Custom highlights in Vim

Custom syntax rules

• :nohlsearch
  Clears the highlighting that remains from the last basic search.
  
  
• :match, :2match, :3match
  Highlight a pattern, without affecting the search result. By using :match, :2match, and :3match, up to three can be active simultaneously.

  Use :hi to list all available {group} colors. Example call:

  :match ErrorMsg /foobar/
  :match Err^^ {group}

• matchadd()
  (requires Vim 7.1.040, released 2007-07-26)
  The lower-level version of :match that allows unlimited matches to be added.
  Example call:

  :call clearmatches()
  :call matchadd('DiffAdd', '^ERROR.*')
  :call matchadd('S^^ {group}
  

  Again, use :hi to list all available colors. The exact colors will vary based on the color scheme you have loaded.

  Sometimes I add this to my .vimrc:

  " <leader>l = lock in the current-search pattern
  " <leader>L = clear all locked-in search patterns
  nnoremap <leader>l :call matchadd('Visual', @/)<cr>
  nnoremap <leader>L :call clearmatches()<cr>
  
  

• MultiSearch extension (improved version)
  An extension that allows you unlimited number of simultaneously active searches+highlights.

Getting more precise control over highlights

Some useful commands:

" display the list of current matches
:echo getmatches()

" use a hard-coded match ID, so we can overwrite just that specific match regex later
:silent! call matchdelete(100001) |   call matchadd('IncSearch', 'my_custom_regex', 10, 100001)
"           ^^^ This is my preferred solution right now. It works well!

" remember the match ID, so we can overwrite just that specific one later
:let w:match_database = matchadd('IncSearch', 'regex')
" (TODO: the above line isn't functional yet -- we need to add the 'matchdelete' somewhere)

Or more flexibly...

" Use a hard-coded match ID, so we can overwrite just that specific match regex later.
let matchid_base = 100000

silent! call matchdelete(matchid_base + 1) |   call matchadd('IncSearch', 'my_custom_regex', 10, matchid_base + 1)

silent! call matchdelete(matchid_base + 2) |   call matchadd('ErrorMsg', 'my_custom_regex_2', 10, matchid_base + 2)

Related configuration settings

• wrapscan — whether the search wraps around to the top of the file after hitting the bottom
  (it's too bad Vim doesn't do the "intelligent wrapping" that things like Visual Studio do... i.e. wrap only ONCE, and STOP searching after you get back to the original point that you began searching at. i.e. never duplicate search results)

Plugins

• vim-toner
• vim-match-control
• txtfmt [screenshots]