Sublime text 3 auto-match asterisks and backticks in markdown - sublimetext3

Question

When editing a markdown file, I would like to make asterisks and backticks behave like parentheses. For instance, I have made a selection and I press *, I would like the selection to be enclosed within two * characters.
How do I do this in Sublime Text 3?

Answer 1

From the Preferences menu, choose Keybindings and paste in the following:
{ "keys": ["*"], "command": "insert_snippet", "args": {"contents": "*${0:$SELECTION}*"}, "context":
[
{ "key": "setting.auto_match_enabled", "operator": "equal", "operand": true },
{ "key": "selection_empty", "operator": "equal", "operand": false, "match_all": true },
{ "key": "selector", "operator": "equal", "operand": "text.html.markdown", "match_all": true },
]
},
{ "keys": ["`"], "command": "insert_snippet", "args": {"contents": "`${0:$SELECTION}`"}, "context":
[
{ "key": "setting.auto_match_enabled", "operator": "equal", "operand": true },
{ "key": "selection_empty", "operator": "equal", "operand": false, "match_all": true },
{ "key": "selector", "operator": "equal", "operand": "text.html.markdown", "match_all": true },
]
},
This is just a modified version of the Default keybinding for (, with the additional restriction that it will only apply to Markdown files.

Answer 2

Auto-pairing is implemented as key binding in sublime you can find it in
sublime > preferences > key Binding
here is an example of how it works:
{ "keys": ["("], "command": "insert_snippet", "args": {"contents": "($0)"}, "context":
[
{ "key": "setting.auto_match_enabled", "operator": "equal", "operand": true },
{ "key": "selection_empty", "operator": "equal", "operand": true, "match_all": true },
{ "key": "following_text", "operator": "regex_contains", "operand": "^(?:\t| |\\)|]|;|\\}|$)", "match_all": true }
]
}
when "(" is pressed insert the snippet ($0) open parentheses then the first "data to enter"/cursor then closing parentheses but ensure the following criteria
auto_match_enabled => auto match is enabled
selection_empty(true) => you don't have a selection
following_text => the next text is something matches "^(?:\t|
|\)|]|;|\}|$)"
another one:
{ "keys": ["("], "command": "insert_snippet", "args": {"contents": "(${0:$SELECTION})"}, "context":
[
{ "key": "setting.auto_match_enabled", "operator": "equal", "operand": true },
{ "key": "selection_empty", "operator": "equal", "operand": false, "match_all": true }
]
}
when "(" is pressed insert the snippet (${0:$SELECTION}) open parentheses then the selected text then closing parentheses but ensure the following criteria
auto_match_enabled => auto match is enabled
selection_empty(false) => you have a selection
and the others work in the same manner for pressing the closing parentheses that move the cursor right and for deleting an empty parentheses pair
so what you need is
{ "keys": ["*"], "command": "insert_snippet", "args": {"contents": "*${0:$SELECTION}*"}, "context":
[
{ "key": "setting.auto_match_enabled", "operator": "equal", "operand": true },
{ "key": "selection_empty", "operator": "equal", "operand": false, "match_all": true }
]
},
{ "keys": ["`"], "command": "insert_snippet", "args": {"contents": "`${0:$SELECTION}`"}, "context":
[
{ "key": "setting.auto_match_enabled", "operator": "equal", "operand": true },
{ "key": "selection_empty", "operator": "equal", "operand": false, "match_all": true }
]
}

Answer 3

To make a back-tick (`) behave in completely the same way as other matching characters, i.e. add closing pair, enclose selection, delete the closing pair when the opening back-tick is backspaced, add this to the user's pane in Sublime > Preferences > Key Binding:
{ "keys": ["`"], "command": "insert_snippet", "args": {"contents": "`$0`"}, "context":
[
{ "key": "setting.auto_match_enabled", "operator": "equal", "operand": true },
{ "key": "selection_empty", "operator": "equal", "operand": true, "match_all": true },
{ "key": "following_text", "operator": "regex_contains", "operand": "^(?:\t| |\\)|]|\\}|>|$)", "match_all": true },
{ "key": "preceding_text", "operator": "not_regex_contains", "operand": "[`a-zA-Z0-9_]$", "match_all": true },
{ "key": "eol_selector", "operator": "not_equal", "operand": "string.quoted.double - punctuation.definition.string.end", "match_all": true },
{ "key": "selector", "operator": "equal", "operand": "text.html.markdown", "match_all": true }
]
},
{ "keys": ["`"], "command": "insert_snippet", "args": {"contents": "`${0:$SELECTION}`"}, "context":
[
{ "key": "setting.auto_match_enabled", "operator": "equal", "operand": true },
{ "key": "selection_empty", "operator": "equal", "operand": false, "match_all": true },
{ "key": "selector", "operator": "equal", "operand": "text.html.markdown", "match_all": true }
]
},
{ "keys": ["`"], "command": "move", "args": {"by": "characters", "forward": true}, "context":
[
{ "key": "setting.auto_match_enabled", "operator": "equal", "operand": true },
{ "key": "selection_empty", "operator": "equal", "operand": true, "match_all": true },
{ "key": "following_text", "operator": "regex_contains", "operand": "^`", "match_all": true },
{ "key": "selector", "operator": "not_equal", "operand": "punctuation.definition.string.begin", "match_all": true },
{ "key": "eol_selector", "operator": "not_equal", "operand": "string.quoted.double - punctuation.definition.string.end", "match_all": true },
{ "key": "selector", "operator": "equal", "operand": "text.html.markdown", "match_all": true }
]
},
{ "keys": ["backspace"], "command": "run_macro_file", "args": {"file": "res://Packages/Default/Delete Left Right.sublime-macro"}, "context":
[
{ "key": "setting.auto_match_enabled", "operator": "equal", "operand": true },
{ "key": "selection_empty", "operator": "equal", "operand": true, "match_all": true },
{ "key": "preceding_text", "operator": "regex_contains", "operand": "`$", "match_all": true },
{ "key": "following_text", "operator": "regex_contains", "operand": "^`", "match_all": true },
{ "key": "selector", "operator": "not_equal", "operand": "punctuation.definition.string.begin", "match_all": true },
{ "key": "eol_selector", "operator": "not_equal", "operand": "string.quoted.double - punctuation.definition.string.end", "match_all": true },
{ "key": "selector", "operator": "equal", "operand": "text.html.markdown", "match_all": true }
]
}
I copied this code from Sublime's default key bindings for double-quote ("), replacing "\"" with "`".
The settings will only affect markdown. To address JavaScript files, for example, you would replace "text.html.markdown" with "source.js".