zsh-syntax-highlighting/docs/highlighters.md

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zsh-syntax-highlighting / highlighters
======================================
Syntax highlighting is done by pluggable highlighters:
* `main` - the base highlighter, and the only one [active by default][main].
* `brackets` - [matches brackets][brackets] and parenthesis.
* `pattern` - matches [user-defined patterns][pattern].
* `regexp` - matches [user-defined regular expressions][regexp].
* `cursor` - matches [the cursor position][cursor].
* `root` - highlights the whole command line [if the current user is root][root].
* `line` - applied to [the whole command line][line].
[main]: highlighters/main.md
[brackets]: highlighters/brackets.md
[pattern]: highlighters/pattern.md
[regexp]: highlighters/regexp.md
[cursor]: highlighters/cursor.md
[root]: highlighters/root.md
[line]: highlighters/line.md
Highlighter-independent settings
--------------------------------
By default, all command lines are highlighted. However, it is possible to
prevent command lines longer than a fixed number of characters from being
highlighted by setting the variable `${ZSH_HIGHLIGHT_MAXLENGTH}` to the maximum
length (in characters) of command lines to be highlighter. This is useful when
editing very long command lines (for example, with the [`fned`][fned] utility
function). Example:
[fned]: http://zsh.sourceforge.net/Doc/Release/User-Contributions.html#index-zed
```zsh
ZSH_HIGHLIGHT_MAXLENGTH=512
```
How to activate highlighters
----------------------------
To activate an highlighter, add it to the `ZSH_HIGHLIGHT_HIGHLIGHTERS` array in
`~/.zshrc`, for example:
```zsh
ZSH_HIGHLIGHT_HIGHLIGHTERS=(main brackets pattern cursor)
```
By default, `$ZSH_HIGHLIGHT_HIGHLIGHTERS` is unset and only the `main`
highlighter is active.
How to tweak highlighters
-------------------------
Highlighters look up styles from the `ZSH_HIGHLIGHT_STYLES` associative array.
Navigate into the [individual highlighters' documentation](highlighters/) to
see what styles (keys) each highlighter defines; the syntax for values is the
same as the syntax of "types of highlighting" of the zsh builtin
`$zle_highlight` array, which is documented in [the `zshzle(1)` manual
page][zshzle-Character-Highlighting].
[zshzle-Character-Highlighting]: http://zsh.sourceforge.net/Doc/Release/Zsh-Line-Editor.html#Character-Highlighting
Some highlighters support additional configuration parameters; see each
highlighter's documentation for details and examples.
How to implement a new highlighter
----------------------------------
To create your own `acme` highlighter:
* Create your script at
`highlighters/acme/acme-highlighter.zsh`.
* Implement the `_zsh_highlight_highlighter_acme_predicate` function.
This function must return 0 when the highlighter needs to be called and
non-zero otherwise, for example:
```zsh
_zsh_highlight_highlighter_acme_predicate() {
# Call this highlighter in SVN working copies
[[ -d .svn ]]
}
```
* Implement the `_zsh_highlight_highlighter_acme_paint` function.
This function does the actual syntax highlighting, by calling
`_zsh_highlight_add_highlight` with the start and end of the region to
be highlighted and the `ZSH_HIGHLIGHT_STYLES` key to use. Define the default
style for that key in the highlighter script outside of any function with
`: ${ZSH_HIGHLIGHT_STYLES[key]:=value}`, being sure to prefix
the key with your highlighter name and a colon. For example:
```zsh
: ${ZSH_HIGHLIGHT_STYLES[acme:aurora]:=fg=green}
_zsh_highlight_highlighter_acme_paint() {
# Colorize the whole buffer with the 'aurora' style
_zsh_highlight_add_highlight 0 $#BUFFER acme:aurora
}
```
If you need to test which options the user has set, test `zsyh_user_options`
with a sensible default if the option is not present in supported zsh
versions. For example:
```zsh
[[ ${zsyh_user_options[ignoreclosebraces]:-off} == on ]]
```
The option name must be all lowercase with no underscores and not an alias.
* Name your own functions and global variables `_zsh_highlight_acme_*`.
- In zsh-syntax-highlighting 0.4.0 and earlier, the entrypoints
`_zsh_highlight_highlighter_acme_predicate` and
`_zsh_highlight_highlighter_acme_paint`
were named
`_zsh_highlight_acme_highlighter_predicate` and
`_zsh_highlight_highlighter_acme_paint` respectively.
These names are still supported for backwards compatibility;
however, support for them will be removed in a future major or minor release (v0.x.0 or v1.0.0).
* Activate your highlighter in `~/.zshrc`:
```zsh
ZSH_HIGHLIGHT_HIGHLIGHTERS+=(acme)
```
* [Write tests](../tests/README.md).