DTE-SYNTAX(5)

NAME
dte-syntax - Format of syntax highlighting files used by dte(1)

SYNOPSIS

Commands:

Main commands:
   syntax name
   state name [emit-color]
   default color name...
   list [-i] name string...

Conditionals:
   bufis [-i] string destination [emit-name]
   char [-bn] characters destination [emit-name]
   heredocend destination
   inlist list destination [emit-name]
   str [-i] string destination [emit-name]

Default actions:
   eat destination [emit-name]
   heredocbegin subsyntax return-state
   noeat [-b] destination

Other commands:
   recolor color [count]

DESCRIPTION
A dte syntax file consists of multiple states. A state consists of optional conditionals and one default action. The best way understand the syntax is to read through some of the built-in syntax files, which can be printed with dte -b, for example:

    dte -b syntax/dte

The basic syntax used is the same as in dterc(5) files, but the available commands are different.

Conditionals and default actions have a destination state. The special destination state this can be used to jump to the current state.

COMMANDS

  Main commands
syntax name
    Begin a new syntax. One syntax file can contain multiple syntax definitions, but you should only define one real syntax in one syntax file.

    See also: sub-syntaxes.

state name [emit-color]
    Add new state. Conditionals (if any) and one default action must follow. The first state is the start state.

default color name...
    Set default color for emitted name.

    Example:

        default numeric oct dec hex

    If there is no color defined for oct, dec or hex then color numeric is used instead.

list [-i] name string...
    Define a list of strings.

    Example:

        list keyword if else for while do continue switch case

    Use the inlist command to test if a buffered string is in a list.

    -i  Make list case-insensitive

  Conditionals
bufis [-i] string destination [emit-name]
    Test if buffered bytes are same as string. If they are, emit emit-name and jump to destination state.

    -i  Case-insensitive

char [-bn] characters destination [emit-name]
    Test if current byte is in the characters list. If it is then emit emit-color and jump to destination state. If emit-name is not given then the destination state's emit name is used.

    characters is a list of strings. Ranges are supported (a-d is the same as abcd).

    -b  Add byte to buffer

    -n  Invert character bitmap

heredocend destination
    Compare following characters to heredoc end delimiter and go to destination state if comparison is true.

inlist list destination [emit-name]
    Test if buffered bytes are found in list. If found, emit emit-name and jump to destination state.

str [-i] string destination [emit-name]
    See if following bytes are same as string. If they are, emit emit-name and jump to destination state.

    -i  Case-insensitive

    NOTE: This conditional can be slow, especially if string is longer than two bytes.

  Default actions
The last command of every state must be a default action. It is an unconditional jump.

eat destination [emit-name]
    Consume byte, emit emit-name color and continue to destination state.

heredocbegin subsyntax return-state
    Store buffered bytes as heredoc end delimiter and go to subsyntax. Sub-syntax is like any other sub-syntax but it must contain a heredocend conditional.

noeat [-b] destination
    Continue to destination state without emitting color or consuming byte.

    -b  Don't stop buffering

  Other commands
recolor color [count]
    If count is given, recolor count previous bytes, otherwise recolor buffered bytes.

SUB-SYNTAXES
Sub-syntaxes are useful when the same states are needed in many contexts.

Sub-syntax names must be prefixed with .. It's recommended to also use the main syntax name in the prefix. For example .c-comment if c is the main syntax.

A sub-syntax is a syntax in which some destination state's name is END. END is a special state name that is replaced by the state specified in another syntax.

Example:

    # Sub-syntax
    syntax .c-comment
    state comment
        char "*" star
        eat comment
    state star comment
        # END is a special state name
        char / END comment
        noeat comment
    # Main syntax
    syntax c
    state c code
        char " \t\n" c
        char -b a-zA-Z_ ident
        char "\"" string
        char "'" char
        # Call sub-syntax
        str "/*" .c-comment:c
        eat c
    # Other states removed

In this example the destination state .c-comment:c is a special syntax for calling a sub-syntax. .c-comment is the name of the sub-syntax and c is the return state defined in the main syntax. The whole sub-syntax tree is copied into the main syntax and all destination states in the sub-syntax whose name is END are replaced with c.

SEE ALSO
dte(1), dterc(5)

AUTHORS
Craig Barnes
Timo Hirvonen