custom syntax file in Vim

writing a syntax file

Basic information for making your own syntax file:

• Learn Vimscript the Hard Way
  41. Creating a Full Plugin
  42. Plugin Layout in the Dark Ages
  43. A New Hope: Plugin Layout with Pathogen
  44. Detecting Filetypes
  45. Basic Syntax Highlighting
  46. Advanced Syntax Highlighting
  47. Even More Advanced Syntax Highlighting
  48. Basic Folding
  49. Advanced Folding
• superuser.com
• vim.fandom.com
• psychocod3r.wordpress.com

The official vim documentation:

• syntax.txt
  • syntax files
    • naming conventions
  • syntax loading procedure
  • remarks on individual syntaxes included with stock vim
  • defining a syntax
    • :syn[tax] keyword
    • :syn[tax] match
    • :syn[tax] region
    • :syn[tax] case
    • :syn[tax] foldlevel
  • arguments to :syntax
    • fold
  • patterns
  • :syn[tax] cluster
  • :syn[tax] include
  • :syn[tax] sync
• fold.txt
  • fold-syntax
• syntax.txt
  • syn-fold
  • :syn-foldlevel
  • Ctrl-F for 'perl_fold', 'ruby_fold', tex-folding
• usr_06.txt — an introduction to syntax highlighting (for general users)
• usr_44.txt — create your own syntax file

example syntax files

You can find the built-in syntax files by a couple of ways:

• locate syntax/vim.vim (look at the parent directory of this)
• look on Github

debugging a syntax file

• SynStack plugin
• smaller versions of 'SynStack'
  • I have this one installed in my own .vimrc

more than one syntax in one file

The SyntaxRange vim plugin looks really cool!

(more background by other authors: [1] [2] )

Some other ways to accomplish the same thing:

• Vim's built-in syn-include or syn-region
• neovim's treesitter [1] [▶2] [3] [4]