1 *syntax.txt* For Vim version 7.2. Last change: 2009 Feb 18
4 VIM REFERENCE MANUAL by Bram Moolenaar
7 Syntax highlighting *syntax* *syntax-highlighting* *coloring*
9 Syntax highlighting enables Vim to show parts of the text in another font or
10 color. Those parts can be specific keywords or text matching a pattern. Vim
11 doesn't parse the whole file (to keep it fast), so the highlighting has its
12 limitations. Lexical highlighting might be a better name, but since everybody
13 calls it syntax highlighting we'll stick with that.
15 Vim supports syntax highlighting on all terminals. But since most ordinary
16 terminals have very limited highlighting possibilities, it works best in the
20 |usr_06.txt| introduces syntax highlighting.
21 |usr_44.txt| introduces writing a syntax file.
23 1. Quick start |:syn-qstart|
24 2. Syntax files |:syn-files|
25 3. Syntax loading procedure |syntax-loading|
26 4. Syntax file remarks |:syn-file-remarks|
27 5. Defining a syntax |:syn-define|
28 6. :syntax arguments |:syn-arguments|
29 7. Syntax patterns |:syn-pattern|
30 8. Syntax clusters |:syn-cluster|
31 9. Including syntax files |:syn-include|
32 10. Synchronizing |:syn-sync|
33 11. Listing syntax items |:syntax|
34 12. Highlight command |:highlight|
35 13. Linking groups |:highlight-link|
36 14. Cleaning up |:syn-clear|
37 15. Highlighting tags |tag-highlight|
38 16. Color xterms |xterm-color|
40 {Vi does not have any of these commands}
42 Syntax highlighting is not available when the |+syntax| feature has been
43 disabled at compile time.
45 ==============================================================================
46 1. Quick start *:syn-qstart*
48 *:syn-enable* *:syntax-enable*
49 This command switches on syntax highlighting: >
53 What this command actually does is to execute the command >
54 :source $VIMRUNTIME/syntax/syntax.vim
56 If the VIM environment variable is not set, Vim will try to find
57 the path in another way (see |$VIMRUNTIME|). Usually this works just
58 fine. If it doesn't, try setting the VIM environment variable to the
59 directory where the Vim stuff is located. For example, if your syntax files
60 are in the "/usr/vim/vim50/syntax" directory, set $VIMRUNTIME to
61 "/usr/vim/vim50". You must do this in the shell, before starting Vim.
63 *:syn-on* *:syntax-on*
64 The ":syntax enable" command will keep your current color settings. This
65 allows using ":highlight" commands to set your preferred colors before or
66 after using this command. If you want Vim to overrule your settings with the
70 *:hi-normal* *:highlight-normal*
71 If you are running in the GUI, you can get white text on a black background
73 :highlight Normal guibg=Black guifg=White
74 For a color terminal see |:hi-normal-cterm|.
75 For setting up your own colors syntax highlighting see |syncolor|.
77 NOTE: The syntax files on MS-DOS and Windows have lines that end in <CR><NL>.
78 The files for Unix end in <NL>. This means you should use the right type of
79 file for your system. Although on MS-DOS and Windows the right format is
80 automatically selected if the 'fileformats' option is not empty.
82 NOTE: When using reverse video ("gvim -fg white -bg black"), the default value
83 of 'background' will not be set until the GUI window is opened, which is after
84 reading the |gvimrc|. This will cause the wrong default highlighting to be
85 used. To set the default value of 'background' before switching on
86 highlighting, include the ":gui" command in the |gvimrc|: >
88 :gui " open window and set default for 'background'
89 :syntax on " start highlighting, use 'background' to set colors
91 NOTE: Using ":gui" in the |gvimrc| means that "gvim -f" won't start in the
92 foreground! Use ":gui -f" then.
95 You can toggle the syntax on/off with this command >
96 :if exists("syntax_on") | syntax off | else | syntax enable | endif
98 To put this into a mapping, you can use: >
99 :map <F7> :if exists("syntax_on") <Bar>
102 \ syntax enable <Bar>
104 [using the |<>| notation, type this literally]
107 The ":syntax" commands are implemented by sourcing a file. To see exactly how
108 this works, look in the file:
110 :syntax enable $VIMRUNTIME/syntax/syntax.vim
111 :syntax on $VIMRUNTIME/syntax/syntax.vim
112 :syntax manual $VIMRUNTIME/syntax/manual.vim
113 :syntax off $VIMRUNTIME/syntax/nosyntax.vim
114 Also see |syntax-loading|.
116 NOTE: If displaying long lines is slow and switching off syntax highlighting
117 makes it fast, consider setting the 'synmaxcol' option to a lower value.
119 ==============================================================================
120 2. Syntax files *:syn-files*
122 The syntax and highlighting commands for one language are normally stored in
123 a syntax file. The name convention is: "{name}.vim". Where {name} is the
124 name of the language, or an abbreviation (to fit the name in 8.3 characters,
125 a requirement in case the file is used on a DOS filesystem).
127 c.vim perl.vim java.vim html.vim
128 cpp.vim sh.vim csh.vim
130 The syntax file can contain any Ex commands, just like a vimrc file. But
131 the idea is that only commands for a specific language are included. When a
132 language is a superset of another language, it may include the other one,
133 for example, the cpp.vim file could include the c.vim file: >
134 :so $VIMRUNTIME/syntax/c.vim
136 The .vim files are normally loaded with an autocommand. For example: >
137 :au Syntax c runtime! syntax/c.vim
138 :au Syntax cpp runtime! syntax/cpp.vim
139 These commands are normally in the file $VIMRUNTIME/syntax/synload.vim.
142 MAKING YOUR OWN SYNTAX FILES *mysyntaxfile*
144 When you create your own syntax files, and you want to have Vim use these
145 automatically with ":syntax enable", do this:
147 1. Create your user runtime directory. You would normally use the first item
148 of the 'runtimepath' option. Example for Unix: >
151 2. Create a directory in there called "syntax". For Unix: >
154 3. Write the Vim syntax file. Or download one from the internet. Then write
155 it in your syntax directory. For example, for the "mine" syntax: >
156 :w ~/.vim/syntax/mine.vim
158 Now you can start using your syntax file manually: >
160 You don't have to exit Vim to use this.
162 If you also want Vim to detect the type of file, see |new-filetype|.
164 If you are setting up a system with many users and you don't want each user
165 to add the same syntax file, you can use another directory from 'runtimepath'.
168 ADDING TO AN EXISTING SYNTAX FILE *mysyntaxfile-add*
170 If you are mostly satisfied with an existing syntax file, but would like to
171 add a few items or change the highlighting, follow these steps:
173 1. Create your user directory from 'runtimepath', see above.
175 2. Create a directory in there called "after/syntax". For Unix: >
177 mkdir ~/.vim/after/syntax
179 3. Write a Vim script that contains the commands you want to use. For
180 example, to change the colors for the C syntax: >
181 highlight cComment ctermfg=Green guifg=Green
183 4. Write that file in the "after/syntax" directory. Use the name of the
184 syntax, with ".vim" added. For our C syntax: >
185 :w ~/.vim/after/syntax/c.vim
187 That's it. The next time you edit a C file the Comment color will be
188 different. You don't even have to restart Vim.
190 If you have multiple files, you can use the filetype as the directory name.
191 All the "*.vim" files in this directory will be used, for example:
192 ~/.vim/after/syntax/c/one.vim
193 ~/.vim/after/syntax/c/two.vim
196 REPLACING AN EXISTING SYNTAX FILE *mysyntaxfile-replace*
198 If you don't like a distributed syntax file, or you have downloaded a new
199 version, follow the same steps as for |mysyntaxfile| above. Just make sure
200 that you write the syntax file in a directory that is early in 'runtimepath'.
201 Vim will only load the first syntax file found.
205 *group-name* *{group-name}* *E669* *W18*
206 The name for a highlight or syntax group must consist of ASCII letters, digits
207 and the underscore. As a regexp: "[a-zA-Z0-9_]*"
209 To be able to allow each user to pick his favorite set of colors, there must
210 be preferred names for highlight groups that are common for many languages.
211 These are the suggested group names (if syntax highlighting works properly
212 you can see the actual color, except for "Ignore"):
216 *Constant any constant
217 String a string constant: "this is a string"
218 Character a character constant: 'c', '\n'
219 Number a number constant: 234, 0xff
220 Boolean a boolean constant: TRUE, false
221 Float a floating point constant: 2.3e10
223 *Identifier any variable name
224 Function function name (also: methods for classes)
226 *Statement any statement
227 Conditional if, then, else, endif, switch, etc.
228 Repeat for, do, while, etc.
229 Label case, default, etc.
230 Operator "sizeof", "+", "*", etc.
231 Keyword any other keyword
232 Exception try, catch, throw
234 *PreProc generic Preprocessor
235 Include preprocessor #include
236 Define preprocessor #define
238 PreCondit preprocessor #if, #else, #endif, etc.
240 *Type int, long, char, etc.
241 StorageClass static, register, volatile, etc.
242 Structure struct, union, enum, etc.
245 *Special any special symbol
246 SpecialChar special character in a constant
247 Tag you can use CTRL-] on this
248 Delimiter character that needs attention
249 SpecialComment special things inside a comment
250 Debug debugging statements
252 *Underlined text that stands out, HTML links
254 *Ignore left blank, hidden
256 *Error any erroneous construct
258 *Todo anything that needs extra attention; mostly the
259 keywords TODO FIXME and XXX
261 The names marked with * are the preferred groups; the others are minor groups.
262 For the preferred groups, the "syntax.vim" file contains default highlighting.
263 The minor groups are linked to the preferred groups, so they get the same
264 highlighting. You can override these defaults by using ":highlight" commands
265 after sourcing the "syntax.vim" file.
267 Note that highlight group names are not case sensitive. "String" and "string"
268 can be used for the same group.
270 The following names are reserved and cannot be used as a group name:
271 NONE ALL ALLBUT contains contained
273 ==============================================================================
274 3. Syntax loading procedure *syntax-loading*
276 This explains the details that happen when the command ":syntax enable" is
277 issued. When Vim initializes itself, it finds out where the runtime files are
278 located. This is used here as the variable |$VIMRUNTIME|.
280 ":syntax enable" and ":syntax on" do the following:
282 Source $VIMRUNTIME/syntax/syntax.vim
284 +- Clear out any old syntax by sourcing $VIMRUNTIME/syntax/nosyntax.vim
286 +- Source first syntax/synload.vim in 'runtimepath'
288 | +- Setup the colors for syntax highlighting. If a color scheme is
289 | | defined it is loaded again with ":colors {name}". Otherwise
290 | | ":runtime! syntax/syncolor.vim" is used. ":syntax on" overrules
291 | | existing colors, ":syntax enable" only sets groups that weren't
294 | +- Set up syntax autocmds to load the appropriate syntax file when
295 | | the 'syntax' option is set. *synload-1*
297 | +- Source the user's optional file, from the |mysyntaxfile| variable.
298 | This is for backwards compatibility with Vim 5.x only. *synload-2*
300 +- Do ":filetype on", which does ":runtime! filetype.vim". It loads any
301 | filetype.vim files found. It should always Source
302 | $VIMRUNTIME/filetype.vim, which does the following.
304 | +- Install autocmds based on suffix to set the 'filetype' option
305 | | This is where the connection between file name and file type is
306 | | made for known file types. *synload-3*
308 | +- Source the user's optional file, from the *myfiletypefile*
309 | | variable. This is for backwards compatibility with Vim 5.x only.
312 | +- Install one autocommand which sources scripts.vim when no file
313 | | type was detected yet. *synload-5*
315 | +- Source $VIMRUNTIME/menu.vim, to setup the Syntax menu. |menu.vim|
317 +- Install a FileType autocommand to set the 'syntax' option when a file
318 | type has been detected. *synload-6*
320 +- Execute syntax autocommands to start syntax highlighting for each
321 already loaded buffer.
324 Upon loading a file, Vim finds the relevant syntax file as follows:
326 Loading the file triggers the BufReadPost autocommands.
328 +- If there is a match with one of the autocommands from |synload-3|
329 | (known file types) or |synload-4| (user's file types), the 'filetype'
330 | option is set to the file type.
332 +- The autocommand at |synload-5| is triggered. If the file type was not
333 | found yet, then scripts.vim is searched for in 'runtimepath'. This
334 | should always load $VIMRUNTIME/scripts.vim, which does the following.
336 | +- Source the user's optional file, from the *myscriptsfile*
337 | | variable. This is for backwards compatibility with Vim 5.x only.
339 | +- If the file type is still unknown, check the contents of the file,
340 | again with checks like "getline(1) =~ pattern" as to whether the
341 | file type can be recognized, and set 'filetype'.
343 +- When the file type was determined and 'filetype' was set, this
344 | triggers the FileType autocommand |synload-6| above. It sets
345 | 'syntax' to the determined file type.
347 +- When the 'syntax' option was set above, this triggers an autocommand
348 | from |synload-1| (and |synload-2|). This find the main syntax file in
349 | 'runtimepath', with this command:
350 | runtime! syntax/<name>.vim
352 +- Any other user installed FileType or Syntax autocommands are
353 triggered. This can be used to change the highlighting for a specific
356 ==============================================================================
357 4. Syntax file remarks *:syn-file-remarks*
359 *b:current_syntax-variable*
360 Vim stores the name of the syntax that has been loaded in the
361 "b:current_syntax" variable. You can use this if you want to load other
362 settings, depending on which syntax is active. Example: >
363 :au BufReadPost * if b:current_syntax == "csh"
364 :au BufReadPost * do-some-things
365 :au BufReadPost * endif
368 2HTML *2html.vim* *convert-to-HTML*
370 This is not a syntax file itself, but a script that converts the current
371 window into HTML. Vim opens a new window in which it builds the HTML file.
373 You are not supposed to set the 'filetype' or 'syntax' option to "2html"!
374 Source the script to convert the current file: >
376 :runtime! syntax/2html.vim
378 Warning: This is slow!
380 Or use the ":TOhtml" user command. It is defined in a standard plugin.
381 ":TOhtml" also works with a range and in a Visual area: >
385 After you save the resulting file, you can view it with any HTML viewer, such
386 as Netscape. The colors should be exactly the same as you see them in Vim.
388 To restrict the conversion to a range of lines set "html_start_line" and
389 "html_end_line" to the first and last line to be converted. Example, using
390 the last set Visual area: >
392 :let html_start_line = line("'<")
393 :let html_end_line = line("'>")
395 The lines are numbered according to 'number' option and the Number
396 highlighting. You can force lines to be numbered in the HTML output by
397 setting "html_number_lines" to non-zero value: >
398 :let html_number_lines = 1
399 Force to omit the line numbers by using a zero value: >
400 :let html_number_lines = 0
401 Go back to the default to use 'number' by deleting the variable: >
402 :unlet html_number_lines
404 Closed folds are put in the HTML as they are displayed. If you don't want
405 this, use the |zR| command before invoking 2html, or use: >
406 :let html_ignore_folding = 1
408 By default, HTML optimized for old browsers is generated. If you prefer using
409 cascading style sheets (CSS1) for the attributes (resulting in considerably
410 shorter and valid HTML 4 file), use: >
411 :let html_use_css = 1
413 By default "<pre>" and "</pre>" is used around the text. This makes it show
414 up as you see it in Vim, but without wrapping. If you prefer wrapping, at the
415 risk of making some things look a bit different, use: >
417 This will use <br> at the end of each line and use " " for repeated
420 The current value of 'encoding' is used to specify the charset of the HTML
421 file. This only works for those values of 'encoding' that have an equivalent
422 HTML charset name. To overrule this set g:html_use_encoding to the name of
423 the charset to be used: >
424 :let html_use_encoding = "foobar"
425 To omit the line that specifies the charset, set g:html_use_encoding to an
427 :let html_use_encoding = ""
428 To go back to the automatic mechanism, delete the g:html_use_encoding
430 :unlet html_use_encoding
432 For diff mode a sequence of more than 3 filler lines is displayed as three
433 lines with the middle line mentioning the total number of inserted lines. If
434 you prefer to see all the inserted lines use: >
435 :let html_whole_filler = 1
436 And to go back to displaying up to three lines again: >
437 :unlet html_whole_filler
439 *convert-to-XML* *convert-to-XHTML*
440 An alternative is to have the script generate XHTML (XML compliant HTML). To
441 do this set the "use_xhtml" variable: >
443 To disable it again delete the variable: >
445 The generated XHTML file can be used in DocBook XML documents. See:
446 http://people.mech.kuleuven.ac.be/~pissaris/howto/src2db.html
449 - This only works in a version with GUI support. If the GUI is not actually
450 running (possible for X11) it still works, but not very well (the colors
452 - Older browsers will not show the background colors.
453 - From most browsers you can also print the file (in color)!
455 Here is an example how to run the script over all .c and .h files from a
457 for f in *.[ch]; do gvim -f +"syn on" +"run! syntax/2html.vim" +"wq" +"q" $f; done
460 ABEL *abel.vim* *ft-abel-syntax*
462 ABEL highlighting provides some user-defined options. To enable them, assign
463 any value to the respective variable. Example: >
464 :let abel_obsolete_ok=1
465 To disable them use ":unlet". Example: >
466 :unlet abel_obsolete_ok
469 abel_obsolete_ok obsolete keywords are statements, not errors
470 abel_cpp_comments_illegal do not interpret '//' as inline comment leader
478 ANT *ant.vim* *ft-ant-syntax*
480 The ant syntax file provides syntax highlighting for javascript and python
481 by default. Syntax highlighting for other script languages can be installed
482 by the function AntSyntaxScript(), which takes the tag name as first argument
483 and the script syntax file name as second argument. Example: >
485 :call AntSyntaxScript('perl', 'perl.vim')
487 will install syntax perl highlighting for the following ant code >
489 <script language = 'perl'><![CDATA[
490 # everything inside is highlighted as perl
493 See |mysyntaxfile-add| for installing script languages permanently.
496 APACHE *apache.vim* *ft-apache-syntax*
498 The apache syntax file provides syntax highlighting depending on Apache HTTP
499 server version, by default for 1.3.x. Set "apache_version" to Apache version
500 (as a string) to get highlighting for another version. Example: >
502 :let apache_version = "2.0"
505 *asm.vim* *asmh8300.vim* *nasm.vim* *masm.vim* *asm68k*
506 ASSEMBLY *ft-asm-syntax* *ft-asmh8300-syntax* *ft-nasm-syntax*
507 *ft-masm-syntax* *ft-asm68k-syntax* *fasm.vim*
509 Files matching "*.i" could be Progress or Assembly. If the automatic detection
510 doesn't work for you, or you don't edit Progress at all, use this in your
512 :let filetype_i = "asm"
513 Replace "asm" with the type of assembly you use.
515 There are many types of assembly languages that all use the same file name
516 extensions. Therefore you will have to select the type yourself, or add a
517 line in the assembly file that Vim will recognize. Currently these syntax
519 asm GNU assembly (the default)
520 asm68k Motorola 680x0 assembly
521 asmh8300 Hitachi H-8300 version of GNU assembly
522 ia64 Intel Itanium 64
523 fasm Flat assembly (http://flatassembler.net)
524 masm Microsoft assembly (probably works for any 80x86)
525 nasm Netwide assembly
526 tasm Turbo Assembly (with opcodes 80x86 up to Pentium, and
528 pic PIC assembly (currently for PIC16F84)
530 The most flexible is to add a line in your assembly file containing: >
532 Replace "nasm" with the name of the real assembly syntax. This line must be
533 one of the first five lines in the file. No non-white text must be
534 immediately before or after this text.
536 The syntax type can always be overruled for a specific buffer by setting the
537 b:asmsyntax variable: >
538 :let b:asmsyntax = "nasm"
540 If b:asmsyntax is not set, either automatically or by hand, then the value of
541 the global variable asmsyntax is used. This can be seen as a default assembly
543 :let asmsyntax = "nasm"
545 As a last resort, if nothing is defined, the "asm" syntax is used.
548 Netwide assembler (nasm.vim) optional highlighting ~
550 To enable a feature: >
551 :let {variable}=1|set syntax=nasm
552 To disable a feature: >
553 :unlet {variable} |set syntax=nasm
556 nasm_loose_syntax unofficial parser allowed syntax not as Error
557 (parser dependent; not recommended)
558 nasm_ctx_outside_macro contexts outside macro not as Error
559 nasm_no_warn potentially risky syntax not as ToDo
562 ASPPERL and ASPVBS *ft-aspperl-syntax* *ft-aspvbs-syntax*
564 *.asp and *.asa files could be either Perl or Visual Basic script. Since it's
565 hard to detect this you can set two global variables to tell Vim what you are
566 using. For Perl script use: >
567 :let g:filetype_asa = "aspperl"
568 :let g:filetype_asp = "aspperl"
569 For Visual Basic use: >
570 :let g:filetype_asa = "aspvbs"
571 :let g:filetype_asp = "aspvbs"
574 BAAN *baan.vim* *baan-syntax*
576 The baan.vim gives syntax support for BaanC of release BaanIV upto SSA ERP LN
577 for both 3 GL and 4 GL programming. Large number of standard defines/constants
580 Some special violation of coding standards will be signalled when one specify
586 Syntax folding can be enabled at various levels through the variables
587 mentioned below (Set those in your |.vimrc|). The more complex folding on
588 source blocks and SQL can be CPU intensive.
590 To allow any folding and enable folding at function level use: >
592 Folding can be enabled at source block level as if, while, for ,... The
593 indentation preceding the begin/end keywords has to match (spaces are not
594 considered equal to a tab). >
595 let baan_fold_block=1
596 Folding can be enabled for embedded SQL blocks as SELECT, SELECTDO,
597 SELECTEMPTY, ... The indentation preceding the begin/end keywords has to
598 match (spaces are not considered equal to a tab). >
600 Note: Block folding can result in many small folds. It is suggested to |:set|
601 the options 'foldminlines' and 'foldnestmax' in |.vimrc| or use |:setlocal| in
602 .../after/syntax/baan.vim (see |after-directory|). Eg: >
607 BASIC *basic.vim* *vb.vim* *ft-basic-syntax* *ft-vb-syntax*
609 Both Visual Basic and "normal" basic use the extension ".bas". To detect
610 which one should be used, Vim checks for the string "VB_Name" in the first
611 five lines of the file. If it is not found, filetype will be "basic",
612 otherwise "vb". Files with the ".frm" extension will always be seen as Visual
616 C *c.vim* *ft-c-syntax*
618 A few things in C highlighting are optional. To enable them assign any value
619 to the respective variable. Example: >
620 :let c_comment_strings = 1
621 To disable them use ":unlet". Example: >
622 :unlet c_comment_strings
625 c_gnu GNU gcc specific items
626 c_comment_strings strings and numbers inside a comment
627 c_space_errors trailing white space and spaces before a <Tab>
628 c_no_trail_space_error ... but no trailing spaces
629 c_no_tab_space_error ... but no spaces before a <Tab>
630 c_no_bracket_error don't highlight {}; inside [] as errors
631 c_no_curly_error don't highlight {}; inside [] and () as errors;
632 except { and } in first column
633 c_curly_error highlight a missing }; this forces syncing from the
634 start of the file, can be slow
635 c_no_ansi don't do standard ANSI types and constants
636 c_ansi_typedefs ... but do standard ANSI types
637 c_ansi_constants ... but do standard ANSI constants
638 c_no_utf don't highlight \u and \U in strings
639 c_syntax_for_h use C syntax for *.h files, instead of C++
640 c_no_if0 don't highlight "#if 0" blocks as comments
641 c_no_cformat don't highlight %-formats in strings
642 c_no_c99 don't highlight C99 standard items
644 When 'foldmethod' is set to "syntax" then /* */ comments and { } blocks will
645 become a fold. If you don't want comments to become a fold use: >
646 :let c_no_comment_fold = 1
647 "#if 0" blocks are also folded, unless: >
648 :let c_no_if0_fold = 1
650 If you notice highlighting errors while scrolling backwards, which are fixed
651 when redrawing with CTRL-L, try setting the "c_minlines" internal variable
652 to a larger number: >
653 :let c_minlines = 100
654 This will make the syntax synchronization start 100 lines before the first
655 displayed line. The default value is 50 (15 when c_no_if0 is set). The
656 disadvantage of using a larger number is that redrawing can become slow.
658 When using the "#if 0" / "#endif" comment highlighting, notice that this only
659 works when the "#if 0" is within "c_minlines" from the top of the window. If
660 you have a long "#if 0" construct it will not be highlighted correctly.
662 To match extra items in comments, use the cCommentGroup cluster.
664 :au Syntax c call MyCadd()
666 : syn keyword cMyItem contained Ni
667 : syn cluster cCommentGroup add=cMyItem
668 : hi link cMyItem Title
671 ANSI constants will be highlighted with the "cConstant" group. This includes
672 "NULL", "SIG_IGN" and others. But not "TRUE", for example, because this is
673 not in the ANSI standard. If you find this confusing, remove the cConstant
675 :hi link cConstant NONE
677 If you see '{' and '}' highlighted as an error where they are OK, reset the
678 highlighting for cErrInParen and cErrInBracket.
680 If you want to use folding in your C files, you can add these lines in a file
681 an the "after" directory in 'runtimepath'. For Unix this would be
682 ~/.vim/after/syntax/c.vim. >
684 set foldmethod=syntax
686 CH *ch.vim* *ft-ch-syntax*
688 C/C++ interpreter. Ch has similar syntax highlighting to C and builds upon
689 the C syntax file. See |c.vim| for all the settings that are available for C.
691 By setting a variable you can tell Vim to use Ch syntax for *.h files, instead
693 :let ch_syntax_for_h = 1
696 CHILL *chill.vim* *ft-chill-syntax*
698 Chill syntax highlighting is similar to C. See |c.vim| for all the settings
699 that are available. Additionally there is:
701 chill_space_errors like c_space_errors
702 chill_comment_string like c_comment_strings
703 chill_minlines like c_minlines
706 CHANGELOG *changelog.vim* *ft-changelog-syntax*
708 ChangeLog supports highlighting spaces at the start of a line.
709 If you do not like this, add following line to your .vimrc: >
710 let g:changelog_spacing_errors = 0
711 This works the next time you edit a changelog file. You can also use
712 "b:changelog_spacing_errors" to set this per buffer (before loading the syntax
715 You can change the highlighting used, e.g., to flag the spaces as an error: >
716 :hi link ChangelogError Error
717 Or to avoid the highlighting: >
718 :hi link ChangelogError NONE
719 This works immediately.
722 COBOL *cobol.vim* *ft-cobol-syntax*
724 COBOL highlighting has different needs for legacy code than it does for fresh
725 development. This is due to differences in what is being done (maintenance
726 versus development) and other factors. To enable legacy code highlighting,
727 add this line to your .vimrc: >
728 :let cobol_legacy_code = 1
729 To disable it again, use this: >
730 :unlet cobol_legacy_code
733 COLD FUSION *coldfusion.vim* *ft-coldfusion-syntax*
735 The ColdFusion has its own version of HTML comments. To turn on ColdFusion
736 comment highlighting, add the following line to your startup file: >
738 :let html_wrong_comments = 1
740 The ColdFusion syntax file is based on the HTML syntax file.
743 CSH *csh.vim* *ft-csh-syntax*
745 This covers the shell named "csh". Note that on some systems tcsh is actually
748 Detecting whether a file is csh or tcsh is notoriously hard. Some systems
749 symlink /bin/csh to /bin/tcsh, making it almost impossible to distinguish
750 between csh and tcsh. In case VIM guesses wrong you can set the
751 "filetype_csh" variable. For using csh: >
753 :let filetype_csh = "csh"
757 :let filetype_csh = "tcsh"
759 Any script with a tcsh extension or a standard tcsh filename (.tcshrc,
760 tcsh.tcshrc, tcsh.login) will have filetype tcsh. All other tcsh/csh scripts
761 will be classified as tcsh, UNLESS the "filetype_csh" variable exists. If the
762 "filetype_csh" variable exists, the filetype will be set to the value of the
766 CYNLIB *cynlib.vim* *ft-cynlib-syntax*
768 Cynlib files are C++ files that use the Cynlib class library to enable
769 hardware modelling and simulation using C++. Typically Cynlib files have a .cc
770 or a .cpp extension, which makes it very difficult to distinguish them from a
771 normal C++ file. Thus, to enable Cynlib highlighting for .cc files, add this
772 line to your .vimrc file: >
774 :let cynlib_cyntax_for_cc=1
776 Similarly for cpp files (this extension is only usually used in Windows) >
778 :let cynlib_cyntax_for_cpp=1
780 To disable these again, use this: >
782 :unlet cynlib_cyntax_for_cc
783 :unlet cynlib_cyntax_for_cpp
786 CWEB *cweb.vim* *ft-cweb-syntax*
788 Files matching "*.w" could be Progress or cweb. If the automatic detection
789 doesn't work for you, or you don't edit Progress at all, use this in your
791 :let filetype_w = "cweb"
794 DESKTOP *desktop.vim* *ft-desktop-syntax*
796 Primary goal of this syntax file is to highlight .desktop and .directory files
797 according to freedesktop.org standard: http://pdx.freedesktop.org/Standards/
798 But actually almost none implements this standard fully. Thus it will
799 highlight all Unix ini files. But you can force strict highlighting according
800 to standard by placing this in your vimrc file: >
801 :let enforce_freedesktop_standard = 1
804 DIRCOLORS *dircolors.vim* *ft-dircolors-syntax*
806 The dircolors utility highlighting definition has one option. It exists to
807 provide compatibility with the Slackware GNU/Linux distributions version of
808 the command. It adds a few keywords that are generally ignored by most
809 versions. On Slackware systems, however, the utility accepts the keywords and
810 uses them for processing. To enable the Slackware keywords add the following
811 line to your startup file: >
812 let dircolors_is_slackware = 1
815 DOCBOOK *docbk.vim* *ft-docbk-syntax* *docbook*
816 DOCBOOK XML *docbkxml.vim* *ft-docbkxml-syntax*
817 DOCBOOK SGML *docbksgml.vim* *ft-docbksgml-syntax*
819 There are two types of DocBook files: SGML and XML. To specify what type you
820 are using the "b:docbk_type" variable should be set. Vim does this for you
821 automatically if it can recognize the type. When Vim can't guess it the type
823 You can set the type manually: >
824 :let docbk_type = "sgml"
826 :let docbk_type = "xml"
827 You need to do this before loading the syntax file, which is complicated.
828 Simpler is setting the filetype to "docbkxml" or "docbksgml": >
829 :set filetype=docbksgml
831 :set filetype=docbkxml
834 DOSBATCH *dosbatch.vim* *ft-dosbatch-syntax*
836 There is one option with highlighting DOS batch files. This covers new
837 extensions to the Command Interpreter introduced with Windows 2000 and
838 is controlled by the variable dosbatch_cmdextversion. For Windows NT
839 this should have the value 1, and for Windows 2000 it should be 2.
840 Select the version you want with the following line: >
842 :let dosbatch_cmdextversion = 1
844 If this variable is not defined it defaults to a value of 2 to support
847 A second option covers whether *.btm files should be detected as type
848 "dosbatch" (MS-DOS batch files) or type "btm" (4DOS batch files). The latter
849 is used by default. You may select the former with the following line: >
851 :let g:dosbatch_syntax_for_btm = 1
853 If this variable is undefined or zero, btm syntax is selected.
856 DOXYGEN *doxygen.vim* *doxygen-syntax*
858 Doxygen generates code documentation using a special documentation format
859 (similar to Javadoc). This syntax script adds doxygen highlighting to c, cpp,
860 idl and php files, and should also work with java.
862 There are a few of ways to turn on doxygen formatting. It can be done
863 explicitly or in a modeline by appending '.doxygen' to the syntax of the file.
865 :set syntax=c.doxygen
867 // vim:syntax=c.doxygen
869 It can also be done automatically for c, cpp and idl files by setting the
870 global or buffer-local variable load_doxygen_syntax. This is done by adding
871 the following to your .vimrc. >
872 :let g:load_doxygen_syntax=1
874 There are a couple of variables that have an affect on syntax highlighting, and
875 are to do with non-standard highlighting options.
877 Variable Default Effect ~
878 g:doxygen_enhanced_color
879 g:doxygen_enhanced_colour 0 Use non-standard highlighting for
882 doxygen_my_rendering 0 Disable rendering of HTML bold, italic
883 and html_my_rendering underline.
885 doxygen_javadoc_autobrief 1 Set to 0 to disable javadoc autobrief
888 doxygen_end_punctuation '[.]' Set to regexp match for the ending
891 There are also some hilight groups worth mentioning as they can be useful in
895 doxygenErrorComment The colour of an end-comment when missing
896 punctuation in a code, verbatim or dot section
897 doxygenLinkError The colour of an end-comment when missing the
898 \endlink from a \link section.
901 DTD *dtd.vim* *ft-dtd-syntax*
903 The DTD syntax highlighting is case sensitive by default. To disable
904 case-sensitive highlighting, add the following line to your startup file: >
906 :let dtd_ignore_case=1
908 The DTD syntax file will highlight unknown tags as errors. If
909 this is annoying, it can be turned off by setting: >
911 :let dtd_no_tag_errors=1
913 before sourcing the dtd.vim syntax file.
914 Parameter entity names are highlighted in the definition using the
915 'Type' highlighting group and 'Comment' for punctuation and '%'.
916 Parameter entity instances are highlighted using the 'Constant'
917 highlighting group and the 'Type' highlighting group for the
918 delimiters % and ;. This can be turned off by setting: >
920 :let dtd_no_param_entities=1
922 The DTD syntax file is also included by xml.vim to highlight included dtd's.
925 EIFFEL *eiffel.vim* *ft-eiffel-syntax*
927 While Eiffel is not case-sensitive, its style guidelines are, and the
928 syntax highlighting file encourages their use. This also allows to
929 highlight class names differently. If you want to disable case-sensitive
930 highlighting, add the following line to your startup file: >
932 :let eiffel_ignore_case=1
934 Case still matters for class names and TODO marks in comments.
936 Conversely, for even stricter checks, add one of the following lines: >
939 :let eiffel_pedantic=1
941 Setting eiffel_strict will only catch improper capitalization for the
942 five predefined words "Current", "Void", "Result", "Precursor", and
943 "NONE", to warn against their accidental use as feature or class names.
945 Setting eiffel_pedantic will enforce adherence to the Eiffel style
946 guidelines fairly rigorously (like arbitrary mixes of upper- and
947 lowercase letters as well as outdated ways to capitalize keywords).
949 If you want to use the lower-case version of "Current", "Void",
950 "Result", and "Precursor", you can use >
952 :let eiffel_lower_case_predef=1
954 instead of completely turning case-sensitive highlighting off.
956 Support for ISE's proposed new creation syntax that is already
957 experimentally handled by some compilers can be enabled by: >
961 Finally, some vendors support hexadecimal constants. To handle them, add >
963 :let eiffel_hex_constants=1
965 to your startup file.
968 ERLANG *erlang.vim* *ft-erlang-syntax*
970 The erlang highlighting supports Erlang (ERicsson LANGuage).
971 Erlang is case sensitive and default extension is ".erl".
973 If you want to disable keywords highlighting, put in your .vimrc: >
974 :let erlang_keywords = 1
975 If you want to disable built-in-functions highlighting, put in your
977 :let erlang_functions = 1
978 If you want to disable special characters highlighting, put in
980 :let erlang_characters = 1
983 FLEXWIKI *flexwiki.vim* *ft-flexwiki-syntax*
985 FlexWiki is an ASP.NET-based wiki package available at http://www.flexwiki.com
987 Syntax highlighting is available for the most common elements of FlexWiki
988 syntax. The associated ftplugin script sets some buffer-local options to make
989 editing FlexWiki pages more convenient. FlexWiki considers a newline as the
990 start of a new paragraph, so the ftplugin sets 'tw'=0 (unlimited line length),
991 'wrap' (wrap long lines instead of using horizontal scrolling), 'linebreak'
992 (to wrap at a character in 'breakat' instead of at the last char on screen),
993 and so on. It also includes some keymaps that are disabled by default.
995 If you want to enable the keymaps that make "j" and "k" and the cursor keys
996 move up and down by display lines, add this to your .vimrc: >
997 :let flexwiki_maps = 1
1000 FORM *form.vim* *ft-form-syntax*
1002 The coloring scheme for syntax elements in the FORM file uses the default
1003 modes Conditional, Number, Statement, Comment, PreProc, Type, and String,
1004 following the language specifications in 'Symbolic Manipulation with FORM' by
1005 J.A.M. Vermaseren, CAN, Netherlands, 1991.
1007 If you want include your own changes to the default colors, you have to
1008 redefine the following syntax groups:
1013 - formHeaderStatement
1020 Note that the form.vim syntax file implements FORM preprocessor commands and
1021 directives per default in the same syntax group.
1023 A predefined enhanced color mode for FORM is available to distinguish between
1024 header statements and statements in the body of a FORM program. To activate
1025 this mode define the following variable in your vimrc file >
1027 :let form_enhanced_color=1
1029 The enhanced mode also takes advantage of additional color features for a dark
1030 gvim display. Here, statements are colored LightYellow instead of Yellow, and
1031 conditionals are LightBlue for better distinction.
1034 FORTRAN *fortran.vim* *ft-fortran-syntax*
1036 Default highlighting and dialect ~
1037 Highlighting appropriate for f95 (Fortran 95) is used by default. This choice
1038 should be appropriate for most users most of the time because Fortran 95 is a
1039 superset of Fortran 90 and almost a superset of Fortran 77.
1041 Fortran source code form ~
1042 Fortran 9x code can be in either fixed or free source form. Note that the
1043 syntax highlighting will not be correct if the form is incorrectly set.
1045 When you create a new fortran file, the syntax script assumes fixed source
1046 form. If you always use free source form, then >
1047 :let fortran_free_source=1
1048 in your .vimrc prior to the :syntax on command. If you always use fixed source
1050 :let fortran_fixed_source=1
1051 in your .vimrc prior to the :syntax on command.
1053 If the form of the source code depends upon the file extension, then it is
1054 most convenient to set fortran_free_source in a ftplugin file. For more
1055 information on ftplugin files, see |ftplugin|. For example, if all your
1056 fortran files with an .f90 extension are written in free source form and the
1057 rest in fixed source form, add the following code to your ftplugin file >
1058 let s:extfname = expand("%:e")
1059 if s:extfname ==? "f90"
1060 let fortran_free_source=1
1061 unlet! fortran_fixed_source
1063 let fortran_fixed_source=1
1064 unlet! fortran_free_source
1066 Note that this will work only if the "filetype plugin indent on" command
1067 precedes the "syntax on" command in your .vimrc file.
1069 When you edit an existing fortran file, the syntax script will assume free
1070 source form if the fortran_free_source variable has been set, and assumes
1071 fixed source form if the fortran_fixed_source variable has been set. If
1072 neither of these variables have been set, the syntax script attempts to
1073 determine which source form has been used by examining the first five columns
1074 of the first 250 lines of your file. If no signs of free source form are
1075 detected, then the file is assumed to be in fixed source form. The algorithm
1076 should work in the vast majority of cases. In some cases, such as a file that
1077 begins with 250 or more full-line comments, the script may incorrectly decide
1078 that the fortran code is in fixed form. If that happens, just add a
1079 non-comment statement beginning anywhere in the first five columns of the
1080 first twenty five lines, save (:w) and then reload (:e!) the file.
1082 Tabs in fortran files ~
1083 Tabs are not recognized by the Fortran standards. Tabs are not a good idea in
1084 fixed format fortran source code which requires fixed column boundaries.
1085 Therefore, tabs are marked as errors. Nevertheless, some programmers like
1086 using tabs. If your fortran files contain tabs, then you should set the
1087 variable fortran_have_tabs in your .vimrc with a command such as >
1088 :let fortran_have_tabs=1
1089 placed prior to the :syntax on command. Unfortunately, the use of tabs will
1090 mean that the syntax file will not be able to detect incorrect margins.
1092 Syntax folding of fortran files ~
1093 If you wish to use foldmethod=syntax, then you must first set the variable
1094 fortran_fold with a command such as >
1096 to instruct the syntax script to define fold regions for program units, that
1097 is main programs starting with a program statement, subroutines, function
1098 subprograms, block data subprograms, interface blocks, and modules. If you
1099 also set the variable fortran_fold_conditionals with a command such as >
1100 :let fortran_fold_conditionals=1
1101 then fold regions will also be defined for do loops, if blocks, and select
1102 case constructs. If you also set the variable
1103 fortran_fold_multilinecomments with a command such as >
1104 :let fortran_fold_multilinecomments=1
1105 then fold regions will also be defined for three or more consecutive comment
1106 lines. Note that defining fold regions can be slow for large files.
1108 If fortran_fold, and possibly fortran_fold_conditionals and/or
1109 fortran_fold_multilinecomments, have been set, then vim will fold your file if
1110 you set foldmethod=syntax. Comments or blank lines placed between two program
1111 units are not folded because they are seen as not belonging to any program
1114 More precise fortran syntax ~
1115 If you set the variable fortran_more_precise with a command such as >
1116 :let fortran_more_precise=1
1117 then the syntax coloring will be more precise but slower. In particular,
1118 statement labels used in do, goto and arithmetic if statements will be
1119 recognized, as will construct names at the end of a do, if, select or forall
1122 Non-default fortran dialects ~
1123 The syntax script supports five Fortran dialects: f95, f90, f77, the Lahey
1124 subset elf90, and the Imagine1 subset F.
1126 If you use f77 with extensions, even common ones like do/enddo loops, do/while
1127 loops and free source form that are supported by most f77 compilers including
1128 g77 (GNU Fortran), then you will probably find the default highlighting
1129 satisfactory. However, if you use strict f77 with no extensions, not even free
1130 source form or the MIL STD 1753 extensions, then the advantages of setting the
1131 dialect to f77 are that names such as SUM are recognized as user variable
1132 names and not highlighted as f9x intrinsic functions, that obsolete constructs
1133 such as ASSIGN statements are not highlighted as todo items, and that fixed
1134 source form will be assumed.
1136 If you use elf90 or F, the advantage of setting the dialect appropriately is
1137 that f90 features excluded from these dialects will be highlighted as todo
1138 items and that free source form will be assumed as required for these
1141 The dialect can be selected by setting the variable fortran_dialect. The
1142 permissible values of fortran_dialect are case-sensitive and must be "f95",
1143 "f90", "f77", "elf" or "F". Invalid values of fortran_dialect are ignored.
1145 If all your fortran files use the same dialect, set fortran_dialect in your
1146 .vimrc prior to your syntax on statement. If the dialect depends upon the file
1147 extension, then it is most convenient to set it in a ftplugin file. For more
1148 information on ftplugin files, see |ftplugin|. For example, if all your
1149 fortran files with an .f90 extension are written in the elf subset, your
1150 ftplugin file should contain the code >
1151 let s:extfname = expand("%:e")
1152 if s:extfname ==? "f90"
1153 let fortran_dialect="elf"
1155 unlet! fortran_dialect
1157 Note that this will work only if the "filetype plugin indent on" command
1158 precedes the "syntax on" command in your .vimrc file.
1160 Finer control is necessary if the file extension does not uniquely identify
1161 the dialect. You can override the default dialect, on a file-by-file basis, by
1162 including a comment with the directive "fortran_dialect=xx" (where xx=f77 or
1163 elf or F or f90 or f95) in one of the first three lines in your file. For
1164 example, your older .f files may be written in extended f77 but your newer
1165 ones may be F codes, and you would identify the latter by including in the
1166 first three lines of those files a Fortran comment of the form >
1168 F overrides elf if both directives are present.
1171 Parenthesis checking does not catch too few closing parentheses. Hollerith
1172 strings are not recognized. Some keywords may be highlighted incorrectly
1173 because Fortran90 has no reserved words.
1175 For further information related to fortran, see |ft-fortran-indent| and
1176 |ft-fortran-plugin|.
1179 FVWM CONFIGURATION FILES *fvwm.vim* *ft-fvwm-syntax*
1181 In order for Vim to recognize Fvwm configuration files that do not match
1182 the patterns *fvwmrc* or *fvwm2rc* , you must put additional patterns
1183 appropriate to your system in your myfiletypes.vim file. For these
1184 patterns, you must set the variable "b:fvwm_version" to the major version
1185 number of Fvwm, and the 'filetype' option to fvwm.
1187 For example, to make Vim identify all files in /etc/X11/fvwm2/
1188 as Fvwm2 configuration files, add the following: >
1190 :au! BufNewFile,BufRead /etc/X11/fvwm2/* let b:fvwm_version = 2 |
1193 If you'd like Vim to highlight all valid color names, tell it where to
1194 find the color database (rgb.txt) on your system. Do this by setting
1195 "rgb_file" to its location. Assuming your color database is located
1196 in /usr/X11/lib/X11/, you should add the line >
1198 :let rgb_file = "/usr/X11/lib/X11/rgb.txt"
1200 to your .vimrc file.
1203 GSP *gsp.vim* *ft-gsp-syntax*
1205 The default coloring style for GSP pages is defined by |html.vim|, and
1206 the coloring for java code (within java tags or inline between backticks)
1207 is defined by |java.vim|. The following HTML groups defined in |html.vim|
1208 are redefined to incorporate and highlight inline java code:
1216 Highlighting should look fine most of the places where you'd see inline
1217 java code, but in some special cases it may not. To add another HTML
1218 group where you will have inline java code where it does not highlight
1219 correctly, just copy the line you want from |html.vim| and add gspJava
1220 to the contains clause.
1222 The backticks for inline java are highlighted according to the htmlError
1223 group to make them easier to see.
1226 GROFF *groff.vim* *ft-groff-syntax*
1228 The groff syntax file is a wrapper for |nroff.vim|, see the notes
1229 under that heading for examples of use and configuration. The purpose
1230 of this wrapper is to set up groff syntax extensions by setting the
1231 filetype from a |modeline| or in a personal filetype definitions file
1232 (see |filetype.txt|).
1235 HASKELL *haskell.vim* *lhaskell.vim* *ft-haskell-syntax*
1237 The Haskell syntax files support plain Haskell code as well as literate
1238 Haskell code, the latter in both Bird style and TeX style. The Haskell
1239 syntax highlighting will also highlight C preprocessor directives.
1241 If you want to highlight delimiter characters (useful if you have a
1242 light-coloured background), add to your .vimrc: >
1243 :let hs_highlight_delimiters = 1
1244 To treat True and False as keywords as opposed to ordinary identifiers,
1246 :let hs_highlight_boolean = 1
1247 To also treat the names of primitive types as keywords: >
1248 :let hs_highlight_types = 1
1249 And to treat the names of even more relatively common types as keywords: >
1250 :let hs_highlight_more_types = 1
1251 If you want to highlight the names of debugging functions, put in
1253 :let hs_highlight_debug = 1
1255 The Haskell syntax highlighting also highlights C preprocessor
1256 directives, and flags lines that start with # but are not valid
1257 directives as erroneous. This interferes with Haskell's syntax for
1258 operators, as they may start with #. If you want to highlight those
1259 as operators as opposed to errors, put in your .vimrc: >
1260 :let hs_allow_hash_operator = 1
1262 The syntax highlighting for literate Haskell code will try to
1263 automatically guess whether your literate Haskell code contains
1264 TeX markup or not, and correspondingly highlight TeX constructs
1265 or nothing at all. You can override this globally by putting
1267 :let lhs_markup = none
1268 for no highlighting at all, or >
1269 :let lhs_markup = tex
1270 to force the highlighting to always try to highlight TeX markup.
1271 For more flexibility, you may also use buffer local versions of
1272 this variable, so e.g. >
1273 :let b:lhs_markup = tex
1274 will force TeX highlighting for a particular buffer. It has to be
1275 set before turning syntax highlighting on for the buffer or
1279 HTML *html.vim* *ft-html-syntax*
1281 The coloring scheme for tags in the HTML file works as follows.
1283 The <> of opening tags are colored differently than the </> of a closing tag.
1284 This is on purpose! For opening tags the 'Function' color is used, while for
1285 closing tags the 'Type' color is used (See syntax.vim to check how those are
1288 Known tag names are colored the same way as statements in C. Unknown tag
1289 names are colored with the same color as the <> or </> respectively which
1290 makes it easy to spot errors
1292 Note that the same is true for argument (or attribute) names. Known attribute
1293 names are colored differently than unknown ones.
1295 Some HTML tags are used to change the rendering of text. The following tags
1296 are recognized by the html.vim syntax coloring file and change the way normal
1297 text is shown: <B> <I> <U> <EM> <STRONG> (<EM> is used as an alias for <I>,
1298 while <STRONG> as an alias for <B>), <H1> - <H6>, <HEAD>, <TITLE> and <A>, but
1299 only if used as a link (that is, it must include a href as in
1300 <A href="somefile.html">).
1302 If you want to change how such text is rendered, you must redefine the
1303 following syntax groups:
1307 - htmlBoldUnderlineItalic
1309 - htmlUnderlineItalic
1311 - htmlTitle for titles
1312 - htmlH1 - htmlH6 for headings
1314 To make this redefinition work you must redefine them all with the exception
1315 of the last two (htmlTitle and htmlH[1-6], which are optional) and define the
1316 following variable in your vimrc (this is due to the order in which the files
1317 are read during initialization) >
1318 :let html_my_rendering=1
1320 If you'd like to see an example download mysyntax.vim at
1321 http://www.fleiner.com/vim/download.html
1323 You can also disable this rendering by adding the following line to your
1325 :let html_no_rendering=1
1327 HTML comments are rather special (see an HTML reference document for the
1328 details), and the syntax coloring scheme will highlight all errors.
1329 However, if you prefer to use the wrong style (starts with <!-- and
1330 ends with --!>) you can define >
1331 :let html_wrong_comments=1
1333 JavaScript and Visual Basic embedded inside HTML documents are highlighted as
1334 'Special' with statements, comments, strings and so on colored as in standard
1335 programming languages. Note that only JavaScript and Visual Basic are currently
1336 supported, no other scripting language has been added yet.
1338 Embedded and inlined cascading style sheets (CSS) are highlighted too.
1340 There are several html preprocessor languages out there. html.vim has been
1341 written such that it should be trivial to include it. To do so add the
1342 following two lines to the syntax coloring file for that language
1343 (the example comes from the asp.vim file):
1345 runtime! syntax/html.vim
1346 syn cluster htmlPreproc add=asp
1348 Now you just need to make sure that you add all regions that contain
1349 the preprocessor language to the cluster htmlPreproc.
1352 HTML/OS (by Aestiva) *htmlos.vim* *ft-htmlos-syntax*
1354 The coloring scheme for HTML/OS works as follows:
1356 Functions and variable names are the same color by default, because VIM
1357 doesn't specify different colors for Functions and Identifiers. To change
1358 this (which is recommended if you want function names to be recognizable in a
1359 different color) you need to add the following line to either your ~/.vimrc: >
1360 :hi Function term=underline cterm=bold ctermfg=LightGray
1362 Of course, the ctermfg can be a different color if you choose.
1364 Another issues that HTML/OS runs into is that there is no special filetype to
1365 signify that it is a file with HTML/OS coding. You can change this by opening
1366 a file and turning on HTML/OS syntax by doing the following: >
1369 Lastly, it should be noted that the opening and closing characters to begin a
1370 block of HTML/OS code can either be << or [[ and >> or ]], respectively.
1373 IA64 *ia64.vim* *intel-itanium* *ft-ia64-syntax*
1375 Highlighting for the Intel Itanium 64 assembly language. See |asm.vim| for
1376 how to recognize this filetype.
1378 To have *.inc files be recognized as IA64, add this to your .vimrc file: >
1379 :let g:filetype_inc = "ia64"
1382 INFORM *inform.vim* *ft-inform-syntax*
1384 Inform highlighting includes symbols provided by the Inform Library, as
1385 most programs make extensive use of it. If do not wish Library symbols
1386 to be highlighted add this to your vim startup: >
1387 :let inform_highlight_simple=1
1389 By default it is assumed that Inform programs are Z-machine targeted,
1390 and highlights Z-machine assembly language symbols appropriately. If
1391 you intend your program to be targeted to a Glulx/Glk environment you
1392 need to add this to your startup sequence: >
1393 :let inform_highlight_glulx=1
1395 This will highlight Glulx opcodes instead, and also adds glk() to the
1396 set of highlighted system functions.
1398 The Inform compiler will flag certain obsolete keywords as errors when
1399 it encounters them. These keywords are normally highlighted as errors
1400 by Vim. To prevent such error highlighting, you must add this to your
1402 :let inform_suppress_obsolete=1
1404 By default, the language features highlighted conform to Compiler
1405 version 6.30 and Library version 6.11. If you are using an older
1406 Inform development environment, you may with to add this to your
1408 :let inform_highlight_old=1
1410 IDL *idl.vim* *idl-syntax*
1412 IDL (Interface Definition Language) files are used to define RPC calls. In
1413 Microsoft land, this is also used for defining COM interfaces and calls.
1415 IDL's structure is simple enough to permit a full grammar based approach to
1416 rather than using a few heuristics. The result is large and somewhat
1417 repetitive but seems to work.
1419 There are some Microsoft extensions to idl files that are here. Some of them
1420 are disabled by defining idl_no_ms_extensions.
1422 The more complex of the extensions are disabled by defining idl_no_extensions.
1426 idl_no_ms_extensions Disable some of the Microsoft specific
1428 idl_no_extensions Disable complex extensions
1429 idlsyntax_showerror Show IDL errors (can be rather intrusive, but
1431 idlsyntax_showerror_soft Use softer colours by default for errors
1434 JAVA *java.vim* *ft-java-syntax*
1436 The java.vim syntax highlighting file offers several options:
1438 In Java 1.0.2 it was never possible to have braces inside parens, so this was
1439 flagged as an error. Since Java 1.1 this is possible (with anonymous
1440 classes), and therefore is no longer marked as an error. If you prefer the old
1441 way, put the following line into your vim startup file: >
1442 :let java_mark_braces_in_parens_as_errors=1
1444 All identifiers in java.lang.* are always visible in all classes. To
1445 highlight them use: >
1446 :let java_highlight_java_lang_ids=1
1448 You can also highlight identifiers of most standard Java packages if you
1449 download the javaid.vim script at http://www.fleiner.com/vim/download.html.
1450 If you prefer to only highlight identifiers of a certain package, say java.io
1451 use the following: >
1452 :let java_highlight_java_io=1
1453 Check the javaid.vim file for a list of all the packages that are supported.
1455 Function names are not highlighted, as the way to find functions depends on
1456 how you write Java code. The syntax file knows two possible ways to highlight
1459 If you write function declarations that are always indented by either
1460 a tab, 8 spaces or 2 spaces you may want to set >
1461 :let java_highlight_functions="indent"
1462 However, if you follow the Java guidelines about how functions and classes are
1463 supposed to be named (with respect to upper and lowercase), use >
1464 :let java_highlight_functions="style"
1465 If both options do not work for you, but you would still want function
1466 declarations to be highlighted create your own definitions by changing the
1467 definitions in java.vim or by creating your own java.vim which includes the
1468 original one and then adds the code to highlight functions.
1470 In Java 1.1 the functions System.out.println() and System.err.println() should
1471 only be used for debugging. Therefore it is possible to highlight debugging
1472 statements differently. To do this you must add the following definition in
1473 your startup file: >
1474 :let java_highlight_debug=1
1475 The result will be that those statements are highlighted as 'Special'
1476 characters. If you prefer to have them highlighted differently you must define
1477 new highlightings for the following groups.:
1478 Debug, DebugSpecial, DebugString, DebugBoolean, DebugType
1479 which are used for the statement itself, special characters used in debug
1480 strings, strings, boolean constants and types (this, super) respectively. I
1481 have opted to chose another background for those statements.
1483 In order to help you write code that can be easily ported between Java and
1484 C++, all C++ keywords can be marked as an error in a Java program. To
1485 have this add this line in your .vimrc file: >
1486 :let java_allow_cpp_keywords = 0
1488 Javadoc is a program that takes special comments out of Java program files and
1489 creates HTML pages. The standard configuration will highlight this HTML code
1490 similarly to HTML files (see |html.vim|). You can even add Javascript
1491 and CSS inside this code (see below). There are four differences however:
1492 1. The title (all characters up to the first '.' which is followed by
1493 some white space or up to the first '@') is colored differently (to change
1494 the color change the group CommentTitle).
1495 2. The text is colored as 'Comment'.
1496 3. HTML comments are colored as 'Special'
1497 4. The special Javadoc tags (@see, @param, ...) are highlighted as specials
1498 and the argument (for @see, @param, @exception) as Function.
1499 To turn this feature off add the following line to your startup file: >
1500 :let java_ignore_javadoc=1
1502 If you use the special Javadoc comment highlighting described above you
1503 can also turn on special highlighting for Javascript, visual basic
1504 scripts and embedded CSS (stylesheets). This makes only sense if you
1505 actually have Javadoc comments that include either Javascript or embedded
1506 CSS. The options to use are >
1507 :let java_javascript=1
1511 In order to highlight nested parens with different colors define colors
1512 for javaParen, javaParen1 and javaParen2, for example with >
1513 :hi link javaParen Comment
1515 :hi javaParen ctermfg=blue guifg=#0000ff
1517 If you notice highlighting errors while scrolling backwards, which are fixed
1518 when redrawing with CTRL-L, try setting the "java_minlines" internal variable
1519 to a larger number: >
1520 :let java_minlines = 50
1521 This will make the syntax synchronization start 50 lines before the first
1522 displayed line. The default value is 10. The disadvantage of using a larger
1523 number is that redrawing can become slow.
1526 LACE *lace.vim* *ft-lace-syntax*
1528 Lace (Language for Assembly of Classes in Eiffel) is case insensitive, but the
1529 style guide lines are not. If you prefer case insensitive highlighting, just
1530 define the vim variable 'lace_case_insensitive' in your startup file: >
1531 :let lace_case_insensitive=1
1534 LEX *lex.vim* *ft-lex-syntax*
1536 Lex uses brute-force synchronizing as the "^%%$" section delimiter
1537 gives no clue as to what section follows. Consequently, the value for >
1538 :syn sync minlines=300
1539 may be changed by the user if s/he is experiencing synchronization
1540 difficulties (such as may happen with large lex files).
1543 LISP *lisp.vim* *ft-lisp-syntax*
1545 The lisp syntax highlighting provides two options: >
1547 g:lisp_instring : if it exists, then "(...)" strings are highlighted
1548 as if the contents of the string were lisp.
1549 Useful for AutoLisp.
1550 g:lisp_rainbow : if it exists and is nonzero, then differing levels
1551 of parenthesization will receive different
1554 The g:lisp_rainbow option provides 10 levels of individual colorization for
1555 the parentheses and backquoted parentheses. Because of the quantity of
1556 colorization levels, unlike non-rainbow highlighting, the rainbow mode
1557 specifies its highlighting using ctermfg and guifg, thereby bypassing the
1558 usual colorscheme control using standard highlighting groups. The actual
1559 highlighting used depends on the dark/bright setting (see |'bg'|).
1562 LITE *lite.vim* *ft-lite-syntax*
1564 There are two options for the lite syntax highlighting.
1566 If you like SQL syntax highlighting inside Strings, use this: >
1568 :let lite_sql_query = 1
1570 For syncing, minlines defaults to 100. If you prefer another value, you can
1571 set "lite_minlines" to the value you desire. Example: >
1573 :let lite_minlines = 200
1576 LPC *lpc.vim* *ft-lpc-syntax*
1578 LPC stands for a simple, memory-efficient language: Lars Pensj| C. The
1579 file name of LPC is usually *.c. Recognizing these files as LPC would bother
1580 users writing only C programs. If you want to use LPC syntax in Vim, you
1581 should set a variable in your .vimrc file: >
1583 :let lpc_syntax_for_c = 1
1585 If it doesn't work properly for some particular C or LPC files, use a
1586 modeline. For a LPC file:
1590 For a C file that is recognized as LPC:
1594 If you don't want to set the variable, use the modeline in EVERY LPC file.
1596 There are several implementations for LPC, we intend to support most widely
1597 used ones. Here the default LPC syntax is for MudOS series, for MudOS v22
1598 and before, you should turn off the sensible modifiers, and this will also
1599 asserts the new efuns after v22 to be invalid, don't set this variable when
1600 you are using the latest version of MudOS: >
1602 :let lpc_pre_v22 = 1
1604 For LpMud 3.2 series of LPC: >
1606 :let lpc_compat_32 = 1
1608 For LPC4 series of LPC: >
1610 :let lpc_use_lpc4_syntax = 1
1612 For uLPC series of LPC:
1613 uLPC has been developed to Pike, so you should use Pike syntax
1614 instead, and the name of your source file should be *.pike
1617 LUA *lua.vim* *ft-lua-syntax*
1619 This syntax file may be used for Lua 4.0, Lua 5.0 or Lua 5.1 (the latter is
1620 the default). You can select one of these versions using the global variables
1621 lua_version and lua_subversion. For example, to activate Lua
1622 4.0 syntax highlighting, use this command: >
1624 :let lua_version = 4
1626 If you are using Lua 5.0, use these commands: >
1628 :let lua_version = 5
1629 :let lua_subversion = 0
1631 To restore highlighting for Lua 5.1: >
1633 :let lua_version = 5
1634 :let lua_subversion = 1
1637 MAIL *mail.vim* *ft-mail.vim*
1639 Vim highlights all the standard elements of an email (headers, signatures,
1640 quoted text and URLs / email addresses). In keeping with standard conventions,
1641 signatures begin in a line containing only "--" followed optionally by
1642 whitespaces and end with a newline.
1644 Vim treats lines beginning with ']', '}', '|', '>' or a word followed by '>'
1645 as quoted text. However Vim highlights headers and signatures in quoted text
1646 only if the text is quoted with '>' (optionally followed by one space).
1648 By default mail.vim synchronises syntax to 100 lines before the first
1649 displayed line. If you have a slow machine, and generally deal with emails
1650 with short headers, you can change this to a smaller value: >
1652 :let mail_minlines = 30
1655 MAKE *make.vim* *ft-make-syntax*
1657 In makefiles, commands are usually highlighted to make it easy for you to spot
1658 errors. However, this may be too much coloring for you. You can turn this
1659 feature off by using: >
1661 :let make_no_commands = 1
1664 MAPLE *maple.vim* *ft-maple-syntax*
1666 Maple V, by Waterloo Maple Inc, supports symbolic algebra. The language
1667 supports many packages of functions which are selectively loaded by the user.
1668 The standard set of packages' functions as supplied in Maple V release 4 may be
1669 highlighted at the user's discretion. Users may place in their .vimrc file: >
1673 to get all package functions highlighted, or users may select any subset by
1674 choosing a variable/package from the table below and setting that variable to
1675 1, also in their .vimrc file (prior to sourcing
1676 $VIMRUNTIME/syntax/syntax.vim).
1678 Table of Maple V Package Function Selectors >
1679 mv_DEtools mv_genfunc mv_networks mv_process
1680 mv_Galois mv_geometry mv_numapprox mv_simplex
1681 mv_GaussInt mv_grobner mv_numtheory mv_stats
1682 mv_LREtools mv_group mv_orthopoly mv_student
1683 mv_combinat mv_inttrans mv_padic mv_sumtools
1684 mv_combstruct mv_liesymm mv_plots mv_tensor
1685 mv_difforms mv_linalg mv_plottools mv_totorder
1686 mv_finance mv_logic mv_powseries
1689 MATHEMATICA *mma.vim* *ft-mma-syntax* *ft-mathematica-syntax*
1691 Empty *.m files will automatically be presumed to be Matlab files unless you
1692 have the following in your .vimrc: >
1694 let filetype_m = "mma"
1697 MOO *moo.vim* *ft-moo-syntax*
1699 If you use C-style comments inside expressions and find it mangles your
1700 highlighting, you may want to use extended (slow!) matches for C-style
1703 :let moo_extended_cstyle_comments = 1
1705 To disable highlighting of pronoun substitution patterns inside strings: >
1707 :let moo_no_pronoun_sub = 1
1709 To disable highlighting of the regular expression operator '%|', and matching
1710 '%(' and '%)' inside strings: >
1712 :let moo_no_regexp = 1
1714 Unmatched double quotes can be recognized and highlighted as errors: >
1716 :let moo_unmatched_quotes = 1
1718 To highlight builtin properties (.name, .location, .programmer etc.): >
1720 :let moo_builtin_properties = 1
1722 Unknown builtin functions can be recognized and highlighted as errors. If you
1723 use this option, add your own extensions to the mooKnownBuiltinFunction group.
1724 To enable this option: >
1726 :let moo_unknown_builtin_functions = 1
1728 An example of adding sprintf() to the list of known builtin functions: >
1730 :syn keyword mooKnownBuiltinFunction sprintf contained
1733 MSQL *msql.vim* *ft-msql-syntax*
1735 There are two options for the msql syntax highlighting.
1737 If you like SQL syntax highlighting inside Strings, use this: >
1739 :let msql_sql_query = 1
1741 For syncing, minlines defaults to 100. If you prefer another value, you can
1742 set "msql_minlines" to the value you desire. Example: >
1744 :let msql_minlines = 200
1747 NCF *ncf.vim* *ft-ncf-syntax*
1749 There is one option for NCF syntax highlighting.
1751 If you want to have unrecognized (by ncf.vim) statements highlighted as
1754 :let ncf_highlight_unknowns = 1
1756 If you don't want to highlight these errors, leave it unset.
1759 NROFF *nroff.vim* *ft-nroff-syntax*
1761 The nroff syntax file works with AT&T n/troff out of the box. You need to
1762 activate the GNU groff extra features included in the syntax file before you
1765 For example, Linux and BSD distributions use groff as their default text
1766 processing package. In order to activate the extra syntax highlighting
1767 features for groff, add the following option to your start-up files: >
1769 :let b:nroff_is_groff = 1
1771 Groff is different from the old AT&T n/troff that you may still find in
1772 Solaris. Groff macro and request names can be longer than 2 characters and
1773 there are extensions to the language primitives. For example, in AT&T troff
1774 you access the year as a 2-digit number with the request \(yr. In groff you
1775 can use the same request, recognized for compatibility, or you can use groff's
1776 native syntax, \[yr]. Furthermore, you can use a 4-digit year directly:
1777 \[year]. Macro requests can be longer than 2 characters, for example, GNU mm
1778 accepts the requests ".VERBON" and ".VERBOFF" for creating verbatim
1781 In order to obtain the best formatted output g/troff can give you, you should
1782 follow a few simple rules about spacing and punctuation.
1784 1. Do not leave empty spaces at the end of lines.
1786 2. Leave one space and one space only after an end-of-sentence period,
1787 exclamation mark, etc.
1789 3. For reasons stated below, it is best to follow all period marks with a
1792 The reason behind these unusual tips is that g/n/troff have a line breaking
1793 algorithm that can be easily upset if you don't follow the rules given above.
1795 Unlike TeX, troff fills text line-by-line, not paragraph-by-paragraph and,
1796 furthermore, it does not have a concept of glue or stretch, all horizontal and
1797 vertical space input will be output as is.
1799 Therefore, you should be careful about not using more space between sentences
1800 than you intend to have in your final document. For this reason, the common
1801 practice is to insert a carriage return immediately after all punctuation
1802 marks. If you want to have "even" text in your final processed output, you
1803 need to maintaining regular spacing in the input text. To mark both trailing
1804 spaces and two or more spaces after a punctuation as an error, use: >
1806 :let nroff_space_errors = 1
1808 Another technique to detect extra spacing and other errors that will interfere
1809 with the correct typesetting of your file, is to define an eye-catching
1810 highlighting definition for the syntax groups "nroffDefinition" and
1811 "nroffDefSpecial" in your configuration files. For example: >
1813 hi def nroffDefinition term=italic cterm=italic gui=reverse
1814 hi def nroffDefSpecial term=italic,bold cterm=italic,bold
1817 If you want to navigate preprocessor entries in your source file as easily as
1818 with section markers, you can activate the following option in your .vimrc
1821 let b:preprocs_as_sections = 1
1823 As well, the syntax file adds an extra paragraph marker for the extended
1824 paragraph macro (.XP) in the ms package.
1826 Finally, there is a |groff.vim| syntax file that can be used for enabling
1827 groff syntax highlighting either on a file basis or globally by default.
1830 OCAML *ocaml.vim* *ft-ocaml-syntax*
1832 The OCaml syntax file handles files having the following prefixes: .ml,
1833 .mli, .mll and .mly. By setting the following variable >
1835 :let ocaml_revised = 1
1837 you can switch from standard OCaml-syntax to revised syntax as supported
1838 by the camlp4 preprocessor. Setting the variable >
1840 :let ocaml_noend_error = 1
1842 prevents highlighting of "end" as error, which is useful when sources
1843 contain very long structures that Vim does not synchronize anymore.
1846 PAPP *papp.vim* *ft-papp-syntax*
1848 The PApp syntax file handles .papp files and, to a lesser extend, .pxml
1849 and .pxsl files which are all a mixture of perl/xml/html/other using xml
1850 as the top-level file format. By default everything inside phtml or pxml
1851 sections is treated as a string with embedded preprocessor commands. If
1852 you set the variable: >
1854 :let papp_include_html=1
1856 in your startup file it will try to syntax-hilight html code inside phtml
1857 sections, but this is relatively slow and much too colourful to be able to
1860 The newest version of the papp.vim syntax file can usually be found at
1861 http://papp.plan9.de.
1864 PASCAL *pascal.vim* *ft-pascal-syntax*
1866 Files matching "*.p" could be Progress or Pascal. If the automatic detection
1867 doesn't work for you, or you don't edit Progress at all, use this in your
1870 :let filetype_p = "pascal"
1872 The Pascal syntax file has been extended to take into account some extensions
1873 provided by Turbo Pascal, Free Pascal Compiler and GNU Pascal Compiler.
1874 Delphi keywords are also supported. By default, Turbo Pascal 7.0 features are
1875 enabled. If you prefer to stick with the standard Pascal keywords, add the
1876 following line to your startup file: >
1878 :let pascal_traditional=1
1880 To switch on Delphi specific constructions (such as one-line comments,
1883 :let pascal_delphi=1
1886 The option pascal_symbol_operator controls whether symbol operators such as +,
1887 *, .., etc. are displayed using the Operator color or not. To colorize symbol
1888 operators, add the following line to your startup file: >
1890 :let pascal_symbol_operator=1
1892 Some functions are highlighted by default. To switch it off: >
1894 :let pascal_no_functions=1
1896 Furthermore, there are specific variable for some compiler. Besides
1897 pascal_delphi, there are pascal_gpc and pascal_fpc. Default extensions try to
1898 match Turbo Pascal. >
1906 To ensure that strings are defined on a single line, you can define the
1907 pascal_one_line_string variable. >
1909 :let pascal_one_line_string=1
1911 If you dislike <Tab> chars, you can set the pascal_no_tabs variable. Tabs
1912 will be highlighted as Error. >
1914 :let pascal_no_tabs=1
1918 PERL *perl.vim* *ft-perl-syntax*
1920 There are a number of possible options to the perl syntax highlighting.
1922 If you use POD files or POD segments, you might: >
1924 :let perl_include_pod = 1
1926 The reduce the complexity of parsing (and increase performance) you can switch
1927 off two elements in the parsing of variable names and contents. >
1929 To handle package references in variable and function names not differently
1930 from the rest of the name (like 'PkgName::' in '$PkgName::VarName'): >
1932 :let perl_no_scope_in_variables = 1
1934 (In Vim 6.x it was the other way around: "perl_want_scope_in_variables"
1937 If you do not want complex things like '@{${"foo"}}' to be parsed: >
1939 :let perl_no_extended_vars = 1
1941 (In Vim 6.x it was the other way around: "perl_extended_vars" enabled it.)
1943 The coloring strings can be changed. By default strings and qq friends will be
1944 highlighted like the first line. If you set the variable
1945 perl_string_as_statement, it will be highlighted as in the second line.
1947 "hello world!"; qq|hello world|;
1948 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^NN^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^N (unlet perl_string_as_statement)
1949 S^^^^^^^^^^^^SNNSSS^^^^^^^^^^^SN (let perl_string_as_statement)
1951 (^ = perlString, S = perlStatement, N = None at all)
1953 The syncing has 3 options. The first two switch off some triggering of
1954 synchronization and should only be needed in case it fails to work properly.
1955 If while scrolling all of a sudden the whole screen changes color completely
1956 then you should try and switch off one of those. Let me know if you can figure
1957 out the line that causes the mistake.
1959 One triggers on "^\s*sub\s*" and the other on "^[$@%]" more or less. >
1961 :let perl_no_sync_on_sub
1962 :let perl_no_sync_on_global_var
1964 Below you can set the maximum distance VIM should look for starting points for
1965 its attempts in syntax highlighting. >
1967 :let perl_sync_dist = 100
1969 If you want to use folding with perl, set perl_fold: >
1973 If you want to fold blocks in if statements, etc. as well set the following: >
1975 :let perl_fold_blocks = 1
1977 To avoid folding packages or subs when perl_fold is let, let the appropriate
1980 :unlet perl_nofold_packages
1981 :unlet perl_nofold_subs
1985 PHP3 and PHP4 *php.vim* *php3.vim* *ft-php-syntax* *ft-php3-syntax*
1987 [note: previously this was called "php3", but since it now also supports php4
1988 it has been renamed to "php"]
1990 There are the following options for the php syntax highlighting.
1992 If you like SQL syntax highlighting inside Strings: >
1994 let php_sql_query = 1
1996 For highlighting the Baselib methods: >
2000 Enable HTML syntax highlighting inside strings: >
2002 let php_htmlInStrings = 1
2004 Using the old colorstyle: >
2006 let php_oldStyle = 1
2008 Enable highlighting ASP-style short tags: >
2010 let php_asp_tags = 1
2012 Disable short tags: >
2014 let php_noShortTags = 1
2016 For highlighting parent error ] or ): >
2018 let php_parent_error_close = 1
2020 For skipping an php end tag, if there exists an open ( or [ without a closing
2023 let php_parent_error_open = 1
2025 Enable folding for classes and functions: >
2029 Selecting syncing method: >
2031 let php_sync_method = x
2033 x = -1 to sync by search (default),
2034 x > 0 to sync at least x lines backwards,
2035 x = 0 to sync from start.
2038 PLAINTEX *plaintex.vim* *ft-plaintex-syntax*
2040 TeX is a typesetting language, and plaintex is the file type for the "plain"
2041 variant of TeX. If you never want your *.tex files recognized as plain TeX,
2042 see |ft-tex-plugin|.
2044 This syntax file has the option >
2046 let g:plaintex_delimiters = 1
2048 if you want to highlight brackets "[]" and braces "{}".
2051 PPWIZARD *ppwiz.vim* *ft-ppwiz-syntax*
2053 PPWizard is a preprocessor for HTML and OS/2 INF files
2055 This syntax file has the options:
2057 - ppwiz_highlight_defs : determines highlighting mode for PPWizard's
2058 definitions. Possible values are
2060 ppwiz_highlight_defs = 1 : PPWizard #define statements retain the
2061 colors of their contents (e.g. PPWizard macros and variables)
2063 ppwiz_highlight_defs = 2 : preprocessor #define and #evaluate
2064 statements are shown in a single color with the exception of line
2065 continuation symbols
2067 The default setting for ppwiz_highlight_defs is 1.
2069 - ppwiz_with_html : If the value is 1 (the default), highlight literal
2070 HTML code; if 0, treat HTML code like ordinary text.
2073 PHTML *phtml.vim* *ft-phtml-syntax*
2075 There are two options for the phtml syntax highlighting.
2077 If you like SQL syntax highlighting inside Strings, use this: >
2079 :let phtml_sql_query = 1
2081 For syncing, minlines defaults to 100. If you prefer another value, you can
2082 set "phtml_minlines" to the value you desire. Example: >
2084 :let phtml_minlines = 200
2087 POSTSCRIPT *postscr.vim* *ft-postscr-syntax*
2089 There are several options when it comes to highlighting PostScript.
2091 First which version of the PostScript language to highlight. There are
2092 currently three defined language versions, or levels. Level 1 is the original
2093 and base version, and includes all extensions prior to the release of level 2.
2094 Level 2 is the most common version around, and includes its own set of
2095 extensions prior to the release of level 3. Level 3 is currently the highest
2096 level supported. You select which level of the PostScript language you want
2097 highlighted by defining the postscr_level variable as follows: >
2099 :let postscr_level=2
2101 If this variable is not defined it defaults to 2 (level 2) since this is
2102 the most prevalent version currently.
2104 Note, not all PS interpreters will support all language features for a
2105 particular language level. In particular the %!PS-Adobe-3.0 at the start of
2106 PS files does NOT mean the PostScript present is level 3 PostScript!
2108 If you are working with Display PostScript, you can include highlighting of
2109 Display PS language features by defining the postscr_display variable as
2112 :let postscr_display=1
2114 If you are working with Ghostscript, you can include highlighting of
2115 Ghostscript specific language features by defining the variable
2116 postscr_ghostscript as follows: >
2118 :let postscr_ghostscript=1
2120 PostScript is a large language, with many predefined elements. While it
2121 useful to have all these elements highlighted, on slower machines this can
2122 cause Vim to slow down. In an attempt to be machine friendly font names and
2123 character encodings are not highlighted by default. Unless you are working
2124 explicitly with either of these this should be ok. If you want them to be
2125 highlighted you should set one or both of the following variables: >
2127 :let postscr_fonts=1
2128 :let postscr_encodings=1
2130 There is a stylistic option to the highlighting of and, or, and not. In
2131 PostScript the function of these operators depends on the types of their
2132 operands - if the operands are booleans then they are the logical operators,
2133 if they are integers then they are binary operators. As binary and logical
2134 operators can be highlighted differently they have to be highlighted one way
2135 or the other. By default they are treated as logical operators. They can be
2136 highlighted as binary operators by defining the variable
2137 postscr_andornot_binary as follows: >
2139 :let postscr_andornot_binary=1
2142 *ptcap.vim* *ft-printcap-syntax*
2143 PRINTCAP + TERMCAP *ft-ptcap-syntax* *ft-termcap-syntax*
2145 This syntax file applies to the printcap and termcap databases.
2147 In order for Vim to recognize printcap/termcap files that do not match
2148 the patterns *printcap*, or *termcap*, you must put additional patterns
2149 appropriate to your system in your |myfiletypefile| file. For these
2150 patterns, you must set the variable "b:ptcap_type" to either "print" or
2151 "term", and then the 'filetype' option to ptcap.
2153 For example, to make Vim identify all files in /etc/termcaps/ as termcap
2154 files, add the following: >
2156 :au BufNewFile,BufRead /etc/termcaps/* let b:ptcap_type = "term" |
2157 \ set filetype=ptcap
2159 If you notice highlighting errors while scrolling backwards, which
2160 are fixed when redrawing with CTRL-L, try setting the "ptcap_minlines"
2161 internal variable to a larger number: >
2163 :let ptcap_minlines = 50
2165 (The default is 20 lines.)
2168 PROGRESS *progress.vim* *ft-progress-syntax*
2170 Files matching "*.w" could be Progress or cweb. If the automatic detection
2171 doesn't work for you, or you don't edit cweb at all, use this in your
2173 :let filetype_w = "progress"
2174 The same happens for "*.i", which could be assembly, and "*.p", which could be
2175 Pascal. Use this if you don't use assembly and Pascal: >
2176 :let filetype_i = "progress"
2177 :let filetype_p = "progress"
2180 PYTHON *python.vim* *ft-python-syntax*
2182 There are four options to control Python syntax highlighting.
2184 For highlighted numbers: >
2185 :let python_highlight_numbers = 1
2187 For highlighted builtin functions: >
2188 :let python_highlight_builtins = 1
2190 For highlighted standard exceptions: >
2191 :let python_highlight_exceptions = 1
2193 For highlighted trailing whitespace and mix of spaces and tabs:
2194 :let python_highlight_space_errors = 1
2196 If you want all possible Python highlighting (the same as setting the
2197 preceding three options): >
2198 :let python_highlight_all = 1
2201 QUAKE *quake.vim* *ft-quake-syntax*
2203 The Quake syntax definition should work for most any FPS (First Person
2204 Shooter) based on one of the Quake engines. However, the command names vary
2205 a bit between the three games (Quake, Quake 2, and Quake 3 Arena) so the
2206 syntax definition checks for the existence of three global variables to allow
2207 users to specify what commands are legal in their files. The three variables
2208 can be set for the following effects:
2210 set to highlight commands only available in Quake: >
2211 :let quake_is_quake1 = 1
2213 set to highlight commands only available in Quake 2: >
2214 :let quake_is_quake2 = 1
2216 set to highlight commands only available in Quake 3 Arena: >
2217 :let quake_is_quake3 = 1
2219 Any combination of these three variables is legal, but might highlight more
2220 commands than are actually available to you by the game.
2223 READLINE *readline.vim* *ft-readline-syntax*
2225 The readline library is primarily used by the BASH shell, which adds quite a
2226 few commands and options to the ones already available. To highlight these
2227 items as well you can add the following to your |vimrc| or just type it in the
2228 command line before loading a file with the readline syntax: >
2229 let readline_has_bash = 1
2231 This will add highlighting for the commands that BASH (version 2.05a and
2232 later, and part earlier) adds.
2235 REXX *rexx.vim* *ft-rexx-syntax*
2237 If you notice highlighting errors while scrolling backwards, which are fixed
2238 when redrawing with CTRL-L, try setting the "rexx_minlines" internal variable
2239 to a larger number: >
2240 :let rexx_minlines = 50
2241 This will make the syntax synchronization start 50 lines before the first
2242 displayed line. The default value is 10. The disadvantage of using a larger
2243 number is that redrawing can become slow.
2246 RUBY *ruby.vim* *ft-ruby-syntax*
2248 There are a number of options to the Ruby syntax highlighting.
2250 By default, the "end" keyword is colorized according to the opening statement
2251 of the block it closes. While useful, this feature can be expensive; if you
2252 experience slow redrawing (or you are on a terminal with poor color support)
2253 you may want to turn it off by defining the "ruby_no_expensive" variable: >
2255 :let ruby_no_expensive = 1
2257 In this case the same color will be used for all control keywords.
2259 If you do want this feature enabled, but notice highlighting errors while
2260 scrolling backwards, which are fixed when redrawing with CTRL-L, try setting
2261 the "ruby_minlines" variable to a value larger than 50: >
2263 :let ruby_minlines = 100
2265 Ideally, this value should be a number of lines large enough to embrace your
2266 largest class or module.
2268 Highlighting of special identifiers can be disabled by removing the
2269 rubyIdentifier highlighting: >
2271 :hi link rubyIdentifier NONE
2273 This will prevent highlighting of special identifiers like "ConstantName",
2274 "$global_var", "@@class_var", "@instance_var", "| block_param |", and
2277 Significant methods of Kernel, Module and Object are highlighted by default.
2278 This can be disabled by defining "ruby_no_special_methods": >
2280 :let ruby_no_special_methods = 1
2282 This will prevent highlighting of important methods such as "require", "attr",
2283 "private", "raise" and "proc".
2285 Ruby operators can be highlighted. This is enabled by defining
2288 :let ruby_operators = 1
2290 Whitespace errors can be highlighted by defining "ruby_space_errors": >
2292 :let ruby_space_errors = 1
2294 This will highlight trailing whitespace and tabs preceded by a space character
2295 as errors. This can be refined by defining "ruby_no_trail_space_error" and
2296 "ruby_no_tab_space_error" which will ignore trailing whitespace and tabs after
2297 spaces respectively.
2299 Folding can be enabled by defining "ruby_fold": >
2303 This will set the 'foldmethod' option to "syntax" and allow folding of
2304 classes, modules, methods, code blocks, heredocs and comments.
2306 Folding of multiline comments can be disabled by defining
2307 "ruby_no_comment_fold": >
2309 :let ruby_no_comment_fold = 1
2312 SCHEME *scheme.vim* *ft-scheme-syntax*
2314 By default only R5RS keywords are highlighted and properly indented.
2316 MzScheme-specific stuff will be used if b:is_mzscheme or g:is_mzscheme
2317 variables are defined.
2319 Also scheme.vim supports keywords of the Chicken Scheme->C compiler. Define
2320 b:is_chicken or g:is_chicken, if you need them.
2323 SDL *sdl.vim* *ft-sdl-syntax*
2325 The SDL highlighting probably misses a few keywords, but SDL has so many
2326 of them it's almost impossibly to cope.
2328 The new standard, SDL-2000, specifies that all identifiers are
2329 case-sensitive (which was not so before), and that all keywords can be
2330 used either completely lowercase or completely uppercase. To have the
2331 highlighting reflect this, you can set the following variable: >
2334 This also sets many new keywords. If you want to disable the old
2335 keywords, which is probably a good idea, use: >
2339 The indentation is probably also incomplete, but right now I am very
2340 satisfied with it for my own projects.
2343 SED *sed.vim* *ft-sed-syntax*
2345 To make tabs stand out from regular blanks (accomplished by using Todo
2346 highlighting on the tabs), define "highlight_sedtabs" by putting >
2348 :let highlight_sedtabs = 1
2350 in the vimrc file. (This special highlighting only applies for tabs
2351 inside search patterns, replacement texts, addresses or text included
2352 by an Append/Change/Insert command.) If you enable this option, it is
2353 also a good idea to set the tab width to one character; by doing that,
2354 you can easily count the number of tabs in a string.
2358 The transform command (y) is treated exactly like the substitute
2359 command. This means that, as far as this syntax file is concerned,
2360 transform accepts the same flags as substitute, which is wrong.
2361 (Transform accepts no flags.) I tolerate this bug because the
2362 involved commands need very complex treatment (95 patterns, one for
2363 each plausible pattern delimiter).
2366 SGML *sgml.vim* *ft-sgml-syntax*
2368 The coloring scheme for tags in the SGML file works as follows.
2370 The <> of opening tags are colored differently than the </> of a closing tag.
2371 This is on purpose! For opening tags the 'Function' color is used, while for
2372 closing tags the 'Type' color is used (See syntax.vim to check how those are
2375 Known tag names are colored the same way as statements in C. Unknown tag
2376 names are not colored which makes it easy to spot errors.
2378 Note that the same is true for argument (or attribute) names. Known attribute
2379 names are colored differently than unknown ones.
2381 Some SGML tags are used to change the rendering of text. The following tags
2382 are recognized by the sgml.vim syntax coloring file and change the way normal
2383 text is shown: <varname> <emphasis> <command> <function> <literal>
2384 <replaceable> <ulink> and <link>.
2386 If you want to change how such text is rendered, you must redefine the
2387 following syntax groups:
2393 - sgmlLink for links
2395 To make this redefinition work you must redefine them all and define the
2396 following variable in your vimrc (this is due to the order in which the files
2397 are read during initialization) >
2398 let sgml_my_rendering=1
2400 You can also disable this rendering by adding the following line to your
2402 let sgml_no_rendering=1
2404 (Adapted from the html.vim help text by Claudio Fleiner <claudio@fleiner.com>)
2407 SH *sh.vim* *ft-sh-syntax* *ft-bash-syntax* *ft-ksh-syntax*
2409 This covers the "normal" Unix (Bourne) sh, bash and the Korn shell.
2411 Vim attempts to determine which shell type is in use by specifying that
2412 various filenames are of specific types: >
2415 bash: .bashrc* bashrc bash.bashrc .bash_profile* *.bash
2417 If none of these cases pertain, then the first line of the file is examined
2418 (ex. /bin/sh /bin/ksh /bin/bash). If the first line specifies a shelltype,
2419 then that shelltype is used. However some files (ex. .profile) are known to
2420 be shell files but the type is not apparent. Furthermore, on many systems
2421 sh is symbolically linked to "bash" (Linux, Windows+cygwin) or "ksh" (Posix).
2423 One may specify a global default by instantiating one of the following three
2424 variables in your <.vimrc>:
2427 let g:is_kornshell = 1
2428 < posix: (using this is the same as setting is_kornshell to 1) >
2432 < sh: (default) Bourne shell >
2435 If there's no "#! ..." line, and the user hasn't availed himself/herself of a
2436 default sh.vim syntax setting as just shown, then syntax/sh.vim will assume
2437 the Bourne shell syntax. No need to quote RFCs or market penetration
2438 statistics in error reports, please -- just select the default version of the
2439 sh your system uses in your <.vimrc>.
2441 The syntax/sh.vim file provides several levels of syntax-based folding: >
2443 let g:sh_fold_enabled= 0 (default, no syntax folding)
2444 let g:sh_fold_enabled= 1 (enable function folding)
2445 let g:sh_fold_enabled= 2 (enable heredoc folding)
2446 let g:sh_fold_enabled= 4 (enable if/do/for folding)
2448 then various syntax items (HereDocuments and function bodies) become
2449 syntax-foldable (see |:syn-fold|). You also may add these together
2450 to get multiple types of folding: >
2452 let g:sh_fold_enabled= 3 (enables function and heredoc folding)
2454 If you notice highlighting errors while scrolling backwards which are fixed
2455 when one redraws with CTRL-L, try setting the "sh_minlines" internal variable
2456 to a larger number. Example: >
2458 let sh_minlines = 500
2460 This will make syntax synchronization start 500 lines before the first
2461 displayed line. The default value is 200. The disadvantage of using a larger
2462 number is that redrawing can become slow.
2464 If you don't have much to synchronize on, displaying can be very slow. To
2465 reduce this, the "sh_maxlines" internal variable can be set. Example: >
2467 let sh_maxlines = 100
2469 The default is to use the twice sh_minlines. Set it to a smaller number to
2470 speed up displaying. The disadvantage is that highlight errors may appear.
2473 SPEEDUP (AspenTech plant simulator) *spup.vim* *ft-spup-syntax*
2475 The Speedup syntax file has some options:
2477 - strict_subsections : If this variable is defined, only keywords for
2478 sections and subsections will be highlighted as statements but not
2479 other keywords (like WITHIN in the OPERATION section).
2481 - highlight_types : Definition of this variable causes stream types
2482 like temperature or pressure to be highlighted as Type, not as a
2483 plain Identifier. Included are the types that are usually found in
2484 the DECLARE section; if you defined own types, you have to include
2485 them in the syntax file.
2487 - oneline_comments : this value ranges from 1 to 3 and determines the
2488 highlighting of # style comments.
2490 oneline_comments = 1 : allow normal Speedup code after an even
2493 oneline_comments = 2 : show code starting with the second # as
2494 error. This is the default setting.
2496 oneline_comments = 3 : show the whole line as error if it contains
2499 Since especially OPERATION sections tend to become very large due to
2500 PRESETting variables, syncing may be critical. If your computer is
2501 fast enough, you can increase minlines and/or maxlines near the end of
2505 SQL *sql.vim* *ft-sql-syntax*
2506 *sqlinformix.vim* *ft-sqlinformix-syntax*
2507 *sqlanywhere.vim* *ft-sqlanywhere-syntax*
2509 While there is an ANSI standard for SQL, most database engines add their own
2510 custom extensions. Vim currently supports the Oracle and Informix dialects of
2511 SQL. Vim assumes "*.sql" files are Oracle SQL by default.
2513 Vim currently has SQL support for a variety of different vendors via syntax
2514 scripts. You can change Vim's default from Oracle to any of the current SQL
2515 supported types. You can also easily alter the SQL dialect being used on a
2516 buffer by buffer basis.
2518 For more detailed instructions see |ft_sql.txt|.
2521 TCSH *tcsh.vim* *ft-tcsh-syntax*
2523 This covers the shell named "tcsh". It is a superset of csh. See |csh.vim|
2524 for how the filetype is detected.
2526 Tcsh does not allow \" in strings unless the "backslash_quote" shell variable
2527 is set. If you want VIM to assume that no backslash quote constructs exist add
2528 this line to your .vimrc: >
2530 :let tcsh_backslash_quote = 0
2532 If you notice highlighting errors while scrolling backwards, which are fixed
2533 when redrawing with CTRL-L, try setting the "tcsh_minlines" internal variable
2534 to a larger number: >
2536 :let tcsh_minlines = 100
2538 This will make the syntax synchronization start 100 lines before the first
2539 displayed line. The default value is 15. The disadvantage of using a larger
2540 number is that redrawing can become slow.
2543 TEX *tex.vim* *ft-tex-syntax*
2546 Want Syntax Folding? ~
2548 As of version 28 of <syntax/tex.vim>, syntax-based folding of parts, chapters,
2549 sections, subsections, etc are supported. Put >
2550 let g:tex_fold_enabled=1
2551 in your <.vimrc>, and :set fdm=syntax. I suggest doing the latter via a
2552 modeline at the end of your LaTeX file: >
2556 Don't Want Spell Checking In Comments? ~
2558 Some folks like to include things like source code in comments and so would
2559 prefer that spell checking be disabled in comments in LaTeX files. To do
2560 this, put the following in your <.vimrc>: >
2561 let g:tex_comment_nospell= 1
2564 Run-on Comments/Math? ~
2566 The <syntax/tex.vim> highlighting supports TeX, LaTeX, and some AmsTeX. The
2567 highlighting supports three primary zones/regions: normal, texZone, and
2568 texMathZone. Although considerable effort has been made to have these zones
2569 terminate properly, zones delineated by $..$ and $$..$$ cannot be synchronized
2570 as there's no difference between start and end patterns. Consequently, a
2571 special "TeX comment" has been provided >
2573 which will forcibly terminate the highlighting of either a texZone or a
2577 Slow Syntax Highlighting? ~
2579 If you have a slow computer, you may wish to reduce the values for >
2580 :syn sync maxlines=200
2581 :syn sync minlines=50
2582 (especially the latter). If your computer is fast, you may wish to
2583 increase them. This primarily affects synchronizing (i.e. just what group,
2584 if any, is the text at the top of the screen supposed to be in?).
2586 *tex-morecommands* *tex-package*
2587 Want To Highlight More Commands? ~
2589 LaTeX is a programmable language, and so there are thousands of packages full
2590 of specialized LaTeX commands, syntax, and fonts. If you're using such a
2591 package you'll often wish that the distributed syntax/tex.vim would support
2592 it. However, clearly this is impractical. So please consider using the
2593 techniques in |mysyntaxfile-add| to extend or modify the highlighting provided
2597 Excessive Error Highlighting? ~
2599 The <tex.vim> supports lexical error checking of various sorts. Thus,
2600 although the error checking is ofttimes very useful, it can indicate
2601 errors where none actually are. If this proves to be a problem for you,
2602 you may put in your <.vimrc> the following statement: >
2604 and all error checking by <syntax/tex.vim> will be suppressed.
2607 Need a new Math Group? ~
2609 If you want to include a new math group in your LaTeX, the following
2610 code shows you an example as to how you might do so: >
2611 call TexNewMathZone(sfx,mathzone,starform)
2612 You'll want to provide the new math group with a unique suffix
2613 (currently, A-L and V-Z are taken by <syntax/tex.vim> itself).
2614 As an example, consider how eqnarray is set up by <syntax/tex.vim>: >
2615 call TexNewMathZone("D","eqnarray",1)
2616 You'll need to change "mathzone" to the name of your new math group,
2617 and then to the call to it in .vim/after/syntax/tex.vim.
2618 The "starform" variable, if true, implies that your new math group
2619 has a starred form (ie. eqnarray*).
2622 Starting a New Style? ~
2624 One may use "\makeatletter" in *.tex files, thereby making the use of "@" in
2625 commands available. However, since the *.tex file doesn't have one of the
2626 following suffices: sty cls clo dtx ltx, the syntax highlighting will flag
2627 such use of @ as an error. To solve this: >
2629 :let b:tex_stylish = 1
2632 Putting "let g:tex_stylish=1" into your <.vimrc> will make <syntax/tex.vim>
2633 always accept such use of @.
2636 TF *tf.vim* *ft-tf-syntax*
2638 There is one option for the tf syntax highlighting.
2640 For syncing, minlines defaults to 100. If you prefer another value, you can
2641 set "tf_minlines" to the value you desire. Example: >
2643 :let tf_minlines = your choice
2646 VIM *vim.vim* *ft-vim-syntax*
2647 *g:vimsyn_minlines* *g:vimsyn_maxlines*
2648 There is a tradeoff between more accurate syntax highlighting versus screen
2649 updating speed. To improve accuracy, you may wish to increase the
2650 g:vimsyn_minlines variable. The g:vimsyn_maxlines variable may be used to
2651 improve screen updating rates (see |:syn-sync| for more on this). >
2653 g:vimsyn_minlines : used to set synchronization minlines
2654 g:vimsyn_maxlines : used to set synchronization maxlines
2656 (g:vim_minlines and g:vim_maxlines are deprecated variants of
2660 The g:vimsyn_embed option allows users to select what, if any, types of
2661 embedded script highlighting they wish to have. >
2663 g:vimsyn_embed == 0 : don't embed any scripts
2664 g:vimsyn_embed =~ 'm' : embed mzscheme (but only if vim supports it)
2665 g:vimsyn_embed =~ 'p' : embed perl (but only if vim supports it)
2666 g:vimsyn_embed =~ 'P' : embed python (but only if vim supports it)
2667 g:vimsyn_embed =~ 'r' : embed ruby (but only if vim supports it)
2668 g:vimsyn_embed =~ 't' : embed tcl (but only if vim supports it)
2670 By default, g:vimsyn_embed is "mpPr"; ie. syntax/vim.vim will support
2671 highlighting mzscheme, perl, python, and ruby by default. Vim's has("tcl")
2672 test appears to hang vim when tcl is not truly available. Thus, by default,
2673 tcl is not supported for embedding (but those of you who like tcl embedded in
2674 their vim syntax highlighting can simply include it in the g:vimembedscript
2678 Some folding is now supported with syntax/vim.vim: >
2680 g:vimsyn_folding == 0 or doesn't exist: no syntax-based folding
2681 g:vimsyn_folding =~ 'a' : augroups
2682 g:vimsyn_folding =~ 'f' : fold functions
2683 g:vimsyn_folding =~ 'm' : fold mzscheme script
2684 g:vimsyn_folding =~ 'p' : fold perl script
2685 g:vimsyn_folding =~ 'P' : fold python script
2686 g:vimsyn_folding =~ 'r' : fold ruby script
2687 g:vimsyn_folding =~ 't' : fold tcl script
2690 Not all error highlighting that syntax/vim.vim does may be correct; VimL is a
2691 difficult language to highlight correctly. A way to suppress error
2692 highlighting is to put the following line in your |vimrc|: >
2694 let g:vimsyn_noerror = 1
2698 XF86CONFIG *xf86conf.vim* *ft-xf86conf-syntax*
2700 The syntax of XF86Config file differs in XFree86 v3.x and v4.x. Both
2701 variants are supported. Automatic detection is used, but is far from perfect.
2702 You may need to specify the version manually. Set the variable
2703 xf86conf_xfree86_version to 3 or 4 according to your XFree86 version in
2704 your .vimrc. Example: >
2705 :let xf86conf_xfree86_version=3
2706 When using a mix of versions, set the b:xf86conf_xfree86_version variable.
2708 Note that spaces and underscores in option names are not supported. Use
2709 "SyncOnGreen" instead of "__s yn con gr_e_e_n" if you want the option name
2713 XML *xml.vim* *ft-xml-syntax*
2715 Xml namespaces are highlighted by default. This can be inhibited by
2716 setting a global variable: >
2718 :let g:xml_namespace_transparent=1
2721 The xml syntax file provides syntax |folding| (see |:syn-fold|) between
2722 start and end tags. This can be turned on by >
2724 :let g:xml_syntax_folding = 1
2725 :set foldmethod=syntax
2727 Note: syntax folding might slow down syntax highlighting significantly,
2728 especially for large files.
2731 X Pixmaps (XPM) *xpm.vim* *ft-xpm-syntax*
2733 xpm.vim creates its syntax items dynamically based upon the contents of the
2734 XPM file. Thus if you make changes e.g. in the color specification strings,
2735 you have to source it again e.g. with ":set syn=xpm".
2737 To copy a pixel with one of the colors, yank a "pixel" with "yl" and insert it
2738 somewhere else with "P".
2740 Do you want to draw with the mouse? Try the following: >
2741 :function! GetPixel()
2742 : let c = getline(".")[col(".") - 1]
2744 : exe "noremap <LeftMouse> <LeftMouse>r".c
2745 : exe "noremap <LeftDrag> <LeftMouse>r".c
2747 :noremap <RightMouse> <LeftMouse>:call GetPixel()<CR>
2748 :set guicursor=n:hor20 " to see the color beneath the cursor
2749 This turns the right button into a pipette and the left button into a pen.
2750 It will work with XPM files that have one character per pixel only and you
2751 must not click outside of the pixel strings, but feel free to improve it.
2753 It will look much better with a font in a quadratic cell size, e.g. for X: >
2754 :set guifont=-*-clean-medium-r-*-*-8-*-*-*-*-80-*
2756 ==============================================================================
2757 5. Defining a syntax *:syn-define* *E410*
2759 Vim understands three types of syntax items:
2762 It can only contain keyword characters, according to the 'iskeyword'
2763 option. It cannot contain other syntax items. It will only match with a
2764 complete word (there are no keyword characters before or after the match).
2765 The keyword "if" would match in "if(a=b)", but not in "ifdef x", because
2766 "(" is not a keyword character and "d" is.
2769 This is a match with a single regexp pattern.
2772 This starts at a match of the "start" regexp pattern and ends with a match
2773 with the "end" regexp pattern. Any other text can appear in between. A
2774 "skip" regexp pattern can be used to avoid matching the "end" pattern.
2776 Several syntax ITEMs can be put into one syntax GROUP. For a syntax group
2777 you can give highlighting attributes. For example, you could have an item
2778 to define a "/* .. */" comment and another one that defines a "// .." comment,
2779 and put them both in the "Comment" group. You can then specify that a
2780 "Comment" will be in bold font and have a blue color. You are free to make
2781 one highlight group for one syntax item, or put all items into one group.
2782 This depends on how you want to specify your highlighting attributes. Putting
2783 each item in its own group results in having to specify the highlighting
2784 for a lot of groups.
2786 Note that a syntax group and a highlight group are similar. For a highlight
2787 group you will have given highlight attributes. These attributes will be used
2788 for the syntax group with the same name.
2790 In case more than one item matches at the same position, the one that was
2791 defined LAST wins. Thus you can override previously defined syntax items by
2792 using an item that matches the same text. But a keyword always goes before a
2793 match or region. And a keyword with matching case always goes before a
2794 keyword with ignoring case.
2797 PRIORITY *:syn-priority*
2799 When several syntax items may match, these rules are used:
2801 1. When multiple Match or Region items start in the same position, the item
2802 defined last has priority.
2803 2. A Keyword has priority over Match and Region items.
2804 3. An item that starts in an earlier position has priority over items that
2805 start in later positions.
2808 DEFINING CASE *:syn-case* *E390*
2810 :sy[ntax] case [match | ignore]
2811 This defines if the following ":syntax" commands will work with
2812 matching case, when using "match", or with ignoring case, when using
2813 "ignore". Note that any items before this are not affected, and all
2814 items until the next ":syntax case" command are affected.
2817 SPELL CHECKING *:syn-spell*
2819 :sy[ntax] spell [toplevel | notoplevel | default]
2820 This defines where spell checking is to be done for text that is not
2823 toplevel: Text is spell checked.
2824 notoplevel: Text is not spell checked.
2825 default: When there is a @Spell cluster no spell checking.
2827 For text in syntax items use the @Spell and @NoSpell clusters
2828 |spell-syntax|. When there is no @Spell and no @NoSpell cluster then
2829 spell checking is done for "default" and "toplevel".
2831 To activate spell checking the 'spell' option must be set.
2834 DEFINING KEYWORDS *:syn-keyword*
2836 :sy[ntax] keyword {group-name} [{options}] {keyword} .. [{options}]
2838 This defines a number of keywords.
2840 {group-name} Is a syntax group name such as "Comment".
2841 [{options}] See |:syn-arguments| below.
2842 {keyword} .. Is a list of keywords which are part of this group.
2845 :syntax keyword Type int long char
2847 The {options} can be given anywhere in the line. They will apply to
2848 all keywords given, also for options that come after a keyword.
2849 These examples do exactly the same: >
2850 :syntax keyword Type contained int long char
2851 :syntax keyword Type int long contained char
2852 :syntax keyword Type int long char contained
2854 When you have a keyword with an optional tail, like Ex commands in
2855 Vim, you can put the optional characters inside [], to define all the
2856 variations at once: >
2857 :syntax keyword vimCommand ab[breviate] n[ext]
2859 Don't forget that a keyword can only be recognized if all the
2860 characters are included in the 'iskeyword' option. If one character
2861 isn't, the keyword will never be recognized.
2862 Multi-byte characters can also be used. These do not have to be in
2865 A keyword always has higher priority than a match or region, the
2866 keyword is used if more than one item matches. Keywords do not nest
2867 and a keyword can't contain anything else.
2869 Note that when you have a keyword that is the same as an option (even
2870 one that isn't allowed here), you can not use it. Use a match
2873 The maximum length of a keyword is 80 characters.
2875 The same keyword can be defined multiple times, when its containment
2876 differs. For example, you can define the keyword once not contained
2877 and use one highlight group, and once contained, and use a different
2878 highlight group. Example: >
2879 :syn keyword vimCommand tag
2880 :syn keyword vimSetting contained tag
2881 < When finding "tag" outside of any syntax item, the "vimCommand"
2882 highlight group is used. When finding "tag" in a syntax item that
2883 contains "vimSetting", the "vimSetting" group is used.
2886 DEFINING MATCHES *:syn-match*
2888 :sy[ntax] match {group-name} [{options}] [excludenl] {pattern} [{options}]
2890 This defines one match.
2892 {group-name} A syntax group name such as "Comment".
2893 [{options}] See |:syn-arguments| below.
2894 [excludenl] Don't make a pattern with the end-of-line "$"
2895 extend a containing match or region. Must be
2896 given before the pattern. |:syn-excludenl|
2897 {pattern} The search pattern that defines the match.
2898 See |:syn-pattern| below.
2899 Note that the pattern may match more than one
2900 line, which makes the match depend on where
2901 Vim starts searching for the pattern. You
2902 need to make sure syncing takes care of this.
2904 Example (match a character constant): >
2905 :syntax match Character /'.'/hs=s+1,he=e-1
2908 DEFINING REGIONS *:syn-region* *:syn-start* *:syn-skip* *:syn-end*
2910 :sy[ntax] region {group-name} [{options}]
2911 [matchgroup={group-name}]
2915 start={start_pattern} ..
2916 [skip={skip_pattern}]
2917 end={end_pattern} ..
2920 This defines one region. It may span several lines.
2922 {group-name} A syntax group name such as "Comment".
2923 [{options}] See |:syn-arguments| below.
2924 [matchgroup={group-name}] The syntax group to use for the following
2925 start or end pattern matches only. Not used
2926 for the text in between the matched start and
2927 end patterns. Use NONE to reset to not using
2928 a different group for the start or end match.
2929 See |:syn-matchgroup|.
2930 keepend Don't allow contained matches to go past a
2931 match with the end pattern. See
2933 extend Override a "keepend" for an item this region
2934 is contained in. See |:syn-extend|.
2935 excludenl Don't make a pattern with the end-of-line "$"
2936 extend a containing match or item. Only
2937 useful for end patterns. Must be given before
2938 the patterns it applies to. |:syn-excludenl|
2939 start={start_pattern} The search pattern that defines the start of
2940 the region. See |:syn-pattern| below.
2941 skip={skip_pattern} The search pattern that defines text inside
2942 the region where not to look for the end
2943 pattern. See |:syn-pattern| below.
2944 end={end_pattern} The search pattern that defines the end of
2945 the region. See |:syn-pattern| below.
2948 :syntax region String start=+"+ skip=+\\"+ end=+"+
2950 The start/skip/end patterns and the options can be given in any order.
2951 There can be zero or one skip pattern. There must be one or more
2952 start and end patterns. This means that you can omit the skip
2953 pattern, but you must give at least one start and one end pattern. It
2954 is allowed to have white space before and after the equal sign
2955 (although it mostly looks better without white space).
2957 When more than one start pattern is given, a match with one of these
2958 is sufficient. This means there is an OR relation between the start
2959 patterns. The last one that matches is used. The same is true for
2962 The search for the end pattern starts right after the start pattern.
2963 Offsets are not used for this. This implies that the match for the
2964 end pattern will never overlap with the start pattern.
2966 The skip and end pattern can match across line breaks, but since the
2967 search for the pattern can start in any line it often does not do what
2968 you want. The skip pattern doesn't avoid a match of an end pattern in
2969 the next line. Use single-line patterns to avoid trouble.
2971 Note: The decision to start a region is only based on a matching start
2972 pattern. There is no check for a matching end pattern. This does NOT
2974 :syn region First start="(" end=":"
2975 :syn region Second start="(" end=";"
2976 < The Second always matches before the First (last defined pattern has
2977 higher priority). The Second region then continues until the next
2978 ';', no matter if there is a ':' before it. Using a match does work: >
2979 :syn match First "(\_.\{-}:"
2980 :syn match Second "(\_.\{-};"
2981 < This pattern matches any character or line break with "\_." and
2982 repeats that with "\{-}" (repeat as few as possible).
2985 By default, a contained match can obscure a match for the end pattern.
2986 This is useful for nesting. For example, a region that starts with
2987 "{" and ends with "}", can contain another region. An encountered "}"
2988 will then end the contained region, but not the outer region:
2989 { starts outer "{}" region
2990 { starts contained "{}" region
2991 } ends contained "{}" region
2992 } ends outer "{} region
2993 If you don't want this, the "keepend" argument will make the matching
2994 of an end pattern of the outer region also end any contained item.
2995 This makes it impossible to nest the same region, but allows for
2996 contained items to highlight parts of the end pattern, without causing
2997 that to skip the match with the end pattern. Example: >
2998 :syn match vimComment +"[^"]\+$+
2999 :syn region vimCommand start="set" end="$" contains=vimComment keepend
3000 < The "keepend" makes the vimCommand always end at the end of the line,
3001 even though the contained vimComment includes a match with the <EOL>.
3003 When "keepend" is not used, a match with an end pattern is retried
3004 after each contained match. When "keepend" is included, the first
3005 encountered match with an end pattern is used, truncating any
3008 The "keepend" behavior can be changed by using the "extend" argument.
3009 When an item with "extend" is contained in an item that uses
3010 "keepend", the "keepend" is ignored and the containing region will be
3012 This can be used to have some contained items extend a region while
3013 others don't. Example: >
3015 :syn region htmlRef start=+<a>+ end=+</a>+ keepend contains=htmlItem,htmlScript
3016 :syn match htmlItem +<[^>]*>+ contained
3017 :syn region htmlScript start=+<script+ end=+</script[^>]*>+ contained extend
3019 < Here the htmlItem item does not make the htmlRef item continue
3020 further, it is only used to highlight the <> items. The htmlScript
3021 item does extend the htmlRef item.
3024 :syn region xmlFold start="<a>" end="</a>" fold transparent keepend extend
3025 < This defines a region with "keepend", so that its end cannot be
3026 changed by contained items, like when the "</a>" is matched to
3027 highlight it differently. But when the xmlFold region is nested (it
3028 includes itself), the "extend" applies, so that the "</a>" of a nested
3029 region only ends that region, and not the one it is contained in.
3032 When a pattern for a match or end pattern of a region includes a '$'
3033 to match the end-of-line, it will make a region item that it is
3034 contained in continue on the next line. For example, a match with
3035 "\\$" (backslash at the end of the line) can make a region continue
3036 that would normally stop at the end of the line. This is the default
3037 behavior. If this is not wanted, there are two ways to avoid it:
3038 1. Use "keepend" for the containing item. This will keep all
3039 contained matches from extending the match or region. It can be
3040 used when all contained items must not extend the containing item.
3041 2. Use "excludenl" in the contained item. This will keep that match
3042 from extending the containing match or region. It can be used if
3043 only some contained items must not extend the containing item.
3044 "excludenl" must be given before the pattern it applies to.
3047 "matchgroup" can be used to highlight the start and/or end pattern
3048 differently than the body of the region. Example: >
3049 :syntax region String matchgroup=Quote start=+"+ skip=+\\"+ end=+"+
3050 < This will highlight the quotes with the "Quote" group, and the text in
3051 between with the "String" group.
3052 The "matchgroup" is used for all start and end patterns that follow,
3053 until the next "matchgroup". Use "matchgroup=NONE" to go back to not
3056 In a start or end pattern that is highlighted with "matchgroup" the
3057 contained items of the region are not used. This can be used to avoid
3058 that a contained item matches in the start or end pattern match. When
3059 using "transparent", this does not apply to a start or end pattern
3060 match that is highlighted with "matchgroup".
3062 Here is an example, which highlights three levels of parentheses in
3064 :sy region par1 matchgroup=par1 start=/(/ end=/)/ contains=par2
3065 :sy region par2 matchgroup=par2 start=/(/ end=/)/ contains=par3 contained
3066 :sy region par3 matchgroup=par3 start=/(/ end=/)/ contains=par1 contained
3067 :hi par1 ctermfg=red guifg=red
3068 :hi par2 ctermfg=blue guifg=blue
3069 :hi par3 ctermfg=darkgreen guifg=darkgreen
3071 ==============================================================================
3072 6. :syntax arguments *:syn-arguments*
3074 The :syntax commands that define syntax items take a number of arguments.
3075 The common ones are explained here. The arguments may be given in any order
3076 and may be mixed with patterns.
3078 Not all commands accept all arguments. This table shows which arguments
3079 can not be used for all commands:
3081 contains oneline fold display extend ~
3082 :syntax keyword - - - - -
3083 :syntax match yes - yes yes yes
3084 :syntax region yes yes yes yes yes
3086 These arguments can be used for all three commands:
3096 contained *:syn-contained*
3098 When the "contained" argument is given, this item will not be recognized at
3099 the top level, but only when it is mentioned in the "contains" field of
3100 another match. Example: >
3101 :syntax keyword Todo TODO contained
3102 :syntax match Comment "//.*" contains=Todo
3105 display *:syn-display*
3107 If the "display" argument is given, this item will be skipped when the
3108 detected highlighting will not be displayed. This will speed up highlighting,
3109 by skipping this item when only finding the syntax state for the text that is
3112 Generally, you can use "display" for match and region items that meet these
3114 - The item does not continue past the end of a line. Example for C: A region
3115 for a "/*" comment can't contain "display", because it continues on the next
3117 - The item does not contain items that continue past the end of the line or
3118 make it continue on the next line.
3119 - The item does not change the size of any item it is contained in. Example
3120 for C: A match with "\\$" in a preprocessor match can't have "display",
3121 because it may make that preprocessor match shorter.
3122 - The item does not allow other items to match that didn't match otherwise,
3123 and that item may extend the match too far. Example for C: A match for a
3124 "//" comment can't use "display", because a "/*" inside that comment would
3125 match then and start a comment which extends past the end of the line.
3127 Examples, for the C language, where "display" can be used:
3128 - match with a number
3129 - match with a label
3132 transparent *:syn-transparent*
3134 If the "transparent" argument is given, this item will not be highlighted
3135 itself, but will take the highlighting of the item it is contained in. This
3136 is useful for syntax items that don't need any highlighting but are used
3137 only to skip over a part of the text.
3139 The "contains=" argument is also inherited from the item it is contained in,
3140 unless a "contains" argument is given for the transparent item itself. To
3141 avoid that unwanted items are contained, use "contains=NONE". Example, which
3142 highlights words in strings, but makes an exception for "vim": >
3143 :syn match myString /'[^']*'/ contains=myWord,myVim
3144 :syn match myWord /\<[a-z]*\>/ contained
3145 :syn match myVim /\<vim\>/ transparent contained contains=NONE
3146 :hi link myString String
3147 :hi link myWord Comment
3148 Since the "myVim" match comes after "myWord" it is the preferred match (last
3149 match in the same position overrules an earlier one). The "transparent"
3150 argument makes the "myVim" match use the same highlighting as "myString". But
3151 it does not contain anything. If the "contains=NONE" argument would be left
3152 out, then "myVim" would use the contains argument from myString and allow
3153 "myWord" to be contained, which will be highlighted as a Constant. This
3154 happens because a contained match doesn't match inside itself in the same
3155 position, thus the "myVim" match doesn't overrule the "myWord" match here.
3157 When you look at the colored text, it is like looking at layers of contained
3158 items. The contained item is on top of the item it is contained in, thus you
3159 see the contained item. When a contained item is transparent, you can look
3160 through, thus you see the item it is contained in. In a picture:
3167 xxxx yyy more contained items
3168 .................... contained item (transparent)
3169 ============================= first item
3171 The 'x', 'y' and '=' represent a highlighted syntax item. The '.' represent a
3176 =======xxxx=======yyy========
3178 Thus you look through the transparent "....".
3181 oneline *:syn-oneline*
3183 The "oneline" argument indicates that the region does not cross a line
3184 boundary. It must match completely in the current line. However, when the
3185 region has a contained item that does cross a line boundary, it continues on
3186 the next line anyway. A contained item can be used to recognize a line
3187 continuation pattern. But the "end" pattern must still match in the first
3188 line, otherwise the region doesn't even start.
3190 When the start pattern includes a "\n" to match an end-of-line, the end
3191 pattern must be found in the same line as where the start pattern ends. The
3192 end pattern may also include an end-of-line. Thus the "oneline" argument
3193 means that the end of the start pattern and the start of the end pattern must
3194 be within one line. This can't be changed by a skip pattern that matches a
3200 The "fold" argument makes the fold level increase by one for this item.
3202 :syn region myFold start="{" end="}" transparent fold
3204 :set foldmethod=syntax
3205 This will make each {} block form one fold.
3207 The fold will start on the line where the item starts, and end where the item
3208 ends. If the start and end are within the same line, there is no fold.
3209 The 'foldnestmax' option limits the nesting of syntax folds.
3210 {not available when Vim was compiled without |+folding| feature}
3213 *:syn-contains* *E405* *E406* *E407* *E408* *E409*
3214 contains={groupname},..
3216 The "contains" argument is followed by a list of syntax group names. These
3217 groups will be allowed to begin inside the item (they may extend past the
3218 containing group's end). This allows for recursive nesting of matches and
3219 regions. If there is no "contains" argument, no groups will be contained in
3220 this item. The group names do not need to be defined before they can be used
3224 If the only item in the contains list is "ALL", then all
3225 groups will be accepted inside the item.
3227 contains=ALLBUT,{group-name},..
3228 If the first item in the contains list is "ALLBUT", then all
3229 groups will be accepted inside the item, except the ones that
3230 are listed. Example: >
3231 :syntax region Block start="{" end="}" ... contains=ALLBUT,Function
3234 If the first item in the contains list is "TOP", then all
3235 groups will be accepted that don't have the "contained"
3237 contains=TOP,{group-name},..
3238 Like "TOP", but excluding the groups that are listed.
3241 If the first item in the contains list is "CONTAINED", then
3242 all groups will be accepted that have the "contained"
3244 contains=CONTAINED,{group-name},..
3245 Like "CONTAINED", but excluding the groups that are
3249 The {group-name} in the "contains" list can be a pattern. All group names
3250 that match the pattern will be included (or excluded, if "ALLBUT" is used).
3251 The pattern cannot contain white space or a ','. Example: >
3252 ... contains=Comment.*,Keyw[0-3]
3253 The matching will be done at moment the syntax command is executed. Groups
3254 that are defined later will not be matched. Also, if the current syntax
3255 command defines a new group, it is not matched. Be careful: When putting
3256 syntax commands in a file you can't rely on groups NOT being defined, because
3257 the file may have been sourced before, and ":syn clear" doesn't remove the
3260 The contained groups will also match in the start and end patterns of a
3261 region. If this is not wanted, the "matchgroup" argument can be used
3262 |:syn-matchgroup|. The "ms=" and "me=" offsets can be used to change the
3263 region where contained items do match. Note that this may also limit the
3264 area that is highlighted
3267 containedin={groupname}... *:syn-containedin*
3269 The "containedin" argument is followed by a list of syntax group names. The
3270 item will be allowed to begin inside these groups. This works as if the
3271 containing item has a "contains=" argument that includes this item.
3273 The {groupname}... can be used just like for "contains", as explained above.
3275 This is useful when adding a syntax item afterwards. An item can be told to
3276 be included inside an already existing item, without changing the definition
3277 of that item. For example, to highlight a word in a C comment after loading
3279 :syn keyword myword HELP containedin=cComment contained
3280 Note that "contained" is also used, to avoid that the item matches at the top
3283 Matches for "containedin" are added to the other places where the item can
3284 appear. A "contains" argument may also be added as usual. Don't forget that
3285 keywords never contain another item, thus adding them to "containedin" won't
3289 nextgroup={groupname},.. *:syn-nextgroup*
3291 The "nextgroup" argument is followed by a list of syntax group names,
3292 separated by commas (just like with "contains", so you can also use patterns).
3294 If the "nextgroup" argument is given, the mentioned syntax groups will be
3295 tried for a match, after the match or region ends. If none of the groups have
3296 a match, highlighting continues normally. If there is a match, this group
3297 will be used, even when it is not mentioned in the "contains" field of the
3298 current group. This is like giving the mentioned group priority over all
3299 other groups. Example: >
3300 :syntax match ccFoobar "Foo.\{-}Bar" contains=ccFoo
3301 :syntax match ccFoo "Foo" contained nextgroup=ccFiller
3302 :syntax region ccFiller start="." matchgroup=ccBar end="Bar" contained
3304 This will highlight "Foo" and "Bar" differently, and only when there is a
3305 "Bar" after "Foo". In the text line below, "f" shows where ccFoo is used for
3306 highlighting, and "bbb" where ccBar is used. >
3308 Foo asdfasd Bar asdf Foo asdf Bar asdf
3311 Note the use of ".\{-}" to skip as little as possible until the next Bar.
3312 when ".*" would be used, the "asdf" in between "Bar" and "Foo" would be
3313 highlighted according to the "ccFoobar" group, because the ccFooBar match
3314 would include the first "Foo" and the last "Bar" in the line (see |pattern|).
3317 skipwhite *:syn-skipwhite*
3318 skipnl *:syn-skipnl*
3319 skipempty *:syn-skipempty*
3321 These arguments are only used in combination with "nextgroup". They can be
3322 used to allow the next group to match after skipping some text:
3323 skipwhite skip over space and tab characters
3324 skipnl skip over the end of a line
3325 skipempty skip over empty lines (implies a "skipnl")
3327 When "skipwhite" is present, the white space is only skipped if there is no
3328 next group that matches the white space.
3330 When "skipnl" is present, the match with nextgroup may be found in the next
3331 line. This only happens when the current item ends at the end of the current
3332 line! When "skipnl" is not present, the nextgroup will only be found after
3333 the current item in the same line.
3335 When skipping text while looking for a next group, the matches for other
3336 groups are ignored. Only when no next group matches, other items are tried
3337 for a match again. This means that matching a next group and skipping white
3338 space and <EOL>s has a higher priority than other items.
3341 :syn match ifstart "\<if.*" nextgroup=ifline skipwhite skipempty
3342 :syn match ifline "[^ \t].*" nextgroup=ifline skipwhite skipempty contained
3343 :syn match ifline "endif" contained
3344 Note that the "[^ \t].*" match matches all non-white text. Thus it would also
3345 match "endif". Therefore the "endif" match is put last, so that it takes
3347 Note that this example doesn't work for nested "if"s. You need to add
3348 "contains" arguments to make that work (omitted for simplicity of the
3351 ==============================================================================
3352 7. Syntax patterns *:syn-pattern* *E401* *E402*
3354 In the syntax commands, a pattern must be surrounded by two identical
3355 characters. This is like it works for the ":s" command. The most common to
3356 use is the double quote. But if the pattern contains a double quote, you can
3357 use another character that is not used in the pattern. Examples: >
3358 :syntax region Comment start="/\*" end="\*/"
3359 :syntax region String start=+"+ end=+"+ skip=+\\"+
3361 See |pattern| for the explanation of what a pattern is. Syntax patterns are
3362 always interpreted like the 'magic' option is set, no matter what the actual
3363 value of 'magic' is. And the patterns are interpreted like the 'l' flag is
3364 not included in 'cpoptions'. This was done to make syntax files portable and
3365 independent of 'compatible' and 'magic' settings.
3367 Try to avoid patterns that can match an empty string, such as "[a-z]*".
3368 This slows down the highlighting a lot, because it matches everywhere.
3370 *:syn-pattern-offset*
3371 The pattern can be followed by a character offset. This can be used to
3372 change the highlighted part, and to change the text area included in the
3373 match or region (which only matters when trying to match other items). Both
3374 are relative to the matched pattern. The character offset for a skip
3375 pattern can be used to tell where to continue looking for an end pattern.
3377 The offset takes the form of "{what}={offset}"
3378 The {what} can be one of seven strings:
3380 ms Match Start offset for the start of the matched text
3381 me Match End offset for the end of the matched text
3382 hs Highlight Start offset for where the highlighting starts
3383 he Highlight End offset for where the highlighting ends
3384 rs Region Start offset for where the body of a region starts
3385 re Region End offset for where the body of a region ends
3386 lc Leading Context offset past "leading context" of pattern
3388 The {offset} can be:
3390 s start of the matched pattern
3391 s+{nr} start of the matched pattern plus {nr} chars to the right
3392 s-{nr} start of the matched pattern plus {nr} chars to the left
3393 e end of the matched pattern
3394 e+{nr} end of the matched pattern plus {nr} chars to the right
3395 e-{nr} end of the matched pattern plus {nr} chars to the left
3396 {nr} (for "lc" only): start matching {nr} chars to the left
3398 Examples: "ms=s+1", "hs=e-2", "lc=3".
3400 Although all offsets are accepted after any pattern, they are not always
3401 meaningful. This table shows which offsets are actually used:
3403 ms me hs he rs re lc ~
3404 match item yes yes yes yes - - yes
3405 region item start yes - yes - yes - yes
3406 region item skip - yes - - - - yes
3407 region item end - yes - yes - yes yes
3409 Offsets can be concatenated, with a ',' in between. Example: >
3410 :syn match String /"[^"]*"/hs=s+1,he=e-1
3416 - There must be no white space between the pattern and the character
3418 - The highlighted area will never be outside of the matched text.
3419 - A negative offset for an end pattern may not always work, because the end
3420 pattern may be detected when the highlighting should already have stopped.
3421 - Before Vim 7.2 the offsets were counted in bytes instead of characters.
3422 This didn't work well for multi-byte characters, so it was changed with the
3424 - The start of a match cannot be in a line other than where the pattern
3425 matched. This doesn't work: "a\nb"ms=e. You can make the highlighting
3426 start in another line, this does work: "a\nb"hs=e.
3428 Example (match a comment but don't highlight the /* and */): >
3429 :syntax region Comment start="/\*"hs=e+1 end="\*/"he=s-1
3431 /* this is a comment */
3432 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ highlighted
3434 A more complicated Example: >
3435 :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
3439 sssrrreee highlight start/region/end ("Foo", "Exa" and "Bar")
3441 Leading context *:syn-lc* *:syn-leading* *:syn-context*
3443 Note: This is an obsolete feature, only included for backwards compatibility
3444 with previous Vim versions. It's now recommended to use the |/\@<=| construct
3447 The "lc" offset specifies leading context -- a part of the pattern that must
3448 be present, but is not considered part of the match. An offset of "lc=n" will
3449 cause Vim to step back n columns before attempting the pattern match, allowing
3450 characters which have already been matched in previous patterns to also be
3451 used as leading context for this match. This can be used, for instance, to
3452 specify that an "escaping" character must not precede the match: >
3454 :syn match ZNoBackslash "[^\\]z"ms=s+1
3455 :syn match WNoBackslash "[^\\]w"lc=1
3456 :syn match Underline "_\+"
3459 ^^^ ^^^ matches Underline
3460 ^ ^ matches ZNoBackslash
3461 ^^^^ matches WNoBackslash
3463 The "ms" offset is automatically set to the same value as the "lc" offset,
3464 unless you set "ms" explicitly.
3467 Multi-line patterns *:syn-multi-line*
3469 The patterns can include "\n" to match an end-of-line. Mostly this works as
3470 expected, but there are a few exceptions.
3472 When using a start pattern with an offset, the start of the match is not
3473 allowed to start in a following line. The highlighting can start in a
3474 following line though. Using the "\zs" item also requires that the start of
3475 the match doesn't move to another line.
3477 The skip pattern can include the "\n", but the search for an end pattern will
3478 continue in the first character of the next line, also when that character is
3479 matched by the skip pattern. This is because redrawing may start in any line
3480 halfway a region and there is no check if the skip pattern started in a
3481 previous line. For example, if the skip pattern is "a\nb" and an end pattern
3482 is "b", the end pattern does match in the second line of this: >
3485 Generally this means that the skip pattern should not match any characters
3489 External matches *:syn-ext-match*
3491 These extra regular expression items are available in region patterns:
3493 */\z(* */\z(\)* *E50* *E52*
3494 \z(\) Marks the sub-expression as "external", meaning that it is can
3495 be accessed from another pattern match. Currently only usable
3496 in defining a syntax region start pattern.
3498 */\z1* */\z2* */\z3* */\z4* */\z5*
3499 \z1 ... \z9 */\z6* */\z7* */\z8* */\z9* *E66* *E67*
3500 Matches the same string that was matched by the corresponding
3501 sub-expression in a previous start pattern match.
3503 Sometimes the start and end patterns of a region need to share a common
3504 sub-expression. A common example is the "here" document in Perl and many Unix
3505 shells. This effect can be achieved with the "\z" special regular expression
3506 items, which marks a sub-expression as "external", in the sense that it can be
3507 referenced from outside the pattern in which it is defined. The here-document
3508 example, for instance, can be done like this: >
3509 :syn region hereDoc start="<<\z(\I\i*\)" end="^\z1$"
3511 As can be seen here, the \z actually does double duty. In the start pattern,
3512 it marks the "\(\I\i*\)" sub-expression as external; in the end pattern, it
3513 changes the \1 back-reference into an external reference referring to the
3514 first external sub-expression in the start pattern. External references can
3515 also be used in skip patterns: >
3516 :syn region foo start="start \(\I\i*\)" skip="not end \z1" end="end \z1"
3518 Note that normal and external sub-expressions are completely orthogonal and
3519 indexed separately; for instance, if the pattern "\z(..\)\(..\)" is applied
3520 to the string "aabb", then \1 will refer to "bb" and \z1 will refer to "aa".
3521 Note also that external sub-expressions cannot be accessed as back-references
3522 within the same pattern like normal sub-expressions. If you want to use one
3523 sub-expression as both a normal and an external sub-expression, you can nest
3524 the two, as in "\(\z(...\)\)".
3526 Note that only matches within a single line can be used. Multi-line matches
3527 cannot be referred to.
3529 ==============================================================================
3530 8. Syntax clusters *:syn-cluster* *E400*
3532 :sy[ntax] cluster {cluster-name} [contains={group-name}..]
3533 [add={group-name}..]
3534 [remove={group-name}..]
3536 This command allows you to cluster a list of syntax groups together under a
3539 contains={group-name}..
3540 The cluster is set to the specified list of groups.
3542 The specified groups are added to the cluster.
3543 remove={group-name}..
3544 The specified groups are removed from the cluster.
3546 A cluster so defined may be referred to in a contains=.., containedin=..,
3547 nextgroup=.., add=.. or remove=.. list with a "@" prefix. You can also use
3548 this notation to implicitly declare a cluster before specifying its contents.
3551 :syntax match Thing "# [^#]\+ #" contains=@ThingMembers
3552 :syntax cluster ThingMembers contains=ThingMember1,ThingMember2
3554 As the previous example suggests, modifications to a cluster are effectively
3555 retroactive; the membership of the cluster is checked at the last minute, so
3557 :syntax keyword A aaa
3558 :syntax keyword B bbb
3559 :syntax cluster AandB contains=A
3560 :syntax match Stuff "( aaa bbb )" contains=@AandB
3561 :syntax cluster AandB add=B " now both keywords are matched in Stuff
3563 This also has implications for nested clusters: >
3564 :syntax keyword A aaa
3565 :syntax keyword B bbb
3566 :syntax cluster SmallGroup contains=B
3567 :syntax cluster BigGroup contains=A,@SmallGroup
3568 :syntax match Stuff "( aaa bbb )" contains=@BigGroup
3569 :syntax cluster BigGroup remove=B " no effect, since B isn't in BigGroup
3570 :syntax cluster SmallGroup remove=B " now bbb isn't matched within Stuff
3572 ==============================================================================
3573 9. Including syntax files *:syn-include* *E397*
3575 It is often useful for one language's syntax file to include a syntax file for
3576 a related language. Depending on the exact relationship, this can be done in
3579 - If top-level syntax items in the included syntax file are to be
3580 allowed at the top level in the including syntax, you can simply use
3581 the |:runtime| command: >
3584 :runtime! syntax/c.vim
3585 :unlet b:current_syntax
3587 < - If top-level syntax items in the included syntax file are to be
3588 contained within a region in the including syntax, you can use the
3589 ":syntax include" command:
3591 :sy[ntax] include [@{grouplist-name}] {file-name}
3593 All syntax items declared in the included file will have the
3594 "contained" flag added. In addition, if a group list is specified,
3595 all top-level syntax items in the included file will be added to
3599 :syntax include @Pod <sfile>:p:h/pod.vim
3600 :syntax region perlPOD start="^=head" end="^=cut" contains=@Pod
3602 When {file-name} is an absolute path (starts with "/", "c:", "$VAR"
3603 or "<sfile>") that file is sourced. When it is a relative path
3604 (e.g., "syntax/pod.vim") the file is searched for in 'runtimepath'.
3605 All matching files are loaded. Using a relative path is
3606 recommended, because it allows a user to replace the included file
3607 with his own version, without replacing the file that does the ":syn
3610 ==============================================================================
3611 10. Synchronizing *:syn-sync* *E403* *E404*
3613 Vim wants to be able to start redrawing in any position in the document. To
3614 make this possible it needs to know the syntax state at the position where
3617 :sy[ntax] sync [ccomment [group-name] | minlines={N} | ...]
3619 There are four ways to synchronize:
3620 1. Always parse from the start of the file.
3622 2. Based on C-style comments. Vim understands how C-comments work and can
3623 figure out if the current line starts inside or outside a comment.
3625 3. Jumping back a certain number of lines and start parsing there.
3627 4. Searching backwards in the text for a pattern to sync on.
3630 *:syn-sync-maxlines* *:syn-sync-minlines*
3631 For the last three methods, the line range where the parsing can start is
3632 limited by "minlines" and "maxlines".
3634 If the "minlines={N}" argument is given, the parsing always starts at least
3635 that many lines backwards. This can be used if the parsing may take a few
3636 lines before it's correct, or when it's not possible to use syncing.
3638 If the "maxlines={N}" argument is given, the number of lines that are searched
3639 for a comment or syncing pattern is restricted to N lines backwards (after
3640 adding "minlines"). This is useful if you have few things to sync on and a
3641 slow machine. Example: >
3642 :syntax sync ccomment maxlines=500
3644 *:syn-sync-linebreaks*
3645 When using a pattern that matches multiple lines, a change in one line may
3646 cause a pattern to no longer match in a previous line. This means has to
3647 start above where the change was made. How many lines can be specified with
3648 the "linebreaks" argument. For example, when a pattern may include one line
3650 :syntax sync linebreaks=1
3651 The result is that redrawing always starts at least one line before where a
3652 change was made. The default value for "linebreaks" is zero. Usually the
3653 value for "minlines" is bigger than "linebreaks".
3656 First syncing method: *:syn-sync-first*
3658 :syntax sync fromstart
3660 The file will be parsed from the start. This makes syntax highlighting
3661 accurate, but can be slow for long files. Vim caches previously parsed text,
3662 so that it's only slow when parsing the text for the first time. However,
3663 when making changes some part of the next needs to be parsed again (worst
3664 case: to the end of the file).
3666 Using "fromstart" is equivalent to using "minlines" with a very large number.
3669 Second syncing method: *:syn-sync-second* *:syn-sync-ccomment*
3671 For the second method, only the "ccomment" argument needs to be given.
3673 :syntax sync ccomment
3675 When Vim finds that the line where displaying starts is inside a C-style
3676 comment, the last region syntax item with the group-name "Comment" will be
3677 used. This requires that there is a region with the group-name "Comment"!
3678 An alternate group name can be specified, for example: >
3679 :syntax sync ccomment javaComment
3680 This means that the last item specified with "syn region javaComment" will be
3681 used for the detected C comment region. This only works properly if that
3682 region does have a start pattern "\/*" and an end pattern "*\/".
3684 The "maxlines" argument can be used to restrict the search to a number of
3685 lines. The "minlines" argument can be used to at least start a number of
3686 lines back (e.g., for when there is some construct that only takes a few
3687 lines, but it hard to sync on).
3689 Note: Syncing on a C comment doesn't work properly when strings are used
3690 that cross a line and contain a "*/". Since letting strings cross a line
3691 is a bad programming habit (many compilers give a warning message), and the
3692 chance of a "*/" appearing inside a comment is very small, this restriction
3693 is hardly ever noticed.
3696 Third syncing method: *:syn-sync-third*
3698 For the third method, only the "minlines={N}" argument needs to be given.
3699 Vim will subtract {N} from the line number and start parsing there. This
3700 means {N} extra lines need to be parsed, which makes this method a bit slower.
3702 :syntax sync minlines=50
3704 "lines" is equivalent to "minlines" (used by older versions).
3707 Fourth syncing method: *:syn-sync-fourth*
3709 The idea is to synchronize on the end of a few specific regions, called a
3710 sync pattern. Only regions can cross lines, so when we find the end of some
3711 region, we might be able to know in which syntax item we are. The search
3712 starts in the line just above the one where redrawing starts. From there
3713 the search continues backwards in the file.
3715 This works just like the non-syncing syntax items. You can use contained
3716 matches, nextgroup, etc. But there are a few differences:
3717 - Keywords cannot be used.
3718 - The syntax items with the "sync" keyword form a completely separated group
3719 of syntax items. You can't mix syncing groups and non-syncing groups.
3720 - The matching works backwards in the buffer (line by line), instead of
3722 - A line continuation pattern can be given. It is used to decide which group
3723 of lines need to be searched like they were one line. This means that the
3724 search for a match with the specified items starts in the first of the
3725 consecutive that contain the continuation pattern.
3726 - When using "nextgroup" or "contains", this only works within one line (or
3727 group of continued lines).
3728 - When using a region, it must start and end in the same line (or group of
3729 continued lines). Otherwise the end is assumed to be at the end of the
3730 line (or group of continued lines).
3731 - When a match with a sync pattern is found, the rest of the line (or group of
3732 continued lines) is searched for another match. The last match is used.
3733 This is used when a line can contain both the start end the end of a region
3734 (e.g., in a C-comment like /* this */, the last "*/" is used).
3736 There are two ways how a match with a sync pattern can be used:
3737 1. Parsing for highlighting starts where redrawing starts (and where the
3738 search for the sync pattern started). The syntax group that is expected
3739 to be valid there must be specified. This works well when the regions
3740 that cross lines cannot contain other regions.
3741 2. Parsing for highlighting continues just after the match. The syntax group
3742 that is expected to be present just after the match must be specified.
3743 This can be used when the previous method doesn't work well. It's much
3744 slower, because more text needs to be parsed.
3745 Both types of sync patterns can be used at the same time.
3747 Besides the sync patterns, other matches and regions can be specified, to
3748 avoid finding unwanted matches.
3750 [The reason that the sync patterns are given separately, is that mostly the
3751 search for the sync point can be much simpler than figuring out the
3752 highlighting. The reduced number of patterns means it will go (much)
3755 *syn-sync-grouphere* *E393* *E394*
3756 :syntax sync match {sync-group-name} grouphere {group-name} "pattern" ..
3758 Define a match that is used for syncing. {group-name} is the
3759 name of a syntax group that follows just after the match. Parsing
3760 of the text for highlighting starts just after the match. A region
3761 must exist for this {group-name}. The first one defined will be used.
3762 "NONE" can be used for when there is no syntax group after the match.
3764 *syn-sync-groupthere*
3765 :syntax sync match {sync-group-name} groupthere {group-name} "pattern" ..
3767 Like "grouphere", but {group-name} is the name of a syntax group that
3768 is to be used at the start of the line where searching for the sync
3769 point started. The text between the match and the start of the sync
3770 pattern searching is assumed not to change the syntax highlighting.
3771 For example, in C you could search backwards for "/*" and "*/". If
3772 "/*" is found first, you know that you are inside a comment, so the
3773 "groupthere" is "cComment". If "*/" is found first, you know that you
3774 are not in a comment, so the "groupthere" is "NONE". (in practice
3775 it's a bit more complicated, because the "/*" and "*/" could appear
3776 inside a string. That's left as an exercise to the reader...).
3778 :syntax sync match ..
3779 :syntax sync region ..
3781 Without a "groupthere" argument. Define a region or match that is
3782 skipped while searching for a sync point.
3785 :syntax sync linecont {pattern}
3787 When {pattern} matches in a line, it is considered to continue in
3788 the next line. This means that the search for a sync point will
3789 consider the lines to be concatenated.
3791 If the "maxlines={N}" argument is given too, the number of lines that are
3792 searched for a match is restricted to N. This is useful if you have very
3793 few things to sync on and a slow machine. Example: >
3794 :syntax sync maxlines=100
3796 You can clear all sync settings with: >
3799 You can clear specific sync patterns with: >
3800 :syntax sync clear {sync-group-name} ..
3802 ==============================================================================
3803 11. Listing syntax items *:syntax* *:sy* *:syn* *:syn-list*
3805 This command lists all the syntax items: >
3809 To show the syntax items for one syntax group: >
3811 :sy[ntax] list {group-name}
3813 To list the syntax groups in one cluster: *E392* >
3815 :sy[ntax] list @{cluster-name}
3817 See above for other arguments for the ":syntax" command.
3819 Note that the ":syntax" command can be abbreviated to ":sy", although ":syn"
3820 is mostly used, because it looks better.
3822 ==============================================================================
3823 12. Highlight command *:highlight* *:hi* *E28* *E411* *E415*
3825 There are three types of highlight groups:
3826 - The ones used for specific languages. For these the name starts with the
3827 name of the language. Many of these don't have any attributes, but are
3828 linked to a group of the second type.
3829 - The ones used for all syntax languages.
3830 - The ones used for the 'highlight' option.
3832 You can see all the groups currently active with this command: >
3833 :so $VIMRUNTIME/syntax/hitest.vim
3834 This will open a new window containing all highlight group names, displayed
3837 *:colo* *:colorscheme* *E185*
3838 :colo[rscheme] {name} Load color scheme {name}. This searches 'runtimepath'
3839 for the file "colors/{name}.vim. The first one that
3841 To see the name of the currently active color scheme
3842 (if there is one): >
3844 < Doesn't work recursively, thus you can't use
3845 ":colorscheme" in a color scheme script.
3846 After the color scheme has been loaded the
3847 |ColorScheme| autocommand event is triggered.
3848 For info about writing a colorscheme file: >
3849 :edit $VIMRUNTIME/colors/README.txt
3851 :hi[ghlight] List all the current highlight groups that have
3854 :hi[ghlight] {group-name}
3855 List one highlight group.
3857 :hi[ghlight] clear Reset all highlighting to the defaults. Removes all
3858 highlighting for groups added by the user!
3859 Uses the current value of 'background' to decide which
3860 default colors to use.
3862 :hi[ghlight] clear {group-name}
3863 :hi[ghlight] {group-name} NONE
3864 Disable the highlighting for one highlight group. It
3865 is _not_ set back to the default colors.
3867 :hi[ghlight] [default] {group-name} {key}={arg} ..
3868 Add a highlight group, or change the highlighting for
3870 See |highlight-args| for the {key}={arg} arguments.
3871 See |:highlight-default| for the optional [default]
3874 Normally a highlight group is added once when starting up. This sets the
3875 default values for the highlighting. After that, you can use additional
3876 highlight commands to change the arguments that you want to set to non-default
3877 values. The value "NONE" can be used to switch the value off or go back to
3880 A simple way to change colors is with the |:colorscheme| command. This loads
3881 a file with ":highlight" commands such as this: >
3883 :hi Comment gui=bold
3885 Note that all settings that are not included remain the same, only the
3886 specified field is used, and settings are merged with previous ones. So, the
3887 result is like this single command has been used: >
3888 :hi Comment term=bold ctermfg=Cyan guifg=#80a0ff gui=bold
3890 *:highlight-verbose*
3891 When listing a highlight group and 'verbose' is non-zero, the listing will
3892 also tell where it was last set. Example: >
3894 < Comment xxx term=bold ctermfg=4 guifg=Blue ~
3895 Last set from /home/mool/vim/vim7/runtime/syntax/syncolor.vim ~
3897 When ":hi clear" is used then the script where this command is used will be
3898 mentioned for the default values. See |:verbose-cmd| for more information.
3900 *highlight-args* *E416* *E417* *E423*
3901 There are three types of terminals for highlighting:
3902 term a normal terminal (vt100, xterm)
3903 cterm a color terminal (MS-DOS console, color-xterm, these have the "Co"
3907 For each type the highlighting can be given. This makes it possible to use
3908 the same syntax file on all terminals, and use the optimal highlighting.
3910 1. highlight arguments for normal terminals
3912 *bold* *underline* *undercurl*
3913 *inverse* *italic* *standout*
3914 term={attr-list} *attr-list* *highlight-term* *E418*
3915 attr-list is a comma separated list (without spaces) of the
3916 following items (in any order):
3919 undercurl not always available
3921 inverse same as reverse
3924 NONE no attributes used (used to reset it)
3926 Note that "bold" can be used here and by using a bold font. They
3927 have the same effect.
3928 "undercurl" is a curly underline. When "undercurl" is not possible
3929 then "underline" is used. In general "undercurl" is only available in
3930 the GUI. The color is set with |highlight-guisp|.
3932 start={term-list} *highlight-start* *E422*
3933 stop={term-list} *term-list* *highlight-stop*
3934 These lists of terminal codes can be used to get
3935 non-standard attributes on a terminal.
3937 The escape sequence specified with the "start" argument
3938 is written before the characters in the highlighted
3939 area. It can be anything that you want to send to the
3940 terminal to highlight this area. The escape sequence
3941 specified with the "stop" argument is written after the
3942 highlighted area. This should undo the "start" argument.
3943 Otherwise the screen will look messed up.
3945 The {term-list} can have two forms:
3947 1. A string with escape sequences.
3948 This is any string of characters, except that it can't start with
3949 "t_" and blanks are not allowed. The <> notation is recognized
3950 here, so you can use things like "<Esc>" and "<Space>". Example:
3951 start=<Esc>[27h;<Esc>[<Space>r;
3953 2. A list of terminal codes.
3954 Each terminal code has the form "t_xx", where "xx" is the name of
3955 the termcap entry. The codes have to be separated with commas.
3956 White space is not allowed. Example:
3958 The terminal codes must exist for this to work.
3961 2. highlight arguments for color terminals
3963 cterm={attr-list} *highlight-cterm*
3964 See above for the description of {attr-list} |attr-list|.
3965 The "cterm" argument is likely to be different from "term", when
3966 colors are used. For example, in a normal terminal comments could
3967 be underlined, in a color terminal they can be made Blue.
3968 Note: Many terminals (e.g., DOS console) can't mix these attributes
3969 with coloring. Use only one of "cterm=" OR "ctermfg=" OR "ctermbg=".
3971 ctermfg={color-nr} *highlight-ctermfg* *E421*
3972 ctermbg={color-nr} *highlight-ctermbg*
3973 The {color-nr} argument is a color number. Its range is zero to
3974 (not including) the number given by the termcap entry "Co".
3975 The actual color with this number depends on the type of terminal
3976 and its settings. Sometimes the color also depends on the settings of
3977 "cterm". For example, on some systems "cterm=bold ctermfg=3" gives
3978 another color, on others you just get color 3.
3980 For an xterm this depends on your resources, and is a bit
3981 unpredictable. See your xterm documentation for the defaults. The
3982 colors for a color-xterm can be changed from the .Xdefaults file.
3983 Unfortunately this means that it's not possible to get the same colors
3984 for each user. See |xterm-color| for info about color xterms.
3986 The MSDOS standard colors are fixed (in a console window), so these
3987 have been used for the names. But the meaning of color names in X11
3988 are fixed, so these color settings have been used, to make the
3989 highlighting settings portable (complicated, isn't it?). The
3990 following names are recognized, with the color number used:
3993 NR-16 NR-8 COLOR NAME ~
4000 6 3 Brown, DarkYellow
4001 7 7 LightGray, LightGrey, Gray, Grey
4002 8 0* DarkGray, DarkGrey
4003 9 4* Blue, LightBlue
4004 10 2* Green, LightGreen
4005 11 6* Cyan, LightCyan
4007 13 5* Magenta, LightMagenta
4008 14 3* Yellow, LightYellow
4011 The number under "NR-16" is used for 16-color terminals ('t_Co'
4012 greater than or equal to 16). The number under "NR-8" is used for
4013 8-color terminals ('t_Co' less than 16). The '*' indicates that the
4014 bold attribute is set for ctermfg. In many 8-color terminals (e.g.,
4015 "linux"), this causes the bright colors to appear. This doesn't work
4016 for background colors! Without the '*' the bold attribute is removed.
4017 If you want to set the bold attribute in a different way, put a
4018 "cterm=" argument AFTER the "ctermfg=" or "ctermbg=" argument. Or use
4019 a number instead of a color name.
4021 The case of the color names is ignored.
4022 Note that for 16 color ansi style terminals (including xterms), the
4023 numbers in the NR-8 column is used. Here '*' means 'add 8' so that Blue
4024 is 12, DarkGray is 8 etc.
4026 Note that for some color terminals these names may result in the wrong
4030 When setting the "ctermfg" or "ctermbg" colors for the Normal group,
4031 these will become the colors used for the non-highlighted text.
4033 :highlight Normal ctermfg=grey ctermbg=darkblue
4034 < When setting the "ctermbg" color for the Normal group, the
4035 'background' option will be adjusted automatically. This causes the
4036 highlight groups that depend on 'background' to change! This means
4037 you should set the colors for Normal first, before setting other
4039 When a colorscheme is being used, changing 'background' causes it to
4040 be reloaded, which may reset all colors (including Normal). First
4041 delete the "colors_name" variable when you don't want this.
4043 When you have set "ctermfg" or "ctermbg" for the Normal group, Vim
4044 needs to reset the color when exiting. This is done with the "op"
4045 termcap entry |t_op|. If this doesn't work correctly, try setting the
4046 't_op' option in your .vimrc.
4048 When Vim knows the normal foreground and background colors, "fg" and
4049 "bg" can be used as color names. This only works after setting the
4050 colors for the Normal group and for the MS-DOS console. Example, for
4052 :highlight Visual ctermfg=bg ctermbg=fg
4053 < Note that the colors are used that are valid at the moment this
4054 command are given. If the Normal group colors are changed later, the
4055 "fg" and "bg" colors will not be adjusted.
4058 3. highlight arguments for the GUI
4060 gui={attr-list} *highlight-gui*
4061 These give the attributes to use in the GUI mode.
4062 See |attr-list| for a description.
4063 Note that "bold" can be used here and by using a bold font. They
4064 have the same effect.
4065 Note that the attributes are ignored for the "Normal" group.
4067 font={font-name} *highlight-font*
4068 font-name is the name of a font, as it is used on the system Vim
4069 runs on. For X11 this is a complicated name, for example: >
4070 font=-misc-fixed-bold-r-normal--14-130-75-75-c-70-iso8859-1
4072 The font-name "NONE" can be used to revert to the default font.
4073 When setting the font for the "Normal" group, this becomes the default
4074 font (until the 'guifont' option is changed; the last one set is
4076 The following only works with Motif and Athena, not with other GUIs:
4077 When setting the font for the "Menu" group, the menus will be changed.
4078 When setting the font for the "Tooltip" group, the tooltips will be
4080 All fonts used, except for Menu and Tooltip, should be of the same
4081 character size as the default font! Otherwise redrawing problems will
4084 guifg={color-name} *highlight-guifg*
4085 guibg={color-name} *highlight-guibg*
4086 guisp={color-name} *highlight-guisp*
4087 These give the foreground (guifg), background (guibg) and special
4088 (guisp) color to use in the GUI. "guisp" is used for undercurl.
4089 There are a few special names:
4090 NONE no color (transparent)
4091 bg use normal background color
4092 background use normal background color
4093 fg use normal foreground color
4094 foreground use normal foreground color
4095 To use a color name with an embedded space or other special character,
4096 put it in single quotes. The single quote cannot be used then.
4098 :hi comment guifg='salmon pink'
4101 Suggested color names (these are available on most systems):
4102 Red LightRed DarkRed
4103 Green LightGreen DarkGreen SeaGreen
4104 Blue LightBlue DarkBlue SlateBlue
4105 Cyan LightCyan DarkCyan
4106 Magenta LightMagenta DarkMagenta
4107 Yellow LightYellow Brown DarkYellow
4108 Gray LightGray DarkGray
4110 Orange Purple Violet
4112 In the Win32 GUI version, additional system colors are available. See
4115 You can also specify a color by its Red, Green and Blue values.
4116 The format is "#rrggbb", where
4117 "rr" is the Red value
4118 "gg" is the Green value
4119 "bb" is the Blue value
4120 All values are hexadecimal, range from "00" to "ff". Examples: >
4121 :highlight Comment guifg=#11f0c3 guibg=#ff00ff
4123 *highlight-groups* *highlight-default*
4124 These are the default highlighting groups. These groups are used by the
4125 'highlight' option default. Note that the highlighting depends on the value
4126 of 'background'. You can see the current settings with the ":highlight"
4129 Cursor the character under the cursor
4131 CursorIM like Cursor, but used when in IME mode |CursorIM|
4133 CursorColumn the screen column that the cursor is in when 'cursorcolumn' is
4136 CursorLine the screen line that the cursor is in when 'cursorline' is
4139 Directory directory names (and other special names in listings)
4141 DiffAdd diff mode: Added line |diff.txt|
4143 DiffChange diff mode: Changed line |diff.txt|
4145 DiffDelete diff mode: Deleted line |diff.txt|
4147 DiffText diff mode: Changed text within a changed line |diff.txt|
4149 ErrorMsg error messages on the command line
4151 VertSplit the column separating vertically split windows
4153 Folded line used for closed folds
4155 FoldColumn 'foldcolumn'
4157 SignColumn column where |signs| are displayed
4159 IncSearch 'incsearch' highlighting; also used for the text replaced with
4162 LineNr Line number for ":number" and ":#" commands, and when 'number'
4165 MatchParen The character under the cursor or just before it, if it
4166 is a paired bracket, and its match. |pi_paren.txt|
4169 ModeMsg 'showmode' message (e.g., "-- INSERT --")
4171 MoreMsg |more-prompt|
4173 NonText '~' and '@' at the end of the window, characters from
4174 'showbreak' and other characters that do not really exist in
4175 the text (e.g., ">" displayed when a double-wide character
4176 doesn't fit at the end of the line).
4180 Pmenu Popup menu: normal item.
4182 PmenuSel Popup menu: selected item.
4184 PmenuSbar Popup menu: scrollbar.
4186 PmenuThumb Popup menu: Thumb of the scrollbar.
4188 Question |hit-enter| prompt and yes/no questions
4190 Search Last search pattern highlighting (see 'hlsearch').
4191 Also used for highlighting the current line in the quickfix
4192 window and similar items that need to stand out.
4194 SpecialKey Meta and special keys listed with ":map", also for text used
4195 to show unprintable characters in the text, 'listchars'.
4196 Generally: text that is displayed differently from what it
4199 SpellBad Word that is not recognized by the spellchecker. |spell|
4200 This will be combined with the highlighting used otherwise.
4202 SpellCap Word that should start with a capital. |spell|
4203 This will be combined with the highlighting used otherwise.
4205 SpellLocal Word that is recognized by the spellchecker as one that is
4206 used in another region. |spell|
4207 This will be combined with the highlighting used otherwise.
4209 SpellRare Word that is recognized by the spellchecker as one that is
4210 hardly ever used. |spell|
4211 This will be combined with the highlighting used otherwise.
4213 StatusLine status line of current window
4215 StatusLineNC status lines of not-current windows
4216 Note: if this is equal to "StatusLine" Vim will use "^^^" in
4217 the status line of the current window.
4219 TabLine tab pages line, not active tab page label
4221 TabLineFill tab pages line, where there are no labels
4223 TabLineSel tab pages line, active tab page label
4225 Title titles for output from ":set all", ":autocmd" etc.
4227 Visual Visual mode selection
4229 VisualNOS Visual mode selection when vim is "Not Owning the Selection".
4230 Only X11 Gui's |gui-x11| and |xterm-clipboard| supports this.
4232 WarningMsg warning messages
4234 WildMenu current match in 'wildmenu' completion
4236 *hl-User1* *hl-User1..9* *hl-User9*
4237 The 'statusline' syntax allows the use of 9 different highlights in the
4238 statusline and ruler (via 'rulerformat'). The names are User1 to User9.
4240 For the GUI you can use the following groups to set the colors for the menu,
4241 scrollbars and tooltips. They don't have defaults. This doesn't work for the
4242 Win32 GUI. Only three highlight arguments have any effect here: font, guibg,
4246 Menu Current font, background and foreground colors of the menus.
4247 Also used for the toolbar.
4248 Applicable highlight arguments: font, guibg, guifg.
4250 NOTE: For Motif and Athena the font argument actually
4251 specifies a fontset at all times, no matter if 'guifontset' is
4252 empty, and as such it is tied to the current |:language| when
4256 Scrollbar Current background and foreground of the main window's
4258 Applicable highlight arguments: guibg, guifg.
4261 Tooltip Current font, background and foreground of the tooltips.
4262 Applicable highlight arguments: font, guibg, guifg.
4264 NOTE: For Motif and Athena the font argument actually
4265 specifies a fontset at all times, no matter if 'guifontset' is
4266 empty, and as such it is tied to the current |:language| when
4269 ==============================================================================
4270 13. Linking groups *:hi-link* *:highlight-link* *E412* *E413*
4272 When you want to use the same highlighting for several syntax groups, you
4273 can do this more easily by linking the groups into one common highlight
4274 group, and give the color attributes only for that group.
4278 :hi[ghlight][!] [default] link {from-group} {to-group}
4282 :hi[ghlight][!] [default] link {from-group} NONE
4285 - If the {from-group} and/or {to-group} doesn't exist, it is created. You
4286 don't get an error message for a non-existing group.
4287 - As soon as you use a ":highlight" command for a linked group, the link is
4289 - If there are already highlight settings for the {from-group}, the link is
4290 not made, unless the '!' is given. For a ":highlight link" command in a
4291 sourced file, you don't get an error message. This can be used to skip
4292 links for groups that already have settings.
4294 *:hi-default* *:highlight-default*
4295 The [default] argument is used for setting the default highlighting for a
4296 group. If highlighting has already been specified for the group the command
4297 will be ignored. Also when there is an existing link.
4299 Using [default] is especially useful to overrule the highlighting of a
4300 specific syntax file. For example, the C syntax file contains: >
4301 :highlight default link cComment Comment
4302 If you like Question highlighting for C comments, put this in your vimrc file: >
4303 :highlight link cComment Question
4304 Without the "default" in the C syntax file, the highlighting would be
4305 overruled when the syntax file is loaded.
4307 ==============================================================================
4308 14. Cleaning up *:syn-clear* *E391*
4310 If you want to clear the syntax stuff for the current buffer, you can use this
4314 This command should be used when you want to switch off syntax highlighting,
4315 or when you want to switch to using another syntax. It's normally not needed
4316 in a syntax file itself, because syntax is cleared by the autocommands that
4317 load the syntax file.
4318 The command also deletes the "b:current_syntax" variable, since no syntax is
4319 loaded after this command.
4321 If you want to disable syntax highlighting for all buffers, you need to remove
4322 the autocommands that load the syntax files: >
4325 What this command actually does, is executing the command >
4326 :source $VIMRUNTIME/syntax/nosyntax.vim
4327 See the "nosyntax.vim" file for details. Note that for this to work
4328 $VIMRUNTIME must be valid. See |$VIMRUNTIME|.
4330 To clean up specific syntax groups for the current buffer: >
4331 :syntax clear {group-name} ..
4332 This removes all patterns and keywords for {group-name}.
4334 To clean up specific syntax group lists for the current buffer: >
4335 :syntax clear @{grouplist-name} ..
4336 This sets {grouplist-name}'s contents to an empty list.
4338 *:syntax-reset* *:syn-reset*
4339 If you have changed the colors and messed them up, use this command to get the
4344 This doesn't change the colors for the 'highlight' option.
4346 Note that the syntax colors that you set in your vimrc file will also be reset
4347 back to their Vim default.
4348 Note that if you are using a color scheme, the colors defined by the color
4349 scheme for syntax highlighting will be lost.
4351 What this actually does is: >
4353 let g:syntax_cmd = "reset"
4354 runtime! syntax/syncolor.vim
4356 Note that this uses the 'runtimepath' option.
4359 If you want to use different colors for syntax highlighting, you can add a Vim
4360 script file to set these colors. Put this file in a directory in
4361 'runtimepath' which comes after $VIMRUNTIME, so that your settings overrule
4362 the default colors. This way these colors will be used after the ":syntax
4365 For Unix you can use the file ~/.vim/after/syntax/syncolor.vim. Example: >
4367 if &background == "light"
4368 highlight comment ctermfg=darkgreen guifg=darkgreen
4370 highlight comment ctermfg=green guifg=green
4374 Do make sure this syncolor.vim script does not use a "syntax on", set the
4375 'background' option or uses a "colorscheme" command, because it results in an
4378 Note that when a color scheme is used, there might be some confusion whether
4379 your defined colors are to be used or the colors from the scheme. This
4380 depends on the color scheme file. See |:colorscheme|.
4383 The "syntax_cmd" variable is set to one of these values when the
4384 syntax/syncolor.vim files are loaded:
4385 "on" ":syntax on" command. Highlight colors are overruled but
4387 "enable" ":syntax enable" command. Only define colors for groups that
4388 don't have highlighting yet. Use ":syntax default".
4389 "reset" ":syntax reset" command or loading a color scheme. Define all
4391 "skip" Don't define colors. Used to skip the default settings when a
4392 syncolor.vim file earlier in 'runtimepath' has already set
4395 ==============================================================================
4396 15. Highlighting tags *tag-highlight*
4398 If you want to highlight all the tags in your file, you can use the following
4401 <F11> -- Generate tags.vim file, and highlight tags.
4402 <F12> -- Just highlight tags based on existing tags.vim file.
4404 :map <F11> :sp tags<CR>:%s/^\([^ :]*:\)\=\([^ ]*\).*/syntax keyword Tag \2/<CR>:wq! tags.vim<CR>/^<CR><F12>
4405 :map <F12> :so tags.vim<CR>
4407 WARNING: The longer the tags file, the slower this will be, and the more
4408 memory Vim will consume.
4410 Only highlighting typedefs, unions and structs can be done too. For this you
4411 must use Exuberant ctags (found at http://ctags.sf.net).
4413 Put these lines in your Makefile:
4415 # Make a highlight file for types. Requires Exuberant ctags and awk
4418 ctags --c-kinds=gstu -o- *.[ch] |\
4419 awk 'BEGIN{printf("syntax keyword Type\t")}\
4420 {printf("%s ", $$1)}END{print ""}' > $@
4422 And put these lines in your .vimrc: >
4424 " load the types.vim highlighting file, if it exists
4425 autocmd BufRead,BufNewFile *.[ch] let fname = expand('<afile>:p:h') . '/types.vim'
4426 autocmd BufRead,BufNewFile *.[ch] if filereadable(fname)
4427 autocmd BufRead,BufNewFile *.[ch] exe 'so ' . fname
4428 autocmd BufRead,BufNewFile *.[ch] endif
4430 ==============================================================================
4431 16. Color xterms *xterm-color* *color-xterm*
4433 Most color xterms have only eight colors. If you don't get colors with the
4434 default setup, it should work with these lines in your .vimrc: >
4435 :if &term =~ "xterm"
4436 : if has("terminfo")
4438 : set t_Sf=<Esc>[3%p1%dm
4439 : set t_Sb=<Esc>[4%p1%dm
4442 : set t_Sf=<Esc>[3%dm
4443 : set t_Sb=<Esc>[4%dm
4446 < [<Esc> is a real escape, type CTRL-V <Esc>]
4448 You might want to change the first "if" to match the name of your terminal,
4449 e.g. "dtterm" instead of "xterm".
4451 Note: Do these settings BEFORE doing ":syntax on". Otherwise the colors may
4454 The above settings have been mentioned to work for xiterm and rxvt too.
4455 But for using 16 colors in an rxvt these should work with terminfo: >
4456 :set t_AB=<Esc>[%?%p1%{8}%<%t25;%p1%{40}%+%e5;%p1%{32}%+%;%dm
4457 :set t_AF=<Esc>[%?%p1%{8}%<%t22;%p1%{30}%+%e1;%p1%{22}%+%;%dm
4460 To test your color setup, a file has been included in the Vim distribution.
4461 To use it, execute this command: >
4462 :runtime syntax/colortest.vim
4464 Some versions of xterm (and other terminals, like the Linux console) can
4465 output lighter foreground colors, even though the number of colors is defined
4466 at 8. Therefore Vim sets the "cterm=bold" attribute for light foreground
4467 colors, when 't_Co' is 8.
4470 To get 16 colors or more, get the newest xterm version (which should be
4471 included with XFree86 3.3 and later). You can also find the latest version
4473 http://invisible-island.net/xterm/xterm.html
4474 Here is a good way to configure it. This uses 88 colors and enables the
4475 termcap-query feature, which allows Vim to ask the xterm how many colors it
4477 ./configure --disable-bold-color --enable-88-color --enable-tcap-query
4478 If you only get 8 colors, check the xterm compilation settings.
4479 (Also see |UTF8-xterm| for using this xterm with UTF-8 character encoding).
4481 This xterm should work with these lines in your .vimrc (for 16 colors): >
4484 : set t_AB=<Esc>[%?%p1%{8}%<%t%p1%{40}%+%e%p1%{92}%+%;%dm
4485 : set t_AF=<Esc>[%?%p1%{8}%<%t%p1%{30}%+%e%p1%{82}%+%;%dm
4488 : set t_Sf=<Esc>[3%dm
4489 : set t_Sb=<Esc>[4%dm
4491 < [<Esc> is a real escape, type CTRL-V <Esc>]
4493 Without |+terminfo|, Vim will recognize these settings, and automatically
4494 translate cterm colors of 8 and above to "<Esc>[9%dm" and "<Esc>[10%dm".
4495 Colors above 16 are also translated automatically.
4497 For 256 colors this has been reported to work: >
4499 :set t_AB=<Esc>[48;5;%dm
4500 :set t_AF=<Esc>[38;5;%dm
4502 Or just set the TERM environment variable to "xterm-color" or "xterm-16color"
4503 and try if that works.
4505 You probably want to use these X resources (in your ~/.Xdefaults file):
4506 XTerm*color0: #000000
4507 XTerm*color1: #c00000
4508 XTerm*color2: #008000
4509 XTerm*color3: #808000
4510 XTerm*color4: #0000c0
4511 XTerm*color5: #c000c0
4512 XTerm*color6: #008080
4513 XTerm*color7: #c0c0c0
4514 XTerm*color8: #808080
4515 XTerm*color9: #ff6060
4516 XTerm*color10: #00ff00
4517 XTerm*color11: #ffff00
4518 XTerm*color12: #8080ff
4519 XTerm*color13: #ff40ff
4520 XTerm*color14: #00ffff
4521 XTerm*color15: #ffffff
4522 Xterm*cursorColor: Black
4524 [Note: The cursorColor is required to work around a bug, which changes the
4525 cursor color to the color of the last drawn text. This has been fixed by a
4526 newer version of xterm, but not everybody is using it yet.]
4528 To get these right away, reload the .Xdefaults file to the X Option database
4529 Manager (you only need to do this when you just changed the .Xdefaults file): >
4530 xrdb -merge ~/.Xdefaults
4532 *xterm-blink* *xterm-blinking-cursor*
4533 To make the cursor blink in an xterm, see tools/blink.c. Or use Thomas
4534 Dickey's xterm above patchlevel 107 (see above for where to get it), with
4536 XTerm*cursorBlink: on
4537 XTerm*cursorOnTime: 400
4538 XTerm*cursorOffTime: 250
4539 XTerm*cursorColor: White
4542 These settings work (more or less) for an hpterm, which only supports 8
4543 foreground colors: >
4546 : set t_Sf=<Esc>[&v%p1%dS
4547 : set t_Sb=<Esc>[&v7S
4550 : set t_Sf=<Esc>[&v%dS
4551 : set t_Sb=<Esc>[&v7S
4553 < [<Esc> is a real escape, type CTRL-V <Esc>]
4555 *Eterm* *enlightened-terminal*
4556 These settings have been reported to work for the Enlightened terminal
4557 emulator, or Eterm. They might work for all xterm-like terminals that use the
4558 bold attribute to get bright colors. Add an ":if" like above when needed. >
4560 :set t_AF=^[[%?%p1%{8}%<%t3%p1%d%e%p1%{22}%+%d;1%;m
4561 :set t_AB=^[[%?%p1%{8}%<%t4%p1%d%e%p1%{32}%+%d;1%;m
4564 These settings should work for TTpro telnet. Tera Term Pro is a freeware /
4565 open-source program for MS-Windows. >
4567 set t_AB=^[[%?%p1%{8}%<%t%p1%{40}%+%e%p1%{32}%+5;%;%dm
4568 set t_AF=^[[%?%p1%{8}%<%t%p1%{30}%+%e%p1%{22}%+1;%;%dm
4569 Also make sure TTpro's Setup / Window / Full Color is enabled, and make sure
4570 that Setup / Font / Enable Bold is NOT enabled.
4571 (info provided by John Love-Jensen <eljay@Adobe.COM>)
4573 vim:tw=78:sw=4:ts=8:ft=help:norl: