 2730 if "if" or "unless" block 2731 def "def" block 2732 class "class" block 2733 module "module" block 2734 do "do" block 2735 begin "begin" block 2736 case "case" block 2737 for "for", "while", "until" loops 2738 { Curly bracket block or hash literal 2739 [ Array literal 2740 % Literal with "%" notation, e.g.: %w(STRING), %!STRING! 2741 / Regexp 2742 string String and shell command output (surrounded by ', ", `) 2743 : Symbol 2744 # Multiline comment 2745 << Here documents 2746 __END__ Source code after "__END__" directive 2747 2748 *ruby_no_expensive* 2749 Ruby: Reducing expensive operations ~ 2750 2751By default, the "end" keyword is colorized according to the opening statement 2752of the block it closes. While useful, this feature can be expensive; if you 2753experience slow redrawing (or you are on a terminal with poor color support) 2754you may want to turn it off by defining the "ruby_no_expensive" variable: > 2755 2756 :let ruby_no_expensive = 1 2757< 2758In this case the same color will be used for all control keywords. 2759 2760 *ruby_minlines* 2761 2762If you do want this feature enabled, but notice highlighting errors while 2763scrolling backwards, which are fixed when redrawing with CTRL-L, try setting 2764the "ruby_minlines" variable to a value larger than 50: > 2765 2766 :let ruby_minlines = 100 2767< 2768Ideally, this value should be a number of lines large enough to embrace your 2769largest class or module. 2770 2771 *ruby_spellcheck_strings* 2772 Ruby: Spellchecking strings ~ 2773 2774Ruby syntax will perform spellchecking of strings if you define 2775"ruby_spellcheck_strings": > 2776 2777 :let ruby_spellcheck_strings = 1 2778< 2779 2780SCHEME *scheme.vim* *ft-scheme-syntax* 2781 2782By default only R5RS keywords are highlighted and properly indented. 2783 2784MzScheme-specific stuff will be used if b:is_mzscheme or g:is_mzscheme 2785variables are defined. 2786 2787Also scheme.vim supports keywords of the Chicken Scheme->C compiler. Define 2788b:is_chicken or g:is_chicken, if you need them. 2789 2790 2791SDL *sdl.vim* *ft-sdl-syntax* 2792 2793The SDL highlighting probably misses a few keywords, but SDL has so many 2794of them it's almost impossibly to cope. 2795 2796The new standard, SDL-2000, specifies that all identifiers are 2797case-sensitive (which was not so before), and that all keywords can be 2798used either completely lowercase or completely uppercase. To have the 2799highlighting reflect this, you can set the following variable: > 2800 :let sdl_2000=1 2801 2802This also sets many new keywords. If you want to disable the old 2803keywords, which is probably a good idea, use: > 2804 :let SDL_no_96=1 2805 2806 2807The indentation is probably also incomplete, but right now I am very 2808satisfied with it for my own projects. 2809 2810 2811SED *sed.vim* *ft-sed-syntax* 2812 2813To make tabs stand out from regular blanks (accomplished by using Todo 2814highlighting on the tabs), define "highlight_sedtabs" by putting > 2815 2816 :let highlight_sedtabs = 1 2817 2818in the vimrc file. (This special highlighting only applies for tabs 2819inside search patterns, replacement texts, addresses or text included 2820by an Append/Change/Insert command.) If you enable this option, it is 2821also a good idea to set the tab width to one character; by doing that, 2822you can easily count the number of tabs in a string. 2823 2824Bugs: 2825 2826 The transform command (y) is treated exactly like the substitute 2827 command. This means that, as far as this syntax file is concerned, 2828 transform accepts the same flags as substitute, which is wrong. 2829 (Transform accepts no flags.) I tolerate this bug because the 2830 involved commands need very complex treatment (95 patterns, one for 2831 each plausible pattern delimiter). 2832 2833 2834SGML *sgml.vim* *ft-sgml-syntax* 2835 2836The coloring scheme for tags in the SGML file works as follows. 2837 2838The <> of opening tags are colored differently than the </> of a closing tag. 2839This is on purpose! For opening tags the 'Function' color is used, while for 2840closing tags the 'Type' color is used (See syntax.vim to check how those are 2841defined for you) 2842 2843Known tag names are colored the same way as statements in C. Unknown tag 2844names are not colored which makes it easy to spot errors. 2845 2846Note that the same is true for argument (or attribute) names. Known attribute 2847names are colored differently than unknown ones. 2848 2849Some SGML tags are used to change the rendering of text. The following tags 2850are recognized by the sgml.vim syntax coloring file and change the way normal 2851text is shown: <varname> <emphasis> <command> <function> <literal> 2852<replaceable> <ulink> and <link>. 2853 2854If you want to change how such text is rendered, you must redefine the 2855following syntax groups: 2856 2857 - sgmlBold 2858 - sgmlBoldItalic 2859 - sgmlUnderline 2860 - sgmlItalic 2861 - sgmlLink for links 2862 2863To make this redefinition work you must redefine them all and define the 2864following variable in your vimrc (this is due to the order in which the files 2865are read during initialization) > 2866 let sgml_my_rendering=1 2867 2868You can also disable this rendering by adding the following line to your 2869vimrc file: > 2870 let sgml_no_rendering=1 2871 2872(Adapted from the html.vim help text by Claudio Fleiner <[email protected]>) 2873 2874 2875 *ft-posix-synax* *ft-dash-syntax* 2876SH *sh.vim* *ft-sh-syntax* *ft-bash-syntax* *ft-ksh-syntax* 2877 2878This covers syntax highlighting for the older Unix (Bourne) sh, and newer 2879shells such as bash, dash, posix, and the Korn shells. 2880 2881Vim attempts to determine which shell type is in use by specifying that 2882various filenames are of specific types: > 2883 2884 ksh : .kshrc* *.ksh 2885 bash: .bashrc* bashrc bash.bashrc .bash_profile* *.bash 2886< 2887If none of these cases pertain, then the first line of the file is examined 2888(ex. looking for /bin/sh /bin/ksh /bin/bash). If the first line specifies a 2889shelltype, then that shelltype is used. However some files (ex. .profile) are 2890known to be shell files but the type is not apparent. Furthermore, on many 2891systems sh is symbolically linked to "bash" (Linux, Windows+cygwin) or "ksh" 2892(Posix). 2893 2894One may specify a global default by instantiating one of the following 2895variables in your <.vimrc>: 2896 2897 ksh: > 2898 let g:is_kornshell = 1 2899< posix: (using this is the nearly the same as setting g:is_kornshell to 1) > 2900 let g:is_posix = 1 2901< bash: > 2902 let g:is_bash = 1 2903< sh: (default) Bourne shell > 2904 let g:is_sh = 1 2905 2906< (dash users should use posix) 2907 2908If there's no "#! ..." line, and the user hasn't availed himself/herself of a 2909default sh.vim syntax setting as just shown, then syntax/sh.vim will assume 2910the Bourne shell syntax. No need to quote RFCs or market penetration 2911statistics in error reports, please -- just select the default version of the 2912sh your system uses and install the associated "let..." in your <.vimrc>. 2913 2914The syntax/sh.vim file provides several levels of syntax-based folding: > 2915 2916 let g:sh_fold_enabled= 0 (default, no syntax folding) 2917 let g:sh_fold_enabled= 1 (enable function folding) 2918 let g:sh_fold_enabled= 2 (enable heredoc folding) 2919 let g:sh_fold_enabled= 4 (enable if/do/for folding) 2920> 2921then various syntax items (ie. HereDocuments and function bodies) become 2922syntax-foldable (see |:syn-fold|). You also may add these together 2923to get multiple types of folding: > 2924 2925 let g:sh_fold_enabled= 3 (enables function and heredoc folding) 2926 2927If you notice highlighting errors while scrolling backwards which are fixed 2928when one redraws with CTRL-L, try setting the "sh_minlines" internal variable 2929to a larger number. Example: > 2930 2931 let sh_minlines = 500 2932 2933This will make syntax synchronization start 500 lines before the first 2934displayed line. The default value is 200. The disadvantage of using a larger 2935number is that redrawing can become slow. 2936 2937If you don't have much to synchronize on, displaying can be very slow. To 2938reduce this, the "sh_maxlines" internal variable can be set. Example: > 2939 2940 let sh_maxlines = 100 2941< 2942The default is to use the twice sh_minlines. Set it to a smaller number to 2943speed up displaying. The disadvantage is that highlight errors may appear. 2944 2945syntax/sh.vim tries to flag certain problems as errors; usually things like 2946extra ']'s, 'done's, 'fi's, etc. If you find the error handling problematic 2947for your purposes, you may suppress such error highlighting by putting 2948the following line in your .vimrc: > 2949 2950 let g:sh_no_error= 1 2951< 2952 2953 *sh-embed* *sh-awk* 2954 Sh: EMBEDDING LANGUAGES~ 2955 2956You may wish to embed languages into sh. I'll give an example courtesy of 2957Lorance Stinson on how to do this with awk as an example. Put the following 2958file into $HOME/.vim/after/syntax/sh/awkembed.vim: > 2959 2960 " AWK Embedding: 2961 " ============== 2962 " Shamelessly ripped from aspperl.vim by Aaron Hope. 2963 if exists("b:current_syntax") 2964 unlet b:current_syntax 2965 endif 2966 syn include @AWKScript syntax/awk.vim 2967 syn region AWKScriptCode matchgroup=AWKCommand start=+[=\\]\@<!'+ skip=+\\'+ end=+'+ contains=@AWKScript contained 2968 syn region AWKScriptEmbedded matchgroup=AWKCommand start=+\<awk\>+ skip=+\\$+ end=+[=\\]\@<!'+me=e-1 contains=@shIdList,@shExprList2 nextgroup=AWKScriptCode 2969 syn cluster shCommandSubList add=AWKScriptEmbedded 2970 hi def link AWKCommand Type 2971< 2972This code will then let the awk code in the single quotes: > 2973 awk '...awk code here...' 2974be highlighted using the awk highlighting syntax. Clearly this may be 2975extended to other languages. 2976 2977 2978SPEEDUP *spup.vim* *ft-spup-syntax* 2979(AspenTech plant simulator) 2980 2981The Speedup syntax file has some options: 2982 2983- strict_subsections : If this variable is defined, only keywords for 2984 sections and subsections will be highlighted as statements but not 2985 other keywords (like WITHIN in the OPERATION section). 2986 2987- highlight_types : Definition of this variable causes stream types 2988 like temperature or pressure to be highlighted as Type, not as a 2989 plain Identifier. Included are the types that are usually found in 2990 the DECLARE section; if you defined own types, you have to include 2991 them in the syntax file. 2992 2993- oneline_comments : this value ranges from 1 to 3 and determines the 2994 highlighting of # style comments. 2995 2996 oneline_comments = 1 : allow normal Speedup code after an even 2997 number of #s. 2998 2999 oneline_comments = 2 : show code starting with the second # as 3000 error. This is the default setting. 3001 3002 oneline_comments = 3 : show the whole line as error if it contains 3003 more than one #. 3004 3005Since especially OPERATION sections tend to become very large due to 3006PRESETting variables, syncing may be critical. If your computer is 3007fast enough, you can increase minlines and/or maxlines near the end of 3008the syntax file. 3009 3010 3011SQL *sql.vim* *ft-sql-syntax* 3012 *sqlinformix.vim* *ft-sqlinformix-syntax* 3013 *sqlanywhere.vim* *ft-sqlanywhere-syntax* 3014 3015While there is an ANSI standard for SQL, most database engines add their own 3016custom extensions. Vim currently supports the Oracle and Informix dialects of 3017SQL. Vim assumes "*.sql" files are Oracle SQL by default. 3018 3019Vim currently has SQL support for a variety of different vendors via syntax 3020scripts. You can change Vim's default from Oracle to any of the current SQL 3021supported types. You can also easily alter the SQL dialect being used on a 3022buffer by buffer basis. 3023 3024For more detailed instructions see |ft_sql.txt|. 3025 3026 3027TCSH *tcsh.vim* *ft-tcsh-syntax* 3028 3029This covers the shell named "tcsh". It is a superset of csh. See |csh.vim| 3030for how the filetype is detected. 3031 3032Tcsh does not allow \" in strings unless the "backslash_quote" shell variable 3033is set. If you want VIM to assume that no backslash quote constructs exist add 3034this line to your .vimrc: > 3035 3036 :let tcsh_backslash_quote = 0 3037 3038If you notice highlighting errors while scrolling backwards, which are fixed 3039when redrawing with CTRL-L, try setting the "tcsh_minlines" internal variable 3040to a larger number: > 3041 3042 :let tcsh_minlines = 1000 3043 3044This will make the syntax synchronization start 1000 lines before the first 3045displayed line. If you set "tcsh_minlines" to "fromstart", then 3046synchronization is done from the start of the file. The default value for 3047tcsh_minlines is 100. The disadvantage of using a larger number is that 3048redrawing can become slow. 3049 3050 3051TEX *tex.vim* *ft-tex-syntax* *latex-syntax* 3052 3053 Tex Contents~ 3054 Tex: Want Syntax Folding? |tex-folding| 3055 Tex: No Spell Checking Wanted |g:tex_nospell| 3056 Tex: Don't Want Spell Checking In Comments? |tex-nospell| 3057 Tex: Want Spell Checking in Verbatim Zones? |tex-verb| 3058 Tex: Run-on Comments or MathZones |tex-runon| 3059 Tex: Slow Syntax Highlighting? |tex-slow| 3060 Tex: Want To Highlight More Commands? |tex-morecommands| 3061 Tex: Excessive Error Highlighting? |tex-error| 3062 Tex: Need a new Math Group? |tex-math| 3063 Tex: Starting a New Style? |tex-style| 3064 Tex: Taking Advantage of Conceal Mode |tex-conceal| 3065 Tex: Selective Conceal Mode |g:tex_conceal| 3066 Tex: Controlling iskeyword |g:tex_isk| 3067 Tex: Fine Subscript and Superscript Control |tex-supersub| 3068 3069 *tex-folding* *g:tex_fold_enabled* 3070 Tex: Want Syntax Folding? ~ 3071 3072As of version 28 of <syntax/tex.vim>, syntax-based folding of parts, chapters, 3073sections, subsections, etc are supported. Put > 3074 let g:tex_fold_enabled=1 3075in your <.vimrc>, and :set fdm=syntax. I suggest doing the latter via a 3076modeline at the end of your LaTeX file: > 3077 % vim: fdm=syntax 3078If your system becomes too slow, then you might wish to look into > 3079 https://vimhelp.appspot.com/vim_faq.txt.html#faq-29.7 3080< 3081 *g:tex_nospell* 3082 Tex: No Spell Checking Wanted~ 3083 3084If you don't want spell checking anywhere in your LaTeX document, put > 3085 let g:tex_nospell=1 3086into your .vimrc. If you merely wish to suppress spell checking inside 3087comments only, see |g:tex_comment_nospell|. 3088 3089 *tex-nospell* *g:tex_comment_nospell* 3090 Tex: Don't Want Spell Checking In Comments? ~ 3091 3092Some folks like to include things like source code in comments and so would 3093prefer that spell checking be disabled in comments in LaTeX files. To do 3094this, put the following in your <.vimrc>: > 3095 let g:tex_comment_nospell= 1 3096If you want to suppress spell checking everywhere inside your LaTeX document, 3097see |g:tex_nospell|. 3098 3099 *tex-verb* *g:tex_verbspell* 3100 Tex: Want Spell Checking in Verbatim Zones?~ 3101 3102Often verbatim regions are used for things like source code; seldom does 3103one want source code spell-checked. However, for those of you who do 3104want your verbatim zones spell-checked, put the following in your <.vimrc>: > 3105 let g:tex_verbspell= 1 3106< 3107 *tex-runon* *tex-stopzone* 3108 Tex: Run-on Comments or MathZones ~ 3109 3110The <syntax/tex.vim> highlighting supports TeX, LaTeX, and some AmsTeX. The 3111highlighting supports three primary zones/regions: normal, texZone, and 3112texMathZone. Although considerable effort has been made to have these zones 3113terminate properly, zones delineated by $..$ and $$..$$ cannot be synchronized 3114as there's no difference between start and end patterns. Consequently, a 3115special "TeX comment" has been provided > 3116 %stopzone 3117which will forcibly terminate the highlighting of either a texZone or a 3118texMathZone. 3119 3120 *tex-slow* *tex-sync* 3121 Tex: Slow Syntax Highlighting? ~ 3122 3123If you have a slow computer, you may wish to reduce the values for > 3124 :syn sync maxlines=200 3125 :syn sync minlines=50 3126(especially the latter). If your computer is fast, you may wish to 3127increase them. This primarily affects synchronizing (i.e. just what group, 3128if any, is the text at the top of the screen supposed to be in?). 3129 3130Another cause of slow highlighting is due to syntax-driven folding; see 3131|tex-folding| for a way around this. 3132 3133 *g:tex_fast* 3134 3135Finally, if syntax highlighting is still too slow, you may set > 3136 3137 :let g:tex_fast= "" 3138 3139in your .vimrc. Used this way, the g:tex_fast variable causes the syntax 3140highlighting script to avoid defining any regions and associated 3141synchronization. The result will be much faster syntax highlighting; the 3142price: you will no longer have as much highlighting or any syntax-based 3143folding, and you will be missing syntax-based error checking. 3144 3145You may decide that some syntax is acceptable; you may use the following table 3146selectively to enable just some syntax highlighting: > 3147 3148 b : allow bold and italic syntax 3149 c : allow texComment syntax 3150 m : allow texMatcher syntax (ie. {...} and [...]) 3151 M : allow texMath syntax 3152 p : allow parts, chapter, section, etc syntax 3153 r : allow texRefZone syntax (nocite, bibliography, label, pageref, eqref) 3154 s : allow superscript/subscript regions 3155 S : allow texStyle syntax 3156 v : allow verbatim syntax 3157 V : allow texNewEnv and texNewCmd syntax 3158< 3159As an example, let g:tex_fast= "M" will allow math-associated highlighting 3160but suppress all the other region-based syntax highlighting. 3161(also see: |g:tex_conceal| and |tex-supersub|) 3162 3163 *tex-morecommands* *tex-package* 3164 Tex: Want To Highlight More Commands? ~ 3165 3166LaTeX is a programmable language, and so there are thousands of packages full 3167of specialized LaTeX commands, syntax, and fonts. If you're using such a 3168package you'll often wish that the distributed syntax/tex.vim would support 3169it. However, clearly this is impractical. So please consider using the 3170techniques in |mysyntaxfile-add| to extend or modify the highlighting provided 3171by syntax/tex.vim. Please consider uploading any extensions that you write, 3172which typically would go in $HOME/after/syntax/tex/[pkgname].vim, to 3173http://vim.sf.net/. 3174 3175 *tex-error* *g:tex_no_error* 3176 Tex: Excessive Error Highlighting? ~ 3177 3178The <tex.vim> supports lexical error checking of various sorts. Thus, 3179although the error checking is ofttimes very useful, it can indicate 3180errors where none actually are. If this proves to be a problem for you, 3181you may put in your <.vimrc> the following statement: > 3182 let g:tex_no_error=1 3183and all error checking by <syntax/tex.vim> will be suppressed. 3184 3185 *tex-math* 3186 Tex: Need a new Math Group? ~ 3187 3188If you want to include a new math group in your LaTeX, the following 3189code shows you an example as to how you might do so: > 3190 call TexNewMathZone(sfx,mathzone,starform) 3191You'll want to provide the new math group with a unique suffix 3192(currently, A-L and V-Z are taken by <syntax/tex.vim> itself). 3193As an example, consider how eqnarray is set up by <syntax/tex.vim>: > 3194 call TexNewMathZone("D","eqnarray",1) 3195You'll need to change "mathzone" to the name of your new math group, 3196and then to the call to it in .vim/after/syntax/tex.vim. 3197The "starform" variable, if true, implies that your new math group 3198has a starred form (ie. eqnarray*). 3199 3200 *tex-style* *b:tex_stylish* 3201 Tex: Starting a New Style? ~ 3202 3203One may use "\makeatletter" in *.tex files, thereby making the use of "@" in 3204commands available. However, since the *.tex file doesn't have one of the 3205following suffices: sty cls clo dtx ltx, the syntax highlighting will flag 3206such use of @ as an error. To solve this: > 3207 3208 :let b:tex_stylish = 1 3209 :set ft=tex 3210 3211Putting "let g:tex_stylish=1" into your <.vimrc> will make <syntax/tex.vim> 3212always accept such use of @. 3213 3214 *tex-cchar* *tex-cole* *tex-conceal* 3215 Tex: Taking Advantage of Conceal Mode~ 3216 3217If you have |'conceallevel'| set to 2 and if your encoding is utf-8, then a 3218number of character sequences can be translated into appropriate utf-8 glyphs, 3219including various accented characters, Greek characters in MathZones, and 3220superscripts and subscripts in MathZones. Not all characters can be made into 3221superscripts or subscripts; the constraint is due to what utf-8 supports. 3222In fact, only a few characters are supported as subscripts. 3223 3224One way to use this is to have vertically split windows (see |CTRL-W_v|); one 3225with |'conceallevel'| at 0 and the other at 2; and both using |'scrollbind'|. 3226 3227 *g:tex_conceal* 3228 Tex: Selective Conceal Mode~ 3229 3230You may selectively use conceal mode by setting g:tex_conceal in your 3231<.vimrc>. By default, g:tex_conceal is set to "admgs" to enable concealment 3232for the following sets of characters: > 3233 3234 a = accents/ligatures 3235 b = bold and italic 3236 d = delimiters 3237 m = math symbols 3238 g = Greek 3239 s = superscripts/subscripts 3240< 3241By leaving one or more of these out, the associated conceal-character 3242substitution will not be made. 3243 3244 *g:tex_isk* *g:tex_stylish* 3245 Tex: Controlling iskeyword~ 3246 3247Normally, LaTeX keywords support 0-9, a-z, A-z, and 192-255 only. Latex 3248keywords don't support the underscore - except when in *.sty files. The 3249syntax highlighting script handles this with the following logic: 3250 3251 * If g:tex_stylish exists and is 1 3252 then the file will be treated as a "sty" file, so the "_" 3253 will be allowed as part of keywords 3254 (regardless of g:tex_isk) 3255 * Else if the file's suffix is sty, cls, clo, dtx, or ltx, 3256 then the file will be treated as a "sty" file, so the "_" 3257 will be allowed as part of keywords 3258 (regardless of g:tex_isk) 3259 3260 * If g:tex_isk exists, then it will be used for the local 'iskeyword' 3261 * Else the local 'iskeyword' will be set to 48-57,a-z,A-Z,192-255 3262 3263 *tex-supersub* *g:tex_superscripts* *g:tex_subscripts* 3264 Tex: Fine Subscript and Superscript Control~ 3265 3266 See |tex-conceal| for how to enable concealed character replacement. 3267 3268 See |g:tex_conceal| for selectively concealing accents, bold/italic, 3269 math, Greek, and superscripts/subscripts. 3270 3271 One may exert fine control over which superscripts and subscripts one 3272 wants syntax-based concealment for (see |:syn-cchar|). Since not all 3273 fonts support all characters, one may override the 3274 concealed-replacement lists; by default these lists are given by: > 3275 3276 let g:tex_superscripts= "[0-9a-zA-W.,:;+-<>/()=]" 3277 let g:tex_subscripts= "[0-9aehijklmnoprstuvx,+-/().]" 3278< 3279 For example, I use Luxi Mono Bold; it doesn't support subscript 3280 characters for "hklmnpst", so I put > 3281 let g:tex_subscripts= "[0-9aeijoruvx,+-/().]" 3282< in ~/.vim/ftplugin/tex/tex.vim in order to avoid having inscrutable 3283 utf-8 glyphs appear. 3284 3285 3286TF *tf.vim* *ft-tf-syntax* 3287 3288There is one option for the tf syntax highlighting. 3289 3290For syncing, minlines defaults to 100. If you prefer another value, you can 3291set "tf_minlines" to the value you desire. Example: > 3292 3293 :let tf_minlines = your choice 3294< 3295VIM *vim.vim* *ft-vim-syntax* 3296 *g:vimsyn_minlines* *g:vimsyn_maxlines* 3297There is a trade-off between more accurate syntax highlighting versus screen 3298updating speed. To improve accuracy, you may wish to increase the 3299g:vimsyn_minlines variable. The g:vimsyn_maxlines variable may be used to 3300improve screen updating rates (see |:syn-sync| for more on this). > 3301 3302 g:vimsyn_minlines : used to set synchronization minlines 3303 g:vimsyn_maxlines : used to set synchronization maxlines 3304< 3305 (g:vim_minlines and g:vim_maxlines are deprecated variants of 3306 these two options) 3307 3308 *g:vimsyn_embed* 3309The g:vimsyn_embed option allows users to select what, if any, types of 3310embedded script highlighting they wish to have. > 3311 3312 g:vimsyn_embed == 0 : don't support any embedded scripts 3313 g:vimsyn_embed =~ 'l' : support embedded lua 3314 g:vimsyn_embed =~ 'm' : support embedded mzscheme 3315 g:vimsyn_embed =~ 'p' : support embedded perl 3316 g:vimsyn_embed =~ 'P' : support embedded python 3317 g:vimsyn_embed =~ 'r' : support embedded ruby 3318 g:vimsyn_embed =~ 't' : support embedded tcl 3319< 3320By default, g:vimsyn_embed is a string supporting interpreters that your vim 3321itself supports. Concatenate multiple characters to support multiple types 3322of embedded interpreters; ie. g:vimsyn_embed= "mp" supports embedded mzscheme 3323and embedded perl. 3324 *g:vimsyn_folding* 3325 3326Some folding is now supported with syntax/vim.vim: > 3327 3328 g:vimsyn_folding == 0 or doesn't exist: no syntax-based folding 3329 g:vimsyn_folding =~ 'a' : augroups 3330 g:vimsyn_folding =~ 'f' : fold functions 3331 g:vimsyn_folding =~ 'l' : fold lua script 3332 g:vimsyn_folding =~ 'm' : fold mzscheme script 3333 g:vimsyn_folding =~ 'p' : fold perl script 3334 g:vimsyn_folding =~ 'P' : fold python script 3335 g:vimsyn_folding =~ 'r' : fold ruby script 3336 g:vimsyn_folding =~ 't' : fold tcl script 3337< 3338 *g:vimsyn_noerror* 3339Not all error highlighting that syntax/vim.vim does may be correct; Vim script 3340is a difficult language to highlight correctly. A way to suppress error 3341highlighting is to put the following line in your |vimrc|: > 3342 3343 let g:vimsyn_noerror = 1 3344< 3345 3346 3347XF86CONFIG *xf86conf.vim* *ft-xf86conf-syntax* 3348 3349The syntax of XF86Config file differs in XFree86 v3.x and v4.x. Both 3350variants are supported. Automatic detection is used, but is far from perfect. 3351You may need to specify the version manually. Set the variable 3352xf86conf_xfree86_version to 3 or 4 according to your XFree86 version in 3353your .vimrc. Example: > 3354 :let xf86conf_xfree86_version=3 3355When using a mix of versions, set the b:xf86conf_xfree86_version variable. 3356 3357Note that spaces and underscores in option names are not supported. Use 3358"SyncOnGreen" instead of "__s yn con gr_e_e_n" if you want the option name 3359highlighted. 3360 3361 3362XML *xml.vim* *ft-xml-syntax* 3363 3364Xml namespaces are highlighted by default. This can be inhibited by 3365setting a global variable: > 3366 3367 :let g:xml_namespace_transparent=1 3368< 3369 *xml-folding* 3370The xml syntax file provides syntax |folding| (see |:syn-fold|) between 3371start and end tags. This can be turned on by > 3372 3373 :let g:xml_syntax_folding = 1 3374 :set foldmethod=syntax 3375 3376Note: syntax folding might slow down syntax highlighting significantly, 3377especially for large files. 3378 3379 3380X Pixmaps (XPM) *xpm.vim* *ft-xpm-syntax* 3381 3382xpm.vim creates its syntax items dynamically based upon the contents of the 3383XPM file. Thus if you make changes e.g. in the color specification strings, 3384you have to source it again e.g. with ":set syn=xpm". 3385 3386To copy a pixel with one of the colors, yank a "pixel" with "yl" and insert it 3387somewhere else with "P". 3388 3389Do you want to draw with the mouse? Try the following: > 3390 :function! GetPixel() 3391 : let c = getline(".")[col(".") - 1] 3392 : echo c 3393 : exe "noremap <LeftMouse> <LeftMouse>r".c 3394 : exe "noremap <LeftDrag> <LeftMouse>r".c 3395 :endfunction 3396 :noremap <RightMouse> <LeftMouse>:call GetPixel()<CR> 3397 :set guicursor=n:hor20 " to see the color beneath the cursor 3398This turns the right button into a pipette and the left button into a pen. 3399It will work with XPM files that have one character per pixel only and you 3400must not click outside of the pixel strings, but feel free to improve it. 3401 3402It will look much better with a font in a quadratic cell size, e.g. for X: > 3403 :set guifont=-*-clean-medium-r-*-*-8-*-*-*-*-80-* 3404 3405 3406YAML *yaml.vim* *ft-yaml-syntax* 3407 3408 *g:yaml_schema* *b:yaml_schema* 3409A YAML schema is a combination of a set of tags and a mechanism for resolving 3410non-specific tags. For user this means that YAML parser may, depending on 3411plain scalar contents, treat plain scalar (which can actually be only string 3412and nothing else) as a value of the other type: null, boolean, floating-point, 3413integer. `g:yaml_schema` option determines according to which schema values 3414will be highlighted specially. Supported schemas are 3415 3416Schema Description ~ 3417failsafe No additional highlighting. 3418json Supports JSON-style numbers, booleans and null. 3419core Supports more number, boolean and null styles. 3420pyyaml In addition to core schema supports highlighting timestamps, 3421 but there are some differences in what is recognized as 3422 numbers and many additional boolean values not present in core 3423 schema. 3424 3425Default schema is `core`. 3426 3427Note that schemas are not actually limited to plain scalars, but this is the 3428only difference between schemas defined in YAML specification and the only 3429difference defined in the syntax file. 3430 3431 3432ZSH *zsh.vim* *ft-zsh-syntax* 3433 3434The syntax script for zsh allows for syntax-based folding: > 3435 3436 :let g:zsh_fold_enable = 1 3437 3438============================================================================== 34395. Defining a syntax *:syn-define* *E410* 3440 3441Vim understands three types of syntax items: 3442 34431. Keyword 3444 It can only contain keyword characters, according to the 'iskeyword' 3445 option. It cannot contain other syntax items. It will only match with a 3446 complete word (there are no keyword characters before or after the match). 3447 The keyword "if" would match in "if(a=b)", but not in "ifdef x", because 3448 "(" is not a keyword character and "d" is. 3449 34502. Match 3451 This is a match with a single regexp pattern. 3452 34533. Region 3454 This starts at a match of the "start" regexp pattern and ends with a match 3455 with the "end" regexp pattern. Any other text can appear in between. A 3456 "skip" regexp pattern can be used to avoid matching the "end" pattern. 3457 3458Several syntax ITEMs can be put into one syntax GROUP. For a syntax group 3459you can give highlighting attributes. For example, you could have an item 3460to define a "/* .. */" comment and another one that defines a "// .." comment, 3461and put them both in the "Comment" group. You can then specify that a 3462"Comment" will be in bold font and have a blue color. You are free to make 3463one highlight group for one syntax item, or put all items into one group. 3464This depends on how you want to specify your highlighting attributes. Putting 3465each item in its own group results in having to specify the highlighting 3466for a lot of groups. 3467 3468Note that a syntax group and a highlight group are similar. For a highlight 3469group you will have given highlight attributes. These attributes will be used 3470for the syntax group with the same name. 3471 3472In case more than one item matches at the same position, the one that was 3473defined LAST wins. Thus you can override previously defined syntax items by 3474using an item that matches the same text. But a keyword always goes before a 3475match or region. And a keyword with matching case always goes before a 3476keyword with ignoring case. 3477 3478 3479PRIORITY *:syn-priority* 3480 3481When several syntax items may match, these rules are used: 3482 34831. When multiple Match or Region items start in the same position, the item 3484 defined last has priority. 34852. A Keyword has priority over Match and Region items. 34863. An item that starts in an earlier position has priority over items that 3487 start in later positions. 3488 3489 3490DEFINING CASE *:syn-case* *E390* 3491 3492:sy[ntax] case [match | ignore] 3493 This defines if the following ":syntax" commands will work with 3494 matching case, when using "match", or with ignoring case, when using 3495 "ignore". Note that any items before this are not affected, and all 3496 items until the next ":syntax case" command are affected. 3497 3498:sy[ntax] case 3499 Show either "syntax case match" or "syntax case ignore" (translated). 3500 3501SPELL CHECKING *:syn-spell* 3502 3503:sy[ntax] spell [toplevel | notoplevel | default] 3504 This defines where spell checking is to be done for text that is not 3505 in a syntax item: 3506 3507 toplevel: Text is spell checked. 3508 notoplevel: Text is not spell checked. 3509 default: When there is a @Spell cluster no spell checking. 3510 3511 For text in syntax items use the @Spell and @NoSpell clusters 3512 |spell-syntax|. When there is no @Spell and no @NoSpell cluster then 3513 spell checking is done for "default" and "toplevel". 3514 3515 To activate spell checking the 'spell' option must be set. 3516 3517:sy[ntax] spell 3518 Show either "syntax spell toplevel", "syntax spell notoplevel" or 3519 "syntax spell default" (translated). 3520 3521 3522SYNTAX ISKEYWORD SETTING *:syn-iskeyword* 3523 3524:sy[ntax] iskeyword [clear | {option}] 3525 This defines the keyword characters. It's like the 'iskeyword' option 3526 for but only applies to syntax highlighting. 3527 3528 clear: Syntax specific iskeyword setting is disabled and the 3529 buffer-local 'iskeyword' setting is used. 3530 {option} Set the syntax 'iskeyword' option to a new value. 3531 3532 Example: > 3533 :syntax iskeyword @,48-57,192-255,$,_ 3534< 3535 This would set the syntax specific iskeyword option to include all 3536 alphabetic characters, plus the numeric characters, all accented 3537 characters and also includes the "_" and the "$". 3538 3539 If no argument is given, the current value will be output. 3540 3541 Setting this option influences what |/\k| matches in syntax patterns 3542 and also determines where |:syn-keyword| will be checked for a new 3543 match. 3544 3545 It is recommended when writing syntax files, to use this command to 3546 set the correct value for the specific syntax language and not change 3547 the 'iskeyword' option. 3548 3549DEFINING KEYWORDS *:syn-keyword* 3550 3551:sy[ntax] keyword {group-name} [{options}] {keyword} .. [{options}] 3552 3553 This defines a number of keywords. 3554 3555 {group-name} Is a syntax group name such as "Comment". 3556 [{options}] See |:syn-arguments| below. 3557 {keyword} .. Is a list of keywords which are part of this group. 3558 3559 Example: > 3560 :syntax keyword Type int long char 3561< 3562 The {options} can be given anywhere in the line. They will apply to 3563 all keywords given, also for options that come after a keyword. 3564 These examples do exactly the same: > 3565 :syntax keyword Type contained int long char 3566 :syntax keyword Type int long contained char 3567 :syntax keyword Type int long char contained 3568< *E789* *E890* 3569 When you have a keyword with an optional tail, like Ex commands in 3570 Vim, you can put the optional characters inside [], to define all the 3571 variations at once: > 3572 :syntax keyword vimCommand ab[breviate] n[ext] 3573< 3574 Don't forget that a keyword can only be recognized if all the 3575 characters are included in the 'iskeyword' option. If one character 3576 isn't, the keyword will never be recognized. 3577 Multi-byte characters can also be used. These do not have to be in 3578 'iskeyword'. 3579 See |:syn-iskeyword| for defining syntax specific iskeyword settings. 3580 3581 A keyword always has higher priority than a match or region, the 3582 keyword is used if more than one item matches. Keywords do not nest 3583 and a keyword can't contain anything else. 3584 3585 Note that when you have a keyword that is the same as an option (even 3586 one that isn't allowed here), you can not use it. Use a match 3587 instead. 3588 3589 The maximum length of a keyword is 80 characters. 3590 3591 The same keyword can be defined multiple times, when its containment 3592 differs. For example, you can define the keyword once not contained 3593 and use one highlight group, and once contained, and use a different 3594 highlight group. Example: > 3595 :syn keyword vimCommand tag 3596 :syn keyword vimSetting contained tag 3597< When finding "tag" outside of any syntax item, the "vimCommand" 3598 highlight group is used. When finding "tag" in a syntax item that 3599 contains "vimSetting", the "vimSetting" group is used. 3600 3601 3602DEFINING MATCHES *:syn-match* 3603 3604:sy[ntax] match {group-name} [{options}] 3605 [excludenl] 3606 [keepend] 3607 {pattern} 3608 [{options}] 3609 3610 This defines one match. 3611 3612 {group-name} A syntax group name such as "Comment". 3613 [{options}] See |:syn-arguments| below. 3614 [excludenl] Don't make a pattern with the end-of-line "$" 3615 extend a containing match or region. Must be 3616 given before the pattern. |:syn-excludenl| 3617 keepend Don't allow contained matches to go past a 3618 match with the end pattern. See 3619 |:syn-keepend|. 3620 {pattern} The search pattern that defines the match. 3621 See |:syn-pattern| below. 3622 Note that the pattern may match more than one 3623 line, which makes the match depend on where 3624 Vim starts searching for the pattern. You 3625 need to make sure syncing takes care of this. 3626 3627 Example (match a character constant): > 3628 :syntax match Character /'.'/hs=s+1,he=e-1 3629< 3630 3631DEFINING REGIONS *:syn-region* *:syn-start* *:syn-skip* *:syn-end* 3632 *E398* *E399* 3633:sy[ntax] region {group-name} [{options}] 3634 [matchgroup={group-name}] 3635 [keepend] 3636 [extend] 3637 [excludenl] 3638 start={start_pattern} .. 3639 [skip={skip_pattern}] 3640 end={end_pattern} .. 3641 [{options}] 3642 3643 This defines one region. It may span several lines. 3644 3645 {group-name} A syntax group name such as "Comment". 3646 [{options}] See |:syn-arguments| below. 3647 [matchgroup={group-name}] The syntax group to use for the following 3648 start or end pattern matches only. Not used 3649 for the text in between the matched start and 3650 end patterns. Use NONE to reset to not using 3651 a different group for the start or end match. 3652 See |:syn-matchgroup|. 3653 keepend Don't allow contained matches to go past a 3654 match with the end pattern. See 3655 |:syn-keepend|. 3656 extend Override a "keepend" for an item this region 3657 is contained in. See |:syn-extend|. 3658 excludenl Don't make a pattern with the end-of-line "$" 3659 extend a containing match or item. Only 3660 useful for end patterns. Must be given before 3661 the patterns it applies to. |:syn-excludenl| 3662 start={start_pattern} The search pattern that defines the start of 3663 the region. See |:syn-pattern| below. 3664 skip={skip_pattern} The search pattern that defines text inside 3665 the region where not to look for the end 3666 pattern. See |:syn-pattern| below. 3667 end={end_pattern} The search pattern that defines the end of 3668 the region. See |:syn-pattern| below. 3669 3670 Example: > 3671 :syntax region String start=+"+ skip=+\\"+ end=+"+ 3672< 3673 The start/skip/end patterns and the options can be given in any order. 3674 There can be zero or one skip pattern. There must be one or more 3675 start and end patterns. This means that you can omit the skip 3676 pattern, but you must give at least one start and one end pattern. It 3677 is allowed to have white space before and after the equal sign 3678 (although it mostly looks better without white space). 3679 3680 When more than one start pattern is given, a match with one of these 3681 is sufficient. This means there is an OR relation between the start 3682 patterns. The last one that matches is used. The same is true for 3683 the end patterns. 3684 3685 The search for the end pattern starts right after the start pattern. 3686 Offsets are not used for this. This implies that the match for the 3687 end pattern will never overlap with the start pattern. 3688 3689 The skip and end pattern can match across line breaks, but since the 3690 search for the pattern can start in any line it often does not do what 3691 you want. The skip pattern doesn't avoid a match of an end pattern in 3692 the next line. Use single-line patterns to avoid trouble. 3693 3694 Note: The decision to start a region is only based on a matching start 3695 pattern. There is no check for a matching end pattern. This does NOT 3696 work: > 3697 :syn region First start="(" end=":" 3698 :syn region Second start="(" end=";" 3699< The Second always matches before the First (last defined pattern has 3700 higher priority). The Second region then continues until the next 3701 ';', no matter if there is a ':' before it. Using a match does work: > 3702 :syn match First "(\_.\{-}:" 3703 :syn match Second "(\_.\{-};" 3704< This pattern matches any character or line break with "\_." and 3705 repeats that with "\{-}" (repeat as few as possible). 3706 3707 *:syn-keepend* 3708 By default, a contained match can obscure a match for the end pattern. 3709 This is useful for nesting. For example, a region that starts with 3710 "{" and ends with "}", can contain another region. An encountered "}" 3711 will then end the contained region, but not the outer region: 3712 { starts outer "{}" region 3713 { starts contained "{}" region 3714 } ends contained "{}" region 3715 } ends outer "{} region 3716 If you don't want this, the "keepend" argument will make the matching 3717 of an end pattern of the outer region also end any contained item. 3718 This makes it impossible to nest the same region, but allows for 3719 contained items to highlight parts of the end pattern, without causing 3720 that to skip the match with the end pattern. Example: > 3721 :syn match vimComment +"[^"]\+$+ 3722 :syn region vimCommand start="set" end="$" contains=vimComment keepend 3723< The "keepend" makes the vimCommand always end at the end of the line, 3724 even though the contained vimComment includes a match with the <EOL>. 3725 3726 When "keepend" is not used, a match with an end pattern is retried 3727 after each contained match. When "keepend" is included, the first 3728 encountered match with an end pattern is used, truncating any 3729 contained matches. 3730 *:syn-extend* 3731 The "keepend" behavior can be changed by using the "extend" argument. 3732 When an item with "extend" is contained in an item that uses 3733 "keepend", the "keepend" is ignored and the containing region will be 3734 extended. 3735 This can be used to have some contained items extend a region while 3736 others don't. Example: > 3737 3738 :syn region htmlRef start=+<a>+ end=+</a>+ keepend contains=htmlItem,htmlScript 3739 :syn match htmlItem +<[^>]*>+ contained 3740 :syn region htmlScript start=+<script+ end=+</script[^>]*>+ contained extend 3741 3742< Here the htmlItem item does not make the htmlRef item continue 3743 further, it is only used to highlight the <> items. The htmlScript 3744 item does extend the htmlRef item. 3745 3746 Another example: > 3747 :syn region xmlFold start="<a>" end="</a>" fold transparent keepend extend 3748< This defines a region with "keepend", so that its end cannot be 3749 changed by contained items, like when the "</a>" is matched to 3750 highlight it differently. But when the xmlFold region is nested (it 3751 includes itself), the "extend" applies, so that the "</a>" of a nested 3752 region only ends that region, and not the one it is contained in. 3753 3754 *:syn-excludenl* 3755 When a pattern for a match or end pattern of a region includes a '$' 3756 to match the end-of-line, it will make a region item that it is 3757 contained in continue on the next line. For example, a match with 3758 "\\$" (backslash at the end of the line) can make a region continue 3759 that would normally stop at the end of the line. This is the default 3760 behavior. If this is not wanted, there are two ways to avoid it: 3761 1. Use "keepend" for the containing item. This will keep all 3762 contained matches from extending the match or region. It can be 3763 used when all contained items must not extend the containing item. 3764 2. Use "excludenl" in the contained item. This will keep that match 3765 from extending the containing match or region. It can be used if 3766 only some contained items must not extend the containing item. 3767 "excludenl" must be given before the pattern it applies to. 3768 3769 *:syn-matchgroup* 3770 "matchgroup" can be used to highlight the start and/or end pattern 3771 differently than the body of the region. Example: > 3772 :syntax region String matchgroup=Quote start=+"+ skip=+\\"+ end=+"+ 3773< This will highlight the quotes with the "Quote" group, and the text in 3774 between with the "String" group. 3775 The "matchgroup" is used for all start and end patterns that follow, 3776 until the next "matchgroup". Use "matchgroup=NONE" to go back to not 3777 using a matchgroup. 3778 3779 In a start or end pattern that is highlighted with "matchgroup" the 3780 contained items of the region are not used. This can be used to avoid 3781 that a contained item matches in the start or end pattern match. When 3782 using "transparent", this does not apply to a start or end pattern 3783 match that is highlighted with "matchgroup". 3784 3785 Here is an example, which highlights three levels of parentheses in 3786 different colors: > 3787 :sy region par1 matchgroup=par1 start=/(/ end=/)/ contains=par2 3788 :sy region par2 matchgroup=par2 start=/(/ end=/)/ contains=par3 contained 3789 :sy region par3 matchgroup=par3 start=/(/ end=/)/ contains=par1 contained 3790 :hi par1 ctermfg=red guifg=red 3791 :hi par2 ctermfg=blue guifg=blue 3792 :hi par3 ctermfg=darkgreen guifg=darkgreen 3793< 3794 *E849* 3795The maximum number of syntax groups is 19999. 3796 3797============================================================================== 37986. :syntax arguments *:syn-arguments* 3799 3800The :syntax commands that define syntax items take a number of arguments. 3801The common ones are explained here. The arguments may be given in any order 3802and may be mixed with patterns. 3803 3804Not all commands accept all arguments. This table shows which arguments 3805can not be used for all commands: 3806 *E395* 3807 contains oneline fold display extend concealends~ 3808:syntax keyword - - - - - - 3809:syntax match yes - yes yes yes - 3810:syntax region yes yes yes yes yes yes 3811 3812These arguments can be used for all three commands: 3813 conceal 3814 cchar 3815 contained 3816 containedin 3817 nextgroup 3818 transparent 3819 skipwhite 3820 skipnl 3821 skipempty 3822 3823conceal *conceal* *:syn-conceal* 3824 3825When the "conceal" argument is given, the item is marked as concealable. 3826Whether or not it is actually concealed depends on the value of the 3827'conceallevel' option. The 'concealcursor' option is used to decide whether 3828concealable items in the current line are displayed unconcealed to be able to 3829edit the line. 3830Another way to conceal text is with |matchadd()|. 3831 3832concealends *:syn-concealends* 3833 3834When the "concealends" argument is given, the start and end matches of 3835the region, but not the contents of the region, are marked as concealable. 3836Whether or not they are actually concealed depends on the setting on the 3837'conceallevel' option. The ends of a region can only be concealed separately 3838in this way when they have their own highlighting via "matchgroup" 3839 3840cchar *:syn-cchar* 3841 *E844* 3842The "cchar" argument defines the character shown in place of the item 3843when it is concealed (setting "cchar" only makes sense when the conceal 3844argument is given.) If "cchar" is not set then the default conceal 3845character defined in the 'listchars' option is used. The character cannot be 3846a control character such as Tab. Example: > 3847 :syntax match Entity "&" conceal cchar=& 3848See |hl-Conceal| for highlighting. 3849 3850contained *:syn-contained* 3851 3852When the "contained" argument is given, this item will not be recognized at 3853the top level, but only when it is mentioned in the "contains" field of 3854another match. Example: > 3855 :syntax keyword Todo TODO contained 3856 :syntax match Comment "//.*" contains=Todo 3857 3858 3859display *:syn-display* 3860 3861If the "display" argument is given, this item will be skipped when the 3862detected highlighting will not be displayed. This will speed up highlighting, 3863by skipping this item when only finding the syntax state for the text that is 3864to be displayed. 3865 3866Generally, you can use "display" for match and region items that meet these 3867conditions: 3868- The item does not continue past the end of a line. Example for C: A region 3869 for a "/*" comment can't contain "display", because it continues on the next 3870 line. 3871- The item does not contain items that continue past the end of the line or 3872 make it continue on the next line. 3873- The item does not change the size of any item it is contained in. Example 3874 for C: A match with "\\$" in a preprocessor match can't have "display", 3875 because it may make that preprocessor match shorter. 3876- The item does not allow other items to match that didn't match otherwise, 3877 and that item may extend the match too far. Example for C: A match for a 3878 "//" comment can't use "display", because a "/*" inside that comment would 3879 match then and start a comment which extends past the end of the line. 3880 3881Examples, for the C language, where "display" can be used: 3882- match with a number 3883- match with a label 3884 3885 3886transparent *:syn-transparent* 3887 3888If the "transparent" argument is given, this item will not be highlighted 3889itself, but will take the highlighting of the item it is contained in. This 3890is useful for syntax items that don't need any highlighting but are used 3891only to skip over a part of the text. 3892 3893The "contains=" argument is also inherited from the item it is contained in, 3894unless a "contains" argument is given for the transparent item itself. To 3895avoid that unwanted items are contained, use "contains=NONE". Example, which 3896highlights words in strings, but makes an exception for "vim": > 3897 :syn match myString /'[^']*'/ contains=myWord,myVim 3898 :syn match myWord /\<[a-z]*\>/ contained 3899 :syn match myVim /\<vim\>/ transparent contained contains=NONE 3900 :hi link myString String 3901 :hi link myWord Comment 3902Since the "myVim" match comes after "myWord" it is the preferred match (last 3903match in the same position overrules an earlier one). The "transparent" 3904argument makes the "myVim" match use the same highlighting as "myString". But 3905it does not contain anything. If the "contains=NONE" argument would be left 3906out, then "myVim" would use the contains argument from myString and allow 3907"myWord" to be contained, which will be highlighted as a Constant. This 3908happens because a contained match doesn't match inside itself in the same 3909position, thus the "myVim" match doesn't overrule the "myWord" match here. 3910 3911When you look at the colored text, it is like looking at layers of contained 3912items. The contained item is on top of the item it is contained in, thus you 3913see the contained item. When a contained item is transparent, you can look 3914through, thus you see the item it is contained in. In a picture: 3915 3916 look from here 3917 3918 | | | | | | 3919 V V V V V V 3920 3921 xxxx yyy more contained items 3922 .................... contained item (transparent) 3923 ============================= first item 3924 3925The 'x', 'y' and '=' represent a highlighted syntax item. The '.' represent a 3926transparent group. 3927 3928What you see is: 3929 3930 =======xxxx=======yyy======== 3931 3932Thus you look through the transparent "....". 3933 3934 3935oneline *:syn-oneline* 3936 3937The "oneline" argument indicates that the region does not cross a line 3938boundary. It must match completely in the current line. However, when the 3939region has a contained item that does cross a line boundary, it continues on 3940the next line anyway. A contained item can be used to recognize a line 3941continuation pattern. But the "end" pattern must still match in the first 3942line, otherwise the region doesn't even start. 3943 3944When the start pattern includes a "\n" to match an end-of-line, the end 3945pattern must be found in the same line as where the start pattern ends. The 3946end pattern may also include an end-of-line. Thus the "oneline" argument 3947means that the end of the start pattern and the start of the end pattern must 3948be within one line. This can't be changed by a skip pattern that matches a 3949line break. 3950 3951 3952fold *:syn-fold* 3953 3954The "fold" argument makes the fold level increase by one for this item. 3955Example: > 3956 :syn region myFold start="{" end="}" transparent fold 3957 :syn sync fromstart 3958 :set foldmethod=syntax 3959This will make each {} block form one fold. 3960 3961The fold will start on the line where the item starts, and end where the item 3962ends. If the start and end are within the same line, there is no fold. 3963The 'foldnestmax' option limits the nesting of syntax folds. 3964{not available when Vim was compiled without |+folding| feature} 3965 3966 3967 *:syn-contains* *E405* *E406* *E407* *E408* *E409* 3968contains={group-name},.. 3969 3970The "contains" argument is followed by a list of syntax group names. These 3971groups will be allowed to begin inside the item (they may extend past the 3972containing group's end). This allows for recursive nesting of matches and 3973regions. If there is no "contains" argument, no groups will be contained in 3974this item. The group names do not need to be defined before they can be used 3975here. 3976 3977contains=ALL 3978 If the only item in the contains list is "ALL", then all 3979 groups will be accepted inside the item. 3980 3981contains=ALLBUT,{group-name},.. 3982 If the first item in the contains list is "ALLBUT", then all 3983 groups will be accepted inside the item, except the ones that 3984 are listed. Example: > 3985 :syntax region Block start="{" end="}" ... contains=ALLBUT,Function 3986 3987contains=TOP 3988 If the first item in the contains list is "TOP", then all 3989 groups will be accepted that don't have the "contained" 3990 argument. 3991contains=TOP,{group-name},.. 3992 Like "TOP", but excluding the groups that are listed. 3993 3994contains=CONTAINED 3995 If the first item in the contains list is "CONTAINED", then 3996 all groups will be accepted that have the "contained" 3997 argument. 3998contains=CONTAINED,{group-name},.. 3999 Like "CONTAINED", but excluding the groups that are 4000 listed. 4001 4002 4003The {group-name} in the "contains" list can be a pattern. All group names 4004that match the pattern will be included (or excluded, if "ALLBUT" is used). 4005The pattern cannot contain white space or a ','. Example: > 4006 ... contains=Comment.*,Keyw[0-3] 4007The matching will be done at moment the syntax command is executed. Groups 4008that are defined later will not be matched. Also, if the current syntax 4009command defines a new group, it is not matched. Be careful: When putting 4010syntax commands in a file you can't rely on groups NOT being defined, because 4011the file may have been sourced before, and ":syn clear" doesn't remove the 4012group names. 4013 4014The contained groups will also match in the start and end patterns of a 4015region. If this is not wanted, the "matchgroup" argument can be used 4016|:syn-matchgroup|. The "ms=" and "me=" offsets can be used to change the 4017region where contained items do match. Note that this may also limit the 4018area that is highlighted 4019 4020 4021containedin={group-name}... *:syn-containedin* 4022 4023The "containedin" argument is followed by a list of syntax group names. The 4024item will be allowed to begin inside these groups. This works as if the 4025containing item has a "contains=" argument that includes this item. 4026 4027The {group-name}... can be used just like for "contains", as explained above. 4028 4029This is useful when adding a syntax item afterwards. An item can be told to 4030be included inside an already existing item, without changing the definition 4031of that item. For example, to highlight a word in a C comment after loading 4032the C syntax: > 4033 :syn keyword myword HELP containedin=cComment contained 4034Note that "contained" is also used, to avoid that the item matches at the top 4035level. 4036 4037Matches for "containedin" are added to the other places where the item can 4038appear. A "contains" argument may also be added as usual. Don't forget that 4039keywords never contain another item, thus adding them to "containedin" won't 4040work. 4041 4042 4043nextgroup={group-name},.. *:syn-nextgroup* 4044 4045The "nextgroup" argument is followed by a list of syntax group names, 4046separated by commas (just like with "contains", so you can also use patterns). 4047 4048If the "nextgroup" argument is given, the mentioned syntax groups will be 4049tried for a match, after the match or region ends. If none of the groups have 4050a match, highlighting continues normally. If there is a match, this group 4051will be used, even when it is not mentioned in the "contains" field of the 4052current group. This is like giving the mentioned group priority over all 4053other groups. Example: > 4054 :syntax match ccFoobar "Foo.\{-}Bar" contains=ccFoo 4055 :syntax match ccFoo "Foo" contained nextgroup=ccFiller 4056 :syntax region ccFiller start="." matchgroup=ccBar end="Bar" contained 4057 4058This will highlight "Foo" and "Bar" differently, and only when there is a 4059"Bar" after "Foo". In the text line below, "f" shows where ccFoo is used for 4060highlighting, and "bbb" where ccBar is used. > 4061 4062 Foo asdfasd Bar asdf Foo asdf Bar asdf 4063 fff bbb fff bbb 4064 4065Note the use of ".\{-}" to skip as little as possible until the next Bar. 4066when ".*" would be used, the "asdf" in between "Bar" and "Foo" would be 4067highlighted according to the "ccFoobar" group, because the ccFooBar match 4068would include the first "Foo" and the last "Bar" in the line (see |pattern|). 4069 4070 4071skipwhite *:syn-skipwhite* 4072skipnl *:syn-skipnl* 4073skipempty *:syn-skipempty* 4074 4075These arguments are only used in combination with "nextgroup". They can be 4076used to allow the next group to match after skipping some text: 4077 skipwhite skip over space and tab characters 4078 skipnl skip over the end of a line 4079 skipempty skip over empty lines (implies a "skipnl") 4080 4081When "skipwhite" is present, the white space is only skipped if there is no 4082next group that matches the white space. 4083 4084When "skipnl" is present, the match with nextgroup may be found in the next 4085line. This only happens when the current item ends at the end of the current 4086line! When "skipnl" is not present, the nextgroup will only be found after 4087the current item in the same line. 4088 4089When skipping text while looking for a next group, the matches for other 4090groups are ignored. Only when no next group matches, other items are tried 4091for a match again. This means that matching a next group and skipping white 4092space and <EOL>s has a higher priority than other items. 4093 4094Example: > 4095 :syn match ifstart "\<if.*" nextgroup=ifline skipwhite skipempty 4096 :syn match ifline "[^ \t].*" nextgroup=ifline skipwhite skipempty contained 4097 :syn match ifline "endif" contained 4098Note that the "[^ \t].*" match matches all non-white text. Thus it would also 4099match "endif". Therefore the "endif" match is put last, so that it takes 4100precedence. 4101Note that this example doesn't work for nested "if"s. You need to add 4102"contains" arguments to make that work (omitted for simplicity of the 4103example). 4104 4105IMPLICIT CONCEAL *:syn-conceal-implicit* 4106 4107:sy[ntax] conceal [on|off] 4108 This defines if the following ":syntax" commands will define keywords, 4109 matches or regions with the "conceal" flag set. After ":syn conceal 4110 on", all subsequent ":syn keyword", ":syn match" or ":syn region" 4111 defined will have the "conceal" flag set implicitly. ":syn conceal 4112 off" returns to the normal state where the "conceal" flag must be 4113 given explicitly. 4114 4115:sy[ntax] conceal 4116 Show either "syntax conceal on" or "syntax conceal off" (translated). 4117 4118============================================================================== 41197. Syntax patterns *:syn-pattern* *E401* *E402* 4120 4121In the syntax commands, a pattern must be surrounded by two identical 4122characters. This is like it works for the ":s" command. The most common to 4123use is the double quote. But if the pattern contains a double quote, you can 4124use another character that is not used in the pattern. Examples: > 4125 :syntax region Comment start="/\*" end="\*/" 4126 :syntax region String start=+"+ end=+"+ skip=+\\"+ 4127 4128See |pattern| for the explanation of what a pattern is. Syntax patterns are 4129always interpreted like the 'magic' option is set, no matter what the actual 4130value of 'magic' is. And the patterns are interpreted like the 'l' flag is 4131not included in 'cpoptions'. This was done to make syntax files portable and 4132independent of 'compatible' and 'magic' settings. 4133 4134Try to avoid patterns that can match an empty string, such as "[a-z]*". 4135This slows down the highlighting a lot, because it matches everywhere. 4136 4137 *:syn-pattern-offset* 4138The pattern can be followed by a character offset. This can be used to 4139change the highlighted part, and to change the text area included in the 4140match or region (which only matters when trying to match other items). Both 4141are relative to the matched pattern. The character offset for a skip 4142pattern can be used to tell where to continue looking for an end pattern. 4143 4144The offset takes the form of "{what}={offset}" 4145The {what} can be one of seven strings: 4146 4147ms Match Start offset for the start of the matched text 4148me Match End offset for the end of the matched text 4149hs Highlight Start offset for where the highlighting starts 4150he Highlight End offset for where the highlighting ends 4151rs Region Start offset for where the body of a region starts 4152re Region End offset for where the body of a region ends 4153lc Leading Context offset past "leading context" of pattern 4154 4155The {offset} can be: 4156 4157s start of the matched pattern 4158s+{nr} start of the matched pattern plus {nr} chars to the right 4159s-{nr} start of the matched pattern plus {nr} chars to the left 4160e end of the matched pattern 4161e+{nr} end of the matched pattern plus {nr} chars to the right 4162e-{nr} end of the matched pattern plus {nr} chars to the left 4163{nr} (for "lc" only): start matching {nr} chars right of the start 4164 4165Examples: "ms=s+1", "hs=e-2", "lc=3". 4166 4167Although all offsets are accepted after any pattern, they are not always 4168meaningful. This table shows which offsets are actually used: 4169 4170 ms me hs he rs re lc ~ 4171match item yes yes yes yes - - yes 4172region item start yes - yes - yes - yes 4173region item skip - yes - - - - yes 4174region item end - yes - yes - yes yes 4175 4176Offsets can be concatenated, with a ',' in between. Example: > 4177 :syn match String /"[^"]*"/hs=s+1,he=e-1 4178< 4179 some "string" text 4180 ^^^^^^ highlighted 4181 4182Notes: 4183- There must be no white space between the pattern and the character 4184 offset(s). 4185- The highlighted area will never be outside of the matched text. 4186- A negative offset for an end pattern may not always work, because the end 4187 pattern may be detected when the highlighting should already have stopped. 4188- Before Vim 7.2 the offsets were counted in bytes instead of characters. 4189 This didn't work well for multi-byte characters, so it was changed with the 4190 Vim 7.2 release. 4191- The start of a match cannot be in a line other than where the pattern 4192 matched. This doesn't work: "a\nb"ms=e. You can make the highlighting 4193 start in another line, this does work: "a\nb"hs=e. 4194 4195Example (match a comment but don't highlight the /* and */): > 4196 :syntax region Comment start="/\*"hs=e+1 end="\*/"he=s-1 4197< 4198 /* this is a comment */ 4199 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ highlighted 4200 4201A more complicated Example: > 4202 :syn region Exa matchgroup=Foo start="foo"hs=s+2,rs=e+2 matchgroup=Bar end="bar"me=e-1,he=e-1,re=s-1 4203< 4204 abcfoostringbarabc 4205 mmmmmmmmmmm match 4206 sssrrreee highlight start/region/end ("Foo", "Exa" and "Bar") 4207 4208Leading context *:syn-lc* *:syn-leading* *:syn-context* 4209 4210Note: This is an obsolete feature, only included for backwards compatibility 4211with previous Vim versions. It's now recommended to use the |/\@<=| construct 4212in the pattern. 4213 4214The "lc" offset specifies leading context -- a part of the pattern that must 4215be present, but is not considered part of the match. An offset of "lc=n" will 4216cause Vim to step back n columns before attempting the pattern match, allowing 4217characters which have already been matched in previous patterns to also be 4218used as leading context for this match. This can be used, for instance, to 4219specify that an "escaping" character must not precede the match: > 4220 4221 :syn match ZNoBackslash "[^\\]z"ms=s+1 4222 :syn match WNoBackslash "[^\\]w"lc=1 4223 :syn match Underline "_\+" 4224< 4225 ___zzzz ___wwww 4226 ^^^ ^^^ matches Underline 4227 ^ ^ matches ZNoBackslash 4228 ^^^^ matches WNoBackslash 4229 4230The "ms" offset is automatically set to the same value as the "lc" offset, 4231unless you set "ms" explicitly. 4232 4233 4234Multi-line patterns *:syn-multi-line* 4235 4236The patterns can include "\n" to match an end-of-line. Mostly this works as 4237expected, but there are a few exceptions. 4238 4239When using a start pattern with an offset, the start of the match is not 4240allowed to start in a following line. The highlighting can start in a 4241following line though. Using the "\zs" item also requires that the start of 4242the match doesn't move to another line. 4243 4244The skip pattern can include the "\n", but the search for an end pattern will 4245continue in the first character of the next line, also when that character is 4246matched by the skip pattern. This is because redrawing may start in any line 4247halfway a region and there is no check if the skip pattern started in a 4248previous line. For example, if the skip pattern is "a\nb" and an end pattern 4249is "b", the end pattern does match in the second line of this: > 4250 x x a 4251 b x x 4252Generally this means that the skip pattern should not match any characters 4253after the "\n". 4254 4255 4256External matches *:syn-ext-match* 4257 4258These extra regular expression items are available in region patterns: 4259 4260 */\z(* */\z(\)* *E50* *E52* *E879* 4261 \z(\) Marks the sub-expression as "external", meaning that it can be 4262 accessed from another pattern match. Currently only usable in 4263 defining a syntax region start pattern. 4264 4265 */\z1* */\z2* */\z3* */\z4* */\z5* 4266 \z1 ... \z9 */\z6* */\z7* */\z8* */\z9* *E66* *E67* 4267 Matches the same string that was matched by the corresponding 4268 sub-expression in a previous start pattern match. 4269 4270Sometimes the start and end patterns of a region need to share a common 4271sub-expression. A common example is the "here" document in Perl and many Unix 4272shells. This effect can be achieved with the "\z" special regular expression 4273items, which marks a sub-expression as "external", in the sense that it can be 4274referenced from outside the pattern in which it is defined. The here-document 4275example, for instance, can be done like this: > 4276 :syn region hereDoc start="<<\z(\I\i*\)" end="^\z1$" 4277 4278As can be seen here, the \z actually does double duty. In the start pattern, 4279it marks the "\(\I\i*\)" sub-expression as external; in the end pattern, it 4280changes the \z1 back-reference into an external reference referring to the 4281first external sub-expression in the start pattern. External references can 4282also be used in skip patterns: > 4283 :syn region foo start="start \(\I\i*\)" skip="not end \z1" end="end \z1" 4284 4285Note that normal and external sub-expressions are completely orthogonal and 4286indexed separately; for instance, if the pattern "\z(..\)\(..\)" is applied 4287to the string "aabb", then \1 will refer to "bb" and \z1 will refer to "aa". 4288Note also that external sub-expressions cannot be accessed as back-references 4289within the same pattern like normal sub-expressions. If you want to use one 4290sub-expression as both a normal and an external sub-expression, you can nest 4291the two, as in "\(\z(...\)\)". 4292 4293Note that only matches within a single line can be used. Multi-line matches 4294cannot be referred to. 4295 4296============================================================================== 42978. Syntax clusters *:syn-cluster* *E400* 4298 4299:sy[ntax] cluster {cluster-name} [contains={group-name}..] 4300 [add={group-name}..] 4301 [remove={group-name}..] 4302 4303This command allows you to cluster a list of syntax groups together under a 4304single name. 4305 4306 contains={group-name}.. 4307 The cluster is set to the specified list of groups. 4308 add={group-name}.. 4309 The specified groups are added to the cluster. 4310 remove={group-name}.. 4311 The specified groups are removed from the cluster. 4312 4313A cluster so defined may be referred to in a contains=.., containedin=.., 4314nextgroup=.., add=.. or remove=.. list with a "@" prefix. You can also use 4315this notation to implicitly declare a cluster before specifying its contents. 4316 4317Example: > 4318 :syntax match Thing "# [^#]\+ #" contains=@ThingMembers 4319 :syntax cluster ThingMembers contains=ThingMember1,ThingMember2 4320 4321As the previous example suggests, modifications to a cluster are effectively 4322retroactive; the membership of the cluster is checked at the last minute, so 4323to speak: > 4324 :syntax keyword A aaa 4325 :syntax keyword B bbb 4326 :syntax cluster AandB contains=A 4327 :syntax match Stuff "( aaa bbb )" contains=@AandB 4328 :syntax cluster AandB add=B " now both keywords are matched in Stuff 4329 4330This also has implications for nested clusters: > 4331 :syntax keyword A aaa 4332 :syntax keyword B bbb 4333 :syntax cluster SmallGroup contains=B 4334 :syntax cluster BigGroup contains=A,@SmallGroup 4335 :syntax match Stuff "( aaa bbb )" contains=@BigGroup 4336 :syntax cluster BigGroup remove=B " no effect, since B isn't in BigGroup 4337 :syntax cluster SmallGroup remove=B " now bbb isn't matched within Stuff 4338< 4339 *E848* 4340The maximum number of clusters is 9767. 4341 4342============================================================================== 43439. Including syntax files *:syn-include* *E397* 4344 4345It is often useful for one language's syntax file to include a syntax file for 4346a related language. Depending on the exact relationship, this can be done in 4347two different ways: 4348 4349 - If top-level syntax items in the included syntax file are to be 4350 allowed at the top level in the including syntax, you can simply use 4351 the |:runtime| command: > 4352 4353 " In cpp.vim: 4354 :runtime! syntax/c.vim 4355 :unlet b:current_syntax 4356 4357< - If top-level syntax items in the included syntax file are to be 4358 contained within a region in the including syntax, you can use the 4359 ":syntax include" command: 4360 4361:sy[ntax] include [@{grouplist-name}] {file-name} 4362 4363 All syntax items declared in the included file will have the 4364 "contained" flag added. In addition, if a group list is specified, 4365 all top-level syntax items in the included file will be added to 4366 that list. > 4367 4368 " In perl.vim: 4369 :syntax include @Pod <sfile>:p:h/pod.vim 4370 :syntax region perlPOD start="^=head" end="^=cut" contains=@Pod 4371< 4372 When {file-name} is an absolute path (starts with "/", "c:", "$VAR" 4373 or "<sfile>") that file is sourced. When it is a relative path 4374 (e.g., "syntax/pod.vim") the file is searched for in 'runtimepath'. 4375 All matching files are loaded. Using a relative path is 4376 recommended, because it allows a user to replace the included file 4377 with his own version, without replacing the file that does the ":syn 4378 include". 4379 4380 *E847* 4381The maximum number of includes is 999. 4382 4383============================================================================== 438410. Synchronizing *:syn-sync* *E403* *E404* 4385 4386Vim wants to be able to start redrawing in any position in the document. To 4387make this possible it needs to know the syntax state at the position where 4388redrawing starts. 4389 4390:sy[ntax] sync [ccomment [group-name] | minlines={N} | ...] 4391 4392There are four ways to synchronize: 43931. Always parse from the start of the file. 4394 |:syn-sync-first| 43952. Based on C-style comments. Vim understands how C-comments work and can 4396 figure out if the current line starts inside or outside a comment. 4397 |:syn-sync-second| 43983. Jumping back a certain number of lines and start parsing there. 4399 |:syn-sync-third| 44004. Searching backwards in the text for a pattern to sync on. 4401 |:syn-sync-fourth| 4402 4403 *:syn-sync-maxlines* *:syn-sync-minlines* 4404For the last three methods, the line range where the parsing can start is 4405limited by "minlines" and "maxlines". 4406 4407If the "minlines={N}" argument is given, the parsing always starts at least 4408that many lines backwards. This can be used if the parsing may take a few 4409lines before it's correct, or when it's not possible to use syncing. 4410 4411If the "maxlines={N}" argument is given, the number of lines that are searched 4412for a comment or syncing pattern is restricted to N lines backwards (after 4413adding "minlines"). This is useful if you have few things to sync on and a 4414slow machine. Example: > 4415 :syntax sync maxlines=500 ccomment 4416< 4417 *:syn-sync-linebreaks* 4418When using a pattern that matches multiple lines, a change in one line may 4419cause a pattern to no longer match in a previous line. This means has to 4420start above where the change was made. How many lines can be specified with 4421the "linebreaks" argument. For example, when a pattern may include one line 4422break use this: > 4423 :syntax sync linebreaks=1 4424The result is that redrawing always starts at least one line before where a 4425change was made. The default value for "linebreaks" is zero. Usually the 4426value for "minlines" is bigger than "linebreaks". 4427 4428 4429First syncing method: *:syn-sync-first* 4430> 4431 :syntax sync fromstart 4432 4433The file will be parsed from the start. This makes syntax highlighting 4434accurate, but can be slow for long files. Vim caches previously parsed text, 4435so that it's only slow when parsing the text for the first time. However, 4436when making changes some part of the text needs to be parsed again (worst 4437case: to the end of the file). 4438 4439Using "fromstart" is equivalent to using "minlines" with a very large number. 4440 4441 4442Second syncing method: *:syn-sync-second* *:syn-sync-ccomment* 4443 4444For the second method, only the "ccomment" argument needs to be given. 4445Example: > 4446 :syntax sync ccomment 4447 4448When Vim finds that the line where displaying starts is inside a C-style 4449comment, the last region syntax item with the group-name "Comment" will be 4450used. This requires that there is a region with the group-name "Comment"! 4451An alternate group name can be specified, for example: > 4452 :syntax sync ccomment javaComment 4453This means that the last item specified with "syn region javaComment" will be 4454used for the detected C comment region. This only works properly if that 4455region does have a start pattern "\/*" and an end pattern "*\/". 4456 4457The "maxlines" argument can be used to restrict the search to a number of 4458lines. The "minlines" argument can be used to at least start a number of 4459lines back (e.g., for when there is some construct that only takes a few 4460lines, but it hard to sync on). 4461 4462Note: Syncing on a C comment doesn't work properly when strings are used 4463that cross a line and contain a "*/". Since letting strings cross a line 4464is a bad programming habit (many compilers give a warning message), and the 4465chance of a "*/" appearing inside a comment is very small, this restriction 4466is hardly ever noticed. 4467 4468 4469Third syncing method: *:syn-sync-third* 4470 4471For the third method, only the "minlines={N}" argument needs to be given. 4472Vim will subtract {N} from the line number and start parsing there. This 4473means {N} extra lines need to be parsed, which makes this method a bit slower. 4474Example: > 4475 :syntax sync minlines=50 4476 4477"lines" is equivalent to "minlines" (used by older versions). 4478 4479 4480Fourth syncing method: *:syn-sync-fourth* 4481 4482The idea is to synchronize on the end of a few specific regions, called a 4483sync pattern. Only regions can cross lines, so when we find the end of some 4484region, we might be able to know in which syntax item we are. The search 4485starts in the line just above the one where redrawing starts. From there 4486the search continues backwards in the file. 4487 4488This works just like the non-syncing syntax items. You can use contained 4489matches, nextgroup, etc. But there are a few differences: 4490- Keywords cannot be used. 4491- The syntax items with the "sync" keyword form a completely separated group 4492 of syntax items. You can't mix syncing groups and non-syncing groups. 4493- The matching works backwards in the buffer (line by line), instead of 4494 forwards. 4495- A line continuation pattern can be given. It is used to decide which group 4496 of lines need to be searched like they were one line. This means that the 4497 search for a match with the specified items starts in the first of the 4498 consecutive that contain the continuation pattern. 4499- When using "nextgroup" or "contains", this only works within one line (or 4500 group of continued lines). 4501- When using a region, it must start and end in the same line (or group of 4502 continued lines). Otherwise the end is assumed to be at the end of the 4503 line (or group of continued lines). 4504- When a match with a sync pattern is found, the rest of the line (or group of 4505 continued lines) is searched for another match. The last match is used. 4506 This is used when a line can contain both the start end the end of a region 4507 (e.g., in a C-comment like /* this */, the last "*/" is used). 4508 4509There are two ways how a match with a sync pattern can be used: 45101. Parsing for highlighting starts where redrawing starts (and where the 4511 search for the sync pattern started). The syntax group that is expected 4512 to be valid there must be specified. This works well when the regions 4513 that cross lines cannot contain other regions. 45142. Parsing for highlighting continues just after the match. The syntax group 4515 that is expected to be present just after the match must be specified. 4516 This can be used when the previous method doesn't work well. It's much 4517 slower, because more text needs to be parsed. 4518Both types of sync patterns can be used at the same time. 4519 4520Besides the sync patterns, other matches and regions can be specified, to 4521avoid finding unwanted matches. 4522 4523[The reason that the sync patterns are given separately, is that mostly the 4524search for the sync point can be much simpler than figuring out the 4525highlighting. The reduced number of patterns means it will go (much) 4526faster.] 4527 4528 *syn-sync-grouphere* *E393* *E394* 4529 :syntax sync match {sync-group-name} grouphere {group-name} "pattern" .. 4530 4531 Define a match that is used for syncing. {group-name} is the 4532 name of a syntax group that follows just after the match. Parsing 4533 of the text for highlighting starts just after the match. A region 4534 must exist for this {group-name}. The first one defined will be used. 4535 "NONE" can be used for when there is no syntax group after the match. 4536 4537 *syn-sync-groupthere* 4538 :syntax sync match {sync-group-name} groupthere {group-name} "pattern" .. 4539 4540 Like "grouphere", but {group-name} is the name of a syntax group that 4541 is to be used at the start of the line where searching for the sync 4542 point started. The text between the match and the start of the sync 4543 pattern searching is assumed not to change the syntax highlighting. 4544 For example, in C you could search backwards for "/*" and "*/". If 4545 "/*" is found first, you know that you are inside a comment, so the 4546 "groupthere" is "cComment". If "*/" is found first, you know that you 4547 are not in a comment, so the "groupthere" is "NONE". (in practice 4548 it's a bit more complicated, because the "/*" and "*/" could appear 4549 inside a string. That's left as an exercise to the reader...). 4550 4551 :syntax sync match .. 4552 :syntax sync region .. 4553 4554 Without a "groupthere" argument. Define a region or match that is 4555 skipped while searching for a sync point. 4556 4557 *syn-sync-linecont* 4558 :syntax sync linecont {pattern} 4559 4560 When {pattern} matches in a line, it is considered to continue in 4561 the next line. This means that the search for a sync point will 4562 consider the lines to be concatenated. 4563 4564If the "maxlines={N}" argument is given too, the number of lines that are 4565searched for a match is restricted to N. This is useful if you have very 4566few things to sync on and a slow machine. Example: > 4567 :syntax sync maxlines=100 4568 4569You can clear all sync settings with: > 4570 :syntax sync clear 4571 4572You can clear specific sync patterns with: > 4573 :syntax sync clear {sync-group-name} .. 4574 4575============================================================================== 457611. Listing syntax items *:syntax* *:sy* *:syn* *:syn-list* 4577 4578This command lists all the syntax items: > 4579 4580 :sy[ntax] [list] 4581 4582To show the syntax items for one syntax group: > 4583 4584 :sy[ntax] list {group-name} 4585 4586To list the syntax groups in one cluster: *E392* > 4587 4588 :sy[ntax] list @{cluster-name} 4589 4590See above for other arguments for the ":syntax" command. 4591 4592Note that the ":syntax" command can be abbreviated to ":sy", although ":syn" 4593is mostly used, because it looks better. 4594 4595============================================================================== 459612. Highlight command *:highlight* *:hi* *E28* *E411* *E415* 4597 4598There are three types of highlight groups: 4599- The ones used for specific languages. For these the name starts with the 4600 name of the language. Many of these don't have any attributes, but are 4601 linked to a group of the second type. 4602- The ones used for all syntax languages. 4603- The ones used for the 'highlight' option. 4604 *hitest.vim* 4605You can see all the groups currently active with this command: > 4606 :so $VIMRUNTIME/syntax/hitest.vim 4607This will open a new window containing all highlight group names, displayed 4608in their own color. 4609 4610 *:colo* *:colorscheme* *E185* 4611:colo[rscheme] Output the name of the currently active color scheme. 4612 This is basically the same as > 4613 :echo g:colors_name 4614< In case g:colors_name has not been defined :colo will 4615 output "default". When compiled without the |+eval| 4616 feature it will output "unknown". 4617 4618:colo[rscheme] {name} Load color scheme {name}. This searches 'runtimepath' 4619 for the file "colors/{name}.vim". The first one that 4620 is found is loaded. 4621 Also searches all plugins in 'packpath', first below 4622 "start" and then under "opt". 4623 4624 Doesn't work recursively, thus you can't use 4625 ":colorscheme" in a color scheme script. 4626 4627 To customize a colorscheme use another name, e.g. 4628 "~/.vim/colors/mine.vim", and use `:runtime` to load 4629 the original colorscheme: > 4630 runtime colors/evening.vim 4631 hi Statement ctermfg=Blue guifg=Blue 4632 4633< After the color scheme has been loaded the 4634 |ColorScheme| autocommand event is triggered. 4635 For info about writing a colorscheme file: > 4636 :edit $VIMRUNTIME/colors/README.txt 4637 4638:hi[ghlight] List all the current highlight groups that have 4639 attributes set. 4640 4641:hi[ghlight] {group-name} 4642 List one highlight group. 4643 4644:hi[ghlight] clear Reset all highlighting to the defaults. Removes all 4645 highlighting for groups added by the user! 4646 Uses the current value of 'background' to decide which 4647 default colors to use. 4648 4649:hi[ghlight] clear {group-name} 4650:hi[ghlight] {group-name} NONE 4651 Disable the highlighting for one highlight group. It 4652 is _not_ set back to the default colors. 4653 4654:hi[ghlight] [default] {group-name} {key}={arg} .. 4655 Add a highlight group, or change the highlighting for 4656 an existing group. 4657 See |highlight-args| for the {key}={arg} arguments. 4658 See |:highlight-default| for the optional [default] 4659 argument. 4660 4661Normally a highlight group is added once when starting up. This sets the 4662default values for the highlighting. After that, you can use additional 4663highlight commands to change the arguments that you want to set to non-default 4664values. The value "NONE" can be used to switch the value off or go back to 4665the default value. 4666 4667A simple way to change colors is with the |:colorscheme| command. This loads 4668a file with ":highlight" commands such as this: > 4669 4670 :hi Comment gui=bold 4671 4672Note that all settings that are not included remain the same, only the 4673specified field is used, and settings are merged with previous ones. So, the 4674result is like this single command has been used: > 4675 :hi Comment term=bold ctermfg=Cyan guifg=#80a0ff gui=bold 4676< 4677 *:highlight-verbose* 4678When listing a highlight group and 'verbose' is non-zero, the listing will 4679also tell where it was last set. Example: > 4680 :verbose hi Comment 4681< Comment xxx term=bold ctermfg=4 guifg=Blue ~ 4682 Last set from /home/mool/vim/vim7/runtime/syntax/syncolor.vim ~ 4683 4684When ":hi clear" is used then the script where this command is used will be 4685mentioned for the default values. See |:verbose-cmd| for more information. 4686 4687 *highlight-args* *E416* *E417* *E423* 4688There are three types of terminals for highlighting: 4689term a normal terminal (vt100, xterm) 4690cterm a color terminal (MS-DOS console, color-xterm, these have the "Co" 4691 termcap entry) 4692gui the GUI 4693 4694For each type the highlighting can be given. This makes it possible to use 4695the same syntax file on all terminals, and use the optimal highlighting. 4696 46971. highlight arguments for normal terminals 4698 4699 *bold* *underline* *undercurl* 4700 *inverse* *italic* *standout* 4701 *nocombine* *strikethrough* 4702term={attr-list} *attr-list* *highlight-term* *E418* 4703 attr-list is a comma separated list (without spaces) of the 4704 following items (in any order): 4705 bold 4706 underline 4707 undercurl not always available 4708 strikethrough not always available 4709 reverse 4710 inverse same as reverse 4711 italic 4712 standout 4713 nocombine override attributes instead of combining them 4714 NONE no attributes used (used to reset it) 4715 4716 Note that "bold" can be used here and by using a bold font. They 4717 have the same effect. 4718 "undercurl" is a curly underline. When "undercurl" is not possible 4719 then "underline" is used. In general "undercurl" and "strikethrough" 4720 is only available in the GUI. The color is set with |highlight-guisp|. 4721 4722start={term-list} *highlight-start* *E422* 4723stop={term-list} *term-list* *highlight-stop* 4724 These lists of terminal codes can be used to get 4725 non-standard attributes on a terminal. 4726 4727 The escape sequence specified with the "start" argument 4728 is written before the characters in the highlighted 4729 area. It can be anything that you want to send to the 4730 terminal to highlight this area. The escape sequence 4731 specified with the "stop" argument is written after the 4732 highlighted area. This should undo the "start" argument. 4733 Otherwise the screen will look messed up. 4734 4735 The {term-list} can have two forms: 4736 4737 1. A string with escape sequences. 4738 This is any string of characters, except that it can't start with 4739 "t_" and blanks are not allowed. The <> notation is recognized 4740 here, so you can use things like "<Esc>" and "<Space>". Example: 4741 start=<Esc>[27h;<Esc>[<Space>r; 4742 4743 2. A list of terminal codes. 4744 Each terminal code has the form "t_xx", where "xx" is the name of 4745 the termcap entry. The codes have to be separated with commas. 4746 White space is not allowed. Example: 4747 start=t_C1,t_BL 4748 The terminal codes must exist for this to work. 4749 4750 47512. highlight arguments for color terminals 4752 4753cterm={attr-list} *highlight-cterm* 4754 See above for the description of {attr-list} |attr-list|. 4755 The "cterm" argument is likely to be different from "term", when 4756 colors are used. For example, in a normal terminal comments could 4757 be underlined, in a color terminal they can be made Blue. 4758 Note: Many terminals (e.g., DOS console) can't mix these attributes 4759 with coloring. Use only one of "cterm=" OR "ctermfg=" OR "ctermbg=". 4760 4761ctermfg={color-nr} *highlight-ctermfg* *E421* 4762ctermbg={color-nr} *highlight-ctermbg* 4763 The {color-nr} argument is a color number. Its range is zero to 4764 (not including) the number given by the termcap entry "Co". 4765 The actual color with this number depends on the type of terminal 4766 and its settings. Sometimes the color also depends on the settings of 4767 "cterm". For example, on some systems "cterm=bold ctermfg=3" gives 4768 another color, on others you just get color 3. 4769 4770 For an xterm this depends on your resources, and is a bit 4771 unpredictable. See your xterm documentation for the defaults. The 4772 colors for a color-xterm can be changed from the .Xdefaults file. 4773 Unfortunately this means that it's not possible to get the same colors 4774 for each user. See |xterm-color| for info about color xterms. 4775 4776 The MSDOS standard colors are fixed (in a console window), so these 4777 have been used for the names. But the meaning of color names in X11 4778 are fixed, so these color settings have been used, to make the 4779 highlighting settings portable (complicated, isn't it?). The 4780 following names are recognized, with the color number used: 4781 4782 *cterm-colors* 4783 NR-16 NR-8 COLOR NAME ~ 4784 0 0 Black 4785 1 4 DarkBlue 4786 2 2 DarkGreen 4787 3 6 DarkCyan 4788 4 1 DarkRed 4789 5 5 DarkMagenta 4790 6 3 Brown, DarkYellow 4791 7 7 LightGray, LightGrey, Gray, Grey 4792 8 0* DarkGray, DarkGrey 4793 9 4* Blue, LightBlue 4794 10 2* Green, LightGreen 4795 11 6* Cyan, LightCyan 4796 12 1* Red, LightRed 4797 13 5* Magenta, LightMagenta 4798 14 3* Yellow, LightYellow 4799 15 7* White 4800 4801 The number under "NR-16" is used for 16-color terminals ('t_Co' 4802 greater than or equal to 16). The number under "NR-8" is used for 4803 8-color terminals ('t_Co' less than 16). The '*' indicates that the 4804 bold attribute is set for ctermfg. In many 8-color terminals (e.g., 4805 "linux"), this causes the bright colors to appear. This doesn't work 4806 for background colors! Without the '*' the bold attribute is removed. 4807 If you want to set the bold attribute in a different way, put a 4808 "cterm=" argument AFTER the "ctermfg=" or "ctermbg=" argument. Or use 4809 a number instead of a color name. 4810 4811 The case of the color names is ignored. 4812 Note that for 16 color ansi style terminals (including xterms), the 4813 numbers in the NR-8 column is used. Here '*' means 'add 8' so that Blue 4814 is 12, DarkGray is 8 etc. 4815 4816 Note that for some color terminals these names may result in the wrong 4817 colors! 4818 4819 You can also use "NONE" to remove the color. 4820 4821 *:hi-normal-cterm* 4822 When setting the "ctermfg" or "ctermbg" colors for the Normal group, 4823 these will become the colors used for the non-highlighted text. 4824 Example: > 4825 :highlight Normal ctermfg=grey ctermbg=darkblue 4826< When setting the "ctermbg" color for the Normal group, the 4827 'background' option will be adjusted automatically, under the 4828 condition that the color is recognized and 'background' was not set 4829 explicitly. This causes the highlight groups that depend on 4830 'background' to change! This means you should set the colors for 4831 Normal first, before setting other colors. 4832 When a colorscheme is being used, changing 'background' causes it to 4833 be reloaded, which may reset all colors (including Normal). First 4834 delete the "g:colors_name" variable when you don't want this. 4835 4836 When you have set "ctermfg" or "ctermbg" for the Normal group, Vim 4837 needs to reset the color when exiting. This is done with the "op" 4838 termcap entry |t_op|. If this doesn't work correctly, try setting the 4839 't_op' option in your .vimrc. 4840 *E419* *E420* 4841 When Vim knows the normal foreground and background colors, "fg" and 4842 "bg" can be used as color names. This only works after setting the 4843 colors for the Normal group and for the MS-DOS console. Example, for 4844 reverse video: > 4845 :highlight Visual ctermfg=bg ctermbg=fg 4846< Note that the colors are used that are valid at the moment this 4847 command are given. If the Normal group colors are changed later, the 4848 "fg" and "bg" colors will not be adjusted. 4849 4850 48513. highlight arguments for the GUI 4852 4853gui={attr-list} *highlight-gui* 4854 These give the attributes to use in the GUI mode. 4855 See |attr-list| for a description. 4856 Note that "bold" can be used here and by using a bold font. They 4857 have the same effect. 4858 Note that the attributes are ignored for the "Normal" group. 4859 4860font={font-name} *highlight-font* 4861 font-name is the name of a font, as it is used on the system Vim 4862 runs on. For X11 this is a complicated name, for example: > 4863 font=-misc-fixed-bold-r-normal--14-130-75-75-c-70-iso8859-1 4864< 4865 The font-name "NONE" can be used to revert to the default font. 4866 When setting the font for the "Normal" group, this becomes the default 4867 font (until the 'guifont' option is changed; the last one set is 4868 used). 4869 The following only works with Motif and Athena, not with other GUIs: 4870 When setting the font for the "Menu" group, the menus will be changed. 4871 When setting the font for the "Tooltip" group, the tooltips will be 4872 changed. 4873 All fonts used, except for Menu and Tooltip, should be of the same 4874 character size as the default font! Otherwise redrawing problems will 4875 occur. 4876 To use a font name with an embedded space or other special character, 4877 put it in single quotes. The single quote cannot be used then. 4878 Example: > 4879 :hi comment font='Monospace 10' 4880 4881guifg={color-name} *highlight-guifg* 4882guibg={color-name} *highlight-guibg* 4883guisp={color-name} *highlight-guisp* 4884 These give the foreground (guifg), background (guibg) and special 4885 (guisp) color to use in the GUI. "guisp" is used for undercurl and 4886 strikethrough. 4887 There are a few special names: 4888 NONE no color (transparent) 4889 bg use normal background color 4890 background use normal background color 4891 fg use normal foreground color 4892 foreground use normal foreground color 4893 To use a color name with an embedded space or other special character, 4894 put it in single quotes. The single quote cannot be used then. 4895 Example: > 4896 :hi comment guifg='salmon pink' 4897< 4898 *gui-colors* 4899 Suggested color names (these are available on most systems): 4900 Red LightRed DarkRed 4901 Green LightGreen DarkGreen SeaGreen 4902 Blue LightBlue DarkBlue SlateBlue 4903 Cyan LightCyan DarkCyan 4904 Magenta LightMagenta DarkMagenta 4905 Yellow LightYellow Brown DarkYellow 4906 Gray LightGray DarkGray 4907 Black White 4908 Orange Purple Violet 4909 4910 In the Win32 GUI version, additional system colors are available. See 4911 |win32-colors|. 4912 4913 You can also specify a color by its Red, Green and Blue values. 4914 The format is "#rrggbb", where 4915 "rr" is the Red value 4916 "gg" is the Green value 4917 "bb" is the Blue value 4918 All values are hexadecimal, range from "00" to "ff". Examples: > 4919 :highlight Comment guifg=#11f0c3 guibg=#ff00ff 4920< 4921 *highlight-groups* *highlight-default* 4922These are the default highlighting groups. These groups are used by the 4923'highlight' option default. Note that the highlighting depends on the value 4924of 'background'. You can see the current settings with the ":highlight" 4925command. 4926 *hl-ColorColumn* 4927ColorColumn used for the columns set with 'colorcolumn' 4928 *hl-Conceal* 4929Conceal placeholder characters substituted for concealed 4930 text (see 'conceallevel') 4931 *hl-Cursor* 4932Cursor the character under the cursor 4933 *hl-CursorIM* 4934CursorIM like Cursor, but used when in IME mode |CursorIM| 4935 *hl-CursorColumn* 4936CursorColumn the screen column that the cursor is in when 'cursorcolumn' is 4937 set 4938 *hl-CursorLine* 4939CursorLine the screen line that the cursor is in when 'cursorline' is 4940 set 4941 *hl-Directory* 4942Directory directory names (and other special names in listings) 4943 *hl-DiffAdd* 4944DiffAdd diff mode: Added line |diff.txt| 4945 *hl-DiffChange* 4946DiffChange diff mode: Changed line |diff.txt| 4947 *hl-DiffDelete* 4948DiffDelete diff mode: Deleted line |diff.txt| 4949 *hl-DiffText* 4950DiffText diff mode: Changed text within a changed line |diff.txt| 4951 *hl-EndOfBuffer* 4952EndOfBuffer filler lines (~) after the last line in the buffer. 4953 By default, this is highlighted like |hl-NonText|. 4954 *hl-ErrorMsg* 4955ErrorMsg error messages on the command line 4956 *hl-VertSplit* 4957VertSplit the column separating vertically split windows 4958 *hl-Folded* 4959Folded line used for closed folds 4960 *hl-FoldColumn* 4961FoldColumn 'foldcolumn' 4962 *hl-SignColumn* 4963SignColumn column where |signs| are displayed 4964 *hl-IncSearch* 4965IncSearch 'incsearch' highlighting; also used for the text replaced with 4966 ":s///c" 4967 *hl-LineNr* 4968LineNr Line number for ":number" and ":#" commands, and when 'number' 4969 or 'relativenumber' option is set. 4970 *hl-CursorLineNr* 4971CursorLineNr Like LineNr when 'cursorline' or 'relativenumber' is set for 4972 the cursor line. 4973 *hl-MatchParen* 4974MatchParen The character under the cursor or just before it, if it 4975 is a paired bracket, and its match. |pi_paren.txt| 4976 4977 *hl-ModeMsg* 4978ModeMsg 'showmode' message (e.g., "-- INSERT --") 4979 *hl-MoreMsg* 4980MoreMsg |more-prompt| 4981 *hl-NonText* 4982NonText '@' at the end of the window, characters from 'showbreak' 4983 and other characters that do not really exist in the text 4984 (e.g., ">" displayed when a double-wide character doesn't 4985 fit at the end of the line). 4986 *hl-Normal* 4987Normal normal text 4988 *hl-Pmenu* 4989Pmenu Popup menu: normal item. 4990 *hl-PmenuSel* 4991PmenuSel Popup menu: selected item. 4992 *hl-PmenuSbar* 4993PmenuSbar Popup menu: scrollbar. 4994 *hl-PmenuThumb* 4995PmenuThumb Popup menu: Thumb of the scrollbar. 4996 *hl-Question* 4997Question |hit-enter| prompt and yes/no questions 4998 *hl-QuickFixLine* 4999QuickFixLine Current |quickfix| item in the quickfix window. 5000 *hl-Search* 5001Search Last search pattern highlighting (see 'hlsearch'). 5002 Also used for similar items that need to stand out. 5003 *hl-SpecialKey* 5004SpecialKey Meta and special keys listed with ":map", also for text used 5005 to show unprintable characters in the text, 'listchars'. 5006 Generally: text that is displayed differently from what it 5007 really is. 5008 *hl-SpellBad* 5009SpellBad Word that is not recognized by the spellchecker. |spell| 5010 This will be combined with the highlighting used otherwise. 5011 *hl-SpellCap* 5012SpellCap Word that should start with a capital. |spell| 5013 This will be combined with the highlighting used otherwise. 5014 *hl-SpellLocal* 5015SpellLocal Word that is recognized by the spellchecker as one that is 5016 used in another region. |spell| 5017 This will be combined with the highlighting used otherwise. 5018 *hl-SpellRare* 5019SpellRare Word that is recognized by the spellchecker as one that is 5020 hardly ever used. |spell| 5021 This will be combined with the highlighting used otherwise. 5022 *hl-StatusLine* 5023StatusLine status line of current window 5024 *hl-StatusLineNC* 5025StatusLineNC status lines of not-current windows 5026 Note: if this is equal to "StatusLine" Vim will use "^^^" in 5027 the status line of the current window. 5028 *hl-TabLine* 5029TabLine tab pages line, not active tab page label 5030 *hl-TabLineFill* 5031TabLineFill tab pages line, where there are no labels 5032 *hl-TabLineSel* 5033TabLineSel tab pages line, active tab page label 5034 *hl-Title* 5035Title titles for output from ":set all", ":autocmd" etc. 5036 *hl-Visual* 5037Visual Visual mode selection 5038 *hl-VisualNOS* 5039VisualNOS Visual mode selection when vim is "Not Owning the Selection". 5040 Only X11 Gui's |gui-x11| and |xterm-clipboard| supports this. 5041 *hl-WarningMsg* 5042WarningMsg warning messages 5043 *hl-WildMenu* 5044WildMenu current match in 'wildmenu' completion 5045 5046 *hl-User1* *hl-User1..9* *hl-User9* 5047The 'statusline' syntax allows the use of 9 different highlights in the 5048statusline and ruler (via 'rulerformat'). The names are User1 to User9. 5049 5050For the GUI you can use the following groups to set the colors for the menu, 5051scrollbars and tooltips. They don't have defaults. This doesn't work for the 5052Win32 GUI. Only three highlight arguments have any effect here: font, guibg, 5053and guifg. 5054 5055 *hl-Menu* 5056Menu Current font, background and foreground colors of the menus. 5057 Also used for the toolbar. 5058 Applicable highlight arguments: font, guibg, guifg. 5059 5060 NOTE: For Motif and Athena the font argument actually 5061 specifies a fontset at all times, no matter if 'guifontset' is 5062 empty, and as such it is tied to the current |:language| when 5063 set. 5064 5065 *hl-Scrollbar* 5066Scrollbar Current background and foreground of the main window's 5067 scrollbars. 5068 Applicable highlight arguments: guibg, guifg. 5069 5070 *hl-Tooltip* 5071Tooltip Current font, background and foreground of the tooltips. 5072 Applicable highlight arguments: font, guibg, guifg. 5073 5074 NOTE: For Motif and Athena the font argument actually 5075 specifies a fontset at all times, no matter if 'guifontset' is 5076 empty, and as such it is tied to the current |:language| when 5077 set. 5078 5079============================================================================== 508013. Linking groups *:hi-link* *:highlight-link* *E412* *E413* 5081 5082When you want to use the same highlighting for several syntax groups, you 5083can do this more easily by linking the groups into one common highlight 5084group, and give the color attributes only for that group. 5085 5086To set a link: 5087 5088 :hi[ghlight][!] [default] link {from-group} {to-group} 5089 5090To remove a link: 5091 5092 :hi[ghlight][!] [default] link {from-group} NONE 5093 5094Notes: *E414* 5095- If the {from-group} and/or {to-group} doesn't exist, it is created. You 5096 don't get an error message for a non-existing group. 5097- As soon as you use a ":highlight" command for a linked group, the link is 5098 removed. 5099- If there are already highlight settings for the {from-group}, the link is 5100 not made, unless the '!' is given. For a ":highlight link" command in a 5101 sourced file, you don't get an error message. This can be used to skip 5102 links for groups that already have settings. 5103 5104 *:hi-default* *:highlight-default* 5105The [default] argument is used for setting the default highlighting for a 5106group. If highlighting has already been specified for the group the command 5107will be ignored. Also when there is an existing link. 5108 5109Using [default] is especially useful to overrule the highlighting of a 5110specific syntax file. For example, the C syntax file contains: > 5111 :highlight default link cComment Comment 5112If you like Question highlighting for C comments, put this in your vimrc file: > 5113 :highlight link cComment Question 5114Without the "default" in the C syntax file, the highlighting would be 5115overruled when the syntax file is loaded. 5116 5117============================================================================== 511814. Cleaning up *:syn-clear* *E391* 5119 5120If you want to clear the syntax stuff for the current buffer, you can use this 5121command: > 5122 :syntax clear 5123 5124This command should be used when you want to switch off syntax highlighting, 5125or when you want to switch to using another syntax. It's normally not needed 5126in a syntax file itself, because syntax is cleared by the autocommands that 5127load the syntax file. 5128The command also deletes the "b:current_syntax" variable, since no syntax is 5129loaded after this command. 5130 5131If you want to disable syntax highlighting for all buffers, you need to remove 5132the autocommands that load the syntax files: > 5133 :syntax off 5134 5135What this command actually does, is executing the command > 5136 :source $VIMRUNTIME/syntax/nosyntax.vim 5137See the "nosyntax.vim" file for details. Note that for this to work 5138$VIMRUNTIME must be valid. See |$VIMRUNTIME|. 5139 5140To clean up specific syntax groups for the current buffer: > 5141 :syntax clear {group-name} .. 5142This removes all patterns and keywords for {group-name}. 5143 5144To clean up specific syntax group lists for the current buffer: > 5145 :syntax clear @{grouplist-name} .. 5146This sets {grouplist-name}'s contents to an empty list. 5147 5148 *:syntax-reset* *:syn-reset* 5149If you have changed the colors and messed them up, use this command to get the 5150defaults back: > 5151 5152 :syntax reset 5153 5154It is a bit of a wrong name, since it does not reset any syntax items, it only 5155affects the highlighting. 5156 5157This doesn't change the colors for the 'highlight' option. 5158 5159Note that the syntax colors that you set in your vimrc file will also be reset 5160back to their Vim default. 5161Note that if you are using a color scheme, the colors defined by the color 5162scheme for syntax highlighting will be lost. 5163 5164What this actually does is: > 5165 5166 let g:syntax_cmd = "reset" 5167 runtime! syntax/syncolor.vim 5168 5169Note that this uses the 'runtimepath' option. 5170 5171 *syncolor* 5172If you want to use different colors for syntax highlighting, you can add a Vim 5173script file to set these colors. Put this file in a directory in 5174'runtimepath' which comes after $VIMRUNTIME, so that your settings overrule 5175the default colors. This way these colors will be used after the ":syntax 5176reset" command. 5177 5178For Unix you can use the file ~/.vim/after/syntax/syncolor.vim. Example: > 5179 5180 if &background == "light" 5181 highlight comment ctermfg=darkgreen guifg=darkgreen 5182 else 5183 highlight comment ctermfg=green guifg=green 5184 endif 5185 5186 *E679* 5187Do make sure this syncolor.vim script does not use a "syntax on", set the 5188'background' option or uses a "colorscheme" command, because it results in an 5189endless loop. 5190 5191Note that when a color scheme is used, there might be some confusion whether 5192your defined colors are to be used or the colors from the scheme. This 5193depends on the color scheme file. See |:colorscheme|. 5194 5195 *syntax_cmd* 5196The "syntax_cmd" variable is set to one of these values when the 5197syntax/syncolor.vim files are loaded: 5198 "on" ":syntax on" command. Highlight colors are overruled but 5199 links are kept 5200 "enable" ":syntax enable" command. Only define colors for groups that 5201 don't have highlighting yet. Use ":syntax default". 5202 "reset" ":syntax reset" command or loading a color scheme. Define all 5203 the colors. 5204 "skip" Don't define colors. Used to skip the default settings when a 5205 syncolor.vim file earlier in 'runtimepath' has already set 5206 them. 5207 5208============================================================================== 520915. Highlighting tags *tag-highlight* 5210 5211If you want to highlight all the tags in your file, you can use the following 5212mappings. 5213 5214 <F11> -- Generate tags.vim file, and highlight tags. 5215 <F12> -- Just highlight tags based on existing tags.vim file. 5216> 5217 :map <F11> :sp tags<CR>:%s/^\([^ :]*:\)\=\([^ ]*\).*/syntax keyword Tag \2/<CR>:wq! tags.vim<CR>/^<CR><F12> 5218 :map <F12> :so tags.vim<CR> 5219 5220WARNING: The longer the tags file, the slower this will be, and the more 5221memory Vim will consume. 5222 5223Only highlighting typedefs, unions and structs can be done too. For this you 5224must use Exuberant ctags (found at http://ctags.sf.net). 5225 5226Put these lines in your Makefile: 5227 5228# Make a highlight file for types. Requires Exuberant ctags and awk 5229types: types.vim 5230types.vim: *.[ch] 5231 ctags --c-kinds=gstu -o- *.[ch] |\ 5232 awk 'BEGIN{printf("syntax keyword Type\t")}\ 5233 {printf("%s ", $$1)}END{print ""}' > $@ 5234 5235And put these lines in your .vimrc: > 5236 5237 " load the types.vim highlighting file, if it exists 5238 autocmd BufRead,BufNewFile *.[ch] let fname = expand('<afile>:p:h') . '/types.vim' 5239 autocmd BufRead,BufNewFile *.[ch] if filereadable(fname) 5240 autocmd BufRead,BufNewFile *.[ch] exe 'so ' . fname 5241 autocmd BufRead,BufNewFile *.[ch] endif 5242 5243============================================================================== 524416. Window-local syntax *:ownsyntax* 5245 5246Normally all windows on a buffer share the same syntax settings. It is 5247possible, however, to set a particular window on a file to have its own 5248private syntax setting. A possible example would be to edit LaTeX source 5249with conventional highlighting in one window, while seeing the same source 5250highlighted differently (so as to hide control sequences and indicate bold, 5251italic etc regions) in another. The 'scrollbind' option is useful here. 5252 5253To set the current window to have the syntax "foo", separately from all other 5254windows on the buffer: > 5255 :ownsyntax foo 5256< *w:current_syntax* 5257This will set the "w:current_syntax" variable to "foo". The value of 5258"b:current_syntax" does not change. This is implemented by saving and 5259restoring "b:current_syntax", since the syntax files do set 5260"b:current_syntax". The value set by the syntax file is assigned to 5261"w:current_syntax". 5262Note: This resets the 'spell', 'spellcapcheck' and 'spellfile' options. 5263 5264Once a window has its own syntax, syntax commands executed from other windows 5265on the same buffer (including :syntax clear) have no effect. Conversely, 5266syntax commands executed from that window do not affect other windows on the 5267same buffer. 5268 5269A window with its own syntax reverts to normal behavior when another buffer 5270is loaded into that window or the file is reloaded. 5271When splitting the window, the new window will use the original syntax. 5272 5273============================================================================== 527417. Color xterms *xterm-color* *color-xterm* 5275 5276Most color xterms have only eight colors. If you don't get colors with the 5277default setup, it should work with these lines in your .vimrc: > 5278 :if &term =~ "xterm" 5279 : if has("terminfo") 5280 : set t_Co=8 5281 : set t_Sf=<Esc>[3%p1%dm 5282 : set t_Sb=<Esc>[4%p1%dm 5283 : else 5284 : set t_Co=8 5285 : set t_Sf=<Esc>[3%dm 5286 : set t_Sb=<Esc>[4%dm 5287 : endif 5288 :endif 5289< [<Esc> is a real escape, type CTRL-V <Esc>] 5290 5291You might want to change the first "if" to match the name of your terminal, 5292e.g. "dtterm" instead of "xterm". 5293 5294Note: Do these settings BEFORE doing ":syntax on". Otherwise the colors may 5295be wrong. 5296 *xiterm* *rxvt* 5297The above settings have been mentioned to work for xiterm and rxvt too. 5298But for using 16 colors in an rxvt these should work with terminfo: > 5299 :set t_AB=<Esc>[%?%p1%{8}%<%t25;%p1%{40}%+%e5;%p1%{32}%+%;%dm 5300 :set t_AF=<Esc>[%?%p1%{8}%<%t22;%p1%{30}%+%e1;%p1%{22}%+%;%dm 5301< 5302 *colortest.vim* 5303To test your color setup, a file has been included in the Vim distribution. 5304To use it, execute this command: > 5305 :runtime syntax/colortest.vim 5306 5307Some versions of xterm (and other terminals, like the Linux console) can 5308output lighter foreground colors, even though the number of colors is defined 5309at 8. Therefore Vim sets the "cterm=bold" attribute for light foreground 5310colors, when 't_Co' is 8. 5311 5312 *xfree-xterm* 5313To get 16 colors or more, get the newest xterm version (which should be 5314included with XFree86 3.3 and later). You can also find the latest version 5315at: > 5316 http://invisible-island.net/xterm/xterm.html 5317Here is a good way to configure it. This uses 88 colors and enables the 5318termcap-query feature, which allows Vim to ask the xterm how many colors it 5319supports. > 5320 ./configure --disable-bold-color --enable-88-color --enable-tcap-query 5321If you only get 8 colors, check the xterm compilation settings. 5322(Also see |UTF8-xterm| for using this xterm with UTF-8 character encoding). 5323 5324This xterm should work with these lines in your .vimrc (for 16 colors): > 5325 :if has("terminfo") 5326 : set t_Co=16 5327 : set t_AB=<Esc>[%?%p1%{8}%<%t%p1%{40}%+%e%p1%{92}%+%;%dm 5328 : set t_AF=<Esc>[%?%p1%{8}%<%t%p1%{30}%+%e%p1%{82}%+%;%dm 5329 :else 5330 : set t_Co=16 5331 : set t_Sf=<Esc>[3%dm 5332 : set t_Sb=<Esc>[4%dm 5333 :endif 5334< [<Esc> is a real escape, type CTRL-V <Esc>] 5335 5336Without |+terminfo|, Vim will recognize these settings, and automatically 5337translate cterm colors of 8 and above to "<Esc>[9%dm" and "<Esc>[10%dm". 5338Colors above 16 are also translated automatically. 5339 5340For 256 colors this has been reported to work: > 5341 5342 :set t_AB=<Esc>[48;5;%dm 5343 :set t_AF=<Esc>[38;5;%dm 5344 5345Or just set the TERM environment variable to "xterm-color" or "xterm-16color" 5346and try if that works. 5347 5348You probably want to use these X resources (in your ~/.Xdefaults file): 5349 XTerm*color0: #000000 5350 XTerm*color1: #c00000 5351 XTerm*color2: #008000 5352 XTerm*color3: #808000 5353 XTerm*color4: #0000c0 5354 XTerm*color5: #c000c0 5355 XTerm*color6: #008080 5356 XTerm*color7: #c0c0c0 5357 XTerm*color8: #808080 5358 XTerm*color9: #ff6060 5359 XTerm*color10: #00ff00 5360 XTerm*color11: #ffff00 5361 XTerm*color12: #8080ff 5362 XTerm*color13: #ff40ff 5363 XTerm*color14: #00ffff 5364 XTerm*color15: #ffffff 5365 Xterm*cursorColor: Black 5366 5367[Note: The cursorColor is required to work around a bug, which changes the 5368cursor color to the color of the last drawn text. This has been fixed by a 5369newer version of xterm, but not everybody is using it yet.] 5370 5371To get these right away, reload the .Xdefaults file to the X Option database 5372Manager (you only need to do this when you just changed the .Xdefaults file): > 5373 xrdb -merge ~/.Xdefaults 5374< 5375 *xterm-blink* *xterm-blinking-cursor* 5376To make the cursor blink in an xterm, see tools/blink.c. Or use Thomas 5377Dickey's xterm above patchlevel 107 (see above for where to get it), with 5378these resources: 5379 XTerm*cursorBlink: on 5380 XTerm*cursorOnTime: 400 5381 XTerm*cursorOffTime: 250 5382 XTerm*cursorColor: White 5383 5384 *hpterm-color* 5385These settings work (more or less) for an hpterm, which only supports 8 5386foreground colors: > 5387 :if has("terminfo") 5388 : set t_Co=8 5389 : set t_Sf=<Esc>[&v%p1%dS 5390 : set t_Sb=<Esc>[&v7S 5391 :else 5392 : set t_Co=8 5393 : set t_Sf=<Esc>[&v%dS 5394 : set t_Sb=<Esc>[&v7S 5395 :endif 5396< [<Esc> is a real escape, type CTRL-V <Esc>] 5397 5398 *Eterm* *enlightened-terminal* 5399These settings have been reported to work for the Enlightened terminal 5400emulator, or Eterm. They might work for all xterm-like terminals that use the 5401bold attribute to get bright colors. Add an ":if" like above when needed. > 5402 :set t_Co=16 5403 :set t_AF=^[[%?%p1%{8}%<%t3%p1%d%e%p1%{22}%+%d;1%;m 5404 :set t_AB=^[[%?%p1%{8}%<%t4%p1%d%e%p1%{32}%+%d;1%;m 5405< 5406 *TTpro-telnet* 5407These settings should work for TTpro telnet. Tera Term Pro is a freeware / 5408open-source program for MS-Windows. > 5409 set t_Co=16 5410 set t_AB=^[[%?%p1%{8}%<%t%p1%{40}%+%e%p1%{32}%+5;%;%dm 5411 set t_AF=^[[%?%p1%{8}%<%t%p1%{30}%+%e%p1%{22}%+1;%;%dm 5412Also make sure TTpro's Setup / Window / Full Color is enabled, and make sure 5413that Setup / Font / Enable Bold is NOT enabled. 5414(info provided by John Love-Jensen <[email protected]>) 5415 5416 5417============================================================================== 541818. When syntax is slow *:syntime* 5419 5420This is aimed at authors of a syntax file. 5421 5422If your syntax causes redrawing to be slow, here are a few hints on making it 5423faster. To see slowness switch on some features that usually interfere, such 5424as 'relativenumber' and |folding|. 5425 5426Note: this is only available when compiled with the |+profile| feature. 5427You many need to build Vim with "huge" features. 5428 5429To find out what patterns are consuming most time, get an overview with this 5430sequence: > 5431 :syntime on 5432 [ redraw the text at least once with CTRL-L ] 5433 :syntime report 5434 5435This will display a list of syntax patterns that were used, sorted by the time 5436it took to match them against the text. 5437 5438:syntime on Start measuring syntax times. This will add some 5439 overhead to compute the time spent on syntax pattern 5440 matching. 5441 5442:syntime off Stop measuring syntax times. 5443 5444:syntime clear Set all the counters to zero, restart measuring. 5445 5446:syntime report Show the syntax items used since ":syntime on" in the 5447 current window. Use a wider display to see more of 5448 the output. 5449 5450 The list is sorted by total time. The columns are: 5451 TOTAL Total time in seconds spent on 5452 matching this pattern. 5453 COUNT Number of times the pattern was used. 5454 MATCH Number of times the pattern actually 5455 matched 5456 SLOWEST The longest time for one try. 5457 AVERAGE The average time for one try. 5458 NAME Name of the syntax item. Note that 5459 this is not unique. 5460 PATTERN The pattern being used. 5461 5462Pattern matching gets slow when it has to try many alternatives. Try to 5463include as much literal text as possible to reduce the number of ways a 5464pattern does NOT match. 5465 5466When using the "\@<=" and "\@<!" items, add a maximum size to avoid trying at 5467all positions in the current and previous line. For example, if the item is 5468literal text specify the size of that text (in bytes): 5469 5470"<\@<=span" Matches "span" in "<span". This tries matching with "<" in 5471 many places. 5472"<\@1<=span" Matches the same, but only tries one byte before "span". 5473 5474 5475 vim:tw=78:sw=4:ts=8:ft=help:norl: 5476