How to create simple Sublime Text 3 custom syntax definition - sublimetext3

I'm using Sublime Text build 3126 on a Windows machine, and I'm trying to follow the steps in this documentation for creating a very simple syntax definition file. Here is the example given:
%YAML 1.2
---
name: Z
file_extensions: z
scope: source.c
contexts:
main:
- match: \b(if|else|for|while)\b
scope: keyword.control.c
This doesn't work for me in the same way as this post: no option for this custom definition appears under View > Syntax. The original poster seemed to resolve their issue, but I tried to uninstall and reinstall all of ST3 and related files, but I'm still having the same issue.

There are two things to note here:
The file extension must be .sublime-syntax for ST to treat it as a syntax definition. Using .yaml won't work.
If you save the file in a folder that already contains a syntax definition, a submenu will be created with the name of the folder, and the syntax will be under that. i.e. if you have one syntax definition in Packages/User/, and then save another one, both of them will then appear under the User submenu instead of the main syntax list i.e. View -> Syntax -> User -> Z. Note that you can also use the command palette to find a syntax definition by typing Set Syntax:

Related

control+/ does not work to comment multi line in sublime 3

I can't comment out multi line in sublime 3. Looked at this Keyboard shortcut to comment lines in Sublime Text 3 already but it is not fixing it
Sublime version is 3.2.1 build 3207 . on windows 10.
Please help me out if have any tips.
The keyboard binding for commenting is indeed Ctrl+/ (Cmd+/ on MacOS) so in the general case what you're trying should work just fine.
That said, the keys in question are bound to the toggle_comment command and that command requires language specific metadata to know what comments are supposed to look like. For example comments look and work differently in HTML than they do in C or JavaScript. Some file types (such as plain text files) aren't code and thus don't have a concept of comments at all.
If the metadata file for a file type is missing, then the toggle_comment command won't do anything because comments are assumed to not be valid, which seems to be what's happening to here.
The first thing to check would be to examine the bottom right of the window to see if Sublime agrees with you about what the file type is supposed to be. For example, newly created tabs are Plain Text files until you save the file for the first time, and comments are not allowed in Plain Text files.
If the file type doesn't say what you think it should, you can click it to open a menu and select the appropriate type for that file.
If the type of the file looks to be correct and the command still doesn't work, then the metadata file needed is not being provided in the package that is adding support for that language. In that case you should raise an issue with whoever is responsible for the package in question and get them to add the appropriate file.
Based on the comments on your question, you think you're editing JavaScript files but Sublime thinks you're editing an ActionScript file instead. The JavaScript package includes the appropriate file, but the ActionScript package does not.
So in your particular case, your best bet is to switch the file type to JavaScript and your problem should go away. If you actually want to be editing ActionScript instead, then you need to create an issue on the Default package tracker and ask for this to be added.

How do I make Sublime Text recognize my .sublime-syntax file

Using PackageDev I created a myLanguage.sublime-syntax File, as it's documented everywhere, e.g. in https://www.sublimetext.com/docs/3/syntax.html.
I saved it in .../Packages/User. But I can't see the new syntax in View->Syntax. There must be a step missing!?

How to locate the name of function in vim?

I want to locate the name of a function. The steps I'm using are:
press [m to locate to the first { of the function.
press some b to locate the name of the function.
Is there any simple way to locate the name directly?
You can consider installing vim plugin showfunc.vim, which would satisfy your need to walk through the functions in the java file.
Also, You can consider using vim editor customized for Java.
It will help you in listing of packages, classes, functions etc.
Spacevim
Also, you can consider Exuberant CTags, which will be helpful, if you want to go to definition from reference and back. It supports Java also. As it is not being maintained any more, as suggested by #Michail, you can go for Universal CTags

Custom syntax in Sublime Text 3

I'm struggling to find out how to create a new syntax highlighting in Sublime Text 3 using the new .sublime-syntax style definition (most previous answers relate to old ways of doing it).
As of Sublime Text Build 3084, a new syntax definition format has been added, with the .sublime-syntax extension.
I can find the:
syntax rules
scope naming rules
colour scheme rules
But I can't find the most basic piece of information detailing how these tie together!
I'm not trying to create a theme, or tweaking an existing syntax definition. I just want to create syntax highlighting to files with an extension I plan on using for my own purposes.
In the syntax definition I have to specify a scope (e.g. scope: source.c) but where does that scope file live? Or rather, where do I create my scope file, and how do I name it, so that it loads?
How do I know that my syntax file, and the scope file it uses, are loaded and applied successfully?
Are there any compile or refresh steps, or does everything automatically reload?
Thanks.
A full discussion of how to create a custom syntax is well outside the bounds of something as simple as a Stack Overflow answer. Also I think you're making your problem more complicated than it actually is (although creating a syntax is pretty complicated in general).
In order to walk you through the steps that you would take to create a custom syntax, here's an example.
To start with, create a file with the following contents and save it somewhere as sample.ec, and leave the file open:
// This is a line comment
if (x == 2)
y = 1
else
z = 1
You'll notice that the syntax for this file is set to Plain Text (see the status line in the lower right), which is the default syntax for files that are unknown to Sublime.
Now, select Tools > Developer > New Syntax... from the menu. A buffer with the following will appear. Use File > Save to save the file; the location will default to your User package. The name you give it is not important, but make sure that the extension is sublime-syntax. In my example I'm calling my file Sample.sublime-syntax.
%YAML 1.2
---
# See http://www.sublimetext.com/docs/3/syntax.html
file_extensions:
- ec
scope: source.example-c
contexts:
main:
# Strings begin and end with quotes, and use backslashes as an escape
# character
- match: '"'
scope: punctuation.definition.string.begin.example-c
push: double_quoted_string
# Comments begin with a '//' and finish at the end of the line
- match: '//'
scope: punctuation.definition.comment.example-c
push: line_comment
# Keywords are if, else for and while.
# Note that blackslashes don't need to be escaped within single quoted
# strings in YAML. When using single quoted strings, only single quotes
# need to be escaped: this is done by using two single quotes next to each
# other.
- match: '\b(if|else|for|while)\b'
scope: keyword.control.example-c
# Numbers
- match: '\b(-)?[0-9.]+\b'
scope: constant.numeric.example-c
double_quoted_string:
- meta_scope: string.quoted.double.example-c
- match: '\\.'
scope: constant.character.escape.example-c
- match: '"'
scope: punctuation.definition.string.end.example-c
pop: true
line_comment:
- meta_scope: comment.line.example-c
- match: $
pop: true
Now open the Sublime Console with View > Show Console or press the associated key binding. You'll see that the last line in the console is this:
generating syntax summary
Leaving the console open, click in the syntax file and perform another save operation again without changing anything. The same line appears in the console again.
Are there any compile or refresh steps, or does everything automatically reload?
As seen here, every time you modify the syntax definition, the file is recompiled and the results are cached. So there are no compile steps (other than saving) and nothing you need to do in order to refresh anything.
Now lets turn our attention back to the sample file. It's still open, and the syntax still says that it's Plain Text.
Now close the file and re-open it again; a shortcut for this is to use File > Open Recent > Reopen Closed File or it's associated key binding.
Notice that now that the file is re-opened, there are several changes. Firstly, the syntax name in the bottom right side of the window says Sample (or whatever you named your sublime-syntax file above). For another, the contents of the file are now syntax highlighted.
The colors you see are dependent on the color scheme you use, but an example might look like this:
// This is a line comment
if (x == 2)
y = 1
else
z = 1
How do I know that my syntax file, and the scope file it uses, are loaded and applied successfully?
You can see that the syntax file was compiled by the lack of an error message when you save your changes, and you can tell that it's applied by trying to use the syntax.
Here the syntax is being used automatically, but you'll find that if you check View > Syntax in the menu or click the current syntax name in the bottom right of the window, your syntax will appear there. Similarly there is now an entry in the command palette named Set Syntax: Sample (or whatever).
That leads us into your last question. If you go back to your sublime-syntax file, you'll see this at the top:
# See http://www.sublimetext.com/docs/3/syntax.html
file_extensions:
- ec
scope: source.example-c
The first thing to note is that file_extensions includes ec, and our sample file is called sample.ec; thus this syntax applies to it automatically due to it's name.
Now switch into the sample.ec file, place the cursor somewhere in the buffer and use Tools > Developer > Show Scope Name or press the associated key.
The content of the popup that appears will vary depending on where in the file the cursor is located, but the common point is that the scope that appears always starts with source.example-c.
In the syntax definition I have to specify a scope (e.g. scope: source.c) but where does that scope file live? Or rather, where do I create my scope file, and how do I name it, so that it loads?
As seen here, there is no such thing as a "scope file"; the sublime-syntax file directly specifies the scope as part of the syntax rules, so it's the only file that you need to create in order to create a syntax. It may look like a filename, but it is not one.
The scopes that are applied in the syntax matching rules in the syntax need to coincide with the scopes in your color scheme in order to be syntax highlighted; that's why you should use the scope naming rules to use the common set of scopes that all syntaxes share unless you're also planning to make a color scheme to go along with your syntax, but unless you use the recommended scopes, your syntax won't work well with other color schemes and your color scheme won't work well for other syntaxes.
From this starting point you can modify the sublime-syntax file here in order to make it highlight files the way you want. That would include changing the base scope at the top, applying an appropriate extension, and then including all of the rules that match your language.
As mentioned above, creating the actual rules to match your file is the most complicated part of creating a syntax unless your file format is very simplistic. It's outside the scope of something that could be conveyed in a Stack Overflow answer, but the official documentation linked above gives you some information on it.
Apart from looking at existing syntax files to see how they're doing what they do, you can also ask more directed questions on the Sublime forum.
I will shortly answer your questions, someone else can feel free to write a longer guide:
You put your syntax definitions inside a package: Select Preferences > Browse Packages... this should open your file explorer. There you can either create a new folder for a new package or use the User folder, which is the default user package. Inside that create a file YourSyntax.sublime-syntax.
You can open the ST console ctrl+` and it will output that the syntax is loaded and potential errors. You can also press ctrl+shift+p and write Set Syntax: YourSyntax in a buffer to directly see it.
You just need to save the file and it will reload the syntax definition.

Change SublimeREPL shell colour

I use SublimeText3 and try to change the colour for SublimeREPL Shell because its all white. Is that possible? Or is it possible to use colours from system prompt like PS1='' ?. I am running on ubuntu. I haven't found a soloution.
I assume you're trying to color the prompt in the SublimeREPL shell - if you want syntax highlighting of the commands you type, just change the syntax to Shell Script (Bash). To do this permanently, open your Packages folder (Preferences -> Browse Packages...), browse to SublimeREPL/config/Shell, and open Main.sublime-menu as a JSON file. Line 26 contains the "syntax" setting; just change the value to "Packages/ShellScript/Shell-Unix-Generic.tmLanguage", save the file, and the next time you start it the syntax will be applied.
However, if you're just trying to color the prompt, you'll have much more work to do. First, you'll have to create a custom .tmLanguage syntax definition file creating scopes for the various parts of the prompt you want to highlight, then you'll need to alter your color scheme's .tmTheme file to actually style the scopes. (If you're using the ST3 dev builds and have Build 3084 or newer, you can also use the new YAML-based .sublime-syntax format instead of the XML-based .tmLanguage one.)
If you're not using a dev build, the best way to write syntax definitions is to use the wonderful PackageDev package. I maintain an alternate - and better :) - syntax definition for Python and I much prefer using PackageDev's .YAML-tmLanguage format, which as you can tell is also based on YAML, but was around long before the new "official" .sublime-syntax format, and of course they're incompatible. However, it is quite easy to convert from YAML-tmL to tmL to sub-syn and back again, so it's no big deal.
However, as I was saying, the contents of your syntax definition will vary depending on the exact structure of your prompt, and what you want to do with it. For the following examples, I'm assuming you have the default Ubuntu user#hostname:/present/working/directory$ prompt. To create a new syntax definition, after installing PackageDev, select Tools -> Packages -> Package Development -> New Syntax Definition and you'll get the following:
# [PackageDev] target_format: plist, ext: tmLanguage
---
name: Syntax Name
scopeName: source.syntax_name
fileTypes: []
uuid: 7e1549b3-fb0b-44fc-a153-78a7fc2157c2
patterns:
-
...
The first line is required, don't mess with it. You can make name whatever you want. scopeName is obviously the identifier for the base scope, perhaps something like source.shell.prompt. fileTypes can be left blank, and the uuid left alone as well.
If you want to get a feel for how these files are supposed to work, feel free to check out PythonImproved.YAML-tmLanguage on Github, and also make use of the Sublime Text Unofficial Documentation page on the subject as well as the reference. There's also some info in PackageDev's README.
I'll let you develop the rest of the regexes, but here's one for matching the username to get you started:
# [PackageDev] target_format: plist, ext: tmLanguage
---
name: Shell Prompt
scopeName: source.shell.prompt
fileTypes: []
uuid: 7e1549b3-fb0b-44fc-a153-78a7fc2157c2
patterns:
- name: meta.username.prompt
match: ^([A-Za-z_][A-Za-z0-9_-]{0,31})(?=#)
...
You can see it working here.
Once your .YAML-tmLanguage is complete, save the file, open the command palette, and select PackageDev: Convert (YAML, JSON, PList) to.... This will build the .tmLanguage file and put it in the same directory as the .YAML-tmLanguage file. If it's not already under the Packages directory tree, copy it to your Packages/User directory, then modify the Main.sublime-menu file as described in the first paragraph. Finally, open your color scheme's .tmTheme file and edit it to add the scopes defined in your new syntax. Save it, restart Sublime for good measure, and you should be all set!

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