1*textprop.txt* For Vim version 8.2. Last change: 2021 May 26 2 3 4 VIM REFERENCE MANUAL by Bram Moolenaar 5 6 7Displaying text with properties attached. *textprop* *text-properties* 8 9 101. Introduction |text-prop-intro| 112. Functions |text-prop-functions| 123. When text changes |text-prop-changes| 13 14 15{not able to use text properties when the |+textprop| feature was 16disabled at compile time} 17 18============================================================================== 191. Introduction *text-prop-intro* 20 21Text properties can be attached to text in a buffer. They will move with the 22text: If lines are deleted or inserted the properties move with the text they 23are attached to. Also when inserting/deleting text in the line before the 24text property. And when inserting/deleting text inside the text property, it 25will increase/decrease in size. 26 27The main use for text properties is to highlight text. This can be seen as a 28replacement for syntax highlighting. Instead of defining patterns to match 29the text, the highlighting is set by a script, possibly using the output of an 30external parser. This only needs to be done once, not every time when 31redrawing the screen, thus can be much faster, after the initial cost of 32attaching the text properties. 33 34Text properties can also be used for other purposes to identify text. For 35example, add a text property on a function name, so that a search can be 36defined to jump to the next/previous function. 37 38A text property is attached at a specific line and column, and has a specified 39length. The property can span multiple lines. 40 41A text property has these fields: 42 "id" a number to be used as desired 43 "type" the name of a property type 44 45 46Property Types ~ 47 *E971* 48A text property normally has the name of a property type, which defines 49how to highlight the text. The property type can have these entries: 50 "highlight" name of the highlight group to use 51 "combine" when omitted or TRUE the text property highlighting is 52 combined with any syntax highlighting; when FALSE the 53 text property highlighting replaces the syntax 54 highlighting 55 "priority" when properties overlap, the one with the highest 56 priority will be used. 57 "start_incl" when TRUE inserts at the start position will be 58 included in the text property 59 "end_incl" when TRUE inserts at the end position will be 60 included in the text property 61 62 63Example ~ 64 65Suppose line 11 in a buffer has this text (excluding the indent): 66 67 The number 123 is smaller than 4567. 68 69To highlight the numbers in this text: > 70 call prop_type_add('number', {'highlight': 'Constant'}) 71 call prop_add(11, 12, {'length': 3, 'type': 'number'}) 72 call prop_add(11, 32, {'length': 4, 'type': 'number'}) 73 74Try inserting or deleting lines above the text, you will see that the text 75properties stick to the text, thus the line number is adjusted as needed. 76 77Setting "start_incl" and "end_incl" is useful when white space surrounds the 78text, e.g. for a function name. Using false is useful when the text starts 79and/or ends with a specific character, such as the quote surrounding a string. 80 81 func FuncName(arg) ~ 82 ^^^^^^^^ property with start_incl and end_incl set 83 84 var = "text"; ~ 85 ^^^^^^ property with start_incl and end_incl not set 86 87Nevertheless, when text is inserted or deleted the text may need to be parsed 88and the text properties updated. But this can be done asynchronously. 89 90 91Internal error *E967* 92 93If you see E967, please report the bug. You can do this at Github: 94https://github.com/vim/vim/issues/new 95 96============================================================================== 972. Functions *text-prop-functions* 98 99Manipulating text property types: 100 101prop_type_add({name}, {props}) define a new property type 102prop_type_change({name}, {props}) change an existing property type 103prop_type_delete({name} [, {props}]) delete a property type 104prop_type_get({name} [, {props}]) get property type values 105prop_type_list([{props}]) get list of property types 106 107 108Manipulating text properties: 109 110prop_add({lnum}, {col}, {props}) add a text property 111prop_clear({lnum} [, {lnum-end} [, {bufnr}]]) 112 remove all text properties 113prop_find({props} [, {direction}]) search for a text property 114prop_list({lnum} [, {props}]) text properties in {lnum} 115prop_remove({props} [, {lnum} [, {lnum-end}]]) 116 remove a text property 117 118 *prop_add()* *E965* 119prop_add({lnum}, {col}, {props}) 120 Attach a text property at position {lnum}, {col}. {col} is 121 counted in bytes, use one for the first column. 122 If {lnum} is invalid an error is given. *E966* 123 If {col} is invalid an error is given. *E964* 124 125 {props} is a dictionary with these fields: 126 length length of text in bytes, can only be used 127 for a property that does not continue in 128 another line; can be zero 129 end_lnum line number for the end of text (inclusive) 130 end_col column just after the text; not used when 131 "length" is present; when {col} and "end_col" 132 are equal, and "end_lnum" is omitted or equal 133 to {lnum}, this is a zero-width text property 134 bufnr buffer to add the property to; when omitted 135 the current buffer is used 136 id user defined ID for the property; must be a 137 number; when omitted zero is used 138 type name of the text property type 139 All fields except "type" are optional. 140 141 It is an error when both "length" and "end_lnum" or "end_col" 142 are given. Either use "length" or "end_col" for a property 143 within one line, or use "end_lnum" and "end_col" for a 144 property that spans more than one line. 145 When neither "length" nor "end_col" are given the property 146 will be zero-width. That means it will move with the text, as 147 a kind of mark. One character will be highlighted, if the 148 type specifies highlighting. 149 The property can end exactly at the last character of the 150 text, or just after it. In the last case, if text is appended 151 to the line, the text property size will increase, also when 152 the property type does not have "end_incl" set. 153 154 "type" will first be looked up in the buffer the property is 155 added to. When not found, the global property types are used. 156 If not found an error is given. 157 158 Can also be used as a |method|: > 159 GetLnum()->prop_add(col, props) 160 161 162prop_clear({lnum} [, {lnum-end} [, {props}]]) *prop_clear()* 163 Remove all text properties from line {lnum}. 164 When {lnum-end} is given, remove all text properties from line 165 {lnum} to {lnum-end} (inclusive). 166 167 When {props} contains a "bufnr" item use this buffer, 168 otherwise use the current buffer. 169 170 Can also be used as a |method|: > 171 GetLnum()->prop_clear() 172< 173 *prop_find()* 174prop_find({props} [, {direction}]) 175 Search for a text property as specified with {props}: 176 id property with this ID 177 type property with this type name 178 both "id" and "type" must both match 179 bufnr buffer to search in; when present a 180 start position with "lnum" and "col" 181 must be given; when omitted the 182 current buffer is used 183 lnum start in this line (when omitted start 184 at the cursor) 185 col start at this column (when omitted 186 and "lnum" is given: use column 1, 187 otherwise start at the cursor) 188 skipstart do not look for a match at the start 189 position 190 191 A property matches when either "id" or "type" matches. 192 {direction} can be "f" for forward and "b" for backward. When 193 omitted forward search is performed. 194 195 If a match is found then a Dict is returned with the entries 196 as with prop_list(), and additionally an "lnum" entry. 197 If no match is found then an empty Dict is returned. 198 199 200prop_list({lnum} [, {props}]) *prop_list()* 201 Return a List with all text properties in line {lnum}. 202 203 When {props} contains a "bufnr" item, use this buffer instead 204 of the current buffer. 205 206 The properties are ordered by starting column and priority. 207 Each property is a Dict with these entries: 208 col starting column 209 length length in bytes, one more if line break is 210 included 211 id property ID 212 type name of the property type, omitted if 213 the type was deleted 214 type_bufnr buffer number for which this type was defined; 215 0 if the type is global 216 start when TRUE property starts in this line 217 end when TRUE property ends in this line 218 219 When "start" is zero the property started in a previous line, 220 the current one is a continuation. 221 When "end" is zero the property continues in the next line. 222 The line break after this line is included. 223 224 Can also be used as a |method|: > 225 GetLnum()->prop_list() 226< 227 *prop_remove()* *E968* *E860* 228prop_remove({props} [, {lnum} [, {lnum-end}]]) 229 Remove a matching text property from line {lnum}. When 230 {lnum-end} is given, remove matching text properties from line 231 {lnum} to {lnum-end} (inclusive). 232 When {lnum} is omitted remove matching text properties from 233 all lines (this requires going over all lines, thus will be a 234 bit slow for a buffer with many lines). 235 236 {props} is a dictionary with these fields: 237 id remove text properties with this ID 238 type remove text properties with this type name 239 both "id" and "type" must both match 240 bufnr use this buffer instead of the current one 241 all when TRUE remove all matching text properties, 242 not just the first one 243 A property matches when either "id" or "type" matches. 244 If buffer "bufnr" does not exist you get an error message. 245 If buffer "bufnr" is not loaded then nothing happens. 246 247 Returns the number of properties that were removed. 248 249 Can also be used as a |method|: > 250 GetProps()->prop_remove() 251 252 253prop_type_add({name}, {props}) *prop_type_add()* *E969* *E970* 254 Add a text property type {name}. If a property type with this 255 name already exists an error is given. Nothing is returned. 256 {props} is a dictionary with these optional fields: 257 bufnr define the property only for this buffer; this 258 avoids name collisions and automatically 259 clears the property types when the buffer is 260 deleted. 261 highlight name of highlight group to use 262 priority when a character has multiple text 263 properties the one with the highest priority 264 will be used; negative values can be used, the 265 default priority is zero 266 combine when omitted or TRUE combine the highlight 267 with any syntax highlight; when FALSE syntax 268 highlight will not be used 269 start_incl when TRUE inserts at the start position will 270 be included in the text property 271 end_incl when TRUE inserts at the end position will be 272 included in the text property 273 274 Can also be used as a |method|: > 275 GetPropName()->prop_type_add(props) 276 277prop_type_change({name}, {props}) *prop_type_change()* 278 Change properties of an existing text property type. If a 279 property with this name does not exist an error is given. 280 The {props} argument is just like |prop_type_add()|. 281 282 Can also be used as a |method|: > 283 GetPropName()->prop_type_change(props) 284 285prop_type_delete({name} [, {props}]) *prop_type_delete()* 286 Remove the text property type {name}. When text properties 287 using the type {name} are still in place, they will not have 288 an effect and can no longer be removed by name. 289 290 {props} can contain a "bufnr" item. When it is given, delete 291 a property type from this buffer instead of from the global 292 property types. 293 294 When text property type {name} is not found there is no error. 295 296 Can also be used as a |method|: > 297 GetPropName()->prop_type_delete() 298 299prop_type_get({name} [, {props}]) *prop_type_get()* 300 Returns the properties of property type {name}. This is a 301 dictionary with the same fields as was given to 302 prop_type_add(). 303 When the property type {name} does not exist, an empty 304 dictionary is returned. 305 306 {props} can contain a "bufnr" item. When it is given, use 307 this buffer instead of the global property types. 308 309 Can also be used as a |method|: > 310 GetPropName()->prop_type_get() 311 312prop_type_list([{props}]) *prop_type_list()* 313 Returns a list with all property type names. 314 315 {props} can contain a "bufnr" item. When it is given, use 316 this buffer instead of the global property types. 317 318 319============================================================================== 3203. When text changes *text-prop-changes* 321 322Vim will do its best to keep the text properties on the text where it was 323attached. When inserting or deleting text the properties after the change 324will move accordingly. 325 326When text is deleted and a text property no longer includes any text, it is 327deleted. However, a text property that was defined as zero-width will remain, 328unless the whole line is deleted. 329 *E275* 330When a buffer is unloaded, all the text properties are gone. There is no way 331to store the properties in a file. You can only re-create them. When a 332buffer is hidden the text is preserved and so are the text properties. It is 333not possible to add text properties to an unloaded buffer. 334 335When using replace mode, the text properties stay on the same character 336positions, even though the characters themselves change. 337 338To update text properties after the text was changed, install a callback with 339`listener_add()`. E.g, if your plugin does spell checking, you can have the 340callback update spelling mistakes in the changed text. Vim will move the 341properties below the changed text, so that they still highlight the same text, 342thus you don't need to update these. 343 344 345Text property columns are not updated or copied: ~ 346 347- When setting the line with |setline()| or through an interface, such as Lua, 348 Tcl or Python. Vim does not know what text got inserted or deleted. 349- With a command like `:move`, which takes a line of text out of context. 350 351 352 vim:tw=78:ts=8:noet:ft=help:norl: 353