1*syntax.txt*	For Vim version 7.3.  Last change: 2010 Aug 10
2
3
4		  VIM REFERENCE MANUAL	  by Bram Moolenaar
5
6
7Syntax highlighting		*syntax* *syntax-highlighting* *coloring*
8
9Syntax highlighting enables Vim to show parts of the text in another font or
10color.	Those parts can be specific keywords or text matching a pattern.  Vim
11doesn't parse the whole file (to keep it fast), so the highlighting has its
12limitations.  Lexical highlighting might be a better name, but since everybody
13calls it syntax highlighting we'll stick with that.
14
15Vim supports syntax highlighting on all terminals.  But since most ordinary
16terminals have very limited highlighting possibilities, it works best in the
17GUI version, gvim.
18
19In the User Manual:
20|usr_06.txt| introduces syntax highlighting.
21|usr_44.txt| introduces writing a syntax file.
22
231.  Quick start			|:syn-qstart|
242.  Syntax files		|:syn-files|
253.  Syntax loading procedure	|syntax-loading|
264.  Syntax file remarks		|:syn-file-remarks|
275.  Defining a syntax		|:syn-define|
286.  :syntax arguments		|:syn-arguments|
297.  Syntax patterns		|:syn-pattern|
308.  Syntax clusters		|:syn-cluster|
319.  Including syntax files	|:syn-include|
3210. Synchronizing		|:syn-sync|
3311. Listing syntax items	|:syntax|
3412. Highlight command		|:highlight|
3513. Linking groups		|:highlight-link|
3614. Cleaning up			|:syn-clear|
3715. Highlighting tags		|tag-highlight|
3816. Window-local syntax		|:ownsyntax|
3917. Color xterms		|xterm-color|
40
41{Vi does not have any of these commands}
42
43Syntax highlighting is not available when the |+syntax| feature has been
44disabled at compile time.
45
46==============================================================================
471. Quick start						*:syn-qstart*
48
49						*:syn-enable* *:syntax-enable*
50This command switches on syntax highlighting: >
51
52	:syntax enable
53
54What this command actually does is to execute the command >
55	:source $VIMRUNTIME/syntax/syntax.vim
56
57If the VIM environment variable is not set, Vim will try to find
58the path in another way (see |$VIMRUNTIME|).  Usually this works just
59fine.  If it doesn't, try setting the VIM environment variable to the
60directory where the Vim stuff is located.  For example, if your syntax files
61are in the "/usr/vim/vim50/syntax" directory, set $VIMRUNTIME to
62"/usr/vim/vim50".  You must do this in the shell, before starting Vim.
63
64							*:syn-on* *:syntax-on*
65The ":syntax enable" command will keep your current color settings.  This
66allows using ":highlight" commands to set your preferred colors before or
67after using this command.  If you want Vim to overrule your settings with the
68defaults, use: >
69	:syntax on
70<
71					*:hi-normal* *:highlight-normal*
72If you are running in the GUI, you can get white text on a black background
73with: >
74	:highlight Normal guibg=Black guifg=White
75For a color terminal see |:hi-normal-cterm|.
76For setting up your own colors syntax highlighting see |syncolor|.
77
78NOTE: The syntax files on MS-DOS and Windows have lines that end in <CR><NL>.
79The files for Unix end in <NL>.  This means you should use the right type of
80file for your system.  Although on MS-DOS and Windows the right format is
81automatically selected if the 'fileformats' option is not empty.
82
83NOTE: When using reverse video ("gvim -fg white -bg black"), the default value
84of 'background' will not be set until the GUI window is opened, which is after
85reading the |gvimrc|.  This will cause the wrong default highlighting to be
86used.  To set the default value of 'background' before switching on
87highlighting, include the ":gui" command in the |gvimrc|: >
88
89   :gui		" open window and set default for 'background'
90   :syntax on	" start highlighting, use 'background' to set colors
91
92NOTE: Using ":gui" in the |gvimrc| means that "gvim -f" won't start in the
93foreground!  Use ":gui -f" then.
94
95							*g:syntax_on*
96You can toggle the syntax on/off with this command: >
97   :if exists("g:syntax_on") | syntax off | else | syntax enable | endif
98
99To put this into a mapping, you can use: >
100   :map <F7> :if exists("g:syntax_on") <Bar>
101	\   syntax off <Bar>
102	\ else <Bar>
103	\   syntax enable <Bar>
104	\ endif <CR>
105[using the |<>| notation, type this literally]
106
107Details:
108The ":syntax" commands are implemented by sourcing a file.  To see exactly how
109this works, look in the file:
110    command		file ~
111    :syntax enable	$VIMRUNTIME/syntax/syntax.vim
112    :syntax on		$VIMRUNTIME/syntax/syntax.vim
113    :syntax manual	$VIMRUNTIME/syntax/manual.vim
114    :syntax off		$VIMRUNTIME/syntax/nosyntax.vim
115Also see |syntax-loading|.
116
117NOTE: If displaying long lines is slow and switching off syntax highlighting
118makes it fast, consider setting the 'synmaxcol' option to a lower value.
119
120==============================================================================
1212. Syntax files						*:syn-files*
122
123The syntax and highlighting commands for one language are normally stored in
124a syntax file.	The name convention is: "{name}.vim".  Where {name} is the
125name of the language, or an abbreviation (to fit the name in 8.3 characters,
126a requirement in case the file is used on a DOS filesystem).
127Examples:
128	c.vim		perl.vim	java.vim	html.vim
129	cpp.vim		sh.vim		csh.vim
130
131The syntax file can contain any Ex commands, just like a vimrc file.  But
132the idea is that only commands for a specific language are included.  When a
133language is a superset of another language, it may include the other one,
134for example, the cpp.vim file could include the c.vim file: >
135   :so $VIMRUNTIME/syntax/c.vim
136
137The .vim files are normally loaded with an autocommand.  For example: >
138   :au Syntax c	    runtime! syntax/c.vim
139   :au Syntax cpp   runtime! syntax/cpp.vim
140These commands are normally in the file $VIMRUNTIME/syntax/synload.vim.
141
142
143MAKING YOUR OWN SYNTAX FILES				*mysyntaxfile*
144
145When you create your own syntax files, and you want to have Vim use these
146automatically with ":syntax enable", do this:
147
1481. Create your user runtime directory.	You would normally use the first item
149   of the 'runtimepath' option.  Example for Unix: >
150	mkdir ~/.vim
151
1522. Create a directory in there called "syntax".  For Unix: >
153	mkdir ~/.vim/syntax
154
1553. Write the Vim syntax file.  Or download one from the internet.  Then write
156   it in your syntax directory.  For example, for the "mine" syntax: >
157	:w ~/.vim/syntax/mine.vim
158
159Now you can start using your syntax file manually: >
160	:set syntax=mine
161You don't have to exit Vim to use this.
162
163If you also want Vim to detect the type of file, see |new-filetype|.
164
165If you are setting up a system with many users and you don't want each user
166to add the same syntax file, you can use another directory from 'runtimepath'.
167
168
169ADDING TO AN EXISTING SYNTAX FILE		*mysyntaxfile-add*
170
171If you are mostly satisfied with an existing syntax file, but would like to
172add a few items or change the highlighting, follow these steps:
173
1741. Create your user directory from 'runtimepath', see above.
175
1762. Create a directory in there called "after/syntax".  For Unix: >
177	mkdir ~/.vim/after
178	mkdir ~/.vim/after/syntax
179
1803. Write a Vim script that contains the commands you want to use.  For
181   example, to change the colors for the C syntax: >
182	highlight cComment ctermfg=Green guifg=Green
183
1844. Write that file in the "after/syntax" directory.  Use the name of the
185   syntax, with ".vim" added.  For our C syntax: >
186	:w ~/.vim/after/syntax/c.vim
187
188That's it.  The next time you edit a C file the Comment color will be
189different.  You don't even have to restart Vim.
190
191If you have multiple files, you can use the filetype as the directory name.
192All the "*.vim" files in this directory will be used, for example:
193	~/.vim/after/syntax/c/one.vim
194	~/.vim/after/syntax/c/two.vim
195
196
197REPLACING AN EXISTING SYNTAX FILE			*mysyntaxfile-replace*
198
199If you don't like a distributed syntax file, or you have downloaded a new
200version, follow the same steps as for |mysyntaxfile| above.  Just make sure
201that you write the syntax file in a directory that is early in 'runtimepath'.
202Vim will only load the first syntax file found.
203
204
205NAMING CONVENTIONS		    *group-name* *{group-name}* *E669* *W18*
206
207A syntax group name is to be used for syntax items that match the same kind of
208thing.  These are then linked to a highlight group that specifies the color.
209A syntax group name doesn't specify any color or attributes itself.
210
211The name for a highlight or syntax group must consist of ASCII letters, digits
212and the underscore.  As a regexp: "[a-zA-Z0-9_]*"
213
214To be able to allow each user to pick his favorite set of colors, there must
215be preferred names for highlight groups that are common for many languages.
216These are the suggested group names (if syntax highlighting works properly
217you can see the actual color, except for "Ignore"):
218
219	*Comment	any comment
220
221	*Constant	any constant
222	 String		a string constant: "this is a string"
223	 Character	a character constant: 'c', '\n'
224	 Number		a number constant: 234, 0xff
225	 Boolean	a boolean constant: TRUE, false
226	 Float		a floating point constant: 2.3e10
227
228	*Identifier	any variable name
229	 Function	function name (also: methods for classes)
230
231	*Statement	any statement
232	 Conditional	if, then, else, endif, switch, etc.
233	 Repeat		for, do, while, etc.
234	 Label		case, default, etc.
235	 Operator	"sizeof", "+", "*", etc.
236	 Keyword	any other keyword
237	 Exception	try, catch, throw
238
239	*PreProc	generic Preprocessor
240	 Include	preprocessor #include
241	 Define		preprocessor #define
242	 Macro		same as Define
243	 PreCondit	preprocessor #if, #else, #endif, etc.
244
245	*Type		int, long, char, etc.
246	 StorageClass	static, register, volatile, etc.
247	 Structure	struct, union, enum, etc.
248	 Typedef	A typedef
249
250	*Special	any special symbol
251	 SpecialChar	special character in a constant
252	 Tag		you can use CTRL-] on this
253	 Delimiter	character that needs attention
254	 SpecialComment	special things inside a comment
255	 Debug		debugging statements
256
257	*Underlined	text that stands out, HTML links
258
259	*Ignore		left blank, hidden  |hl-Ignore|
260
261	*Error		any erroneous construct
262
263	*Todo		anything that needs extra attention; mostly the
264			keywords TODO FIXME and XXX
265
266The names marked with * are the preferred groups; the others are minor groups.
267For the preferred groups, the "syntax.vim" file contains default highlighting.
268The minor groups are linked to the preferred groups, so they get the same
269highlighting.  You can override these defaults by using ":highlight" commands
270after sourcing the "syntax.vim" file.
271
272Note that highlight group names are not case sensitive.  "String" and "string"
273can be used for the same group.
274
275The following names are reserved and cannot be used as a group name:
276	NONE   ALL   ALLBUT   contains	 contained
277
278							*hl-Ignore*
279When using the Ignore group, you may also consider using the conceal
280mechanism.  See |conceal|.
281
282==============================================================================
2833. Syntax loading procedure				*syntax-loading*
284
285This explains the details that happen when the command ":syntax enable" is
286issued.  When Vim initializes itself, it finds out where the runtime files are
287located.  This is used here as the variable |$VIMRUNTIME|.
288
289":syntax enable" and ":syntax on" do the following:
290
291    Source $VIMRUNTIME/syntax/syntax.vim
292    |
293    +-	Clear out any old syntax by sourcing $VIMRUNTIME/syntax/nosyntax.vim
294    |
295    +-	Source first syntax/synload.vim in 'runtimepath'
296    |	|
297    |	+-  Setup the colors for syntax highlighting.  If a color scheme is
298    |	|   defined it is loaded again with ":colors {name}".  Otherwise
299    |	|   ":runtime! syntax/syncolor.vim" is used.  ":syntax on" overrules
300    |	|   existing colors, ":syntax enable" only sets groups that weren't
301    |	|   set yet.
302    |	|
303    |	+-  Set up syntax autocmds to load the appropriate syntax file when
304    |	|   the 'syntax' option is set. *synload-1*
305    |	|
306    |	+-  Source the user's optional file, from the |mysyntaxfile| variable.
307    |	    This is for backwards compatibility with Vim 5.x only. *synload-2*
308    |
309    +-	Do ":filetype on", which does ":runtime! filetype.vim".  It loads any
310    |	filetype.vim files found.  It should always Source
311    |	$VIMRUNTIME/filetype.vim, which does the following.
312    |	|
313    |	+-  Install autocmds based on suffix to set the 'filetype' option
314    |	|   This is where the connection between file name and file type is
315    |	|   made for known file types. *synload-3*
316    |	|
317    |	+-  Source the user's optional file, from the *myfiletypefile*
318    |	|   variable.  This is for backwards compatibility with Vim 5.x only.
319    |	|   *synload-4*
320    |	|
321    |	+-  Install one autocommand which sources scripts.vim when no file
322    |	|   type was detected yet. *synload-5*
323    |	|
324    |	+-  Source $VIMRUNTIME/menu.vim, to setup the Syntax menu. |menu.vim|
325    |
326    +-	Install a FileType autocommand to set the 'syntax' option when a file
327    |	type has been detected. *synload-6*
328    |
329    +-	Execute syntax autocommands to start syntax highlighting for each
330	already loaded buffer.
331
332
333Upon loading a file, Vim finds the relevant syntax file as follows:
334
335    Loading the file triggers the BufReadPost autocommands.
336    |
337    +-	If there is a match with one of the autocommands from |synload-3|
338    |	(known file types) or |synload-4| (user's file types), the 'filetype'
339    |	option is set to the file type.
340    |
341    +-	The autocommand at |synload-5| is triggered.  If the file type was not
342    |	found yet, then scripts.vim is searched for in 'runtimepath'.  This
343    |	should always load $VIMRUNTIME/scripts.vim, which does the following.
344    |	|
345    |	+-  Source the user's optional file, from the *myscriptsfile*
346    |	|   variable.  This is for backwards compatibility with Vim 5.x only.
347    |	|
348    |	+-  If the file type is still unknown, check the contents of the file,
349    |	    again with checks like "getline(1) =~ pattern" as to whether the
350    |	    file type can be recognized, and set 'filetype'.
351    |
352    +-	When the file type was determined and 'filetype' was set, this
353    |	triggers the FileType autocommand |synload-6| above.  It sets
354    |	'syntax' to the determined file type.
355    |
356    +-	When the 'syntax' option was set above, this triggers an autocommand
357    |	from |synload-1| (and |synload-2|).  This find the main syntax file in
358    |	'runtimepath', with this command:
359    |		runtime! syntax/<name>.vim
360    |
361    +-	Any other user installed FileType or Syntax autocommands are
362	triggered.  This can be used to change the highlighting for a specific
363	syntax.
364
365==============================================================================
3664. Syntax file remarks					*:syn-file-remarks*
367
368						*b:current_syntax-variable*
369Vim stores the name of the syntax that has been loaded in the
370"b:current_syntax" variable.  You can use this if you want to load other
371settings, depending on which syntax is active.	Example: >
372   :au BufReadPost * if b:current_syntax == "csh"
373   :au BufReadPost *   do-some-things
374   :au BufReadPost * endif
375
376
3772HTML						*2html.vim* *convert-to-HTML*
378
379This is not a syntax file itself, but a script that converts the current
380window into HTML.  Vim opens a new window in which it builds the HTML file.
381
382You are not supposed to set the 'filetype' or 'syntax' option to "2html"!
383Source the script to convert the current file: >
384
385	:runtime! syntax/2html.vim
386<
387							*:TOhtml*
388Or use the ":TOhtml" user command.  It is defined in a standard plugin.
389":TOhtml" also works with a range and in a Visual area: >
390
391	:10,40TOhtml
392
393Warning: This is slow! The script must process every character of every line.
394Because it is so slow, by default a progress bar is displayed in the
395statusline for each step that usually takes a long time. If you don't like
396seeing this progress bar, you can disable it and get a very minor speed
397improvement with: >
398
399	let g:html_no_progress = 1
400
401":TOhtml" has another special feature: if the window is in diff mode, it will
402generate HTML that shows all the related windows.  This can be disabled by
403setting the g:html_diff_one_file variable: >
404
405	let g:html_diff_one_file = 1
406
407After you save the resulting file, you can view it with any browser.  The
408colors should be exactly the same as you see them in Vim.
409
410To restrict the conversion to a range of lines, use a range with the |:TOhtml|
411command, or set "g:html_start_line" and "g:html_end_line" to the first and
412last line to be converted.  Example, using the last set Visual area: >
413
414	:let g:html_start_line = line("'<")
415	:let g:html_end_line = line("'>")
416
417The lines are numbered according to 'number' option and the Number
418highlighting.  You can force lines to be numbered in the HTML output by
419setting "html_number_lines" to non-zero value: >
420   :let g:html_number_lines = 1
421Force to omit the line numbers by using a zero value: >
422   :let g:html_number_lines = 0
423Go back to the default to use 'number' by deleting the variable: >
424   :unlet g:html_number_lines
425
426By default, valid HTML 4.01 using cascading style sheets (CSS1) is generated.
427If you need to generate markup for really old browsers or some other user
428agent that lacks basic CSS support, use: >
429   :let g:html_use_css = 0
430
431Concealed text is removed from the HTML and replaced with the appropriate
432character from |:syn-cchar| or 'listchars' depending on the current value of
433'conceallevel'. If you always want to display all text in your document,
434either set 'conceallevel' to zero before invoking 2html, or use: >
435   :let g:html_ignore_conceal = 1
436
437Similarly, closed folds are put in the HTML as they are displayed.  If you
438don't want this, use the |zR| command before invoking 2html, or use: >
439   :let g:html_ignore_folding = 1
440
441You may want to generate HTML that includes all the data within the folds, and
442allow the user to view the folded data similar to how they would in Vim. To
443generate this dynamic fold information, use: >
444   :let g:html_dynamic_folds = 1
445
446Using html_dynamic_folds will imply html_use_css, because it would be far too
447difficult to do it for old browsers. However, html_ignore_folding overrides
448html_dynamic_folds.
449
450Using html_dynamic_folds will default to generating a foldcolumn in the html
451similar to Vim's foldcolumn, that will use javascript to open and close the
452folds in the HTML document. The width of this foldcolumn starts at the current
453setting of |'foldcolumn'| but grows to fit the greatest foldlevel in your
454document. If you do not want to show a foldcolumn at all, use: >
455   :let g:html_no_foldcolumn = 1
456
457Using this option, there will be no foldcolumn available to open the folds in
458the HTML. For this reason, another option is provided: html_hover_unfold.
459Enabling this option will use CSS 2.0 to allow a user to open a fold by
460hovering the mouse pointer over it. Note that old browsers (notably Internet
461Explorer 6) will not support this feature.  Browser-specific markup for IE6 is
462included to fall back to the normal CSS1 code so that the folds show up
463correctly for this browser, but they will not be openable without a
464foldcolumn. Note that using html_hover_unfold will allow modern browsers with
465disabled javascript to view closed folds. To use this option, use: >
466   :let g:html_hover_unfold = 1
467
468Setting html_no_foldcolumn with html_dynamic_folds will automatically set
469html_hover_unfold, because otherwise the folds wouldn't be dynamic.
470
471By default "<pre>" and "</pre>" is used around the text.  This makes it show
472up as you see it in Vim, but without wrapping.	If you prefer wrapping, at the
473risk of making some things look a bit different, use: >
474   :let g:html_no_pre = 1
475This will use <br> at the end of each line and use "&nbsp;" for repeated
476spaces.
477
478The current value of 'encoding' is used to specify the charset of the HTML
479file.  This only works for those values of 'encoding' that have an equivalent
480HTML charset name.  To overrule this set g:html_use_encoding to the name of
481the charset to be used: >
482   :let g:html_use_encoding = "foobar"
483To omit the line that specifies the charset, set g:html_use_encoding to an
484empty string: >
485   :let g:html_use_encoding = ""
486To go back to the automatic mechanism, delete the g:html_use_encoding
487variable: >
488   :unlet g:html_use_encoding
489<
490For diff mode a sequence of more than 3 filler lines is displayed as three
491lines with the middle line mentioning the total number of inserted lines.  If
492you prefer to see all the inserted lines use: >
493    :let g:html_whole_filler = 1
494And to go back to displaying up to three lines again: >
495    :unlet g:html_whole_filler
496<
497					    *convert-to-XML* *convert-to-XHTML*
498An alternative is to have the script generate XHTML (XML compliant HTML).  To
499do this set the "html_use_xhtml" variable: >
500    :let g:html_use_xhtml = 1
501
502Any of these options can be enabled or disabled by setting them explicitly to
503the desired value, or restored to their default by removing the variable using
504|:unlet|.
505
506Remarks:
507- This only works in a version with GUI support.  If the GUI is not actually
508  running (possible for X11) it still works, but not very well (the colors
509  may be wrong).
510- Some truly ancient browsers may not show the background colors.
511- From most browsers you can also print the file (in color)!
512
513Here is an example how to run the script over all .c and .h files from a
514Unix shell: >
515   for f in *.[ch]; do gvim -f +"syn on" +"run! syntax/2html.vim" +"wq" +"q" $f; done
516<
517
518ABEL						*abel.vim* *ft-abel-syntax*
519
520ABEL highlighting provides some user-defined options.  To enable them, assign
521any value to the respective variable.  Example: >
522	:let abel_obsolete_ok=1
523To disable them use ":unlet".  Example: >
524	:unlet abel_obsolete_ok
525
526Variable			Highlight ~
527abel_obsolete_ok		obsolete keywords are statements, not errors
528abel_cpp_comments_illegal	do not interpret '//' as inline comment leader
529
530
531ADA
532
533See |ft-ada-syntax|
534
535
536ANT						*ant.vim* *ft-ant-syntax*
537
538The ant syntax file provides syntax highlighting for javascript and python
539by default.  Syntax highlighting for other script languages can be installed
540by the function AntSyntaxScript(), which takes the tag name as first argument
541and the script syntax file name as second argument.  Example: >
542
543	:call AntSyntaxScript('perl', 'perl.vim')
544
545will install syntax perl highlighting for the following ant code >
546
547	<script language = 'perl'><![CDATA[
548	    # everything inside is highlighted as perl
549	]]></script>
550
551See |mysyntaxfile-add| for installing script languages permanently.
552
553
554APACHE						*apache.vim* *ft-apache-syntax*
555
556The apache syntax file provides syntax highlighting depending on Apache HTTP
557server version, by default for 1.3.x.  Set "apache_version" to Apache version
558(as a string) to get highlighting for another version.	Example: >
559
560	:let apache_version = "2.0"
561<
562
563		*asm.vim* *asmh8300.vim* *nasm.vim* *masm.vim* *asm68k*
564ASSEMBLY	*ft-asm-syntax* *ft-asmh8300-syntax* *ft-nasm-syntax*
565		*ft-masm-syntax* *ft-asm68k-syntax* *fasm.vim*
566
567Files matching "*.i" could be Progress or Assembly.  If the automatic detection
568doesn't work for you, or you don't edit Progress at all, use this in your
569startup vimrc: >
570   :let filetype_i = "asm"
571Replace "asm" with the type of assembly you use.
572
573There are many types of assembly languages that all use the same file name
574extensions.  Therefore you will have to select the type yourself, or add a
575line in the assembly file that Vim will recognize.  Currently these syntax
576files are included:
577	asm		GNU assembly (the default)
578	asm68k		Motorola 680x0 assembly
579	asmh8300	Hitachi H-8300 version of GNU assembly
580	ia64		Intel Itanium 64
581	fasm		Flat assembly (http://flatassembler.net)
582	masm		Microsoft assembly (probably works for any 80x86)
583	nasm		Netwide assembly
584	tasm		Turbo Assembly (with opcodes 80x86 up to Pentium, and
585			MMX)
586	pic		PIC assembly (currently for PIC16F84)
587
588The most flexible is to add a line in your assembly file containing: >
589	asmsyntax=nasm
590Replace "nasm" with the name of the real assembly syntax.  This line must be
591one of the first five lines in the file.  No non-white text must be
592immediately before or after this text.
593
594The syntax type can always be overruled for a specific buffer by setting the
595b:asmsyntax variable: >
596	:let b:asmsyntax = "nasm"
597
598If b:asmsyntax is not set, either automatically or by hand, then the value of
599the global variable asmsyntax is used.	This can be seen as a default assembly
600language: >
601	:let asmsyntax = "nasm"
602
603As a last resort, if nothing is defined, the "asm" syntax is used.
604
605
606Netwide assembler (nasm.vim) optional highlighting ~
607
608To enable a feature: >
609	:let   {variable}=1|set syntax=nasm
610To disable a feature: >
611	:unlet {variable}  |set syntax=nasm
612
613Variable		Highlight ~
614nasm_loose_syntax	unofficial parser allowed syntax not as Error
615			  (parser dependent; not recommended)
616nasm_ctx_outside_macro	contexts outside macro not as Error
617nasm_no_warn		potentially risky syntax not as ToDo
618
619
620ASPPERL and ASPVBS			*ft-aspperl-syntax* *ft-aspvbs-syntax*
621
622*.asp and *.asa files could be either Perl or Visual Basic script.  Since it's
623hard to detect this you can set two global variables to tell Vim what you are
624using.	For Perl script use: >
625	:let g:filetype_asa = "aspperl"
626	:let g:filetype_asp = "aspperl"
627For Visual Basic use: >
628	:let g:filetype_asa = "aspvbs"
629	:let g:filetype_asp = "aspvbs"
630
631
632BAAN						    *baan.vim* *baan-syntax*
633
634The baan.vim gives syntax support for BaanC of release BaanIV upto SSA ERP LN
635for both 3 GL and 4 GL programming. Large number of standard defines/constants
636are supported.
637
638Some special violation of coding standards will be signalled when one specify
639in ones |.vimrc|: >
640	let baan_code_stds=1
641
642*baan-folding*
643
644Syntax folding can be enabled at various levels through the variables
645mentioned below (Set those in your |.vimrc|). The more complex folding on
646source blocks and SQL can be CPU intensive.
647
648To allow any folding and enable folding at function level use: >
649	let baan_fold=1
650Folding can be enabled at source block level as if, while, for ,... The
651indentation preceding the begin/end keywords has to match (spaces are not
652considered equal to a tab). >
653	let baan_fold_block=1
654Folding can be enabled for embedded SQL blocks as SELECT, SELECTDO,
655SELECTEMPTY, ... The indentation preceding the begin/end keywords has to
656match (spaces are not considered equal to a tab). >
657	let baan_fold_sql=1
658Note: Block folding can result in many small folds. It is suggested to |:set|
659the options 'foldminlines' and 'foldnestmax' in |.vimrc| or use |:setlocal| in
660.../after/syntax/baan.vim (see |after-directory|). Eg: >
661	set foldminlines=5
662	set foldnestmax=6
663
664
665BASIC			*basic.vim* *vb.vim* *ft-basic-syntax* *ft-vb-syntax*
666
667Both Visual Basic and "normal" basic use the extension ".bas".	To detect
668which one should be used, Vim checks for the string "VB_Name" in the first
669five lines of the file.  If it is not found, filetype will be "basic",
670otherwise "vb".  Files with the ".frm" extension will always be seen as Visual
671Basic.
672
673
674C							*c.vim* *ft-c-syntax*
675
676A few things in C highlighting are optional.  To enable them assign any value
677to the respective variable.  Example: >
678	:let c_comment_strings = 1
679To disable them use ":unlet".  Example: >
680	:unlet c_comment_strings
681
682Variable		Highlight ~
683c_gnu			GNU gcc specific items
684c_comment_strings	strings and numbers inside a comment
685c_space_errors		trailing white space and spaces before a <Tab>
686c_no_trail_space_error	 ... but no trailing spaces
687c_no_tab_space_error	 ... but no spaces before a <Tab>
688c_no_bracket_error	don't highlight {}; inside [] as errors
689c_no_curly_error	don't highlight {}; inside [] and () as errors;
690				except { and } in first column
691c_curly_error		highlight a missing }; this forces syncing from the
692			start of the file, can be slow
693c_no_ansi		don't do standard ANSI types and constants
694c_ansi_typedefs		 ... but do standard ANSI types
695c_ansi_constants	 ... but do standard ANSI constants
696c_no_utf		don't highlight \u and \U in strings
697c_syntax_for_h		use C syntax for *.h files, instead of C++
698c_no_if0		don't highlight "#if 0" blocks as comments
699c_no_cformat		don't highlight %-formats in strings
700c_no_c99		don't highlight C99 standard items
701
702When 'foldmethod' is set to "syntax" then /* */ comments and { } blocks will
703become a fold.  If you don't want comments to become a fold use: >
704	:let c_no_comment_fold = 1
705"#if 0" blocks are also folded, unless: >
706	:let c_no_if0_fold = 1
707
708If you notice highlighting errors while scrolling backwards, which are fixed
709when redrawing with CTRL-L, try setting the "c_minlines" internal variable
710to a larger number: >
711	:let c_minlines = 100
712This will make the syntax synchronization start 100 lines before the first
713displayed line.  The default value is 50 (15 when c_no_if0 is set).  The
714disadvantage of using a larger number is that redrawing can become slow.
715
716When using the "#if 0" / "#endif" comment highlighting, notice that this only
717works when the "#if 0" is within "c_minlines" from the top of the window.  If
718you have a long "#if 0" construct it will not be highlighted correctly.
719
720To match extra items in comments, use the cCommentGroup cluster.
721Example: >
722   :au Syntax c call MyCadd()
723   :function MyCadd()
724   :  syn keyword cMyItem contained Ni
725   :  syn cluster cCommentGroup add=cMyItem
726   :  hi link cMyItem Title
727   :endfun
728
729ANSI constants will be highlighted with the "cConstant" group.	This includes
730"NULL", "SIG_IGN" and others.  But not "TRUE", for example, because this is
731not in the ANSI standard.  If you find this confusing, remove the cConstant
732highlighting: >
733	:hi link cConstant NONE
734
735If you see '{' and '}' highlighted as an error where they are OK, reset the
736highlighting for cErrInParen and cErrInBracket.
737
738If you want to use folding in your C files, you can add these lines in a file
739in the "after" directory in 'runtimepath'.  For Unix this would be
740~/.vim/after/syntax/c.vim. >
741    syn sync fromstart
742    set foldmethod=syntax
743
744CH						*ch.vim* *ft-ch-syntax*
745
746C/C++ interpreter.  Ch has similar syntax highlighting to C and builds upon
747the C syntax file.  See |c.vim| for all the settings that are available for C.
748
749By setting a variable you can tell Vim to use Ch syntax for *.h files, instead
750of C or C++: >
751	:let ch_syntax_for_h = 1
752
753
754CHILL						*chill.vim* *ft-chill-syntax*
755
756Chill syntax highlighting is similar to C.  See |c.vim| for all the settings
757that are available.  Additionally there is:
758
759chill_space_errors	like c_space_errors
760chill_comment_string	like c_comment_strings
761chill_minlines		like c_minlines
762
763
764CHANGELOG				*changelog.vim* *ft-changelog-syntax*
765
766ChangeLog supports highlighting spaces at the start of a line.
767If you do not like this, add following line to your .vimrc: >
768	let g:changelog_spacing_errors = 0
769This works the next time you edit a changelog file.  You can also use
770"b:changelog_spacing_errors" to set this per buffer (before loading the syntax
771file).
772
773You can change the highlighting used, e.g., to flag the spaces as an error: >
774	:hi link ChangelogError Error
775Or to avoid the highlighting: >
776	:hi link ChangelogError NONE
777This works immediately.
778
779
780COBOL						*cobol.vim* *ft-cobol-syntax*
781
782COBOL highlighting has different needs for legacy code than it does for fresh
783development.  This is due to differences in what is being done (maintenance
784versus development) and other factors.	To enable legacy code highlighting,
785add this line to your .vimrc: >
786	:let cobol_legacy_code = 1
787To disable it again, use this: >
788	:unlet cobol_legacy_code
789
790
791COLD FUSION			*coldfusion.vim* *ft-coldfusion-syntax*
792
793The ColdFusion has its own version of HTML comments.  To turn on ColdFusion
794comment highlighting, add the following line to your startup file: >
795
796	:let html_wrong_comments = 1
797
798The ColdFusion syntax file is based on the HTML syntax file.
799
800
801CSH						*csh.vim* *ft-csh-syntax*
802
803This covers the shell named "csh".  Note that on some systems tcsh is actually
804used.
805
806Detecting whether a file is csh or tcsh is notoriously hard.  Some systems
807symlink /bin/csh to /bin/tcsh, making it almost impossible to distinguish
808between csh and tcsh.  In case VIM guesses wrong you can set the
809"filetype_csh" variable.  For using csh: >
810
811	:let filetype_csh = "csh"
812
813For using tcsh: >
814
815	:let filetype_csh = "tcsh"
816
817Any script with a tcsh extension or a standard tcsh filename (.tcshrc,
818tcsh.tcshrc, tcsh.login) will have filetype tcsh.  All other tcsh/csh scripts
819will be classified as tcsh, UNLESS the "filetype_csh" variable exists.  If the
820"filetype_csh" variable exists, the filetype will be set to the value of the
821variable.
822
823
824CYNLIB						*cynlib.vim* *ft-cynlib-syntax*
825
826Cynlib files are C++ files that use the Cynlib class library to enable
827hardware modelling and simulation using C++.  Typically Cynlib files have a .cc
828or a .cpp extension, which makes it very difficult to distinguish them from a
829normal C++ file.  Thus, to enable Cynlib highlighting for .cc files, add this
830line to your .vimrc file: >
831
832	:let cynlib_cyntax_for_cc=1
833
834Similarly for cpp files (this extension is only usually used in Windows) >
835
836	:let cynlib_cyntax_for_cpp=1
837
838To disable these again, use this: >
839
840	:unlet cynlib_cyntax_for_cc
841	:unlet cynlib_cyntax_for_cpp
842<
843
844CWEB						*cweb.vim* *ft-cweb-syntax*
845
846Files matching "*.w" could be Progress or cweb.  If the automatic detection
847doesn't work for you, or you don't edit Progress at all, use this in your
848startup vimrc: >
849   :let filetype_w = "cweb"
850
851
852DESKTOP					   *desktop.vim* *ft-desktop-syntax*
853
854Primary goal of this syntax file is to highlight .desktop and .directory files
855according to freedesktop.org standard:
856http://standards.freedesktop.org/desktop-entry-spec/latest/
857But actually almost none implements this standard fully.  Thus it will
858highlight all Unix ini files.  But you can force strict highlighting according
859to standard by placing this in your vimrc file: >
860	:let enforce_freedesktop_standard = 1
861
862
863DIRCOLORS			       *dircolors.vim* *ft-dircolors-syntax*
864
865The dircolors utility highlighting definition has one option.  It exists to
866provide compatibility with the Slackware GNU/Linux distributions version of
867the command.  It adds a few keywords that are generally ignored by most
868versions.  On Slackware systems, however, the utility accepts the keywords and
869uses them for processing.  To enable the Slackware keywords add the following
870line to your startup file: >
871	let dircolors_is_slackware = 1
872
873
874DOCBOOK					*docbk.vim* *ft-docbk-syntax* *docbook*
875DOCBOOK	XML				*docbkxml.vim* *ft-docbkxml-syntax*
876DOCBOOK	SGML				*docbksgml.vim* *ft-docbksgml-syntax*
877
878There are two types of DocBook files: SGML and XML.  To specify what type you
879are using the "b:docbk_type" variable should be set.  Vim does this for you
880automatically if it can recognize the type.  When Vim can't guess it the type
881defaults to XML.
882You can set the type manually: >
883	:let docbk_type = "sgml"
884or: >
885	:let docbk_type = "xml"
886You need to do this before loading the syntax file, which is complicated.
887Simpler is setting the filetype to "docbkxml" or "docbksgml": >
888	:set filetype=docbksgml
889or: >
890	:set filetype=docbkxml
891
892
893DOSBATCH				*dosbatch.vim* *ft-dosbatch-syntax*
894
895There is one option with highlighting DOS batch files.	This covers new
896extensions to the Command Interpreter introduced with Windows 2000 and
897is controlled by the variable dosbatch_cmdextversion.  For Windows NT
898this should have the value 1, and for Windows 2000 it should be 2.
899Select the version you want with the following line: >
900
901   :let dosbatch_cmdextversion = 1
902
903If this variable is not defined it defaults to a value of 2 to support
904Windows 2000.
905
906A second option covers whether *.btm files should be detected as type
907"dosbatch" (MS-DOS batch files) or type "btm" (4DOS batch files).  The latter
908is used by default.  You may select the former with the following line: >
909
910   :let g:dosbatch_syntax_for_btm = 1
911
912If this variable is undefined or zero, btm syntax is selected.
913
914
915DOXYGEN						*doxygen.vim* *doxygen-syntax*
916
917Doxygen generates code documentation using a special documentation format
918(similar to Javadoc).  This syntax script adds doxygen highlighting to c, cpp,
919idl and php files, and should also work with java.
920
921There are a few of ways to turn on doxygen formatting. It can be done
922explicitly or in a modeline by appending '.doxygen' to the syntax of the file.
923Example: >
924	:set syntax=c.doxygen
925or >
926	// vim:syntax=c.doxygen
927
928It can also be done automatically for C, C++, C# and IDL files by setting the
929global or buffer-local variable load_doxygen_syntax.  This is done by adding
930the following to your .vimrc. >
931	:let g:load_doxygen_syntax=1
932
933There are a couple of variables that have an effect on syntax highlighting, and
934are to do with non-standard highlighting options.
935
936Variable			Default	Effect ~
937g:doxygen_enhanced_color
938g:doxygen_enhanced_colour	0	Use non-standard highlighting for
939					doxygen comments.
940
941doxygen_my_rendering		0	Disable rendering of HTML bold, italic
942					and html_my_rendering underline.
943
944doxygen_javadoc_autobrief	1	Set to 0 to disable javadoc autobrief
945					colour highlighting.
946
947doxygen_end_punctuation		'[.]'	Set to regexp match for the ending
948					punctuation of brief
949
950There are also some hilight groups worth mentioning as they can be useful in
951configuration.
952
953Highlight			Effect ~
954doxygenErrorComment		The colour of an end-comment when missing
955				punctuation in a code, verbatim or dot section
956doxygenLinkError		The colour of an end-comment when missing the
957				\endlink from a \link section.
958
959
960DTD						*dtd.vim* *ft-dtd-syntax*
961
962The DTD syntax highlighting is case sensitive by default.  To disable
963case-sensitive highlighting, add the following line to your startup file: >
964
965	:let dtd_ignore_case=1
966
967The DTD syntax file will highlight unknown tags as errors.  If
968this is annoying, it can be turned off by setting: >
969
970	:let dtd_no_tag_errors=1
971
972before sourcing the dtd.vim syntax file.
973Parameter entity names are highlighted in the definition using the
974'Type' highlighting group and 'Comment' for punctuation and '%'.
975Parameter entity instances are highlighted using the 'Constant'
976highlighting group and the 'Type' highlighting group for the
977delimiters % and ;.  This can be turned off by setting: >
978
979	:let dtd_no_param_entities=1
980
981The DTD syntax file is also included by xml.vim to highlight included dtd's.
982
983
984EIFFEL					*eiffel.vim* *ft-eiffel-syntax*
985
986While Eiffel is not case-sensitive, its style guidelines are, and the
987syntax highlighting file encourages their use.  This also allows to
988highlight class names differently.  If you want to disable case-sensitive
989highlighting, add the following line to your startup file: >
990
991	:let eiffel_ignore_case=1
992
993Case still matters for class names and TODO marks in comments.
994
995Conversely, for even stricter checks, add one of the following lines: >
996
997	:let eiffel_strict=1
998	:let eiffel_pedantic=1
999
1000Setting eiffel_strict will only catch improper capitalization for the
1001five predefined words "Current", "Void", "Result", "Precursor", and
1002"NONE", to warn against their accidental use as feature or class names.
1003
1004Setting eiffel_pedantic will enforce adherence to the Eiffel style
1005guidelines fairly rigorously (like arbitrary mixes of upper- and
1006lowercase letters as well as outdated ways to capitalize keywords).
1007
1008If you want to use the lower-case version of "Current", "Void",
1009"Result", and "Precursor", you can use >
1010
1011	:let eiffel_lower_case_predef=1
1012
1013instead of completely turning case-sensitive highlighting off.
1014
1015Support for ISE's proposed new creation syntax that is already
1016experimentally handled by some compilers can be enabled by: >
1017
1018	:let eiffel_ise=1
1019
1020Finally, some vendors support hexadecimal constants.  To handle them, add >
1021
1022	:let eiffel_hex_constants=1
1023
1024to your startup file.
1025
1026
1027ERLANG						*erlang.vim* *ft-erlang-syntax*
1028
1029The erlang highlighting supports Erlang (ERicsson LANGuage).
1030Erlang is case sensitive and default extension is ".erl".
1031
1032If you want to disable keywords highlighting, put in your .vimrc: >
1033	:let erlang_keywords = 1
1034If you want to disable built-in-functions highlighting, put in your
1035.vimrc file: >
1036	:let erlang_functions = 1
1037If you want to disable special characters highlighting, put in
1038your .vimrc: >
1039	:let erlang_characters = 1
1040
1041
1042FLEXWIKI				*flexwiki.vim* *ft-flexwiki-syntax*
1043
1044FlexWiki is an ASP.NET-based wiki package available at http://www.flexwiki.com
1045
1046Syntax highlighting is available for the most common elements of FlexWiki
1047syntax. The associated ftplugin script sets some buffer-local options to make
1048editing FlexWiki pages more convenient. FlexWiki considers a newline as the
1049start of a new paragraph, so the ftplugin sets 'tw'=0 (unlimited line length),
1050'wrap' (wrap long lines instead of using horizontal scrolling), 'linebreak'
1051(to wrap at a character in 'breakat' instead of at the last char on screen),
1052and so on. It also includes some keymaps that are disabled by default.
1053
1054If you want to enable the keymaps that make "j" and "k" and the cursor keys
1055move up and down by display lines, add this to your .vimrc: >
1056	:let flexwiki_maps = 1
1057
1058
1059FORM						*form.vim* *ft-form-syntax*
1060
1061The coloring scheme for syntax elements in the FORM file uses the default
1062modes Conditional, Number, Statement, Comment, PreProc, Type, and String,
1063following the language specifications in 'Symbolic Manipulation with FORM' by
1064J.A.M. Vermaseren, CAN, Netherlands, 1991.
1065
1066If you want include your own changes to the default colors, you have to
1067redefine the following syntax groups:
1068
1069    - formConditional
1070    - formNumber
1071    - formStatement
1072    - formHeaderStatement
1073    - formComment
1074    - formPreProc
1075    - formDirective
1076    - formType
1077    - formString
1078
1079Note that the form.vim syntax file implements FORM preprocessor commands and
1080directives per default in the same syntax group.
1081
1082A predefined enhanced color mode for FORM is available to distinguish between
1083header statements and statements in the body of a FORM program.  To activate
1084this mode define the following variable in your vimrc file >
1085
1086	:let form_enhanced_color=1
1087
1088The enhanced mode also takes advantage of additional color features for a dark
1089gvim display.  Here, statements are colored LightYellow instead of Yellow, and
1090conditionals are LightBlue for better distinction.
1091
1092
1093FORTRAN					*fortran.vim* *ft-fortran-syntax*
1094
1095Default highlighting and dialect ~
1096Highlighting appropriate for f95 (Fortran 95) is used by default.  This choice
1097should be appropriate for most users most of the time because Fortran 95 is a
1098superset of Fortran 90 and almost a superset of Fortran 77. Support for 
1099Fortran 2003 and Fortran 2008 features has been introduced and is
1100automatically available in the default (f95) highlighting.
1101
1102Fortran source code form ~
1103Fortran 9x code can be in either fixed or free source form.  Note that the
1104syntax highlighting will not be correct if the form is incorrectly set.
1105
1106When you create a new fortran file, the syntax script assumes fixed source
1107form.  If you always use free source form, then >
1108    :let fortran_free_source=1
1109in your .vimrc prior to the :syntax on command.  If you always use fixed source
1110form, then >
1111    :let fortran_fixed_source=1
1112in your .vimrc prior to the :syntax on command.
1113
1114If the form of the source code depends upon the file extension, then it is
1115most convenient to set fortran_free_source in a ftplugin file.  For more
1116information on ftplugin files, see |ftplugin|.  For example, if all your
1117fortran files with an .f90 extension are written in free source form and the
1118rest in fixed source form, add the following code to your ftplugin file >
1119    let s:extfname = expand("%:e")
1120    if s:extfname ==? "f90"
1121	let fortran_free_source=1
1122	unlet! fortran_fixed_source
1123    else
1124	let fortran_fixed_source=1
1125	unlet! fortran_free_source
1126    endif
1127Note that this will work only if the "filetype plugin indent on" command
1128precedes the "syntax on" command in your .vimrc file.
1129
1130When you edit an existing fortran file, the syntax script will assume free
1131source form if the fortran_free_source variable has been set, and assumes
1132fixed source form if the fortran_fixed_source variable has been set.  If
1133neither of these variables have been set, the syntax script attempts to
1134determine which source form has been used by examining the first five columns
1135of the first 250 lines of your file.  If no signs of free source form are
1136detected, then the file is assumed to be in fixed source form.  The algorithm
1137should work in the vast majority of cases.  In some cases, such as a file that
1138begins with 250 or more full-line comments, the script may incorrectly decide
1139that the fortran code is in fixed form.  If that happens, just add a
1140non-comment statement beginning anywhere in the first five columns of the
1141first twenty five lines, save (:w) and then reload (:e!) the file.
1142
1143Tabs in fortran files ~
1144Tabs are not recognized by the Fortran standards.  Tabs are not a good idea in
1145fixed format fortran source code which requires fixed column boundaries.
1146Therefore, tabs are marked as errors.  Nevertheless, some programmers like
1147using tabs.  If your fortran files contain tabs, then you should set the
1148variable fortran_have_tabs in your .vimrc with a command such as >
1149    :let fortran_have_tabs=1
1150placed prior to the :syntax on command.  Unfortunately, the use of tabs will
1151mean that the syntax file will not be able to detect incorrect margins.
1152
1153Syntax folding of fortran files ~
1154If you wish to use foldmethod=syntax, then you must first set the variable
1155fortran_fold with a command such as >
1156    :let fortran_fold=1
1157to instruct the syntax script to define fold regions for program units, that
1158is main programs starting with a program statement, subroutines, function
1159subprograms, block data subprograms, interface blocks, and modules.  If you
1160also set the variable fortran_fold_conditionals with a command such as >
1161    :let fortran_fold_conditionals=1
1162then fold regions will also be defined for do loops, if blocks, and select
1163case constructs.  If you also set the variable
1164fortran_fold_multilinecomments with a command such as >
1165    :let fortran_fold_multilinecomments=1
1166then fold regions will also be defined for three or more consecutive comment
1167lines.  Note that defining fold regions can be slow for large files.
1168
1169If fortran_fold, and possibly fortran_fold_conditionals and/or
1170fortran_fold_multilinecomments, have been set, then vim will fold your file if
1171you set foldmethod=syntax.  Comments or blank lines placed between two program
1172units are not folded because they are seen as not belonging to any program
1173unit.
1174
1175More precise fortran syntax ~
1176If you set the variable fortran_more_precise with a command such as >
1177    :let fortran_more_precise=1
1178then the syntax coloring will be more precise but slower.  In particular,
1179statement labels used in do, goto and arithmetic if statements will be
1180recognized, as will construct names at the end of a do, if, select or forall
1181construct.
1182
1183Non-default fortran dialects ~
1184The syntax script supports five Fortran dialects: f95, f90, f77, the Lahey
1185subset elf90, and the Imagine1 subset F.
1186
1187If you use f77 with extensions, even common ones like do/enddo loops, do/while
1188loops and free source form that are supported by most f77 compilers including
1189g77 (GNU Fortran), then you will probably find the default highlighting
1190satisfactory.  However, if you use strict f77 with no extensions, not even free
1191source form or the MIL STD 1753 extensions, then the advantages of setting the
1192dialect to f77 are that names such as SUM are recognized as user variable
1193names and not highlighted as f9x intrinsic functions, that obsolete constructs
1194such as ASSIGN statements are not highlighted as todo items, and that fixed
1195source form will be assumed.
1196
1197If you use elf90 or F, the advantage of setting the dialect appropriately is
1198that f90 features excluded from these dialects will be highlighted as todo
1199items and that free source form will be assumed as required for these
1200dialects.
1201
1202The dialect can be selected by setting the variable fortran_dialect.  The
1203permissible values of fortran_dialect are case-sensitive and must be "f95",
1204"f90", "f77", "elf" or "F".  Invalid values of fortran_dialect are ignored.
1205
1206If all your fortran files use the same dialect, set fortran_dialect in your
1207.vimrc prior to your syntax on statement.  If the dialect depends upon the file
1208extension, then it is most convenient to set it in a ftplugin file.  For more
1209information on ftplugin files, see |ftplugin|.  For example, if all your
1210fortran files with an .f90 extension are written in the elf subset, your
1211ftplugin file should contain the code >
1212    let s:extfname = expand("%:e")
1213    if s:extfname ==? "f90"
1214	let fortran_dialect="elf"
1215    else
1216	unlet! fortran_dialect
1217    endif
1218Note that this will work only if the "filetype plugin indent on" command
1219precedes the "syntax on" command in your .vimrc file.
1220
1221Finer control is necessary if the file extension does not uniquely identify
1222the dialect.  You can override the default dialect, on a file-by-file basis, by
1223including a comment with the directive "fortran_dialect=xx" (where xx=f77 or
1224elf or F or f90 or f95) in one of the first three lines in your file.  For
1225example, your older .f files may be written in extended f77 but your newer
1226ones may be F codes, and you would identify the latter by including in the
1227first three lines of those files a Fortran comment of the form >
1228  ! fortran_dialect=F
1229F overrides elf if both directives are present.
1230
1231Limitations ~
1232Parenthesis checking does not catch too few closing parentheses.  Hollerith
1233strings are not recognized.  Some keywords may be highlighted incorrectly
1234because Fortran90 has no reserved words.
1235
1236For further information related to fortran, see |ft-fortran-indent| and
1237|ft-fortran-plugin|.
1238
1239
1240FVWM CONFIGURATION FILES			*fvwm.vim* *ft-fvwm-syntax*
1241
1242In order for Vim to recognize Fvwm configuration files that do not match
1243the patterns *fvwmrc* or *fvwm2rc* , you must put additional patterns
1244appropriate to your system in your myfiletypes.vim file.  For these
1245patterns, you must set the variable "b:fvwm_version" to the major version
1246number of Fvwm, and the 'filetype' option to fvwm.
1247
1248For example, to make Vim identify all files in /etc/X11/fvwm2/
1249as Fvwm2 configuration files, add the following: >
1250
1251  :au! BufNewFile,BufRead /etc/X11/fvwm2/*  let b:fvwm_version = 2 |
1252					 \ set filetype=fvwm
1253
1254If you'd like Vim to highlight all valid color names, tell it where to
1255find the color database (rgb.txt) on your system.  Do this by setting
1256"rgb_file" to its location.  Assuming your color database is located
1257in /usr/X11/lib/X11/, you should add the line >
1258
1259	:let rgb_file = "/usr/X11/lib/X11/rgb.txt"
1260
1261to your .vimrc file.
1262
1263
1264GSP						*gsp.vim* *ft-gsp-syntax*
1265
1266The default coloring style for GSP pages is defined by |html.vim|, and
1267the coloring for java code (within java tags or inline between backticks)
1268is defined by |java.vim|.  The following HTML groups defined in |html.vim|
1269are redefined to incorporate and highlight inline java code:
1270
1271    htmlString
1272    htmlValue
1273    htmlEndTag
1274    htmlTag
1275    htmlTagN
1276
1277Highlighting should look fine most of the places where you'd see inline
1278java code, but in some special cases it may not.  To add another HTML
1279group where you will have inline java code where it does not highlight
1280correctly, just copy the line you want from |html.vim| and add gspJava
1281to the contains clause.
1282
1283The backticks for inline java are highlighted according to the htmlError
1284group to make them easier to see.
1285
1286
1287GROFF						*groff.vim* *ft-groff-syntax*
1288
1289The groff syntax file is a wrapper for |nroff.vim|, see the notes
1290under that heading for examples of use and configuration.  The purpose
1291of this wrapper is to set up groff syntax extensions by setting the
1292filetype from a |modeline| or in a personal filetype definitions file
1293(see |filetype.txt|).
1294
1295
1296HASKELL			     *haskell.vim* *lhaskell.vim* *ft-haskell-syntax*
1297
1298The Haskell syntax files support plain Haskell code as well as literate
1299Haskell code, the latter in both Bird style and TeX style.  The Haskell
1300syntax highlighting will also highlight C preprocessor directives.
1301
1302If you want to highlight delimiter characters (useful if you have a
1303light-coloured background), add to your .vimrc: >
1304	:let hs_highlight_delimiters = 1
1305To treat True and False as keywords as opposed to ordinary identifiers,
1306add: >
1307	:let hs_highlight_boolean = 1
1308To also treat the names of primitive types as keywords: >
1309	:let hs_highlight_types = 1
1310And to treat the names of even more relatively common types as keywords: >
1311	:let hs_highlight_more_types = 1
1312If you want to highlight the names of debugging functions, put in
1313your .vimrc: >
1314	:let hs_highlight_debug = 1
1315
1316The Haskell syntax highlighting also highlights C preprocessor
1317directives, and flags lines that start with # but are not valid
1318directives as erroneous.  This interferes with Haskell's syntax for
1319operators, as they may start with #.  If you want to highlight those
1320as operators as opposed to errors, put in your .vimrc: >
1321	:let hs_allow_hash_operator = 1
1322
1323The syntax highlighting for literate Haskell code will try to
1324automatically guess whether your literate Haskell code contains
1325TeX markup or not, and correspondingly highlight TeX constructs
1326or nothing at all.  You can override this globally by putting
1327in your .vimrc >
1328	:let lhs_markup = none
1329for no highlighting at all, or >
1330	:let lhs_markup = tex
1331to force the highlighting to always try to highlight TeX markup.
1332For more flexibility, you may also use buffer local versions of
1333this variable, so e.g. >
1334	:let b:lhs_markup = tex
1335will force TeX highlighting for a particular buffer.  It has to be
1336set before turning syntax highlighting on for the buffer or
1337loading a file.
1338
1339
1340HTML						*html.vim* *ft-html-syntax*
1341
1342The coloring scheme for tags in the HTML file works as follows.
1343
1344The  <> of opening tags are colored differently than the </> of a closing tag.
1345This is on purpose! For opening tags the 'Function' color is used, while for
1346closing tags the 'Type' color is used (See syntax.vim to check how those are
1347defined for you)
1348
1349Known tag names are colored the same way as statements in C.  Unknown tag
1350names are colored with the same color as the <> or </> respectively which
1351makes it easy to spot errors
1352
1353Note that the same is true for argument (or attribute) names.  Known attribute
1354names are colored differently than unknown ones.
1355
1356Some HTML tags are used to change the rendering of text.  The following tags
1357are recognized by the html.vim syntax coloring file and change the way normal
1358text is shown: <B> <I> <U> <EM> <STRONG> (<EM> is used as an alias for <I>,
1359while <STRONG> as an alias for <B>), <H1> - <H6>, <HEAD>, <TITLE> and <A>, but
1360only if used as a link (that is, it must include a href as in
1361<A href="somefile.html">).
1362
1363If you want to change how such text is rendered, you must redefine the
1364following syntax groups:
1365
1366    - htmlBold
1367    - htmlBoldUnderline
1368    - htmlBoldUnderlineItalic
1369    - htmlUnderline
1370    - htmlUnderlineItalic
1371    - htmlItalic
1372    - htmlTitle for titles
1373    - htmlH1 - htmlH6 for headings
1374
1375To make this redefinition work you must redefine them all with the exception
1376of the last two (htmlTitle and htmlH[1-6], which are optional) and define the
1377following variable in your vimrc (this is due to the order in which the files
1378are read during initialization) >
1379	:let html_my_rendering=1
1380
1381If you'd like to see an example download mysyntax.vim at
1382http://www.fleiner.com/vim/download.html
1383
1384You can also disable this rendering by adding the following line to your
1385vimrc file: >
1386	:let html_no_rendering=1
1387
1388HTML comments are rather special (see an HTML reference document for the
1389details), and the syntax coloring scheme will highlight all errors.
1390However, if you prefer to use the wrong style (starts with <!-- and
1391ends with --!>) you can define >
1392	:let html_wrong_comments=1
1393
1394JavaScript and Visual Basic embedded inside HTML documents are highlighted as
1395'Special' with statements, comments, strings and so on colored as in standard
1396programming languages.  Note that only JavaScript and Visual Basic are currently
1397supported, no other scripting language has been added yet.
1398
1399Embedded and inlined cascading style sheets (CSS) are highlighted too.
1400
1401There are several html preprocessor languages out there.  html.vim has been
1402written such that it should be trivial to include it.  To do so add the
1403following two lines to the syntax coloring file for that language
1404(the example comes from the asp.vim file):
1405
1406    runtime! syntax/html.vim
1407    syn cluster htmlPreproc add=asp
1408
1409Now you just need to make sure that you add all regions that contain
1410the preprocessor language to the cluster htmlPreproc.
1411
1412
1413HTML/OS (by Aestiva)				*htmlos.vim* *ft-htmlos-syntax*
1414
1415The coloring scheme for HTML/OS works as follows:
1416
1417Functions and variable names are the same color by default, because VIM
1418doesn't specify different colors for Functions and Identifiers.  To change
1419this (which is recommended if you want function names to be recognizable in a
1420different color) you need to add the following line to either your ~/.vimrc: >
1421  :hi Function term=underline cterm=bold ctermfg=LightGray
1422
1423Of course, the ctermfg can be a different color if you choose.
1424
1425Another issues that HTML/OS runs into is that there is no special filetype to
1426signify that it is a file with HTML/OS coding.	You can change this by opening
1427a file and turning on HTML/OS syntax by doing the following: >
1428  :set syntax=htmlos
1429
1430Lastly, it should be noted that the opening and closing characters to begin a
1431block of HTML/OS code can either be << or [[ and >> or ]], respectively.
1432
1433
1434IA64				*ia64.vim* *intel-itanium* *ft-ia64-syntax*
1435
1436Highlighting for the Intel Itanium 64 assembly language.  See |asm.vim| for
1437how to recognize this filetype.
1438
1439To have *.inc files be recognized as IA64, add this to your .vimrc file: >
1440	:let g:filetype_inc = "ia64"
1441
1442
1443INFORM						*inform.vim* *ft-inform-syntax*
1444
1445Inform highlighting includes symbols provided by the Inform Library, as
1446most programs make extensive use of it.  If do not wish Library symbols
1447to be highlighted add this to your vim startup: >
1448	:let inform_highlight_simple=1
1449
1450By default it is assumed that Inform programs are Z-machine targeted,
1451and highlights Z-machine assembly language symbols appropriately.  If
1452you intend your program to be targeted to a Glulx/Glk environment you
1453need to add this to your startup sequence: >
1454	:let inform_highlight_glulx=1
1455
1456This will highlight Glulx opcodes instead, and also adds glk() to the
1457set of highlighted system functions.
1458
1459The Inform compiler will flag certain obsolete keywords as errors when
1460it encounters them.  These keywords are normally highlighted as errors
1461by Vim.  To prevent such error highlighting, you must add this to your
1462startup sequence: >
1463	:let inform_suppress_obsolete=1
1464
1465By default, the language features highlighted conform to Compiler
1466version 6.30 and Library version 6.11.  If you are using an older
1467Inform development environment, you may with to add this to your
1468startup sequence: >
1469	:let inform_highlight_old=1
1470
1471IDL							*idl.vim* *idl-syntax*
1472
1473IDL (Interface Definition Language) files are used to define RPC calls.  In
1474Microsoft land, this is also used for defining COM interfaces and calls.
1475
1476IDL's structure is simple enough to permit a full grammar based approach to
1477rather than using a few heuristics.  The result is large and somewhat
1478repetitive but seems to work.
1479
1480There are some Microsoft extensions to idl files that are here.  Some of them
1481are disabled by defining idl_no_ms_extensions.
1482
1483The more complex of the extensions are disabled by defining idl_no_extensions.
1484
1485Variable			Effect ~
1486
1487idl_no_ms_extensions		Disable some of the Microsoft specific
1488				extensions
1489idl_no_extensions		Disable complex extensions
1490idlsyntax_showerror		Show IDL errors (can be rather intrusive, but
1491				quite helpful)
1492idlsyntax_showerror_soft	Use softer colours by default for errors
1493
1494
1495JAVA						*java.vim* *ft-java-syntax*
1496
1497The java.vim syntax highlighting file offers several options:
1498
1499In Java 1.0.2 it was never possible to have braces inside parens, so this was
1500flagged as an error.  Since Java 1.1 this is possible (with anonymous
1501classes), and therefore is no longer marked as an error.  If you prefer the old
1502way, put the following line into your vim startup file: >
1503	:let java_mark_braces_in_parens_as_errors=1
1504
1505All identifiers in java.lang.* are always visible in all classes.  To
1506highlight them use: >
1507	:let java_highlight_java_lang_ids=1
1508
1509You can also highlight identifiers of most standard Java packages if you
1510download the javaid.vim script at http://www.fleiner.com/vim/download.html.
1511If you prefer to only highlight identifiers of a certain package, say java.io
1512use the following: >
1513	:let java_highlight_java_io=1
1514Check the javaid.vim file for a list of all the packages that are supported.
1515
1516Function names are not highlighted, as the way to find functions depends on
1517how you write Java code.  The syntax file knows two possible ways to highlight
1518functions:
1519
1520If you write function declarations that are always indented by either
1521a tab, 8 spaces or 2 spaces you may want to set >
1522	:let java_highlight_functions="indent"
1523However, if you follow the Java guidelines about how functions and classes are
1524supposed to be named (with respect to upper and lowercase), use >
1525	:let java_highlight_functions="style"
1526If both options do not work for you, but you would still want function
1527declarations to be highlighted create your own definitions by changing the
1528definitions in java.vim or by creating your own java.vim which includes the
1529original one and then adds the code to highlight functions.
1530
1531In Java 1.1 the functions System.out.println() and System.err.println() should
1532only be used for debugging.  Therefore it is possible to highlight debugging
1533statements differently.  To do this you must add the following definition in
1534your startup file: >
1535	:let java_highlight_debug=1
1536The result will be that those statements are highlighted as 'Special'
1537characters.  If you prefer to have them highlighted differently you must define
1538new highlightings for the following groups.:
1539    Debug, DebugSpecial, DebugString, DebugBoolean, DebugType
1540which are used for the statement itself, special characters used in debug
1541strings, strings, boolean constants and types (this, super) respectively.  I
1542have opted to chose another background for those statements.
1543
1544In order to help you write code that can be easily ported between Java and
1545C++, all C++ keywords can be marked as an error in a Java program.  To
1546have this add this line in your .vimrc file: >
1547	:let java_allow_cpp_keywords = 0
1548
1549Javadoc is a program that takes special comments out of Java program files and
1550creates HTML pages.  The standard configuration will highlight this HTML code
1551similarly to HTML files (see |html.vim|).  You can even add Javascript
1552and CSS inside this code (see below).  There are four differences however:
1553  1. The title (all characters up to the first '.' which is followed by
1554     some white space or up to the first '@') is colored differently (to change
1555     the color change the group CommentTitle).
1556  2. The text is colored as 'Comment'.
1557  3. HTML comments are colored as 'Special'
1558  4. The special Javadoc tags (@see, @param, ...) are highlighted as specials
1559     and the argument (for @see, @param, @exception) as Function.
1560To turn this feature off add the following line to your startup file: >
1561	:let java_ignore_javadoc=1
1562
1563If you use the special Javadoc comment highlighting described above you
1564can also turn on special highlighting for Javascript, visual basic
1565scripts and embedded CSS (stylesheets).  This makes only sense if you
1566actually have Javadoc comments that include either Javascript or embedded
1567CSS.  The options to use are >
1568	:let java_javascript=1
1569	:let java_css=1
1570	:let java_vb=1
1571
1572In order to highlight nested parens with different colors define colors
1573for javaParen, javaParen1 and javaParen2, for example with >
1574	:hi link javaParen Comment
1575or >
1576	:hi javaParen ctermfg=blue guifg=#0000ff
1577
1578If you notice highlighting errors while scrolling backwards, which are fixed
1579when redrawing with CTRL-L, try setting the "java_minlines" internal variable
1580to a larger number: >
1581	:let java_minlines = 50
1582This will make the syntax synchronization start 50 lines before the first
1583displayed line.  The default value is 10.  The disadvantage of using a larger
1584number is that redrawing can become slow.
1585
1586
1587LACE						*lace.vim* *ft-lace-syntax*
1588
1589Lace (Language for Assembly of Classes in Eiffel) is case insensitive, but the
1590style guide lines are not.  If you prefer case insensitive highlighting, just
1591define the vim variable 'lace_case_insensitive' in your startup file: >
1592	:let lace_case_insensitive=1
1593
1594
1595LEX						*lex.vim* *ft-lex-syntax*
1596
1597Lex uses brute-force synchronizing as the "^%%$" section delimiter
1598gives no clue as to what section follows.  Consequently, the value for >
1599	:syn sync minlines=300
1600may be changed by the user if s/he is experiencing synchronization
1601difficulties (such as may happen with large lex files).
1602
1603
1604LIFELINES				*lifelines.vim* *ft-lifelines-syntax*
1605
1606To highlight deprecated functions as errors, add in your .vimrc: >
1607
1608	:let g:lifelines_deprecated = 1
1609<
1610
1611LISP						*lisp.vim* *ft-lisp-syntax*
1612
1613The lisp syntax highlighting provides two options: >
1614
1615	g:lisp_instring : if it exists, then "(...)" strings are highlighted
1616			  as if the contents of the string were lisp.
1617			  Useful for AutoLisp.
1618	g:lisp_rainbow  : if it exists and is nonzero, then differing levels
1619			  of parenthesization will receive different
1620			  highlighting.
1621<
1622The g:lisp_rainbow option provides 10 levels of individual colorization for
1623the parentheses and backquoted parentheses.  Because of the quantity of
1624colorization levels, unlike non-rainbow highlighting, the rainbow mode
1625specifies its highlighting using ctermfg and guifg, thereby bypassing the
1626usual colorscheme control using standard highlighting groups.  The actual
1627highlighting used depends on the dark/bright setting  (see |'bg'|).
1628
1629
1630LITE						*lite.vim* *ft-lite-syntax*
1631
1632There are two options for the lite syntax highlighting.
1633
1634If you like SQL syntax highlighting inside Strings, use this: >
1635
1636	:let lite_sql_query = 1
1637
1638For syncing, minlines defaults to 100.	If you prefer another value, you can
1639set "lite_minlines" to the value you desire.  Example: >
1640
1641	:let lite_minlines = 200
1642
1643
1644LPC						*lpc.vim* *ft-lpc-syntax*
1645
1646LPC stands for a simple, memory-efficient language: Lars Pensj| C.  The
1647file name of LPC is usually *.c.  Recognizing these files as LPC would bother
1648users writing only C programs.	If you want to use LPC syntax in Vim, you
1649should set a variable in your .vimrc file: >
1650
1651	:let lpc_syntax_for_c = 1
1652
1653If it doesn't work properly for some particular C or LPC files, use a
1654modeline.  For a LPC file:
1655
1656	// vim:set ft=lpc:
1657
1658For a C file that is recognized as LPC:
1659
1660	// vim:set ft=c:
1661
1662If you don't want to set the variable, use the modeline in EVERY LPC file.
1663
1664There are several implementations for LPC, we intend to support most widely
1665used ones.  Here the default LPC syntax is for MudOS series, for MudOS v22
1666and before, you should turn off the sensible modifiers, and this will also
1667asserts the new efuns after v22 to be invalid, don't set this variable when
1668you are using the latest version of MudOS: >
1669
1670	:let lpc_pre_v22 = 1
1671
1672For LpMud 3.2 series of LPC: >
1673
1674	:let lpc_compat_32 = 1
1675
1676For LPC4 series of LPC: >
1677
1678	:let lpc_use_lpc4_syntax = 1
1679
1680For uLPC series of LPC:
1681uLPC has been developed to Pike, so you should use Pike syntax
1682instead, and the name of your source file should be *.pike
1683
1684
1685LUA						*lua.vim* *ft-lua-syntax*
1686
1687This syntax file may be used for Lua 4.0, Lua 5.0 or Lua 5.1 (the latter is
1688the default). You can select one of these versions using the global variables
1689lua_version and lua_subversion. For example, to activate Lua
16904.0 syntax highlighting, use this command: >
1691
1692	:let lua_version = 4
1693
1694If you are using Lua 5.0, use these commands: >
1695
1696	:let lua_version = 5
1697	:let lua_subversion = 0
1698
1699To restore highlighting for Lua 5.1: >
1700
1701	:let lua_version = 5
1702	:let lua_subversion = 1
1703
1704
1705MAIL						*mail.vim* *ft-mail.vim*
1706
1707Vim highlights all the standard elements of an email (headers, signatures,
1708quoted text and URLs / email addresses).  In keeping with standard conventions,
1709signatures begin in a line containing only "--" followed optionally by
1710whitespaces and end with a newline.
1711
1712Vim treats lines beginning with ']', '}', '|', '>' or a word followed by '>'
1713as quoted text.  However Vim highlights headers and signatures in quoted text
1714only if the text is quoted with '>' (optionally followed by one space).
1715
1716By default mail.vim synchronises syntax to 100 lines before the first
1717displayed line.  If you have a slow machine, and generally deal with emails
1718with short headers, you can change this to a smaller value: >
1719
1720    :let mail_minlines = 30
1721
1722
1723MAKE						*make.vim* *ft-make-syntax*
1724
1725In makefiles, commands are usually highlighted to make it easy for you to spot
1726errors.  However, this may be too much coloring for you.  You can turn this
1727feature off by using: >
1728
1729	:let make_no_commands = 1
1730
1731
1732MAPLE						*maple.vim* *ft-maple-syntax*
1733
1734Maple V, by Waterloo Maple Inc, supports symbolic algebra.  The language
1735supports many packages of functions which are selectively loaded by the user.
1736The standard set of packages' functions as supplied in Maple V release 4 may be
1737highlighted at the user's discretion.  Users may place in their .vimrc file: >
1738
1739	:let mvpkg_all= 1
1740
1741to get all package functions highlighted, or users may select any subset by
1742choosing a variable/package from the table below and setting that variable to
17431, also in their .vimrc file (prior to sourcing
1744$VIMRUNTIME/syntax/syntax.vim).
1745
1746	Table of Maple V Package Function Selectors >
1747  mv_DEtools	 mv_genfunc	mv_networks	mv_process
1748  mv_Galois	 mv_geometry	mv_numapprox	mv_simplex
1749  mv_GaussInt	 mv_grobner	mv_numtheory	mv_stats
1750  mv_LREtools	 mv_group	mv_orthopoly	mv_student
1751  mv_combinat	 mv_inttrans	mv_padic	mv_sumtools
1752  mv_combstruct mv_liesymm	mv_plots	mv_tensor
1753  mv_difforms	 mv_linalg	mv_plottools	mv_totorder
1754  mv_finance	 mv_logic	mv_powseries
1755
1756
1757MATHEMATICA		*mma.vim* *ft-mma-syntax* *ft-mathematica-syntax*
1758
1759Empty *.m files will automatically be presumed to be Matlab files unless you
1760have the following in your .vimrc: >
1761
1762	let filetype_m = "mma"
1763
1764
1765MOO						*moo.vim* *ft-moo-syntax*
1766
1767If you use C-style comments inside expressions and find it mangles your
1768highlighting, you may want to use extended (slow!) matches for C-style
1769comments: >
1770
1771	:let moo_extended_cstyle_comments = 1
1772
1773To disable highlighting of pronoun substitution patterns inside strings: >
1774
1775	:let moo_no_pronoun_sub = 1
1776
1777To disable highlighting of the regular expression operator '%|', and matching
1778'%(' and '%)' inside strings: >
1779
1780	:let moo_no_regexp = 1
1781
1782Unmatched double quotes can be recognized and highlighted as errors: >
1783
1784	:let moo_unmatched_quotes = 1
1785
1786To highlight builtin properties (.name, .location, .programmer etc.): >
1787
1788	:let moo_builtin_properties = 1
1789
1790Unknown builtin functions can be recognized and highlighted as errors.  If you
1791use this option, add your own extensions to the mooKnownBuiltinFunction group.
1792To enable this option: >
1793
1794	:let moo_unknown_builtin_functions = 1
1795
1796An example of adding sprintf() to the list of known builtin functions: >
1797
1798	:syn keyword mooKnownBuiltinFunction sprintf contained
1799
1800
1801MSQL						*msql.vim* *ft-msql-syntax*
1802
1803There are two options for the msql syntax highlighting.
1804
1805If you like SQL syntax highlighting inside Strings, use this: >
1806
1807	:let msql_sql_query = 1
1808
1809For syncing, minlines defaults to 100.	If you prefer another value, you can
1810set "msql_minlines" to the value you desire.  Example: >
1811
1812	:let msql_minlines = 200
1813
1814
1815NCF						*ncf.vim* *ft-ncf-syntax*
1816
1817There is one option for NCF syntax highlighting.
1818
1819If you want to have unrecognized (by ncf.vim) statements highlighted as
1820errors, use this: >
1821
1822	:let ncf_highlight_unknowns = 1
1823
1824If you don't want to highlight these errors, leave it unset.
1825
1826
1827NROFF						*nroff.vim* *ft-nroff-syntax*
1828
1829The nroff syntax file works with AT&T n/troff out of the box.  You need to
1830activate the GNU groff extra features included in the syntax file before you
1831can use them.
1832
1833For example, Linux and BSD distributions use groff as their default text
1834processing package.  In order to activate the extra syntax highlighting
1835features for groff, add the following option to your start-up files: >
1836
1837  :let b:nroff_is_groff = 1
1838
1839Groff is different from the old AT&T n/troff that you may still find in
1840Solaris.  Groff macro and request names can be longer than 2 characters and
1841there are extensions to the language primitives.  For example, in AT&T troff
1842you access the year as a 2-digit number with the request \(yr.  In groff you
1843can use the same request, recognized for compatibility, or you can use groff's
1844native syntax, \[yr].  Furthermore, you can use a 4-digit year directly:
1845\[year].  Macro requests can be longer than 2 characters, for example, GNU mm
1846accepts the requests ".VERBON" and ".VERBOFF" for creating verbatim
1847environments.
1848
1849In order to obtain the best formatted output g/troff can give you, you should
1850follow a few simple rules about spacing and punctuation.
1851
18521. Do not leave empty spaces at the end of lines.
1853
18542. Leave one space and one space only after an end-of-sentence period,
1855   exclamation mark, etc.
1856
18573. For reasons stated below, it is best to follow all period marks with a
1858   carriage return.
1859
1860The reason behind these unusual tips is that g/n/troff have a line breaking
1861algorithm that can be easily upset if you don't follow the rules given above.
1862
1863Unlike TeX, troff fills text line-by-line, not paragraph-by-paragraph and,
1864furthermore, it does not have a concept of glue or stretch, all horizontal and
1865vertical space input will be output as is.
1866
1867Therefore, you should be careful about not using more space between sentences
1868than you intend to have in your final document.  For this reason, the common
1869practice is to insert a carriage return immediately after all punctuation
1870marks.  If you want to have "even" text in your final processed output, you
1871need to maintaining regular spacing in the input text.  To mark both trailing
1872spaces and two or more spaces after a punctuation as an error, use: >
1873
1874  :let nroff_space_errors = 1
1875
1876Another technique to detect extra spacing and other errors that will interfere
1877with the correct typesetting of your file, is to define an eye-catching
1878highlighting definition for the syntax groups "nroffDefinition" and
1879"nroffDefSpecial" in your configuration files.  For example: >
1880
1881  hi def nroffDefinition term=italic cterm=italic gui=reverse
1882  hi def nroffDefSpecial term=italic,bold cterm=italic,bold
1883			 \ gui=reverse,bold
1884
1885If you want to navigate preprocessor entries in your source file as easily as
1886with section markers, you can activate the following option in your .vimrc
1887file: >
1888
1889	let b:preprocs_as_sections = 1
1890
1891As well, the syntax file adds an extra paragraph marker for the extended
1892paragraph macro (.XP) in the ms package.
1893
1894Finally, there is a |groff.vim| syntax file that can be used for enabling
1895groff syntax highlighting either on a file basis or globally by default.
1896
1897
1898OCAML						*ocaml.vim* *ft-ocaml-syntax*
1899
1900The OCaml syntax file handles files having the following prefixes: .ml,
1901.mli, .mll and .mly.  By setting the following variable >
1902
1903	:let ocaml_revised = 1
1904
1905you can switch from standard OCaml-syntax to revised syntax as supported
1906by the camlp4 preprocessor.  Setting the variable >
1907
1908	:let ocaml_noend_error = 1
1909
1910prevents highlighting of "end" as error, which is useful when sources
1911contain very long structures that Vim does not synchronize anymore.
1912
1913
1914PAPP						*papp.vim* *ft-papp-syntax*
1915
1916The PApp syntax file handles .papp files and, to a lesser extend, .pxml
1917and .pxsl files which are all a mixture of perl/xml/html/other using xml
1918as the top-level file format.  By default everything inside phtml or pxml
1919sections is treated as a string with embedded preprocessor commands.  If
1920you set the variable: >
1921
1922	:let papp_include_html=1
1923
1924in your startup file it will try to syntax-hilight html code inside phtml
1925sections, but this is relatively slow and much too colourful to be able to
1926edit sensibly. ;)
1927
1928The newest version of the papp.vim syntax file can usually be found at
1929http://papp.plan9.de.
1930
1931
1932PASCAL						*pascal.vim* *ft-pascal-syntax*
1933
1934Files matching "*.p" could be Progress or Pascal.  If the automatic detection
1935doesn't work for you, or you don't edit Progress at all, use this in your
1936startup vimrc: >
1937
1938   :let filetype_p = "pascal"
1939
1940The Pascal syntax file has been extended to take into account some extensions
1941provided by Turbo Pascal, Free Pascal Compiler and GNU Pascal Compiler.
1942Delphi keywords are also supported.  By default, Turbo Pascal 7.0 features are
1943enabled.  If you prefer to stick with the standard Pascal keywords, add the
1944following line to your startup file: >
1945
1946   :let pascal_traditional=1
1947
1948To switch on Delphi specific constructions (such as one-line comments,
1949keywords, etc): >
1950
1951   :let pascal_delphi=1
1952
1953
1954The option pascal_symbol_operator controls whether symbol operators such as +,
1955*, .., etc. are displayed using the Operator color or not.  To colorize symbol
1956operators, add the following line to your startup file: >
1957
1958   :let pascal_symbol_operator=1
1959
1960Some functions are highlighted by default.  To switch it off: >
1961
1962   :let pascal_no_functions=1
1963
1964Furthermore, there are specific variables for some compilers.  Besides
1965pascal_delphi, there are pascal_gpc and pascal_fpc.  Default extensions try to
1966match Turbo Pascal. >
1967
1968   :let pascal_gpc=1
1969
1970or >
1971
1972   :let pascal_fpc=1
1973
1974To ensure that strings are defined on a single line, you can define the
1975pascal_one_line_string variable. >
1976
1977   :let pascal_one_line_string=1
1978
1979If you dislike <Tab> chars, you can set the pascal_no_tabs variable.  Tabs
1980will be highlighted as Error. >
1981
1982   :let pascal_no_tabs=1
1983
1984
1985
1986PERL						*perl.vim* *ft-perl-syntax*
1987
1988There are a number of possible options to the perl syntax highlighting.
1989
1990If you use POD files or POD segments, you might: >
1991
1992	:let perl_include_pod = 1
1993
1994The reduce the complexity of parsing (and increase performance) you can switch
1995off two elements in the parsing of variable names and contents. >
1996
1997To handle package references in variable and function names not differently
1998from the rest of the name (like 'PkgName::' in '$PkgName::VarName'): >
1999
2000	:let perl_no_scope_in_variables = 1
2001
2002(In Vim 6.x it was the other way around: "perl_want_scope_in_variables"
2003enabled it.)
2004
2005If you do not want complex things like '@{${"foo"}}' to be parsed: >
2006
2007	:let perl_no_extended_vars = 1
2008
2009(In Vim 6.x it was the other way around: "perl_extended_vars" enabled it.)
2010
2011The coloring strings can be changed.  By default strings and qq friends will be
2012highlighted like the first line.  If you set the variable
2013perl_string_as_statement, it will be highlighted as in the second line.
2014
2015   "hello world!"; qq|hello world|;
2016   ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^NN^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^N	  (unlet perl_string_as_statement)
2017   S^^^^^^^^^^^^SNNSSS^^^^^^^^^^^SN	  (let perl_string_as_statement)
2018
2019(^ = perlString, S = perlStatement, N = None at all)
2020
2021The syncing has 3 options.  The first two switch off some triggering of
2022synchronization and should only be needed in case it fails to work properly.
2023If while scrolling all of a sudden the whole screen changes color completely
2024then you should try and switch off one of those.  Let me know if you can figure
2025out the line that causes the mistake.
2026
2027One triggers on "^\s*sub\s*" and the other on "^[$@%]" more or less. >
2028
2029	:let perl_no_sync_on_sub
2030	:let perl_no_sync_on_global_var
2031
2032Below you can set the maximum distance VIM should look for starting points for
2033its attempts in syntax highlighting. >
2034
2035	:let perl_sync_dist = 100
2036
2037If you want to use folding with perl, set perl_fold: >
2038
2039	:let perl_fold = 1
2040
2041If you want to fold blocks in if statements, etc. as well set the following: >
2042
2043	:let perl_fold_blocks = 1
2044
2045To avoid folding packages or subs when perl_fold is let, let the appropriate
2046variable(s): >
2047
2048	:unlet perl_nofold_packages
2049	:unlet perl_nofold_subs
2050
2051
2052
2053PHP3 and PHP4		*php.vim* *php3.vim* *ft-php-syntax* *ft-php3-syntax*
2054
2055[note: previously this was called "php3", but since it now also supports php4
2056it has been renamed to "php"]
2057
2058There are the following options for the php syntax highlighting.
2059
2060If you like SQL syntax highlighting inside Strings: >
2061
2062  let php_sql_query = 1
2063
2064For highlighting the Baselib methods: >
2065
2066  let php_baselib = 1
2067
2068Enable HTML syntax highlighting inside strings: >
2069
2070  let php_htmlInStrings = 1
2071
2072Using the old colorstyle: >
2073
2074  let php_oldStyle = 1
2075
2076Enable highlighting ASP-style short tags: >
2077
2078  let php_asp_tags = 1
2079
2080Disable short tags: >
2081
2082  let php_noShortTags = 1
2083
2084For highlighting parent error ] or ): >
2085
2086  let php_parent_error_close = 1
2087
2088For skipping an php end tag, if there exists an open ( or [ without a closing
2089one: >
2090
2091  let php_parent_error_open = 1
2092
2093Enable folding for classes and functions: >
2094
2095  let php_folding = 1
2096
2097Selecting syncing method: >
2098
2099  let php_sync_method = x
2100
2101x = -1 to sync by search (default),
2102x > 0 to sync at least x lines backwards,
2103x = 0 to sync from start.
2104
2105
2106PLAINTEX				*plaintex.vim* *ft-plaintex-syntax*
2107
2108TeX is a typesetting language, and plaintex is the file type for the "plain"
2109variant of TeX.  If you never want your *.tex files recognized as plain TeX,
2110see |ft-tex-plugin|.
2111
2112This syntax file has the option >
2113
2114	let g:plaintex_delimiters = 1
2115
2116if you want to highlight brackets "[]" and braces "{}".
2117
2118
2119PPWIZARD					*ppwiz.vim* *ft-ppwiz-syntax*
2120
2121PPWizard is a preprocessor for HTML and OS/2 INF files
2122
2123This syntax file has the options:
2124
2125- ppwiz_highlight_defs : determines highlighting mode for PPWizard's
2126  definitions.  Possible values are
2127
2128  ppwiz_highlight_defs = 1 : PPWizard #define statements retain the
2129    colors of their contents (e.g. PPWizard macros and variables)
2130
2131  ppwiz_highlight_defs = 2 : preprocessor #define and #evaluate
2132    statements are shown in a single color with the exception of line
2133    continuation symbols
2134
2135  The default setting for ppwiz_highlight_defs is 1.
2136
2137- ppwiz_with_html : If the value is 1 (the default), highlight literal
2138  HTML code; if 0, treat HTML code like ordinary text.
2139
2140
2141PHTML						*phtml.vim* *ft-phtml-syntax*
2142
2143There are two options for the phtml syntax highlighting.
2144
2145If you like SQL syntax highlighting inside Strings, use this: >
2146
2147	:let phtml_sql_query = 1
2148
2149For syncing, minlines defaults to 100.	If you prefer another value, you can
2150set "phtml_minlines" to the value you desire.  Example: >
2151
2152	:let phtml_minlines = 200
2153
2154
2155POSTSCRIPT				*postscr.vim* *ft-postscr-syntax*
2156
2157There are several options when it comes to highlighting PostScript.
2158
2159First which version of the PostScript language to highlight.  There are
2160currently three defined language versions, or levels.  Level 1 is the original
2161and base version, and includes all extensions prior to the release of level 2.
2162Level 2 is the most common version around, and includes its own set of
2163extensions prior to the release of level 3.  Level 3 is currently the highest
2164level supported.  You select which level of the PostScript language you want
2165highlighted by defining the postscr_level variable as follows: >
2166
2167	:let postscr_level=2
2168
2169If this variable is not defined it defaults to 2 (level 2) since this is
2170the most prevalent version currently.
2171
2172Note, not all PS interpreters will support all language features for a
2173particular language level.  In particular the %!PS-Adobe-3.0 at the start of
2174PS files does NOT mean the PostScript present is level 3 PostScript!
2175
2176If you are working with Display PostScript, you can include highlighting of
2177Display PS language features by defining the postscr_display variable as
2178follows: >
2179
2180	:let postscr_display=1
2181
2182If you are working with Ghostscript, you can include highlighting of
2183Ghostscript specific language features by defining the variable
2184postscr_ghostscript as follows: >
2185
2186	:let postscr_ghostscript=1
2187
2188PostScript is a large language, with many predefined elements.	While it
2189useful to have all these elements highlighted, on slower machines this can
2190cause Vim to slow down.  In an attempt to be machine friendly font names and
2191character encodings are not highlighted by default.  Unless you are working
2192explicitly with either of these this should be ok.  If you want them to be
2193highlighted you should set one or both of the following variables: >
2194
2195	:let postscr_fonts=1
2196	:let postscr_encodings=1
2197
2198There is a stylistic option to the highlighting of and, or, and not.  In
2199PostScript the function of these operators depends on the types of their
2200operands - if the operands are booleans then they are the logical operators,
2201if they are integers then they are binary operators.  As binary and logical
2202operators can be highlighted differently they have to be highlighted one way
2203or the other.  By default they are treated as logical operators.  They can be
2204highlighted as binary operators by defining the variable
2205postscr_andornot_binary as follows: >
2206
2207	:let postscr_andornot_binary=1
2208<
2209
2210			*ptcap.vim* *ft-printcap-syntax*
2211PRINTCAP + TERMCAP	*ft-ptcap-syntax* *ft-termcap-syntax*
2212
2213This syntax file applies to the printcap and termcap databases.
2214
2215In order for Vim to recognize printcap/termcap files that do not match
2216the patterns *printcap*, or *termcap*, you must put additional patterns
2217appropriate to your system in your |myfiletypefile| file.  For these
2218patterns, you must set the variable "b:ptcap_type" to either "print" or
2219"term", and then the 'filetype' option to ptcap.
2220
2221For example, to make Vim identify all files in /etc/termcaps/ as termcap
2222files, add the following: >
2223
2224   :au BufNewFile,BufRead /etc/termcaps/* let b:ptcap_type = "term" |
2225				       \ set filetype=ptcap
2226
2227If you notice highlighting errors while scrolling backwards, which
2228are fixed when redrawing with CTRL-L, try setting the "ptcap_minlines"
2229internal variable to a larger number: >
2230
2231   :let ptcap_minlines = 50
2232
2233(The default is 20 lines.)
2234
2235
2236PROGRESS				*progress.vim* *ft-progress-syntax*
2237
2238Files matching "*.w" could be Progress or cweb.  If the automatic detection
2239doesn't work for you, or you don't edit cweb at all, use this in your
2240startup vimrc: >
2241   :let filetype_w = "progress"
2242The same happens for "*.i", which could be assembly, and "*.p", which could be
2243Pascal.  Use this if you don't use assembly and Pascal: >
2244   :let filetype_i = "progress"
2245   :let filetype_p = "progress"
2246
2247
2248PYTHON						*python.vim* *ft-python-syntax*
2249
2250There are four options to control Python syntax highlighting.
2251
2252For highlighted numbers: >
2253	:let python_highlight_numbers = 1
2254
2255For highlighted builtin functions: >
2256	:let python_highlight_builtins = 1
2257
2258For highlighted standard exceptions: >
2259	:let python_highlight_exceptions = 1
2260
2261For highlighted trailing whitespace and mix of spaces and tabs:
2262	:let python_highlight_space_errors = 1
2263
2264If you want all possible Python highlighting (the same as setting the
2265preceding three options): >
2266	:let python_highlight_all = 1
2267
2268
2269QUAKE						*quake.vim* *ft-quake-syntax*
2270
2271The Quake syntax definition should work for most any FPS (First Person
2272Shooter) based on one of the Quake engines.  However, the command names vary
2273a bit between the three games (Quake, Quake 2, and Quake 3 Arena) so the
2274syntax definition checks for the existence of three global variables to allow
2275users to specify what commands are legal in their files.  The three variables
2276can be set for the following effects:
2277
2278set to highlight commands only available in Quake: >
2279	:let quake_is_quake1 = 1
2280
2281set to highlight commands only available in Quake 2: >
2282	:let quake_is_quake2 = 1
2283
2284set to highlight commands only available in Quake 3 Arena: >
2285	:let quake_is_quake3 = 1
2286
2287Any combination of these three variables is legal, but might highlight more
2288commands than are actually available to you by the game.
2289
2290
2291READLINE				*readline.vim* *ft-readline-syntax*
2292
2293The readline library is primarily used by the BASH shell, which adds quite a
2294few commands and options to the ones already available.  To highlight these
2295items as well you can add the following to your |vimrc| or just type it in the
2296command line before loading a file with the readline syntax: >
2297	let readline_has_bash = 1
2298
2299This will add highlighting for the commands that BASH (version 2.05a and
2300later, and part earlier) adds.
2301
2302
2303REXX						*rexx.vim* *ft-rexx-syntax*
2304
2305If you notice highlighting errors while scrolling backwards, which are fixed
2306when redrawing with CTRL-L, try setting the "rexx_minlines" internal variable
2307to a larger number: >
2308	:let rexx_minlines = 50
2309This will make the syntax synchronization start 50 lines before the first
2310displayed line.  The default value is 10.  The disadvantage of using a larger
2311number is that redrawing can become slow.
2312
2313
2314RUBY						*ruby.vim* *ft-ruby-syntax*
2315
2316There are a number of options to the Ruby syntax highlighting.
2317
2318By default, the "end" keyword is colorized according to the opening statement
2319of the block it closes.  While useful, this feature can be expensive; if you
2320experience slow redrawing (or you are on a terminal with poor color support)
2321you may want to turn it off by defining the "ruby_no_expensive" variable: >
2322
2323	:let ruby_no_expensive = 1
2324<
2325In this case the same color will be used for all control keywords.
2326
2327If you do want this feature enabled, but notice highlighting errors while
2328scrolling backwards, which are fixed when redrawing with CTRL-L, try setting
2329the "ruby_minlines" variable to a value larger than 50: >
2330
2331	:let ruby_minlines = 100
2332<
2333Ideally, this value should be a number of lines large enough to embrace your
2334largest class or module.
2335
2336Highlighting of special identifiers can be disabled by removing the
2337rubyIdentifier highlighting: >
2338
2339	:hi link rubyIdentifier NONE
2340<
2341This will prevent highlighting of special identifiers like "ConstantName",
2342"$global_var", "@@class_var", "@instance_var", "| block_param |", and
2343":symbol".
2344
2345Significant methods of Kernel, Module and Object are highlighted by default.
2346This can be disabled by defining "ruby_no_special_methods": >
2347
2348	:let ruby_no_special_methods = 1
2349<
2350This will prevent highlighting of important methods such as "require", "attr",
2351"private", "raise" and "proc".
2352
2353Ruby operators can be highlighted. This is enabled by defining
2354"ruby_operators": >
2355
2356	:let ruby_operators = 1
2357<
2358Whitespace errors can be highlighted by defining "ruby_space_errors": >
2359
2360	:let ruby_space_errors = 1
2361<
2362This will highlight trailing whitespace and tabs preceded by a space character
2363as errors.  This can be refined by defining "ruby_no_trail_space_error" and
2364"ruby_no_tab_space_error" which will ignore trailing whitespace and tabs after
2365spaces respectively.
2366
2367Folding can be enabled by defining "ruby_fold": >
2368
2369	:let ruby_fold = 1
2370<
2371This will set the 'foldmethod' option to "syntax" and allow folding of
2372classes, modules, methods, code blocks, heredocs and comments.
2373
2374Folding of multiline comments can be disabled by defining
2375"ruby_no_comment_fold": >
2376
2377	:let ruby_no_comment_fold = 1
2378<
2379
2380SCHEME						*scheme.vim* *ft-scheme-syntax*
2381
2382By default only R5RS keywords are highlighted and properly indented.
2383
2384MzScheme-specific stuff will be used if b:is_mzscheme or g:is_mzscheme
2385variables are defined.
2386
2387Also scheme.vim supports keywords of the Chicken Scheme->C compiler.  Define
2388b:is_chicken or g:is_chicken, if you need them.
2389
2390
2391SDL						*sdl.vim* *ft-sdl-syntax*
2392
2393The SDL highlighting probably misses a few keywords, but SDL has so many
2394of them it's almost impossibly to cope.
2395
2396The new standard, SDL-2000, specifies that all identifiers are
2397case-sensitive (which was not so before), and that all keywords can be
2398used either completely lowercase or completely uppercase.  To have the
2399highlighting reflect this, you can set the following variable: >
2400	:let sdl_2000=1
2401
2402This also sets many new keywords.  If you want to disable the old
2403keywords, which is probably a good idea, use: >
2404	:let SDL_no_96=1
2405
2406
2407The indentation is probably also incomplete, but right now I am very
2408satisfied with it for my own projects.
2409
2410
2411SED						*sed.vim* *ft-sed-syntax*
2412
2413To make tabs stand out from regular blanks (accomplished by using Todo
2414highlighting on the tabs), define "highlight_sedtabs" by putting >
2415
2416	:let highlight_sedtabs = 1
2417
2418in the vimrc file.  (This special highlighting only applies for tabs
2419inside search patterns, replacement texts, addresses or text included
2420by an Append/Change/Insert command.)  If you enable this option, it is
2421also a good idea to set the tab width to one character; by doing that,
2422you can easily count the number of tabs in a string.
2423
2424Bugs:
2425
2426  The transform command (y) is treated exactly like the substitute
2427  command.  This means that, as far as this syntax file is concerned,
2428  transform accepts the same flags as substitute, which is wrong.
2429  (Transform accepts no flags.)  I tolerate this bug because the
2430  involved commands need very complex treatment (95 patterns, one for
2431  each plausible pattern delimiter).
2432
2433
2434SGML						*sgml.vim* *ft-sgml-syntax*
2435
2436The coloring scheme for tags in the SGML file works as follows.
2437
2438The <> of opening tags are colored differently than the </> of a closing tag.
2439This is on purpose! For opening tags the 'Function' color is used, while for
2440closing tags the 'Type' color is used (See syntax.vim to check how those are
2441defined for you)
2442
2443Known tag names are colored the same way as statements in C.  Unknown tag
2444names are not colored which makes it easy to spot errors.
2445
2446Note that the same is true for argument (or attribute) names.  Known attribute
2447names are colored differently than unknown ones.
2448
2449Some SGML tags are used to change the rendering of text.  The following tags
2450are recognized by the sgml.vim syntax coloring file and change the way normal
2451text is shown: <varname> <emphasis> <command> <function> <literal>
2452<replaceable> <ulink> and <link>.
2453
2454If you want to change how such text is rendered, you must redefine the
2455following syntax groups:
2456
2457    - sgmlBold
2458    - sgmlBoldItalic
2459    - sgmlUnderline
2460    - sgmlItalic
2461    - sgmlLink for links
2462
2463To make this redefinition work you must redefine them all and define the
2464following variable in your vimrc (this is due to the order in which the files
2465are read during initialization) >
2466   let sgml_my_rendering=1
2467
2468You can also disable this rendering by adding the following line to your
2469vimrc file: >
2470   let sgml_no_rendering=1
2471
2472(Adapted from the html.vim help text by Claudio Fleiner <claudio@fleiner.com>)
2473
2474
2475SH		*sh.vim* *ft-sh-syntax* *ft-bash-syntax* *ft-ksh-syntax*
2476
2477This covers the "normal" Unix (Bourne) sh, bash and the Korn shell.
2478
2479Vim attempts to determine which shell type is in use by specifying that
2480various filenames are of specific types: >
2481
2482    ksh : .kshrc* *.ksh
2483    bash: .bashrc* bashrc bash.bashrc .bash_profile* *.bash
2484<
2485If none of these cases pertain, then the first line of the file is examined
2486(ex. /bin/sh  /bin/ksh	/bin/bash).  If the first line specifies a shelltype,
2487then that shelltype is used.  However some files (ex. .profile) are known to
2488be shell files but the type is not apparent.  Furthermore, on many systems
2489sh is symbolically linked to "bash" (Linux, Windows+cygwin) or "ksh" (Posix).
2490
2491One may specify a global default by instantiating one of the following three
2492variables in your <.vimrc>:
2493
2494    ksh: >
2495	let g:is_kornshell = 1
2496<   posix: (using this is the same as setting is_kornshell to 1) >
2497	let g:is_posix     = 1
2498<   bash: >
2499	let g:is_bash	   = 1
2500<   sh: (default) Bourne shell >
2501	let g:is_sh	   = 1
2502
2503If there's no "#! ..." line, and the user hasn't availed himself/herself of a
2504default sh.vim syntax setting as just shown, then syntax/sh.vim will assume
2505the Bourne shell syntax.  No need to quote RFCs or market penetration
2506statistics in error reports, please -- just select the default version of the
2507sh your system uses in your <.vimrc>.
2508
2509The syntax/sh.vim file provides several levels of syntax-based folding: >
2510
2511	let g:sh_fold_enabled= 0     (default, no syntax folding)
2512	let g:sh_fold_enabled= 1     (enable function folding)
2513	let g:sh_fold_enabled= 2     (enable heredoc folding)
2514	let g:sh_fold_enabled= 4     (enable if/do/for folding)
2515>
2516then various syntax items (HereDocuments and function bodies) become
2517syntax-foldable (see |:syn-fold|).  You also may add these together
2518to get multiple types of folding: >
2519
2520	let g:sh_fold_enabled= 3     (enables function and heredoc folding)
2521
2522If you notice highlighting errors while scrolling backwards which are fixed
2523when one redraws with CTRL-L, try setting the "sh_minlines" internal variable
2524to a larger number.  Example: >
2525
2526	let sh_minlines = 500
2527
2528This will make syntax synchronization start 500 lines before the first
2529displayed line.  The default value is 200.  The disadvantage of using a larger
2530number is that redrawing can become slow.
2531
2532If you don't have much to synchronize on, displaying can be very slow.	To
2533reduce this, the "sh_maxlines" internal variable can be set.  Example: >
2534
2535	let sh_maxlines = 100
2536<
2537The default is to use the twice sh_minlines.  Set it to a smaller number to
2538speed up displaying.  The disadvantage is that highlight errors may appear.
2539
2540
2541SPEEDUP (AspenTech plant simulator)		*spup.vim* *ft-spup-syntax*
2542
2543The Speedup syntax file has some options:
2544
2545- strict_subsections : If this variable is defined, only keywords for
2546  sections and subsections will be highlighted as statements but not
2547  other keywords (like WITHIN in the OPERATION section).
2548
2549- highlight_types : Definition of this variable causes stream types
2550  like temperature or pressure to be highlighted as Type, not as a
2551  plain Identifier.  Included are the types that are usually found in
2552  the DECLARE section; if you defined own types, you have to include
2553  them in the syntax file.
2554
2555- oneline_comments : this value ranges from 1 to 3 and determines the
2556  highlighting of # style comments.
2557
2558  oneline_comments = 1 : allow normal Speedup code after an even
2559  number of #s.
2560
2561  oneline_comments = 2 : show code starting with the second # as
2562  error.  This is the default setting.
2563
2564  oneline_comments = 3 : show the whole line as error if it contains
2565  more than one #.
2566
2567Since especially OPERATION sections tend to become very large due to
2568PRESETting variables, syncing may be critical.  If your computer is
2569fast enough, you can increase minlines and/or maxlines near the end of
2570the syntax file.
2571
2572
2573SQL						*sql.vim* *ft-sql-syntax*
2574				*sqlinformix.vim* *ft-sqlinformix-syntax*
2575				*sqlanywhere.vim* *ft-sqlanywhere-syntax*
2576
2577While there is an ANSI standard for SQL, most database engines add their own
2578custom extensions.  Vim currently supports the Oracle and Informix dialects of
2579SQL.  Vim assumes "*.sql" files are Oracle SQL by default.
2580
2581Vim currently has SQL support for a variety of different vendors via syntax
2582scripts.  You can change Vim's default from Oracle to any of the current SQL
2583supported types.  You can also easily alter the SQL dialect being used on a
2584buffer by buffer basis.
2585
2586For more detailed instructions see |ft_sql.txt|.
2587
2588
2589TCSH						*tcsh.vim* *ft-tcsh-syntax*
2590
2591This covers the shell named "tcsh".  It is a superset of csh.  See |csh.vim|
2592for how the filetype is detected.
2593
2594Tcsh does not allow \" in strings unless the "backslash_quote" shell variable
2595is set.  If you want VIM to assume that no backslash quote constructs exist add
2596this line to your .vimrc: >
2597
2598	:let tcsh_backslash_quote = 0
2599
2600If you notice highlighting errors while scrolling backwards, which are fixed
2601when redrawing with CTRL-L, try setting the "tcsh_minlines" internal variable
2602to a larger number: >
2603
2604	:let tcsh_minlines = 1000
2605
2606This will make the syntax synchronization start 1000 lines before the first
2607displayed line.  If you set "tcsh_minlines" to "fromstart", then
2608synchronization is done from the start of the file. The default value for
2609tcsh_minlines is 100.  The disadvantage of using a larger number is that
2610redrawing can become slow.
2611
2612
2613TEX						*tex.vim* *ft-tex-syntax*
2614
2615								*tex-folding*
2616 Tex: Want Syntax Folding? ~
2617
2618As of version 28 of <syntax/tex.vim>, syntax-based folding of parts, chapters,
2619sections, subsections, etc are supported.  Put >
2620	let g:tex_fold_enabled=1
2621in your <.vimrc>, and :set fdm=syntax.  I suggest doing the latter via a
2622modeline at the end of your LaTeX file: >
2623	% vim: fdm=syntax
2624<
2625								*tex-nospell*
2626 Tex: Don't Want Spell Checking In Comments? ~
2627
2628Some folks like to include things like source code in comments and so would
2629prefer that spell checking be disabled in comments in LaTeX files.  To do
2630this, put the following in your <.vimrc>: >
2631      let g:tex_comment_nospell= 1
2632<
2633								*tex-verb*
2634 Tex: Want Spell Checking in Verbatim Zones?~
2635
2636Often verbatim regions are used for things like source code; seldom does
2637one want source code spell-checked.  However, for those of you who do
2638want your verbatim zones spell-checked, put the following in your <.vimrc>: >
2639	let g:tex_verbspell= 1
2640<
2641								*tex-runon*
2642 Tex: Run-on Comments or MathZones ~
2643
2644The <syntax/tex.vim> highlighting supports TeX, LaTeX, and some AmsTeX.  The
2645highlighting supports three primary zones/regions: normal, texZone, and
2646texMathZone.  Although considerable effort has been made to have these zones
2647terminate properly, zones delineated by $..$ and $$..$$ cannot be synchronized
2648as there's no difference between start and end patterns.  Consequently, a
2649special "TeX comment" has been provided >
2650	%stopzone
2651which will forcibly terminate the highlighting of either a texZone or a
2652texMathZone.
2653
2654								*tex-slow*
2655 Tex: Slow Syntax Highlighting? ~
2656
2657If you have a slow computer, you may wish to reduce the values for >
2658	:syn sync maxlines=200
2659	:syn sync minlines=50
2660(especially the latter).  If your computer is fast, you may wish to
2661increase them.	This primarily affects synchronizing (i.e. just what group,
2662if any, is the text at the top of the screen supposed to be in?).
2663
2664					    *tex-morecommands* *tex-package*
2665 Tex: Want To Highlight More Commands? ~
2666
2667LaTeX is a programmable language, and so there are thousands of packages full
2668of specialized LaTeX commands, syntax, and fonts.  If you're using such a
2669package you'll often wish that the distributed syntax/tex.vim would support
2670it.  However, clearly this is impractical.  So please consider using the
2671techniques in |mysyntaxfile-add| to extend or modify the highlighting provided
2672by syntax/tex.vim.
2673
2674								*tex-error*
2675 Tex: Excessive Error Highlighting? ~
2676
2677The <tex.vim> supports lexical error checking of various sorts.  Thus,
2678although the error checking is ofttimes very useful, it can indicate
2679errors where none actually are.  If this proves to be a problem for you,
2680you may put in your <.vimrc> the following statement: >
2681	let tex_no_error=1
2682and all error checking by <syntax/tex.vim> will be suppressed.
2683
2684								*tex-math*
2685 Tex: Need a new Math Group? ~
2686
2687If you want to include a new math group in your LaTeX, the following
2688code shows you an example as to how you might do so: >
2689	call TexNewMathZone(sfx,mathzone,starform)
2690You'll want to provide the new math group with a unique suffix
2691(currently, A-L and V-Z are taken by <syntax/tex.vim> itself).
2692As an example, consider how eqnarray is set up by <syntax/tex.vim>: >
2693	call TexNewMathZone("D","eqnarray",1)
2694You'll need to change "mathzone" to the name of your new math group,
2695and then to the call to it in .vim/after/syntax/tex.vim.
2696The "starform" variable, if true, implies that your new math group
2697has a starred form (ie. eqnarray*).
2698
2699								*tex-style*
2700 Tex: Starting a New Style? ~
2701
2702One may use "\makeatletter" in *.tex files, thereby making the use of "@" in
2703commands available.  However, since the *.tex file doesn't have one of the
2704following suffices: sty cls clo dtx ltx, the syntax highlighting will flag
2705such use of @ as an error.  To solve this: >
2706
2707	:let b:tex_stylish = 1
2708	:set ft=tex
2709
2710Putting "let g:tex_stylish=1" into your <.vimrc> will make <syntax/tex.vim>
2711always accept such use of @.
2712
2713					*tex-cchar* *tex-cole* *tex-conceal*
2714 Tex: Taking Advantage of Conceal Mode~
2715
2716If you have |'conceallevel'| set to 2 and if your encoding is utf-8, then a
2717number of character sequences can be translated into appropriate utf-8 glyphs,
2718including various accented characters, Greek characters in MathZones, and
2719superscripts and subscripts in MathZones.  Not all characters can be made into
2720superscripts or subscripts; the constraint is due to what utf-8 supports.
2721In fact, only a few characters are supported as subscripts.
2722
2723One way to use this is to have vertically split windows (see |CTRL-W_v|); one
2724with |'conceallevel'| at 0 and the other at 2; and both using |'scrollbind'|.
2725
2726							*g:tex_conceal*
2727 Tex: Selective Conceal Mode~
2728
2729You may selectively use conceal mode by setting g:tex_conceal in your
2730<.vimrc>.  By default it is set to "admgs" to enable conceal for the
2731following sets of characters: >
2732
2733	a = accents/ligatures
2734	d = delimiters
2735	m = math symbols
2736	g = Greek
2737	s = superscripts/subscripts
2738<
2739By leaving one or more of these out, the associated conceal-character
2740substitution will not be made.
2741
2742
2743TF						*tf.vim* *ft-tf-syntax*
2744
2745There is one option for the tf syntax highlighting.
2746
2747For syncing, minlines defaults to 100.	If you prefer another value, you can
2748set "tf_minlines" to the value you desire.  Example: >
2749
2750	:let tf_minlines = your choice
2751
2752
2753VIM			*vim.vim*		*ft-vim-syntax*
2754			*g:vimsyn_minlines*	*g:vimsyn_maxlines*
2755There is a trade-off between more accurate syntax highlighting versus screen
2756updating speed.  To improve accuracy, you may wish to increase the
2757g:vimsyn_minlines variable.  The g:vimsyn_maxlines variable may be used to
2758improve screen updating rates (see |:syn-sync| for more on this). >
2759
2760	g:vimsyn_minlines : used to set synchronization minlines
2761	g:vimsyn_maxlines : used to set synchronization maxlines
2762<
2763	(g:vim_minlines and g:vim_maxlines are deprecated variants of
2764	these two options)
2765
2766						*g:vimsyn_embed*
2767The g:vimsyn_embed option allows users to select what, if any, types of
2768embedded script highlighting they wish to have. >
2769
2770   g:vimsyn_embed == 0   : don't embed any scripts
2771   g:vimsyn_embed =~ 'm' : embed mzscheme (but only if vim supports it)
2772   g:vimsyn_embed =~ 'p' : embed perl     (but only if vim supports it)
2773   g:vimsyn_embed =~ 'P' : embed python   (but only if vim supports it)
2774   g:vimsyn_embed =~ 'r' : embed ruby     (but only if vim supports it)
2775   g:vimsyn_embed =~ 't' : embed tcl      (but only if vim supports it)
2776<
2777By default, g:vimsyn_embed is "mpPr"; ie. syntax/vim.vim will support
2778highlighting mzscheme, perl, python, and ruby by default.  Vim's has("tcl")
2779test appears to hang vim when tcl is not truly available.  Thus, by default,
2780tcl is not supported for embedding (but those of you who like tcl embedded in
2781their vim syntax highlighting can simply include it in the g:vimembedscript
2782option).
2783						*g:vimsyn_folding*
2784
2785Some folding is now supported with syntax/vim.vim: >
2786
2787   g:vimsyn_folding == 0 or doesn't exist: no syntax-based folding
2788   g:vimsyn_folding =~ 'a' : augroups
2789   g:vimsyn_folding =~ 'f' : fold functions
2790   g:vimsyn_folding =~ 'm' : fold mzscheme script
2791   g:vimsyn_folding =~ 'p' : fold perl     script
2792   g:vimsyn_folding =~ 'P' : fold python   script
2793   g:vimsyn_folding =~ 'r' : fold ruby     script
2794   g:vimsyn_folding =~ 't' : fold tcl      script
2795
2796							*g:vimsyn_noerror*
2797Not all error highlighting that syntax/vim.vim does may be correct; VimL is a
2798difficult language to highlight correctly.  A way to suppress error
2799highlighting is to put the following line in your |vimrc|: >
2800
2801	let g:vimsyn_noerror = 1
2802<
2803
2804
2805XF86CONFIG				*xf86conf.vim* *ft-xf86conf-syntax*
2806
2807The syntax of XF86Config file differs in XFree86 v3.x and v4.x.  Both
2808variants are supported.  Automatic detection is used, but is far from perfect.
2809You may need to specify the version manually.  Set the variable
2810xf86conf_xfree86_version to 3 or 4 according to your XFree86 version in
2811your .vimrc.  Example: >
2812	:let xf86conf_xfree86_version=3
2813When using a mix of versions, set the b:xf86conf_xfree86_version variable.
2814
2815Note that spaces and underscores in option names are not supported.  Use
2816"SyncOnGreen" instead of "__s yn con gr_e_e_n" if you want the option name
2817highlighted.
2818
2819
2820XML						*xml.vim* *ft-xml-syntax*
2821
2822Xml namespaces are highlighted by default.  This can be inhibited by
2823setting a global variable: >
2824
2825	:let g:xml_namespace_transparent=1
2826<
2827							*xml-folding*
2828The xml syntax file provides syntax |folding| (see |:syn-fold|) between
2829start and end tags.  This can be turned on by >
2830
2831	:let g:xml_syntax_folding = 1
2832	:set foldmethod=syntax
2833
2834Note: syntax folding might slow down syntax highlighting significantly,
2835especially for large files.
2836
2837
2838X Pixmaps (XPM)					*xpm.vim* *ft-xpm-syntax*
2839
2840xpm.vim creates its syntax items dynamically based upon the contents of the
2841XPM file.  Thus if you make changes e.g. in the color specification strings,
2842you have to source it again e.g. with ":set syn=xpm".
2843
2844To copy a pixel with one of the colors, yank a "pixel" with "yl" and insert it
2845somewhere else with "P".
2846
2847Do you want to draw with the mouse?  Try the following: >
2848   :function! GetPixel()
2849   :   let c = getline(".")[col(".") - 1]
2850   :   echo c
2851   :   exe "noremap <LeftMouse> <LeftMouse>r".c
2852   :   exe "noremap <LeftDrag>	<LeftMouse>r".c
2853   :endfunction
2854   :noremap <RightMouse> <LeftMouse>:call GetPixel()<CR>
2855   :set guicursor=n:hor20	   " to see the color beneath the cursor
2856This turns the right button into a pipette and the left button into a pen.
2857It will work with XPM files that have one character per pixel only and you
2858must not click outside of the pixel strings, but feel free to improve it.
2859
2860It will look much better with a font in a quadratic cell size, e.g. for X: >
2861	:set guifont=-*-clean-medium-r-*-*-8-*-*-*-*-80-*
2862
2863==============================================================================
28645. Defining a syntax					*:syn-define* *E410*
2865
2866Vim understands three types of syntax items:
2867
28681. Keyword
2869   It can only contain keyword characters, according to the 'iskeyword'
2870   option.  It cannot contain other syntax items.  It will only match with a
2871   complete word (there are no keyword characters before or after the match).
2872   The keyword "if" would match in "if(a=b)", but not in "ifdef x", because
2873   "(" is not a keyword character and "d" is.
2874
28752. Match
2876   This is a match with a single regexp pattern.
2877
28783. Region
2879   This starts at a match of the "start" regexp pattern and ends with a match
2880   with the "end" regexp pattern.  Any other text can appear in between.  A
2881   "skip" regexp pattern can be used to avoid matching the "end" pattern.
2882
2883Several syntax ITEMs can be put into one syntax GROUP.	For a syntax group
2884you can give highlighting attributes.  For example, you could have an item
2885to define a "/* .. */" comment and another one that defines a "// .." comment,
2886and put them both in the "Comment" group.  You can then specify that a
2887"Comment" will be in bold font and have a blue color.  You are free to make
2888one highlight group for one syntax item, or put all items into one group.
2889This depends on how you want to specify your highlighting attributes.  Putting
2890each item in its own group results in having to specify the highlighting
2891for a lot of groups.
2892
2893Note that a syntax group and a highlight group are similar.  For a highlight
2894group you will have given highlight attributes.  These attributes will be used
2895for the syntax group with the same name.
2896
2897In case more than one item matches at the same position, the one that was
2898defined LAST wins.  Thus you can override previously defined syntax items by
2899using an item that matches the same text.  But a keyword always goes before a
2900match or region.  And a keyword with matching case always goes before a
2901keyword with ignoring case.
2902
2903
2904PRIORITY						*:syn-priority*
2905
2906When several syntax items may match, these rules are used:
2907
29081. When multiple Match or Region items start in the same position, the item
2909   defined last has priority.
29102. A Keyword has priority over Match and Region items.
29113. An item that starts in an earlier position has priority over items that
2912   start in later positions.
2913
2914
2915DEFINING CASE						*:syn-case* *E390*
2916
2917:sy[ntax] case [match | ignore]
2918	This defines if the following ":syntax" commands will work with
2919	matching case, when using "match", or with ignoring case, when using
2920	"ignore".  Note that any items before this are not affected, and all
2921	items until the next ":syntax case" command are affected.
2922
2923
2924SPELL CHECKING						*:syn-spell*
2925
2926:sy[ntax] spell [toplevel | notoplevel | default]
2927	This defines where spell checking is to be done for text that is not
2928	in a syntax item:
2929
2930	toplevel:	Text is spell checked.
2931	notoplevel:	Text is not spell checked.
2932	default:	When there is a @Spell cluster no spell checking.
2933
2934	For text in syntax items use the @Spell and @NoSpell clusters
2935	|spell-syntax|.  When there is no @Spell and no @NoSpell cluster then
2936	spell checking is done for "default" and "toplevel".
2937
2938	To activate spell checking the 'spell' option must be set.
2939
2940
2941DEFINING KEYWORDS					*:syn-keyword*
2942
2943:sy[ntax] keyword {group-name} [{options}] {keyword} .. [{options}]
2944
2945	This defines a number of keywords.
2946
2947	{group-name}	Is a syntax group name such as "Comment".
2948	[{options}]	See |:syn-arguments| below.
2949	{keyword} ..	Is a list of keywords which are part of this group.
2950
2951	Example: >
2952  :syntax keyword   Type   int long char
2953<
2954	The {options} can be given anywhere in the line.  They will apply to
2955	all keywords given, also for options that come after a keyword.
2956	These examples do exactly the same: >
2957  :syntax keyword   Type   contained int long char
2958  :syntax keyword   Type   int long contained char
2959  :syntax keyword   Type   int long char contained
2960<								*E789*
2961	When you have a keyword with an optional tail, like Ex commands in
2962	Vim, you can put the optional characters inside [], to define all the
2963	variations at once: >
2964  :syntax keyword   vimCommand	 ab[breviate] n[ext]
2965<
2966	Don't forget that a keyword can only be recognized if all the
2967	characters are included in the 'iskeyword' option.  If one character
2968	isn't, the keyword will never be recognized.
2969	Multi-byte characters can also be used.  These do not have to be in
2970	'iskeyword'.
2971
2972	A keyword always has higher priority than a match or region, the
2973	keyword is used if more than one item matches.	Keywords do not nest
2974	and a keyword can't contain anything else.
2975
2976	Note that when you have a keyword that is the same as an option (even
2977	one that isn't allowed here), you can not use it.  Use a match
2978	instead.
2979
2980	The maximum length of a keyword is 80 characters.
2981
2982	The same keyword can be defined multiple times, when its containment
2983	differs.  For example, you can define the keyword once not contained
2984	and use one highlight group, and once contained, and use a different
2985	highlight group.  Example: >
2986  :syn keyword vimCommand tag
2987  :syn keyword vimSetting contained tag
2988<	When finding "tag" outside of any syntax item, the "vimCommand"
2989	highlight group is used.  When finding "tag" in a syntax item that
2990	contains "vimSetting", the "vimSetting" group is used.
2991
2992
2993DEFINING MATCHES					*:syn-match*
2994
2995:sy[ntax] match {group-name} [{options}] [excludenl] {pattern} [{options}]
2996
2997	This defines one match.
2998
2999	{group-name}		A syntax group name such as "Comment".
3000	[{options}]		See |:syn-arguments| below.
3001	[excludenl]		Don't make a pattern with the end-of-line "$"
3002				extend a containing match or region.  Must be
3003				given before the pattern. |:syn-excludenl|
3004	{pattern}		The search pattern that defines the match.
3005				See |:syn-pattern| below.
3006				Note that the pattern may match more than one
3007				line, which makes the match depend on where
3008				Vim starts searching for the pattern.  You
3009				need to make sure syncing takes care of this.
3010
3011	Example (match a character constant): >
3012  :syntax match Character /'.'/hs=s+1,he=e-1
3013<
3014
3015DEFINING REGIONS	*:syn-region* *:syn-start* *:syn-skip* *:syn-end*
3016							*E398* *E399*
3017:sy[ntax] region {group-name} [{options}]
3018		[matchgroup={group-name}]
3019		[keepend]
3020		[extend]
3021		[excludenl]
3022		start={start_pattern} ..
3023		[skip={skip_pattern}]
3024		end={end_pattern} ..
3025		[{options}]
3026
3027	This defines one region.  It may span several lines.
3028
3029	{group-name}		A syntax group name such as "Comment".
3030	[{options}]		See |:syn-arguments| below.
3031	[matchgroup={group-name}]  The syntax group to use for the following
3032				start or end pattern matches only.  Not used
3033				for the text in between the matched start and
3034				end patterns.  Use NONE to reset to not using
3035				a different group for the start or end match.
3036				See |:syn-matchgroup|.
3037	keepend			Don't allow contained matches to go past a
3038				match with the end pattern.  See
3039				|:syn-keepend|.
3040	extend			Override a "keepend" for an item this region
3041				is contained in.  See |:syn-extend|.
3042	excludenl		Don't make a pattern with the end-of-line "$"
3043				extend a containing match or item.  Only
3044				useful for end patterns.  Must be given before
3045				the patterns it applies to. |:syn-excludenl|
3046	start={start_pattern}	The search pattern that defines the start of
3047				the region.  See |:syn-pattern| below.
3048	skip={skip_pattern}	The search pattern that defines text inside
3049				the region where not to look for the end
3050				pattern.  See |:syn-pattern| below.
3051	end={end_pattern}	The search pattern that defines the end of
3052				the region.  See |:syn-pattern| below.
3053
3054	Example: >
3055  :syntax region String   start=+"+  skip=+\\"+  end=+"+
3056<
3057	The start/skip/end patterns and the options can be given in any order.
3058	There can be zero or one skip pattern.	There must be one or more
3059	start and end patterns.  This means that you can omit the skip
3060	pattern, but you must give at least one start and one end pattern.  It
3061	is allowed to have white space before and after the equal sign
3062	(although it mostly looks better without white space).
3063
3064	When more than one start pattern is given, a match with one of these
3065	is sufficient.	This means there is an OR relation between the start
3066	patterns.  The last one that matches is used.  The same is true for
3067	the end patterns.
3068
3069	The search for the end pattern starts right after the start pattern.
3070	Offsets are not used for this.	This implies that the match for the
3071	end pattern will never overlap with the start pattern.
3072
3073	The skip and end pattern can match across line breaks, but since the
3074	search for the pattern can start in any line it often does not do what
3075	you want.  The skip pattern doesn't avoid a match of an end pattern in
3076	the next line.	Use single-line patterns to avoid trouble.
3077
3078	Note: The decision to start a region is only based on a matching start
3079	pattern.  There is no check for a matching end pattern.  This does NOT
3080	work: >
3081		:syn region First  start="("  end=":"
3082		:syn region Second start="("  end=";"
3083<	The Second always matches before the First (last defined pattern has
3084	higher priority).  The Second region then continues until the next
3085	';', no matter if there is a ':' before it.  Using a match does work: >
3086		:syn match First  "(\_.\{-}:"
3087		:syn match Second "(\_.\{-};"
3088<	This pattern matches any character or line break with "\_." and
3089	repeats that with "\{-}" (repeat as few as possible).
3090
3091							*:syn-keepend*
3092	By default, a contained match can obscure a match for the end pattern.
3093	This is useful for nesting.  For example, a region that starts with
3094	"{" and ends with "}", can contain another region.  An encountered "}"
3095	will then end the contained region, but not the outer region:
3096	    {		starts outer "{}" region
3097		{	starts contained "{}" region
3098		}	ends contained "{}" region
3099	    }		ends outer "{} region
3100	If you don't want this, the "keepend" argument will make the matching
3101	of an end pattern of the outer region also end any contained item.
3102	This makes it impossible to nest the same region, but allows for
3103	contained items to highlight parts of the end pattern, without causing
3104	that to skip the match with the end pattern.  Example: >
3105  :syn match  vimComment +"[^"]\+$+
3106  :syn region vimCommand start="set" end="$" contains=vimComment keepend
3107<	The "keepend" makes the vimCommand always end at the end of the line,
3108	even though the contained vimComment includes a match with the <EOL>.
3109
3110	When "keepend" is not used, a match with an end pattern is retried
3111	after each contained match.  When "keepend" is included, the first
3112	encountered match with an end pattern is used, truncating any
3113	contained matches.
3114							*:syn-extend*
3115	The "keepend" behavior can be changed by using the "extend" argument.
3116	When an item with "extend" is contained in an item that uses
3117	"keepend", the "keepend" is ignored and the containing region will be
3118	extended.
3119	This can be used to have some contained items extend a region while
3120	others don't.  Example: >
3121
3122   :syn region htmlRef start=+<a>+ end=+</a>+ keepend contains=htmlItem,htmlScript
3123   :syn match htmlItem +<[^>]*>+ contained
3124   :syn region htmlScript start=+<script+ end=+</script[^>]*>+ contained extend
3125
3126<	Here the htmlItem item does not make the htmlRef item continue
3127	further, it is only used to highlight the <> items.  The htmlScript
3128	item does extend the htmlRef item.
3129
3130	Another example: >
3131   :syn region xmlFold start="<a>" end="</a>" fold transparent keepend extend
3132<	This defines a region with "keepend", so that its end cannot be
3133	changed by contained items, like when the "</a>" is matched to
3134	highlight it differently.  But when the xmlFold region is nested (it
3135	includes itself), the "extend" applies, so that the "</a>" of a nested
3136	region only ends that region, and not the one it is contained in.
3137
3138							*:syn-excludenl*
3139	When a pattern for a match or end pattern of a region includes a '$'
3140	to match the end-of-line, it will make a region item that it is
3141	contained in continue on the next line.  For example, a match with
3142	"\\$" (backslash at the end of the line) can make a region continue
3143	that would normally stop at the end of the line.  This is the default
3144	behavior.  If this is not wanted, there are two ways to avoid it:
3145	1. Use "keepend" for the containing item.  This will keep all
3146	   contained matches from extending the match or region.  It can be
3147	   used when all contained items must not extend the containing item.
3148	2. Use "excludenl" in the contained item.  This will keep that match
3149	   from extending the containing match or region.  It can be used if
3150	   only some contained items must not extend the containing item.
3151	   "excludenl" must be given before the pattern it applies to.
3152
3153							*:syn-matchgroup*
3154	"matchgroup" can be used to highlight the start and/or end pattern
3155	differently than the body of the region.  Example: >
3156  :syntax region String matchgroup=Quote start=+"+  skip=+\\"+	end=+"+
3157<	This will highlight the quotes with the "Quote" group, and the text in
3158	between with the "String" group.
3159	The "matchgroup" is used for all start and end patterns that follow,
3160	until the next "matchgroup".  Use "matchgroup=NONE" to go back to not
3161	using a matchgroup.
3162
3163	In a start or end pattern that is highlighted with "matchgroup" the
3164	contained items of the region are not used.  This can be used to avoid
3165	that a contained item matches in the start or end pattern match.  When
3166	using "transparent", this does not apply to a start or end pattern
3167	match that is highlighted with "matchgroup".
3168
3169	Here is an example, which highlights three levels of parentheses in
3170	different colors: >
3171   :sy region par1 matchgroup=par1 start=/(/ end=/)/ contains=par2
3172   :sy region par2 matchgroup=par2 start=/(/ end=/)/ contains=par3 contained
3173   :sy region par3 matchgroup=par3 start=/(/ end=/)/ contains=par1 contained
3174   :hi par1 ctermfg=red guifg=red
3175   :hi par2 ctermfg=blue guifg=blue
3176   :hi par3 ctermfg=darkgreen guifg=darkgreen
3177
3178==============================================================================
31796. :syntax arguments					*:syn-arguments*
3180
3181The :syntax commands that define syntax items take a number of arguments.
3182The common ones are explained here.  The arguments may be given in any order
3183and may be mixed with patterns.
3184
3185Not all commands accept all arguments.	This table shows which arguments
3186can not be used for all commands:
3187							*E395*
3188		    contains  oneline	fold  display  extend concealends~
3189:syntax keyword		 -	 -	 -	 -	 -      -
3190:syntax match		yes	 -	yes	yes	yes     -
3191:syntax region		yes	yes	yes	yes	yes    yes
3192
3193These arguments can be used for all three commands:
3194	conceal
3195	cchar
3196	contained
3197	containedin
3198	nextgroup
3199	transparent
3200	skipwhite
3201	skipnl
3202	skipempty
3203
3204conceal						*conceal* *:syn-conceal*
3205
3206When the "conceal" argument is given, the item is marked as concealable.
3207Whether or not it is actually concealed depends on the value of the
3208'conceallevel' option.  The 'concealcursor' option is used to decide whether
3209concealable items in the current line are displayed unconcealed to be able to
3210edit the line.
3211
3212concealends						*:syn-concealends*
3213
3214When the "concealends" argument is given, the start and end matches of
3215the region, but not the contents of the region, are marked as concealable.
3216Whether or not they are actually concealed depends on the setting on the
3217'conceallevel' option. The ends of a region can only be concealed separately
3218in this way when they have their own highlighting via "matchgroup"
3219
3220cchar							*:syn-cchar*
3221
3222The "cchar" argument defines the character shown in place of the item
3223when it is concealed (setting "cchar" only makes sense when the conceal
3224argument is given.) If "cchar" is not set then the default conceal
3225character defined in the 'listchars' option is used. Example: >
3226   :syntax match Entity "&amp;" conceal cchar=&
3227See |hl-Conceal| for highlighting.
3228
3229contained						*:syn-contained*
3230
3231When the "contained" argument is given, this item will not be recognized at
3232the top level, but only when it is mentioned in the "contains" field of
3233another match.	Example: >
3234   :syntax keyword Todo    TODO    contained
3235   :syntax match   Comment "//.*"  contains=Todo
3236
3237
3238display							*:syn-display*
3239
3240If the "display" argument is given, this item will be skipped when the
3241detected highlighting will not be displayed.  This will speed up highlighting,
3242by skipping this item when only finding the syntax state for the text that is
3243to be displayed.
3244
3245Generally, you can use "display" for match and region items that meet these
3246conditions:
3247- The item does not continue past the end of a line.  Example for C: A region
3248  for a "/*" comment can't contain "display", because it continues on the next
3249  line.
3250- The item does not contain items that continue past the end of the line or
3251  make it continue on the next line.
3252- The item does not change the size of any item it is contained in.  Example
3253  for C: A match with "\\$" in a preprocessor match can't have "display",
3254  because it may make that preprocessor match shorter.
3255- The item does not allow other items to match that didn't match otherwise,
3256  and that item may extend the match too far.  Example for C: A match for a
3257  "//" comment can't use "display", because a "/*" inside that comment would
3258  match then and start a comment which extends past the end of the line.
3259
3260Examples, for the C language, where "display" can be used:
3261- match with a number
3262- match with a label
3263
3264
3265transparent						*:syn-transparent*
3266
3267If the "transparent" argument is given, this item will not be highlighted
3268itself, but will take the highlighting of the item it is contained in.	This
3269is useful for syntax items that don't need any highlighting but are used
3270only to skip over a part of the text.
3271
3272The "contains=" argument is also inherited from the item it is contained in,
3273unless a "contains" argument is given for the transparent item itself.	To
3274avoid that unwanted items are contained, use "contains=NONE".  Example, which
3275highlights words in strings, but makes an exception for "vim": >
3276	:syn match myString /'[^']*'/ contains=myWord,myVim
3277	:syn match myWord   /\<[a-z]*\>/ contained
3278	:syn match myVim    /\<vim\>/ transparent contained contains=NONE
3279	:hi link myString String
3280	:hi link myWord   Comment
3281Since the "myVim" match comes after "myWord" it is the preferred match (last
3282match in the same position overrules an earlier one).  The "transparent"
3283argument makes the "myVim" match use the same highlighting as "myString".  But
3284it does not contain anything.  If the "contains=NONE" argument would be left
3285out, then "myVim" would use the contains argument from myString and allow
3286"myWord" to be contained, which will be highlighted as a Constant.  This
3287happens because a contained match doesn't match inside itself in the same
3288position, thus the "myVim" match doesn't overrule the "myWord" match here.
3289
3290When you look at the colored text, it is like looking at layers of contained
3291items.	The contained item is on top of the item it is contained in, thus you
3292see the contained item.  When a contained item is transparent, you can look
3293through, thus you see the item it is contained in.  In a picture:
3294
3295		look from here
3296
3297	    |	|   |	|   |	|
3298	    V	V   V	V   V	V
3299
3300	       xxxx	  yyy		more contained items
3301	    ....................	contained item (transparent)
3302	=============================	first item
3303
3304The 'x', 'y' and '=' represent a highlighted syntax item.  The '.' represent a
3305transparent group.
3306
3307What you see is:
3308
3309	=======xxxx=======yyy========
3310
3311Thus you look through the transparent "....".
3312
3313
3314oneline							*:syn-oneline*
3315
3316The "oneline" argument indicates that the region does not cross a line
3317boundary.  It must match completely in the current line.  However, when the
3318region has a contained item that does cross a line boundary, it continues on
3319the next line anyway.  A contained item can be used to recognize a line
3320continuation pattern.  But the "end" pattern must still match in the first
3321line, otherwise the region doesn't even start.
3322
3323When the start pattern includes a "\n" to match an end-of-line, the end
3324pattern must be found in the same line as where the start pattern ends.  The
3325end pattern may also include an end-of-line.  Thus the "oneline" argument
3326means that the end of the start pattern and the start of the end pattern must
3327be within one line.  This can't be changed by a skip pattern that matches a
3328line break.
3329
3330
3331fold							*:syn-fold*
3332
3333The "fold" argument makes the fold level increase by one for this item.
3334Example: >
3335   :syn region myFold start="{" end="}" transparent fold
3336   :syn sync fromstart
3337   :set foldmethod=syntax
3338This will make each {} block form one fold.
3339
3340The fold will start on the line where the item starts, and end where the item
3341ends.  If the start and end are within the same line, there is no fold.
3342The 'foldnestmax' option limits the nesting of syntax folds.
3343{not available when Vim was compiled without |+folding| feature}
3344
3345
3346			*:syn-contains* *E405* *E406* *E407* *E408* *E409*
3347contains={groupname},..
3348
3349The "contains" argument is followed by a list of syntax group names.  These
3350groups will be allowed to begin inside the item (they may extend past the
3351containing group's end).  This allows for recursive nesting of matches and
3352regions.  If there is no "contains" argument, no groups will be contained in
3353this item.  The group names do not need to be defined before they can be used
3354here.
3355
3356contains=ALL
3357		If the only item in the contains list is "ALL", then all
3358		groups will be accepted inside the item.
3359
3360contains=ALLBUT,{group-name},..
3361		If the first item in the contains list is "ALLBUT", then all
3362		groups will be accepted inside the item, except the ones that
3363		are listed.  Example: >
3364  :syntax region Block start="{" end="}" ... contains=ALLBUT,Function
3365
3366contains=TOP
3367		If the first item in the contains list is "TOP", then all
3368		groups will be accepted that don't have the "contained"
3369		argument.
3370contains=TOP,{group-name},..
3371		Like "TOP", but excluding the groups that are listed.
3372
3373contains=CONTAINED
3374		If the first item in the contains list is "CONTAINED", then
3375		all groups will be accepted that have the "contained"
3376		argument.
3377contains=CONTAINED,{group-name},..
3378		Like "CONTAINED", but excluding the groups that are
3379		listed.
3380
3381
3382The {group-name} in the "contains" list can be a pattern.  All group names
3383that match the pattern will be included (or excluded, if "ALLBUT" is used).
3384The pattern cannot contain white space or a ','.  Example: >
3385   ... contains=Comment.*,Keyw[0-3]
3386The matching will be done at moment the syntax command is executed.  Groups
3387that are defined later will not be matched.  Also, if the current syntax
3388command defines a new group, it is not matched.  Be careful: When putting
3389syntax commands in a file you can't rely on groups NOT being defined, because
3390the file may have been sourced before, and ":syn clear" doesn't remove the
3391group names.
3392
3393The contained groups will also match in the start and end patterns of a
3394region.  If this is not wanted, the "matchgroup" argument can be used
3395|:syn-matchgroup|.  The "ms=" and "me=" offsets can be used to change the
3396region where contained items do match.	Note that this may also limit the
3397area that is highlighted
3398
3399
3400containedin={groupname}...				*:syn-containedin*
3401
3402The "containedin" argument is followed by a list of syntax group names.  The
3403item will be allowed to begin inside these groups.  This works as if the
3404containing item has a "contains=" argument that includes this item.
3405
3406The {groupname}... can be used just like for "contains", as explained above.
3407
3408This is useful when adding a syntax item afterwards.  An item can be told to
3409be included inside an already existing item, without changing the definition
3410of that item.  For example, to highlight a word in a C comment after loading
3411the C syntax: >
3412	:syn keyword myword HELP containedin=cComment contained
3413Note that "contained" is also used, to avoid that the item matches at the top
3414level.
3415
3416Matches for "containedin" are added to the other places where the item can
3417appear.  A "contains" argument may also be added as usual.  Don't forget that
3418keywords never contain another item, thus adding them to "containedin" won't
3419work.
3420
3421
3422nextgroup={groupname},..				*:syn-nextgroup*
3423
3424The "nextgroup" argument is followed by a list of syntax group names,
3425separated by commas (just like with "contains", so you can also use patterns).
3426
3427If the "nextgroup" argument is given, the mentioned syntax groups will be
3428tried for a match, after the match or region ends.  If none of the groups have
3429a match, highlighting continues normally.  If there is a match, this group
3430will be used, even when it is not mentioned in the "contains" field of the
3431current group.	This is like giving the mentioned group priority over all
3432other groups.  Example: >
3433   :syntax match  ccFoobar  "Foo.\{-}Bar"  contains=ccFoo
3434   :syntax match  ccFoo     "Foo"	    contained nextgroup=ccFiller
3435   :syntax region ccFiller  start="."  matchgroup=ccBar  end="Bar"  contained
3436
3437This will highlight "Foo" and "Bar" differently, and only when there is a
3438"Bar" after "Foo".  In the text line below, "f" shows where ccFoo is used for
3439highlighting, and "bbb" where ccBar is used. >
3440
3441   Foo asdfasd Bar asdf Foo asdf Bar asdf
3442   fff	       bbb	fff	 bbb
3443
3444Note the use of ".\{-}" to skip as little as possible until the next Bar.
3445when ".*" would be used, the "asdf" in between "Bar" and "Foo" would be
3446highlighted according to the "ccFoobar" group, because the ccFooBar match
3447would include the first "Foo" and the last "Bar" in the line (see |pattern|).
3448
3449
3450skipwhite						*:syn-skipwhite*
3451skipnl							*:syn-skipnl*
3452skipempty						*:syn-skipempty*
3453
3454These arguments are only used in combination with "nextgroup".	They can be
3455used to allow the next group to match after skipping some text:
3456	skipwhite	skip over space and tab characters
3457	skipnl		skip over the end of a line
3458	skipempty	skip over empty lines (implies a "skipnl")
3459
3460When "skipwhite" is present, the white space is only skipped if there is no
3461next group that matches the white space.
3462
3463When "skipnl" is present, the match with nextgroup may be found in the next
3464line.  This only happens when the current item ends at the end of the current
3465line!  When "skipnl" is not present, the nextgroup will only be found after
3466the current item in the same line.
3467
3468When skipping text while looking for a next group, the matches for other
3469groups are ignored.  Only when no next group matches, other items are tried
3470for a match again.  This means that matching a next group and skipping white
3471space and <EOL>s has a higher priority than other items.
3472
3473Example: >
3474  :syn match ifstart "\<if.*"	  nextgroup=ifline skipwhite skipempty
3475  :syn match ifline  "[^ \t].*" nextgroup=ifline skipwhite skipempty contained
3476  :syn match ifline  "endif"	contained
3477Note that the "[^ \t].*" match matches all non-white text.  Thus it would also
3478match "endif".	Therefore the "endif" match is put last, so that it takes
3479precedence.
3480Note that this example doesn't work for nested "if"s.  You need to add
3481"contains" arguments to make that work (omitted for simplicity of the
3482example).
3483
3484IMPLICIT CONCEAL					*:syn-conceal-implicit*
3485
3486:sy[ntax] conceal [on|off]
3487	This defines if the following ":syntax" commands will define keywords,
3488	matches or regions with the "conceal" flag set. After ":syn conceal
3489	on", all subsequent ":syn keyword", ":syn match" or ":syn region"
3490	defined will have the "conceal" flag set implicitly. ":syn conceal
3491	off" returns to the normal state where the "conceal" flag must be
3492	given explicitly.
3493
3494==============================================================================
34957. Syntax patterns				*:syn-pattern* *E401* *E402*
3496
3497In the syntax commands, a pattern must be surrounded by two identical
3498characters.  This is like it works for the ":s" command.  The most common to
3499use is the double quote.  But if the pattern contains a double quote, you can
3500use another character that is not used in the pattern.	Examples: >
3501  :syntax region Comment  start="/\*"  end="\*/"
3502  :syntax region String   start=+"+    end=+"+	 skip=+\\"+
3503
3504See |pattern| for the explanation of what a pattern is.  Syntax patterns are
3505always interpreted like the 'magic' option is set, no matter what the actual
3506value of 'magic' is.  And the patterns are interpreted like the 'l' flag is
3507not included in 'cpoptions'.  This was done to make syntax files portable and
3508independent of 'compatible' and 'magic' settings.
3509
3510Try to avoid patterns that can match an empty string, such as "[a-z]*".
3511This slows down the highlighting a lot, because it matches everywhere.
3512
3513						*:syn-pattern-offset*
3514The pattern can be followed by a character offset.  This can be used to
3515change the highlighted part, and to change the text area included in the
3516match or region (which only matters when trying to match other items).	Both
3517are relative to the matched pattern.  The character offset for a skip
3518pattern can be used to tell where to continue looking for an end pattern.
3519
3520The offset takes the form of "{what}={offset}"
3521The {what} can be one of seven strings:
3522
3523ms	Match Start	offset for the start of the matched text
3524me	Match End	offset for the end of the matched text
3525hs	Highlight Start	offset for where the highlighting starts
3526he	Highlight End	offset for where the highlighting ends
3527rs	Region Start	offset for where the body of a region starts
3528re	Region End	offset for where the body of a region ends
3529lc	Leading Context	offset past "leading context" of pattern
3530
3531The {offset} can be:
3532
3533s	start of the matched pattern
3534s+{nr}	start of the matched pattern plus {nr} chars to the right
3535s-{nr}	start of the matched pattern plus {nr} chars to the left
3536e	end of the matched pattern
3537e+{nr}	end of the matched pattern plus {nr} chars to the right
3538e-{nr}	end of the matched pattern plus {nr} chars to the left
3539{nr}	(for "lc" only): start matching {nr} chars to the left
3540
3541Examples: "ms=s+1", "hs=e-2", "lc=3".
3542
3543Although all offsets are accepted after any pattern, they are not always
3544meaningful.  This table shows which offsets are actually used:
3545
3546		    ms	 me   hs   he	rs   re	  lc ~
3547match item	    yes  yes  yes  yes	-    -	  yes
3548region item start   yes  -    yes  -	yes  -	  yes
3549region item skip    -	 yes  -    -	-    -	  yes
3550region item end     -	 yes  -    yes	-    yes  yes
3551
3552Offsets can be concatenated, with a ',' in between.  Example: >
3553  :syn match String  /"[^"]*"/hs=s+1,he=e-1
3554<
3555    some "string" text
3556	  ^^^^^^		highlighted
3557
3558Notes:
3559- There must be no white space between the pattern and the character
3560  offset(s).
3561- The highlighted area will never be outside of the matched text.
3562- A negative offset for an end pattern may not always work, because the end
3563  pattern may be detected when the highlighting should already have stopped.
3564- Before Vim 7.2 the offsets were counted in bytes instead of characters.
3565  This didn't work well for multi-byte characters, so it was changed with the
3566  Vim 7.2 release.
3567- The start of a match cannot be in a line other than where the pattern
3568  matched.  This doesn't work: "a\nb"ms=e.  You can make the highlighting
3569  start in another line, this does work: "a\nb"hs=e.
3570
3571Example (match a comment but don't highlight the /* and */): >
3572  :syntax region Comment start="/\*"hs=e+1 end="\*/"he=s-1
3573<
3574	/* this is a comment */
3575	  ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^	  highlighted
3576
3577A more complicated Example: >
3578  :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
3579<
3580	 abcfoostringbarabc
3581	    mmmmmmmmmmm	    match
3582	      sssrrreee	    highlight start/region/end ("Foo", "Exa" and "Bar")
3583
3584Leading context			*:syn-lc* *:syn-leading* *:syn-context*
3585
3586Note: This is an obsolete feature, only included for backwards compatibility
3587with previous Vim versions.  It's now recommended to use the |/\@<=| construct
3588in the pattern.
3589
3590The "lc" offset specifies leading context -- a part of the pattern that must
3591be present, but is not considered part of the match.  An offset of "lc=n" will
3592cause Vim to step back n columns before attempting the pattern match, allowing
3593characters which have already been matched in previous patterns to also be
3594used as leading context for this match.  This can be used, for instance, to
3595specify that an "escaping" character must not precede the match: >
3596
3597  :syn match ZNoBackslash "[^\\]z"ms=s+1
3598  :syn match WNoBackslash "[^\\]w"lc=1
3599  :syn match Underline "_\+"
3600<
3601	  ___zzzz ___wwww
3602	  ^^^	  ^^^	  matches Underline
3603	      ^ ^	  matches ZNoBackslash
3604		     ^^^^ matches WNoBackslash
3605
3606The "ms" offset is automatically set to the same value as the "lc" offset,
3607unless you set "ms" explicitly.
3608
3609
3610Multi-line patterns					*:syn-multi-line*
3611
3612The patterns can include "\n" to match an end-of-line.	Mostly this works as
3613expected, but there are a few exceptions.
3614
3615When using a start pattern with an offset, the start of the match is not
3616allowed to start in a following line.  The highlighting can start in a
3617following line though.  Using the "\zs" item also requires that the start of
3618the match doesn't move to another line.
3619
3620The skip pattern can include the "\n", but the search for an end pattern will
3621continue in the first character of the next line, also when that character is
3622matched by the skip pattern.  This is because redrawing may start in any line
3623halfway a region and there is no check if the skip pattern started in a
3624previous line.	For example, if the skip pattern is "a\nb" and an end pattern
3625is "b", the end pattern does match in the second line of this: >
3626	 x x a
3627	 b x x
3628Generally this means that the skip pattern should not match any characters
3629after the "\n".
3630
3631
3632External matches					*:syn-ext-match*
3633
3634These extra regular expression items are available in region patterns:
3635
3636						*/\z(* */\z(\)* *E50* *E52*
3637    \z(\)	Marks the sub-expression as "external", meaning that it is can
3638		be accessed from another pattern match.  Currently only usable
3639		in defining a syntax region start pattern.
3640
3641					*/\z1* */\z2* */\z3* */\z4* */\z5*
3642    \z1  ...  \z9			*/\z6* */\z7* */\z8* */\z9* *E66* *E67*
3643		Matches the same string that was matched by the corresponding
3644		sub-expression in a previous start pattern match.
3645
3646Sometimes the start and end patterns of a region need to share a common
3647sub-expression.  A common example is the "here" document in Perl and many Unix
3648shells.  This effect can be achieved with the "\z" special regular expression
3649items, which marks a sub-expression as "external", in the sense that it can be
3650referenced from outside the pattern in which it is defined.  The here-document
3651example, for instance, can be done like this: >
3652  :syn region hereDoc start="<<\z(\I\i*\)" end="^\z1$"
3653
3654As can be seen here, the \z actually does double duty.	In the start pattern,
3655it marks the "\(\I\i*\)" sub-expression as external; in the end pattern, it
3656changes the \1 back-reference into an external reference referring to the
3657first external sub-expression in the start pattern.  External references can
3658also be used in skip patterns: >
3659  :syn region foo start="start \(\I\i*\)" skip="not end \z1" end="end \z1"
3660
3661Note that normal and external sub-expressions are completely orthogonal and
3662indexed separately; for instance, if the pattern "\z(..\)\(..\)" is applied
3663to the string "aabb", then \1 will refer to "bb" and \z1 will refer to "aa".
3664Note also that external sub-expressions cannot be accessed as back-references
3665within the same pattern like normal sub-expressions.  If you want to use one
3666sub-expression as both a normal and an external sub-expression, you can nest
3667the two, as in "\(\z(...\)\)".
3668
3669Note that only matches within a single line can be used.  Multi-line matches
3670cannot be referred to.
3671
3672==============================================================================
36738. Syntax clusters					*:syn-cluster* *E400*
3674
3675:sy[ntax] cluster {cluster-name} [contains={group-name}..]
3676				 [add={group-name}..]
3677				 [remove={group-name}..]
3678
3679This command allows you to cluster a list of syntax groups together under a
3680single name.
3681
3682	contains={group-name}..
3683		The cluster is set to the specified list of groups.
3684	add={group-name}..
3685		The specified groups are added to the cluster.
3686	remove={group-name}..
3687		The specified groups are removed from the cluster.
3688
3689A cluster so defined may be referred to in a contains=.., containedin=..,
3690nextgroup=.., add=..  or remove=.. list with a "@" prefix.  You can also use
3691this notation to implicitly declare a cluster before specifying its contents.
3692
3693Example: >
3694   :syntax match Thing "# [^#]\+ #" contains=@ThingMembers
3695   :syntax cluster ThingMembers contains=ThingMember1,ThingMember2
3696
3697As the previous example suggests, modifications to a cluster are effectively
3698retroactive; the membership of the cluster is checked at the last minute, so
3699to speak: >
3700   :syntax keyword A aaa
3701   :syntax keyword B bbb
3702   :syntax cluster AandB contains=A
3703   :syntax match Stuff "( aaa bbb )" contains=@AandB
3704   :syntax cluster AandB add=B	  " now both keywords are matched in Stuff
3705
3706This also has implications for nested clusters: >
3707   :syntax keyword A aaa
3708   :syntax keyword B bbb
3709   :syntax cluster SmallGroup contains=B
3710   :syntax cluster BigGroup contains=A,@SmallGroup
3711   :syntax match Stuff "( aaa bbb )" contains=@BigGroup
3712   :syntax cluster BigGroup remove=B	" no effect, since B isn't in BigGroup
3713   :syntax cluster SmallGroup remove=B	" now bbb isn't matched within Stuff
3714
3715==============================================================================
37169. Including syntax files				*:syn-include* *E397*
3717
3718It is often useful for one language's syntax file to include a syntax file for
3719a related language.  Depending on the exact relationship, this can be done in
3720two different ways:
3721
3722	- If top-level syntax items in the included syntax file are to be
3723	  allowed at the top level in the including syntax, you can simply use
3724	  the |:runtime| command: >
3725
3726  " In cpp.vim:
3727  :runtime! syntax/c.vim
3728  :unlet b:current_syntax
3729
3730<	- If top-level syntax items in the included syntax file are to be
3731	  contained within a region in the including syntax, you can use the
3732	  ":syntax include" command:
3733
3734:sy[ntax] include [@{grouplist-name}] {file-name}
3735
3736	  All syntax items declared in the included file will have the
3737	  "contained" flag added.  In addition, if a group list is specified,
3738	  all top-level syntax items in the included file will be added to
3739	  that list. >
3740
3741   " In perl.vim:
3742   :syntax include @Pod <sfile>:p:h/pod.vim
3743   :syntax region perlPOD start="^=head" end="^=cut" contains=@Pod
3744<
3745	  When {file-name} is an absolute path (starts with "/", "c:", "$VAR"
3746	  or "<sfile>") that file is sourced.  When it is a relative path
3747	  (e.g., "syntax/pod.vim") the file is searched for in 'runtimepath'.
3748	  All matching files are loaded.  Using a relative path is
3749	  recommended, because it allows a user to replace the included file
3750	  with his own version, without replacing the file that does the ":syn
3751	  include".
3752
3753==============================================================================
375410. Synchronizing				*:syn-sync* *E403* *E404*
3755
3756Vim wants to be able to start redrawing in any position in the document.  To
3757make this possible it needs to know the syntax state at the position where
3758redrawing starts.
3759
3760:sy[ntax] sync [ccomment [group-name] | minlines={N} | ...]
3761
3762There are four ways to synchronize:
37631. Always parse from the start of the file.
3764   |:syn-sync-first|
37652. Based on C-style comments.  Vim understands how C-comments work and can
3766   figure out if the current line starts inside or outside a comment.
3767   |:syn-sync-second|
37683. Jumping back a certain number of lines and start parsing there.
3769   |:syn-sync-third|
37704. Searching backwards in the text for a pattern to sync on.
3771   |:syn-sync-fourth|
3772
3773				*:syn-sync-maxlines* *:syn-sync-minlines*
3774For the last three methods, the line range where the parsing can start is
3775limited by "minlines" and "maxlines".
3776
3777If the "minlines={N}" argument is given, the parsing always starts at least
3778that many lines backwards.  This can be used if the parsing may take a few
3779lines before it's correct, or when it's not possible to use syncing.
3780
3781If the "maxlines={N}" argument is given, the number of lines that are searched
3782for a comment or syncing pattern is restricted to N lines backwards (after
3783adding "minlines").  This is useful if you have few things to sync on and a
3784slow machine.  Example: >
3785   :syntax sync ccomment maxlines=500
3786<
3787						*:syn-sync-linebreaks*
3788When using a pattern that matches multiple lines, a change in one line may
3789cause a pattern to no longer match in a previous line.	This means has to
3790start above where the change was made.	How many lines can be specified with
3791the "linebreaks" argument.  For example, when a pattern may include one line
3792break use this: >
3793   :syntax sync linebreaks=1
3794The result is that redrawing always starts at least one line before where a
3795change was made.  The default value for "linebreaks" is zero.  Usually the
3796value for "minlines" is bigger than "linebreaks".
3797
3798
3799First syncing method:			*:syn-sync-first*
3800>
3801   :syntax sync fromstart
3802
3803The file will be parsed from the start.  This makes syntax highlighting
3804accurate, but can be slow for long files.  Vim caches previously parsed text,
3805so that it's only slow when parsing the text for the first time.  However,
3806when making changes some part of the next needs to be parsed again (worst
3807case: to the end of the file).
3808
3809Using "fromstart" is equivalent to using "minlines" with a very large number.
3810
3811
3812Second syncing method:			*:syn-sync-second* *:syn-sync-ccomment*
3813
3814For the second method, only the "ccomment" argument needs to be given.
3815Example: >
3816   :syntax sync ccomment
3817
3818When Vim finds that the line where displaying starts is inside a C-style
3819comment, the last region syntax item with the group-name "Comment" will be
3820used.  This requires that there is a region with the group-name "Comment"!
3821An alternate group name can be specified, for example: >
3822   :syntax sync ccomment javaComment
3823This means that the last item specified with "syn region javaComment" will be
3824used for the detected C comment region.  This only works properly if that
3825region does have a start pattern "\/*" and an end pattern "*\/".
3826
3827The "maxlines" argument can be used to restrict the search to a number of
3828lines.	The "minlines" argument can be used to at least start a number of
3829lines back (e.g., for when there is some construct that only takes a few
3830lines, but it hard to sync on).
3831
3832Note: Syncing on a C comment doesn't work properly when strings are used
3833that cross a line and contain a "*/".  Since letting strings cross a line
3834is a bad programming habit (many compilers give a warning message), and the
3835chance of a "*/" appearing inside a comment is very small, this restriction
3836is hardly ever noticed.
3837
3838
3839Third syncing method:				*:syn-sync-third*
3840
3841For the third method, only the "minlines={N}" argument needs to be given.
3842Vim will subtract {N} from the line number and start parsing there.  This
3843means {N} extra lines need to be parsed, which makes this method a bit slower.
3844Example: >
3845   :syntax sync minlines=50
3846
3847"lines" is equivalent to "minlines" (used by older versions).
3848
3849
3850Fourth syncing method:				*:syn-sync-fourth*
3851
3852The idea is to synchronize on the end of a few specific regions, called a
3853sync pattern.  Only regions can cross lines, so when we find the end of some
3854region, we might be able to know in which syntax item we are.  The search
3855starts in the line just above the one where redrawing starts.  From there
3856the search continues backwards in the file.
3857
3858This works just like the non-syncing syntax items.  You can use contained
3859matches, nextgroup, etc.  But there are a few differences:
3860- Keywords cannot be used.
3861- The syntax items with the "sync" keyword form a completely separated group
3862  of syntax items.  You can't mix syncing groups and non-syncing groups.
3863- The matching works backwards in the buffer (line by line), instead of
3864  forwards.
3865- A line continuation pattern can be given.  It is used to decide which group
3866  of lines need to be searched like they were one line.  This means that the
3867  search for a match with the specified items starts in the first of the
3868  consecutive that contain the continuation pattern.
3869- When using "nextgroup" or "contains", this only works within one line (or
3870  group of continued lines).
3871- When using a region, it must start and end in the same line (or group of
3872  continued lines).  Otherwise the end is assumed to be at the end of the
3873  line (or group of continued lines).
3874- When a match with a sync pattern is found, the rest of the line (or group of
3875  continued lines) is searched for another match.  The last match is used.
3876  This is used when a line can contain both the start end the end of a region
3877  (e.g., in a C-comment like /* this */, the last "*/" is used).
3878
3879There are two ways how a match with a sync pattern can be used:
38801. Parsing for highlighting starts where redrawing starts (and where the
3881   search for the sync pattern started).  The syntax group that is expected
3882   to be valid there must be specified.  This works well when the regions
3883   that cross lines cannot contain other regions.
38842. Parsing for highlighting continues just after the match.  The syntax group
3885   that is expected to be present just after the match must be specified.
3886   This can be used when the previous method doesn't work well.  It's much
3887   slower, because more text needs to be parsed.
3888Both types of sync patterns can be used at the same time.
3889
3890Besides the sync patterns, other matches and regions can be specified, to
3891avoid finding unwanted matches.
3892
3893[The reason that the sync patterns are given separately, is that mostly the
3894search for the sync point can be much simpler than figuring out the
3895highlighting.  The reduced number of patterns means it will go (much)
3896faster.]
3897
3898					    *syn-sync-grouphere* *E393* *E394*
3899    :syntax sync match {sync-group-name} grouphere {group-name} "pattern" ..
3900
3901	Define a match that is used for syncing.  {group-name} is the
3902	name of a syntax group that follows just after the match.  Parsing
3903	of the text for highlighting starts just after the match.  A region
3904	must exist for this {group-name}.  The first one defined will be used.
3905	"NONE" can be used for when there is no syntax group after the match.
3906
3907						*syn-sync-groupthere*
3908    :syntax sync match {sync-group-name} groupthere {group-name} "pattern" ..
3909
3910	Like "grouphere", but {group-name} is the name of a syntax group that
3911	is to be used at the start of the line where searching for the sync
3912	point started.	The text between the match and the start of the sync
3913	pattern searching is assumed not to change the syntax highlighting.
3914	For example, in C you could search backwards for "/*" and "*/".  If
3915	"/*" is found first, you know that you are inside a comment, so the
3916	"groupthere" is "cComment".  If "*/" is found first, you know that you
3917	are not in a comment, so the "groupthere" is "NONE".  (in practice
3918	it's a bit more complicated, because the "/*" and "*/" could appear
3919	inside a string.  That's left as an exercise to the reader...).
3920
3921    :syntax sync match ..
3922    :syntax sync region ..
3923
3924	Without a "groupthere" argument.  Define a region or match that is
3925	skipped while searching for a sync point.
3926
3927						*syn-sync-linecont*
3928    :syntax sync linecont {pattern}
3929
3930	When {pattern} matches in a line, it is considered to continue in
3931	the next line.	This means that the search for a sync point will
3932	consider the lines to be concatenated.
3933
3934If the "maxlines={N}" argument is given too, the number of lines that are
3935searched for a match is restricted to N.  This is useful if you have very
3936few things to sync on and a slow machine.  Example: >
3937   :syntax sync maxlines=100
3938
3939You can clear all sync settings with: >
3940   :syntax sync clear
3941
3942You can clear specific sync patterns with: >
3943   :syntax sync clear {sync-group-name} ..
3944
3945==============================================================================
394611. Listing syntax items		*:syntax* *:sy* *:syn* *:syn-list*
3947
3948This command lists all the syntax items: >
3949
3950    :sy[ntax] [list]
3951
3952To show the syntax items for one syntax group: >
3953
3954    :sy[ntax] list {group-name}
3955
3956To list the syntax groups in one cluster:			*E392*	>
3957
3958    :sy[ntax] list @{cluster-name}
3959
3960See above for other arguments for the ":syntax" command.
3961
3962Note that the ":syntax" command can be abbreviated to ":sy", although ":syn"
3963is mostly used, because it looks better.
3964
3965==============================================================================
396612. Highlight command			*:highlight* *:hi* *E28* *E411* *E415*
3967
3968There are three types of highlight groups:
3969- The ones used for specific languages.  For these the name starts with the
3970  name of the language.  Many of these don't have any attributes, but are
3971  linked to a group of the second type.
3972- The ones used for all syntax languages.
3973- The ones used for the 'highlight' option.
3974							*hitest.vim*
3975You can see all the groups currently active with this command: >
3976    :so $VIMRUNTIME/syntax/hitest.vim
3977This will open a new window containing all highlight group names, displayed
3978in their own color.
3979
3980						*:colo* *:colorscheme* *E185*
3981:colo[rscheme]		Output the name of the currently active color scheme.
3982			This is basically the same as >
3983				:echo g:colors_name
3984<			In case g:colors_name has not been defined :colo will
3985			output "default".  When compiled without the |+eval|
3986			feature it will output "unknown".
3987
3988:colo[rscheme] {name}	Load color scheme {name}.  This searches 'runtimepath'
3989			for the file "colors/{name}.vim.  The first one that
3990			is found is loaded.
3991			To see the name of the currently active color scheme: >
3992				:colo
3993<			The name is also stored in the g:colors_name variable.
3994			Doesn't work recursively, thus you can't use
3995			":colorscheme" in a color scheme script.
3996			After the color scheme has been loaded the
3997			|ColorScheme| autocommand event is triggered.
3998			For info about writing a colorscheme file: >
3999				:edit $VIMRUNTIME/colors/README.txt
4000
4001:hi[ghlight]		List all the current highlight groups that have
4002			attributes set.
4003
4004:hi[ghlight] {group-name}
4005			List one highlight group.
4006
4007:hi[ghlight] clear	Reset all highlighting to the defaults.  Removes all
4008			highlighting for groups added by the user!
4009			Uses the current value of 'background' to decide which
4010			default colors to use.
4011
4012:hi[ghlight] clear {group-name}
4013:hi[ghlight] {group-name} NONE
4014			Disable the highlighting for one highlight group.  It
4015			is _not_ set back to the default colors.
4016
4017:hi[ghlight] [default] {group-name} {key}={arg} ..
4018			Add a highlight group, or change the highlighting for
4019			an existing group.
4020			See |highlight-args| for the {key}={arg} arguments.
4021			See |:highlight-default| for the optional [default]
4022			argument.
4023
4024Normally a highlight group is added once when starting up.  This sets the
4025default values for the highlighting.  After that, you can use additional
4026highlight commands to change the arguments that you want to set to non-default
4027values.  The value "NONE" can be used to switch the value off or go back to
4028the default value.
4029
4030A simple way to change colors is with the |:colorscheme| command.  This loads
4031a file with ":highlight" commands such as this: >
4032
4033   :hi Comment	gui=bold
4034
4035Note that all settings that are not included remain the same, only the
4036specified field is used, and settings are merged with previous ones.  So, the
4037result is like this single command has been used: >
4038   :hi Comment	term=bold ctermfg=Cyan guifg=#80a0ff gui=bold
4039<
4040							*:highlight-verbose*
4041When listing a highlight group and 'verbose' is non-zero, the listing will
4042also tell where it was last set.  Example: >
4043	:verbose hi Comment
4044<	Comment        xxx term=bold ctermfg=4 guifg=Blue ~
4045	   Last set from /home/mool/vim/vim7/runtime/syntax/syncolor.vim ~
4046
4047When ":hi clear" is used then the script where this command is used will be
4048mentioned for the default values. See |:verbose-cmd| for more information.
4049
4050					*highlight-args* *E416* *E417* *E423*
4051There are three types of terminals for highlighting:
4052term	a normal terminal (vt100, xterm)
4053cterm	a color terminal (MS-DOS console, color-xterm, these have the "Co"
4054	termcap entry)
4055gui	the GUI
4056
4057For each type the highlighting can be given.  This makes it possible to use
4058the same syntax file on all terminals, and use the optimal highlighting.
4059
40601. highlight arguments for normal terminals
4061
4062					*bold* *underline* *undercurl*
4063					*inverse* *italic* *standout*
4064term={attr-list}			*attr-list* *highlight-term* *E418*
4065	attr-list is a comma separated list (without spaces) of the
4066	following items (in any order):
4067		bold
4068		underline
4069		undercurl	not always available
4070		reverse
4071		inverse		same as reverse
4072		italic
4073		standout
4074		NONE		no attributes used (used to reset it)
4075
4076	Note that "bold" can be used here and by using a bold font.  They
4077	have the same effect.
4078	"undercurl" is a curly underline.  When "undercurl" is not possible
4079	then "underline" is used.  In general "undercurl" is only available in
4080	the GUI.  The color is set with |highlight-guisp|.
4081
4082start={term-list}				*highlight-start* *E422*
4083stop={term-list}				*term-list* *highlight-stop*
4084	These lists of terminal codes can be used to get
4085	non-standard attributes on a terminal.
4086
4087	The escape sequence specified with the "start" argument
4088	is written before the characters in the highlighted
4089	area.  It can be anything that you want to send to the
4090	terminal to highlight this area.  The escape sequence
4091	specified with the "stop" argument is written after the
4092	highlighted area.  This should undo the "start" argument.
4093	Otherwise the screen will look messed up.
4094
4095	The {term-list} can have two forms:
4096
4097	1. A string with escape sequences.
4098	   This is any string of characters, except that it can't start with
4099	   "t_" and blanks are not allowed.  The <> notation is recognized
4100	   here, so you can use things like "<Esc>" and "<Space>".  Example:
4101		start=<Esc>[27h;<Esc>[<Space>r;
4102
4103	2. A list of terminal codes.
4104	   Each terminal code has the form "t_xx", where "xx" is the name of
4105	   the termcap entry.  The codes have to be separated with commas.
4106	   White space is not allowed.	Example:
4107		start=t_C1,t_BL
4108	   The terminal codes must exist for this to work.
4109
4110
41112. highlight arguments for color terminals
4112
4113cterm={attr-list}					*highlight-cterm*
4114	See above for the description of {attr-list} |attr-list|.
4115	The "cterm" argument is likely to be different from "term", when
4116	colors are used.  For example, in a normal terminal comments could
4117	be underlined, in a color terminal they can be made Blue.
4118	Note: Many terminals (e.g., DOS console) can't mix these attributes
4119	with coloring.	Use only one of "cterm=" OR "ctermfg=" OR "ctermbg=".
4120
4121ctermfg={color-nr}				*highlight-ctermfg* *E421*
4122ctermbg={color-nr}				*highlight-ctermbg*
4123	The {color-nr} argument is a color number.  Its range is zero to
4124	(not including) the number given by the termcap entry "Co".
4125	The actual color with this number depends on the type of terminal
4126	and its settings.  Sometimes the color also depends on the settings of
4127	"cterm".  For example, on some systems "cterm=bold ctermfg=3" gives
4128	another color, on others you just get color 3.
4129
4130	For an xterm this depends on your resources, and is a bit
4131	unpredictable.	See your xterm documentation for the defaults.	The
4132	colors for a color-xterm can be changed from the .Xdefaults file.
4133	Unfortunately this means that it's not possible to get the same colors
4134	for each user.	See |xterm-color| for info about color xterms.
4135
4136	The MSDOS standard colors are fixed (in a console window), so these
4137	have been used for the names.  But the meaning of color names in X11
4138	are fixed, so these color settings have been used, to make the
4139	highlighting settings portable (complicated, isn't it?).  The
4140	following names are recognized, with the color number used:
4141
4142							*cterm-colors*
4143	    NR-16   NR-8    COLOR NAME ~
4144	    0	    0	    Black
4145	    1	    4	    DarkBlue
4146	    2	    2	    DarkGreen
4147	    3	    6	    DarkCyan
4148	    4	    1	    DarkRed
4149	    5	    5	    DarkMagenta
4150	    6	    3	    Brown, DarkYellow
4151	    7	    7	    LightGray, LightGrey, Gray, Grey
4152	    8	    0*	    DarkGray, DarkGrey
4153	    9	    4*	    Blue, LightBlue
4154	    10	    2*	    Green, LightGreen
4155	    11	    6*	    Cyan, LightCyan
4156	    12	    1*	    Red, LightRed
4157	    13	    5*	    Magenta, LightMagenta
4158	    14	    3*	    Yellow, LightYellow
4159	    15	    7*	    White
4160
4161	The number under "NR-16" is used for 16-color terminals ('t_Co'
4162	greater than or equal to 16).  The number under "NR-8" is used for
4163	8-color terminals ('t_Co' less than 16).  The '*' indicates that the
4164	bold attribute is set for ctermfg.  In many 8-color terminals (e.g.,
4165	"linux"), this causes the bright colors to appear.  This doesn't work
4166	for background colors!	Without the '*' the bold attribute is removed.
4167	If you want to set the bold attribute in a different way, put a
4168	"cterm=" argument AFTER the "ctermfg=" or "ctermbg=" argument.	Or use
4169	a number instead of a color name.
4170
4171	The case of the color names is ignored.
4172	Note that for 16 color ansi style terminals (including xterms), the
4173	numbers in the NR-8 column is used.  Here '*' means 'add 8' so that Blue
4174	is 12, DarkGray is 8 etc.
4175
4176	Note that for some color terminals these names may result in the wrong
4177	colors!
4178
4179							*:hi-normal-cterm*
4180	When setting the "ctermfg" or "ctermbg" colors for the Normal group,
4181	these will become the colors used for the non-highlighted text.
4182	Example: >
4183		:highlight Normal ctermfg=grey ctermbg=darkblue
4184<	When setting the "ctermbg" color for the Normal group, the
4185	'background' option will be adjusted automatically.  This causes the
4186	highlight groups that depend on 'background' to change!  This means
4187	you should set the colors for Normal first, before setting other
4188	colors.
4189	When a colorscheme is being used, changing 'background' causes it to
4190	be reloaded, which may reset all colors (including Normal).  First
4191	delete the "g:colors_name" variable when you don't want this.
4192
4193	When you have set "ctermfg" or "ctermbg" for the Normal group, Vim
4194	needs to reset the color when exiting.	This is done with the "op"
4195	termcap entry |t_op|.  If this doesn't work correctly, try setting the
4196	't_op' option in your .vimrc.
4197							*E419* *E420*
4198	When Vim knows the normal foreground and background colors, "fg" and
4199	"bg" can be used as color names.  This only works after setting the
4200	colors for the Normal group and for the MS-DOS console.  Example, for
4201	reverse video: >
4202	    :highlight Visual ctermfg=bg ctermbg=fg
4203<	Note that the colors are used that are valid at the moment this
4204	command are given.  If the Normal group colors are changed later, the
4205	"fg" and "bg" colors will not be adjusted.
4206
4207
42083. highlight arguments for the GUI
4209
4210gui={attr-list}						*highlight-gui*
4211	These give the attributes to use in the GUI mode.
4212	See |attr-list| for a description.
4213	Note that "bold" can be used here and by using a bold font.  They
4214	have the same effect.
4215	Note that the attributes are ignored for the "Normal" group.
4216
4217font={font-name}					*highlight-font*
4218	font-name is the name of a font, as it is used on the system Vim
4219	runs on.  For X11 this is a complicated name, for example: >
4220   font=-misc-fixed-bold-r-normal--14-130-75-75-c-70-iso8859-1
4221<
4222	The font-name "NONE" can be used to revert to the default font.
4223	When setting the font for the "Normal" group, this becomes the default
4224	font (until the 'guifont' option is changed; the last one set is
4225	used).
4226	The following only works with Motif and Athena, not with other GUIs:
4227	When setting the font for the "Menu" group, the menus will be changed.
4228	When setting the font for the "Tooltip" group, the tooltips will be
4229	changed.
4230	All fonts used, except for Menu and Tooltip, should be of the same
4231	character size as the default font!  Otherwise redrawing problems will
4232	occur.
4233
4234guifg={color-name}					*highlight-guifg*
4235guibg={color-name}					*highlight-guibg*
4236guisp={color-name}					*highlight-guisp*
4237	These give the foreground (guifg), background (guibg) and special
4238	(guisp) color to use in the GUI.  "guisp" is used for undercurl.
4239	There are a few special names:
4240		NONE		no color (transparent)
4241		bg		use normal background color
4242		background	use normal background color
4243		fg		use normal foreground color
4244		foreground	use normal foreground color
4245	To use a color name with an embedded space or other special character,
4246	put it in single quotes.  The single quote cannot be used then.
4247	Example: >
4248	    :hi comment guifg='salmon pink'
4249<
4250							*gui-colors*
4251	Suggested color names (these are available on most systems):
4252	    Red		LightRed	DarkRed
4253	    Green	LightGreen	DarkGreen	SeaGreen
4254	    Blue	LightBlue	DarkBlue	SlateBlue
4255	    Cyan	LightCyan	DarkCyan
4256	    Magenta	LightMagenta	DarkMagenta
4257	    Yellow	LightYellow	Brown		DarkYellow
4258	    Gray	LightGray	DarkGray
4259	    Black	White
4260	    Orange	Purple		Violet
4261
4262	In the Win32 GUI version, additional system colors are available.  See
4263	|win32-colors|.
4264
4265	You can also specify a color by its Red, Green and Blue values.
4266	The format is "#rrggbb", where
4267		"rr"	is the Red value
4268		"gg"	is the Green value
4269		"bb"	is the Blue value
4270	All values are hexadecimal, range from "00" to "ff".  Examples: >
4271  :highlight Comment guifg=#11f0c3 guibg=#ff00ff
4272<
4273					*highlight-groups* *highlight-default*
4274These are the default highlighting groups.  These groups are used by the
4275'highlight' option default.  Note that the highlighting depends on the value
4276of 'background'.  You can see the current settings with the ":highlight"
4277command.
4278							*hl-ColorColumn*
4279ColorColumn	used for the columns set with 'colorcolumn'
4280							*hl-Conceal*
4281Conceal		placeholder characters substituted for concealed
4282		text (see 'conceallevel')
4283							*hl-Cursor*
4284Cursor		the character under the cursor
4285							*hl-CursorIM*
4286CursorIM	like Cursor, but used when in IME mode |CursorIM|
4287							*hl-CursorColumn*
4288CursorColumn	the screen column that the cursor is in when 'cursorcolumn' is
4289		set
4290							*hl-CursorLine*
4291CursorLine	the screen line that the cursor is in when 'cursorline' is
4292		set
4293							*hl-Directory*
4294Directory	directory names (and other special names in listings)
4295							*hl-DiffAdd*
4296DiffAdd		diff mode: Added line |diff.txt|
4297							*hl-DiffChange*
4298DiffChange	diff mode: Changed line |diff.txt|
4299							*hl-DiffDelete*
4300DiffDelete	diff mode: Deleted line |diff.txt|
4301							*hl-DiffText*
4302DiffText	diff mode: Changed text within a changed line |diff.txt|
4303							*hl-ErrorMsg*
4304ErrorMsg	error messages on the command line
4305							*hl-VertSplit*
4306VertSplit	the column separating vertically split windows
4307							*hl-Folded*
4308Folded		line used for closed folds
4309							*hl-FoldColumn*
4310FoldColumn	'foldcolumn'
4311							*hl-SignColumn*
4312SignColumn	column where |signs| are displayed
4313							*hl-IncSearch*
4314IncSearch	'incsearch' highlighting; also used for the text replaced with
4315		":s///c"
4316							*hl-LineNr*
4317LineNr		Line number for ":number" and ":#" commands, and when 'number'
4318		or 'relativenumber' option is set.
4319							*hl-MatchParen*
4320MatchParen	The character under the cursor or just before it, if it
4321		is a paired bracket, and its match. |pi_paren.txt|
4322
4323							*hl-ModeMsg*
4324ModeMsg		'showmode' message (e.g., "-- INSERT --")
4325							*hl-MoreMsg*
4326MoreMsg		|more-prompt|
4327							*hl-NonText*
4328NonText		'~' and '@' at the end of the window, characters from
4329		'showbreak' and other characters that do not really exist in
4330		the text (e.g., ">" displayed when a double-wide character
4331		doesn't fit at the end of the line).
4332							*hl-Normal*
4333Normal		normal text
4334							*hl-Pmenu*
4335Pmenu		Popup menu: normal item.
4336							*hl-PmenuSel*
4337PmenuSel	Popup menu: selected item.
4338							*hl-PmenuSbar*
4339PmenuSbar	Popup menu: scrollbar.
4340							*hl-PmenuThumb*
4341PmenuThumb	Popup menu: Thumb of the scrollbar.
4342							*hl-Question*
4343Question	|hit-enter| prompt and yes/no questions
4344							*hl-Search*
4345Search		Last search pattern highlighting (see 'hlsearch').
4346		Also used for highlighting the current line in the quickfix
4347		window and similar items that need to stand out.
4348							*hl-SpecialKey*
4349SpecialKey	Meta and special keys listed with ":map", also for text used
4350		to show unprintable characters in the text, 'listchars'.
4351		Generally: text that is displayed differently from what it
4352		really is.
4353							*hl-SpellBad*
4354SpellBad	Word that is not recognized by the spellchecker. |spell|
4355		This will be combined with the highlighting used otherwise.
4356							*hl-SpellCap*
4357SpellCap	Word that should start with a capital. |spell|
4358		This will be combined with the highlighting used otherwise.
4359							*hl-SpellLocal*
4360SpellLocal	Word that is recognized by the spellchecker as one that is
4361		used in another region. |spell|
4362		This will be combined with the highlighting used otherwise.
4363							*hl-SpellRare*
4364SpellRare	Word that is recognized by the spellchecker as one that is
4365		hardly ever used. |spell|
4366		This will be combined with the highlighting used otherwise.
4367							*hl-StatusLine*
4368StatusLine	status line of current window
4369							*hl-StatusLineNC*
4370StatusLineNC	status lines of not-current windows
4371		Note: if this is equal to "StatusLine" Vim will use "^^^" in
4372		the status line of the current window.
4373							*hl-TabLine*
4374TabLine		tab pages line, not active tab page label
4375							*hl-TabLineFill*
4376TabLineFill	tab pages line, where there are no labels
4377							*hl-TabLineSel*
4378TabLineSel	tab pages line, active tab page label
4379							*hl-Title*
4380Title		titles for output from ":set all", ":autocmd" etc.
4381							*hl-Visual*
4382Visual		Visual mode selection
4383							*hl-VisualNOS*
4384VisualNOS	Visual mode selection when vim is "Not Owning the Selection".
4385		Only X11 Gui's |gui-x11| and |xterm-clipboard| supports this.
4386							*hl-WarningMsg*
4387WarningMsg	warning messages
4388							*hl-WildMenu*
4389WildMenu	current match in 'wildmenu' completion
4390
4391					*hl-User1* *hl-User1..9* *hl-User9*
4392The 'statusline' syntax allows the use of 9 different highlights in the
4393statusline and ruler (via 'rulerformat').  The names are User1 to User9.
4394
4395For the GUI you can use the following groups to set the colors for the menu,
4396scrollbars and tooltips.  They don't have defaults.  This doesn't work for the
4397Win32 GUI.  Only three highlight arguments have any effect here: font, guibg,
4398and guifg.
4399
4400							*hl-Menu*
4401Menu		Current font, background and foreground colors of the menus.
4402		Also used for the toolbar.
4403		Applicable highlight arguments: font, guibg, guifg.
4404
4405		NOTE: For Motif and Athena the font argument actually
4406		specifies a fontset at all times, no matter if 'guifontset' is
4407		empty, and as such it is tied to the current |:language| when
4408		set.
4409
4410							*hl-Scrollbar*
4411Scrollbar	Current background and foreground of the main window's
4412		scrollbars.
4413		Applicable highlight arguments: guibg, guifg.
4414
4415							*hl-Tooltip*
4416Tooltip		Current font, background and foreground of the tooltips.
4417		Applicable highlight arguments: font, guibg, guifg.
4418
4419		NOTE: For Motif and Athena the font argument actually
4420		specifies a fontset at all times, no matter if 'guifontset' is
4421		empty, and as such it is tied to the current |:language| when
4422		set.
4423
4424==============================================================================
442513. Linking groups		*:hi-link* *:highlight-link* *E412* *E413*
4426
4427When you want to use the same highlighting for several syntax groups, you
4428can do this more easily by linking the groups into one common highlight
4429group, and give the color attributes only for that group.
4430
4431To set a link:
4432
4433    :hi[ghlight][!] [default] link {from-group} {to-group}
4434
4435To remove a link:
4436
4437    :hi[ghlight][!] [default] link {from-group} NONE
4438
4439Notes:							*E414*
4440- If the {from-group} and/or {to-group} doesn't exist, it is created.  You
4441  don't get an error message for a non-existing group.
4442- As soon as you use a ":highlight" command for a linked group, the link is
4443  removed.
4444- If there are already highlight settings for the {from-group}, the link is
4445  not made, unless the '!' is given.  For a ":highlight link" command in a
4446  sourced file, you don't get an error message.  This can be used to skip
4447  links for groups that already have settings.
4448
4449					*:hi-default* *:highlight-default*
4450The [default] argument is used for setting the default highlighting for a
4451group.	If highlighting has already been specified for the group the command
4452will be ignored.  Also when there is an existing link.
4453
4454Using [default] is especially useful to overrule the highlighting of a
4455specific syntax file.  For example, the C syntax file contains: >
4456	:highlight default link cComment Comment
4457If you like Question highlighting for C comments, put this in your vimrc file: >
4458	:highlight link cComment Question
4459Without the "default" in the C syntax file, the highlighting would be
4460overruled when the syntax file is loaded.
4461
4462==============================================================================
446314. Cleaning up						*:syn-clear* *E391*
4464
4465If you want to clear the syntax stuff for the current buffer, you can use this
4466command: >
4467  :syntax clear
4468
4469This command should be used when you want to switch off syntax highlighting,
4470or when you want to switch to using another syntax.  It's normally not needed
4471in a syntax file itself, because syntax is cleared by the autocommands that
4472load the syntax file.
4473The command also deletes the "b:current_syntax" variable, since no syntax is
4474loaded after this command.
4475
4476If you want to disable syntax highlighting for all buffers, you need to remove
4477the autocommands that load the syntax files: >
4478  :syntax off
4479
4480What this command actually does, is executing the command >
4481  :source $VIMRUNTIME/syntax/nosyntax.vim
4482See the "nosyntax.vim" file for details.  Note that for this to work
4483$VIMRUNTIME must be valid.  See |$VIMRUNTIME|.
4484
4485To clean up specific syntax groups for the current buffer: >
4486  :syntax clear {group-name} ..
4487This removes all patterns and keywords for {group-name}.
4488
4489To clean up specific syntax group lists for the current buffer: >
4490  :syntax clear @{grouplist-name} ..
4491This sets {grouplist-name}'s contents to an empty list.
4492
4493						*:syntax-reset* *:syn-reset*
4494If you have changed the colors and messed them up, use this command to get the
4495defaults back: >
4496
4497  :syntax reset
4498
4499This doesn't change the colors for the 'highlight' option.
4500
4501Note that the syntax colors that you set in your vimrc file will also be reset
4502back to their Vim default.
4503Note that if you are using a color scheme, the colors defined by the color
4504scheme for syntax highlighting will be lost.
4505
4506What this actually does is: >
4507
4508	let g:syntax_cmd = "reset"
4509	runtime! syntax/syncolor.vim
4510
4511Note that this uses the 'runtimepath' option.
4512
4513							*syncolor*
4514If you want to use different colors for syntax highlighting, you can add a Vim
4515script file to set these colors.  Put this file in a directory in
4516'runtimepath' which comes after $VIMRUNTIME, so that your settings overrule
4517the default colors.  This way these colors will be used after the ":syntax
4518reset" command.
4519
4520For Unix you can use the file ~/.vim/after/syntax/syncolor.vim.  Example: >
4521
4522	if &background == "light"
4523	  highlight comment ctermfg=darkgreen guifg=darkgreen
4524	else
4525	  highlight comment ctermfg=green guifg=green
4526	endif
4527
4528								*E679*
4529Do make sure this syncolor.vim script does not use a "syntax on", set the
4530'background' option or uses a "colorscheme" command, because it results in an
4531endless loop.
4532
4533Note that when a color scheme is used, there might be some confusion whether
4534your defined colors are to be used or the colors from the scheme.  This
4535depends on the color scheme file.  See |:colorscheme|.
4536
4537							*syntax_cmd*
4538The "syntax_cmd" variable is set to one of these values when the
4539syntax/syncolor.vim files are loaded:
4540   "on"		":syntax on" command.  Highlight colors are overruled but
4541		links are kept
4542   "enable"	":syntax enable" command.  Only define colors for groups that
4543		don't have highlighting yet.  Use ":syntax default".
4544   "reset"	":syntax reset" command or loading a color scheme.  Define all
4545		the colors.
4546   "skip"	Don't define colors.  Used to skip the default settings when a
4547		syncolor.vim file earlier in 'runtimepath' has already set
4548		them.
4549
4550==============================================================================
455115. Highlighting tags					*tag-highlight*
4552
4553If you want to highlight all the tags in your file, you can use the following
4554mappings.
4555
4556	<F11>	-- Generate tags.vim file, and highlight tags.
4557	<F12>	-- Just highlight tags based on existing tags.vim file.
4558>
4559  :map <F11>  :sp tags<CR>:%s/^\([^	:]*:\)\=\([^	]*\).*/syntax keyword Tag \2/<CR>:wq! tags.vim<CR>/^<CR><F12>
4560  :map <F12>  :so tags.vim<CR>
4561
4562WARNING: The longer the tags file, the slower this will be, and the more
4563memory Vim will consume.
4564
4565Only highlighting typedefs, unions and structs can be done too.  For this you
4566must use Exuberant ctags (found at http://ctags.sf.net).
4567
4568Put these lines in your Makefile:
4569
4570# Make a highlight file for types.  Requires Exuberant ctags and awk
4571types: types.vim
4572types.vim: *.[ch]
4573	ctags --c-kinds=gstu -o- *.[ch] |\
4574		awk 'BEGIN{printf("syntax keyword Type\t")}\
4575			{printf("%s ", $$1)}END{print ""}' > $@
4576
4577And put these lines in your .vimrc: >
4578
4579   " load the types.vim highlighting file, if it exists
4580   autocmd BufRead,BufNewFile *.[ch] let fname = expand('<afile>:p:h') . '/types.vim'
4581   autocmd BufRead,BufNewFile *.[ch] if filereadable(fname)
4582   autocmd BufRead,BufNewFile *.[ch]   exe 'so ' . fname
4583   autocmd BufRead,BufNewFile *.[ch] endif
4584
4585==============================================================================
458616. Window-local syntax				*:ownsyntax*
4587
4588Normally all windows on a buffer share the same syntax settings. It is
4589possible, however, to set a particular window on a file to have its own
4590private syntax setting. A possible example would be to edit LaTeX source
4591with conventional highlighting in one window, while seeing the same source
4592highlighted differently (so as to hide control sequences and indicate bold,
4593italic etc regions) in another. The 'scrollbind' option is useful here.
4594
4595To set the current window to have the syntax "foo", separately from all other
4596windows on the buffer: >
4597   :ownsyntax foo
4598<						*w:current_syntax*
4599This will set the "w:current_syntax" variable to "foo".  The value of
4600"b:current_syntax" does not change.  This is implemented by saving and
4601restoring "b:current_syntax", since the syntax files do set
4602"b:current_syntax".  The value set by the syntax file is assigned to
4603"w:current_syntax".
4604
4605Once a window has its own syntax, syntax commands executed from other windows
4606on the same buffer (including :syntax clear) have no effect. Conversely, 
4607syntax commands executed from that window do not effect other windows on the
4608same buffer.
4609
4610A window with its own syntax reverts to normal behavior when another buffer
4611is loaded into that window or the file is reloaded.
4612When splitting the window, the new window will use the original syntax.
4613
4614==============================================================================
461516. Color xterms				*xterm-color* *color-xterm*
4616
4617Most color xterms have only eight colors.  If you don't get colors with the
4618default setup, it should work with these lines in your .vimrc: >
4619   :if &term =~ "xterm"
4620   :  if has("terminfo")
4621   :	set t_Co=8
4622   :	set t_Sf=<Esc>[3%p1%dm
4623   :	set t_Sb=<Esc>[4%p1%dm
4624   :  else
4625   :	set t_Co=8
4626   :	set t_Sf=<Esc>[3%dm
4627   :	set t_Sb=<Esc>[4%dm
4628   :  endif
4629   :endif
4630<	[<Esc> is a real escape, type CTRL-V <Esc>]
4631
4632You might want to change the first "if" to match the name of your terminal,
4633e.g. "dtterm" instead of "xterm".
4634
4635Note: Do these settings BEFORE doing ":syntax on".  Otherwise the colors may
4636be wrong.
4637							*xiterm* *rxvt*
4638The above settings have been mentioned to work for xiterm and rxvt too.
4639But for using 16 colors in an rxvt these should work with terminfo: >
4640	:set t_AB=<Esc>[%?%p1%{8}%<%t25;%p1%{40}%+%e5;%p1%{32}%+%;%dm
4641	:set t_AF=<Esc>[%?%p1%{8}%<%t22;%p1%{30}%+%e1;%p1%{22}%+%;%dm
4642<
4643							*colortest.vim*
4644To test your color setup, a file has been included in the Vim distribution.
4645To use it, execute this command: >
4646   :runtime syntax/colortest.vim
4647
4648Some versions of xterm (and other terminals, like the Linux console) can
4649output lighter foreground colors, even though the number of colors is defined
4650at 8.  Therefore Vim sets the "cterm=bold" attribute for light foreground
4651colors, when 't_Co' is 8.
4652
4653							*xfree-xterm*
4654To get 16 colors or more, get the newest xterm version (which should be
4655included with XFree86 3.3 and later).  You can also find the latest version
4656at: >
4657	http://invisible-island.net/xterm/xterm.html
4658Here is a good way to configure it.  This uses 88 colors and enables the
4659termcap-query feature, which allows Vim to ask the xterm how many colors it
4660supports. >
4661	./configure --disable-bold-color --enable-88-color --enable-tcap-query
4662If you only get 8 colors, check the xterm compilation settings.
4663(Also see |UTF8-xterm| for using this xterm with UTF-8 character encoding).
4664
4665This xterm should work with these lines in your .vimrc (for 16 colors): >
4666   :if has("terminfo")
4667   :  set t_Co=16
4668   :  set t_AB=<Esc>[%?%p1%{8}%<%t%p1%{40}%+%e%p1%{92}%+%;%dm
4669   :  set t_AF=<Esc>[%?%p1%{8}%<%t%p1%{30}%+%e%p1%{82}%+%;%dm
4670   :else
4671   :  set t_Co=16
4672   :  set t_Sf=<Esc>[3%dm
4673   :  set t_Sb=<Esc>[4%dm
4674   :endif
4675<	[<Esc> is a real escape, type CTRL-V <Esc>]
4676
4677Without |+terminfo|, Vim will recognize these settings, and automatically
4678translate cterm colors of 8 and above to "<Esc>[9%dm" and "<Esc>[10%dm".
4679Colors above 16 are also translated automatically.
4680
4681For 256 colors this has been reported to work: >
4682
4683   :set t_AB=<Esc>[48;5;%dm
4684   :set t_AF=<Esc>[38;5;%dm
4685
4686Or just set the TERM environment variable to "xterm-color" or "xterm-16color"
4687and try if that works.
4688
4689You probably want to use these X resources (in your ~/.Xdefaults file):
4690	XTerm*color0:			#000000
4691	XTerm*color1:			#c00000
4692	XTerm*color2:			#008000
4693	XTerm*color3:			#808000
4694	XTerm*color4:			#0000c0
4695	XTerm*color5:			#c000c0
4696	XTerm*color6:			#008080
4697	XTerm*color7:			#c0c0c0
4698	XTerm*color8:			#808080
4699	XTerm*color9:			#ff6060
4700	XTerm*color10:			#00ff00
4701	XTerm*color11:			#ffff00
4702	XTerm*color12:			#8080ff
4703	XTerm*color13:			#ff40ff
4704	XTerm*color14:			#00ffff
4705	XTerm*color15:			#ffffff
4706	Xterm*cursorColor:		Black
4707
4708[Note: The cursorColor is required to work around a bug, which changes the
4709cursor color to the color of the last drawn text.  This has been fixed by a
4710newer version of xterm, but not everybody is using it yet.]
4711
4712To get these right away, reload the .Xdefaults file to the X Option database
4713Manager (you only need to do this when you just changed the .Xdefaults file): >
4714  xrdb -merge ~/.Xdefaults
4715<
4716					*xterm-blink* *xterm-blinking-cursor*
4717To make the cursor blink in an xterm, see tools/blink.c.  Or use Thomas
4718Dickey's xterm above patchlevel 107 (see above for where to get it), with
4719these resources:
4720	XTerm*cursorBlink:	on
4721	XTerm*cursorOnTime:	400
4722	XTerm*cursorOffTime:	250
4723	XTerm*cursorColor:	White
4724
4725							*hpterm-color*
4726These settings work (more or less) for an hpterm, which only supports 8
4727foreground colors: >
4728   :if has("terminfo")
4729   :  set t_Co=8
4730   :  set t_Sf=<Esc>[&v%p1%dS
4731   :  set t_Sb=<Esc>[&v7S
4732   :else
4733   :  set t_Co=8
4734   :  set t_Sf=<Esc>[&v%dS
4735   :  set t_Sb=<Esc>[&v7S
4736   :endif
4737<	[<Esc> is a real escape, type CTRL-V <Esc>]
4738
4739						*Eterm* *enlightened-terminal*
4740These settings have been reported to work for the Enlightened terminal
4741emulator, or Eterm.  They might work for all xterm-like terminals that use the
4742bold attribute to get bright colors.  Add an ":if" like above when needed. >
4743       :set t_Co=16
4744       :set t_AF=^[[%?%p1%{8}%<%t3%p1%d%e%p1%{22}%+%d;1%;m
4745       :set t_AB=^[[%?%p1%{8}%<%t4%p1%d%e%p1%{32}%+%d;1%;m
4746<
4747						*TTpro-telnet*
4748These settings should work for TTpro telnet.  Tera Term Pro is a freeware /
4749open-source program for MS-Windows. >
4750	set t_Co=16
4751	set t_AB=^[[%?%p1%{8}%<%t%p1%{40}%+%e%p1%{32}%+5;%;%dm
4752	set t_AF=^[[%?%p1%{8}%<%t%p1%{30}%+%e%p1%{22}%+1;%;%dm
4753Also make sure TTpro's Setup / Window / Full Color is enabled, and make sure
4754that Setup / Font / Enable Bold is NOT enabled.
4755(info provided by John Love-Jensen <eljay@Adobe.COM>)
4756
4757 vim:tw=78:sw=4:ts=8:ft=help:norl:
4758