I sometimes need to use the ne nice editor on a terminal to modify Perl files.
I can't find a way to get Perl variables (you know, anything starting with $, @ or %) to highlight at all.
The syntax definition file is extremely complex and hacking it with my extremely limited understanding of the file syntax gets me nowhere.
Also: I would like to use more colors than the red/blue/yellow/green/cyan/magenta/white/black, but did not find a way either to use RGB syntax for that.
NB: my terminal emulator allows for 256 colors.
Any pointers appreciated.
I am pasting below the Perl syntax def file content: I tried to play with various RGB syntaxes (blind, since I'm unable to find a definite spec, or if it is at all possible): #rrggbb, @rrggbb, %rrggbb, etc. That's for the colors part.
As for detecting variables: the file clearly spells out a color for variables ("=Var magenta"). This works for other languages, I could successfully play with variable colors and get variables highlighted.
But on Perl files, zero variable detection takes place, no matter which color is used. There should be a way to enforce that variables start with $/@/%, but I don't even know where to start to specify this...
Def file for Perl below the line. Which is horribly convoluted compared to other languages syntax files, and I guess that's my problem: too complex to hack.
# JOE syntax highlight file for Perl
# Define colors
=Idle
=Preproc blue
=Comment dim yellow
=POD green
=Constant green
=String green
=Escape bold green
=Type bold
=Keyword bold blue
=Bad bold red
=Var magenta
:begin Idle
* begin noeat call=.perl()
#
# Perl as a subroutine for Mason
#
.subr perl
# Detect pod
:idle Idle
* idle1 noeat
.ifdef mason_line
"\n" idle return
.else
"\n" idle
.endif
"=" pod_start
# allow keywords
:idle1 Idle
* idle1
"#" line_comment_i recolor=-1
"\n" idle noeat
"0" first_digit recolor=-1
"1-9" decimal recolor=-1
"." maybe_float
"\"" string recolor=-1
"'" char recolor=-1
"`" backtick recolor=-1
"<" maybe_inc
"$" not_string buffer
.ifdef mason_block
"&%" perl_maybe_done buffer
"-a-zA-Z_@" ident buffer
.else
"/" regex recolor=-1
"-a-zA-Z_@%&" ident buffer
.endif
:perl_maybe_done Idle
* ident noeat
">" idle1 recolor=-2 return
# prevent keywords
:rest Idle
* rest
"({;~" idle1
"#" line_comment recolor=-1
"\n" idle noeat
"0" first_digit recolor=-1
"1-9" decimal recolor=-1
"." maybe_float
"\"" string recolor=-1
"'" char recolor=-1
"`" backtick recolor=-1
"$" not_string buffer
"<" maybe_inc
.ifdef mason_block
"&%" perl_maybe_done buffer
"a-zA-Z_@" maybe_string buffer
.else
"a-zA-Z_@%&" maybe_string buffer
.endif
:pod_start Idle
* pod_start
"\n" pod_block
:pod_block POD
* pod_block
"=" pod_ident buffer
:pod_ident POD
* pod_block noeat strings
"=cut" rest
done
"a-zA-Z0-9_" pod_ident
:maybe_inc Idle
* rest noeat
.ifdef mason_block
"/" perl_maybe_done_2
.endif
"<" maybe_inc1
:perl_maybe_done_2 Idle
* perl_idle noeat
"a-z" perl_maybe_done_2
">" idle
:maybe_inc1 Idle
* rest noeat
" " maybe_inc1
"'\"" quoted_inc_start save_c recolor=-1
"A-Za-z_" inc buffer noeat
:quoted_inc_start Var
* quoted_inc buffer
:quoted_inc Var
* quoted_inc
& skipline save_s
:inc Var
* skipline save_s noeat
"A-Za-z0-9_" inc
# Should be treated as a normal line here...
:skipline Idle
* skipline
"\n" next_line
:todelim Constant
* todelim
"\n" next_line strings
"&" founddelim
done
# eat \n so it's not in string.
:next_line Constant
* todelim buffer
"\n" next_line
:founddelim Var
* idle noeat
:regex Constant
* regex
"\\" regex_quote recolor=-1
"/" rest
:regex_quote Escape
* regex
:not_string Idle
* rest noeat
"A-Za-z_" ident
"\"'`#" rest
:line_comment Comment
* line_comment
"\n" rest
:line_comment_i Comment
* line_comment_i
"\n" idle noeat
:end_of_file_comment Comment
* end_of_file_comment
:first_digit Constant
* rest noeat
"x" hex
"b" binary
"b" binary
"." float
"eE" epart
"0-7" octal
"89" bad_number recolor=-1
:bad_number Bad
* rest noeat
"0-9" bad_number
:octal Constant
* rest noeat
"0-7_" octal
"89" bad_number recolor=-1
:binary Constant
* rest noeat
"01_" binary
"2-9" bad_number recolor=-1
:hex Constant
* rest noeat
"0-9A-Fa-f_" hex
:decimal Constant
* rest noeat
"0-9_" decimal
"eE" epart
"." float
:maybe_float Constant
* rest recolor=-2 noeat
"0-9" float recolor=-2
:float Constant
* rest noeat
"eE" epart
"0-9_" float
:epart Constant
* rest noeat
"0-9+\-" enum
:enum Constant
* rest noeat
"0-9_" enum
:string Constant
* string
"\"" rest
"\\" string_escape recolor=-1
"$@" string_subst recolor=-1
:string_subst Escape
* string noeat recolor=-1
"a-zA-Z_0-9" string_subst
:string_escape Escape
* string
"x" string_hex1
"c" string_ctrl
"N" string_named
"0-7" string_octal2
"\n" string recolor=-2
:string_named Escape
* string
"{" string_named_rest
:string_named_rest Escape
* string_named_rest
"}" string
:string_ctrl Escape
* string
:string_hex1 Escape
* string noeat
"{" string_unicode
"0-9a-fA-F" string_hex2
:string_unicode Escape
* string_unicode
"}" string
:string_hex2 Escape
* string noeat
"0-9a-fA-F" string
:string_octal2 Escape
* string noeat
"0-7" string_octal3
:string_octal3 Escape
* string noeat
"0-7" string
:char Constant
* char
# "\n" idle noeat
"'" rest
"\\" char_escape recolor=-1
:char_escape Escape
* char recolor=-2
"\\'" char
:backtick Constant
* backtick
"`" rest
"\\" backtick_escape recolor=-1
"$@" backtick_subst recolor=-1
:backtick_subst Escape
* backtick noeat recolor=-1
"a-zA-Z_0-9" backtick_subst
:backtick_escape Escape
* backtick
"x" backtick_hex1
"c" backtick_ctrl
"N" backtick_named
"0-7" backtick_octal2
"\n" backtick recolor=-2
:backtick_named Escape
* backtick
"{" backtick_named_rest
:backtick_named_rest Escape
* backtick_named_rest
"}" backtick
:backtick_ctrl Escape
* backtick
:backtick_hex1 Escape
* backtick noeat
"{" backtick_unicode
"0-9a-fA-F" backtick_hex2
:backtick_unicode Escape
* backtick_unicode
"}" backtick
:backtick_hex2 Escape
* backtick noeat
"0-9a-fA-F" backtick
:backtick_octal2 Escape
* backtick noeat
"0-7" backtick_octal3
:backtick_octal3 Escape
* backtick noeat
"0-7" backtick
:ident Idle
* rest noeat strings
"BEGIN" kw
"END" kw
"if" kw
"unless" kw
"while" kw
"until" kw
"foreach" kw
"sub" kw
"my" kw
"our" kw
"do" kw
"if" kw
"else" kw
"elsif" kw
"for" kw
"continue" kw
"last" kw
"print" kw
"reset" kw
"die" kw
"goto" kw
"require" kw
"use" kw
"eval" kw
"redo" kw
"next" kw
"warn" kw
"return" kw
"printf" kw
"close" kw
"package" kw
"m" match
"qr" match
"qq" match
"qx" match
"qw" match
"q" match
"s" subst
"tr" subst
"y" subst
"__END__" end_of_file_comment
"__DATA__" end_of_file_comment
done
"a-zA-Z0-9_" ident
:maybe_string Idle
* rest noeat strings
"qr" match
"qq" match
"qx" match
"qw" match
"q" match
done
"a-zA-Z0-9_" maybe_string
:type Type
* rest noeat
:kw Keyword
* rest noeat
:match Idle
* inmatch save_c recolor=-1
" " match
:inmatch Constant
* inmatch
& rest
"\\" inmatch_quote recolor=-1
:inmatch_quote Escape
* inmatch
:subst Idle
* insubst save_c recolor=-1
"<([{`" delim_insubst save_c recolor=-1
" " subst
:insubst Constant
* insubst
& inrepl
"\\" insubst_quote recolor=-1
:insubst_quote Escape
* insubst
:inrepl Constant
* inrepl
& rest
"\\" inrepl_quote
:inrepl_quote Escape
* inrepl
:delim_insubst Constant
* delim_insubst
& delim_repl
"\\" delim_quote
:delim_quote Escape
* delim_insubst
:delim_repl Constant
* repl save_c recolor=-1
" " delim_repl
L: 441 C: 1 97% i-----pvurT------@A perl.jsf
* inmatch
:subst Idle
* insubst save_c recolor=-1
"<([{`" delim_insubst save_c recolor=-1
" " subst
:insubst Constant
* insubst
& inrepl
"\\" insubst_quote recolor=-1
:insubst_quote Escape
* insubst
:inrepl Constant
* inrepl
& rest
"\\" inrepl_quote
:inrepl_quote Escape
* inrepl
:delim_insubst Constant
* delim_insubst
& delim_repl
"\\" delim_quote
:delim_quote Escape
* delim_insubst
:delim_repl Constant
* repl save_c recolor=-1
" " delim_repl
:repl Constant
* repl
& rest
"\\" repl_quote
:repl_quote Escape
* repl
.end