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diff --git a/runtime/doc/usr_06.txt b/runtime/doc/usr_06.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6d76c53 --- /dev/null +++ b/runtime/doc/usr_06.txt @@ -0,0 +1,302 @@ +*usr_06.txt* For Vim version 9.1. Last change: 2021 Nov 07 + + VIM USER MANUAL - by Bram Moolenaar + + Using syntax highlighting + + +Black and white text is boring. With colors your file comes to life. This +not only looks nice, it also speeds up your work. Change the colors used for +the different sorts of text. Print your text, with the colors you see on the +screen. + +|06.1| Switching it on +|06.2| No or wrong colors? +|06.3| Different colors +|06.4| With colors or without colors +|06.5| Printing with colors +|06.6| Further reading + + Next chapter: |usr_07.txt| Editing more than one file + Previous chapter: |usr_05.txt| Set your settings +Table of contents: |usr_toc.txt| + +============================================================================== +*06.1* Switching it on + +It all starts with one simple command: > + + :syntax enable + +That should work in most situations to get color in your files. Vim will +automagically detect the type of file and load the right syntax highlighting. +Suddenly comments are blue, keywords brown and strings red. This makes it +easy to overview the file. After a while you will find that black&white text +slows you down! + +If you always want to use syntax highlighting, put the ":syntax enable" +command in your |vimrc| file. + +If you want syntax highlighting only when the terminal supports colors, you +can put this in your |vimrc| file: > + + if &t_Co > 1 + syntax enable + endif + +If you want syntax highlighting only in the GUI version, put the ":syntax +enable" command in your |gvimrc| file. + +============================================================================== +*06.2* No or wrong colors? + +There can be a number of reasons why you don't see colors: + +- Your terminal does not support colors. + Vim will use bold, italic and underlined text, but this doesn't look + very nice. You probably will want to try to get a terminal with + colors. For Unix, I recommend the xterm from the XFree86 project: + |xfree-xterm|. + +- Your terminal does support colors, but Vim doesn't know this. + Make sure your $TERM setting is correct. For example, when using an + xterm that supports colors: > + + setenv TERM xterm-color +< + or (depending on your shell): > + + TERM=xterm-color; export TERM + +< The terminal name must match the terminal you are using. If it + still doesn't work, have a look at |xterm-color|, which shows a few + ways to make Vim display colors (not only for an xterm). + +- The file type is not recognized. + Vim doesn't know all file types, and sometimes it's near to impossible + to tell what language a file uses. Try this command: > + + :set filetype +< + If the result is "filetype=" then the problem is indeed that Vim + doesn't know what type of file this is. You can set the type + manually: > + + :set filetype=fortran + +< To see which types are available, look in the directory + $VIMRUNTIME/syntax. For the GUI you can use the Syntax menu. + Setting the filetype can also be done with a |modeline|, so that the + file will be highlighted each time you edit it. For example, this + line can be used in a Makefile (put it near the start or end of the + file): > + + # vim: syntax=make + +< You might know how to detect the file type yourself. Often the file + name extension (after the dot) can be used. + See |new-filetype| for how to tell Vim to detect that file type. + +- There is no highlighting for your file type. + You could try using a similar file type by manually setting it as + mentioned above. If that isn't good enough, you can write your own + syntax file, see |mysyntaxfile|. + + +Or the colors could be wrong: + +- The colored text is very hard to read. + Vim guesses the background color that you are using. If it is black + (or another dark color) it will use light colors for text. If it is + white (or another light color) it will use dark colors for text. If + Vim guessed wrong the text will be hard to read. To solve this, set + the 'background' option. For a dark background: > + + :set background=dark + +< And for a light background: > + + :set background=light + +< Make sure you put this _before_ the ":syntax enable" command, + otherwise the colors will already have been set. You could do + ":syntax reset" after setting 'background' to make Vim set the default + colors again. + +- The colors are wrong when scrolling bottom to top. + Vim doesn't read the whole file to parse the text. It starts parsing + wherever you are viewing the file. That saves a lot of time, but + sometimes the colors are wrong. A simple fix is hitting CTRL-L. Or + scroll back a bit and then forward again. + For a real fix, see |:syn-sync|. Some syntax files have a way to make + it look further back, see the help for the specific syntax file. For + example, |tex.vim| for the TeX syntax. + +============================================================================== +*06.3* Different colors *:syn-default-override* + +If you don't like the default colors, you can select another color scheme. In +the GUI use the Edit/Color Scheme menu. You can also type the command: > + + :colorscheme evening + +"evening" is the name of the color scheme. There are several others you might +want to try out. Look in the directory $VIMRUNTIME/colors. + +When you found the color scheme that you like, add the ":colorscheme" command +to your |vimrc| file. + +You could also write your own color scheme. This is how you do it: + +1. Select a color scheme that comes close. Copy this file to your own Vim + directory. For Unix, this should work: > + + !mkdir ~/.vim/colors + !cp $VIMRUNTIME/colors/morning.vim ~/.vim/colors/mine.vim +< + This is done from Vim, because it knows the value of $VIMRUNTIME. + +2. Edit the color scheme file. These entries are useful: + + term attributes in a B&W terminal + cterm attributes in a color terminal + ctermfg foreground color in a color terminal + ctermbg background color in a color terminal + gui attributes in the GUI + guifg foreground color in the GUI + guibg background color in the GUI + + For example, to make comments green: > + + :highlight Comment ctermfg=green guifg=green +< + Attributes you can use for "cterm" and "gui" are "bold" and "underline". + If you want both, use "bold,underline". For details see the |:highlight| + command. + +3. Tell Vim to always use your color scheme. Put this line in your |vimrc|: > + + colorscheme mine + +If you want to see what the most often used color combinations look like, use +this command: > + + :runtime syntax/colortest.vim + +You will see text in various color combinations. You can check which ones are +readable and look nice. These aren't the only colors available to you though. +You can specify #rrggbb hex colors and you can define new names for hex +colors in |v:colornames| like so: > + + let v:colornames['mine_red'] = '#aa0000' + +If you are authoring a color scheme for others to use, it is important +to define these colors only when they do not exist: > + + call extend(v:colornames, {'mine_red': '#aa0000'}, 'keep') + +This allows users of the color scheme to override the precise definition of +that color prior to loading your color scheme. For example, in a |.vimrc| +file: > + + runtime colors/lists/css_colors.vim + let v:colornames['your_red'] = v:colornames['css_red'] + colorscheme yourscheme + +As a color scheme author, you should be able to rely on some color names for +GUI colors. These are defined in `colors/lists/default.vim`. All such files +found on the |'runtimepath'| are loaded each time the colorscheme command is +run. A canonical list is provided by the vim distribution, which should +include all X11 colors (previously defined in rgb.txt). + +============================================================================== +*06.4* With colors or without colors + +Displaying text in color takes a lot of effort. If you find the displaying +too slow, you might want to disable syntax highlighting for a moment: > + + :syntax clear + +When editing another file (or the same one) the colors will come back. + +If you want to stop highlighting completely use: > + + :syntax off + +This will completely disable syntax highlighting and remove it immediately for +all buffers. See |:syntax-off| for more details. + + *:syn-manual* +If you want syntax highlighting only for specific files, use this: > + + :syntax manual + +This will enable the syntax highlighting, but not switch it on automatically +when starting to edit a buffer. To switch highlighting on for the current +buffer, set the 'syntax' option: > + + :set syntax=ON +< +============================================================================== +*06.5* Printing with colors *syntax-printing* + +In the MS-Windows version you can print the current file with this command: > + + :hardcopy + +You will get the usual printer dialog, where you can select the printer and a +few settings. If you have a color printer, the paper output should look the +same as what you see inside Vim. But when you use a dark background the +colors will be adjusted to look good on white paper. + +There are several options that change the way Vim prints: + 'printdevice' + 'printheader' + 'printfont' + 'printoptions' + +To print only a range of lines, use Visual mode to select the lines and then +type the command: > + + v100j:hardcopy + +"v" starts Visual mode. "100j" moves a hundred lines down, they will be +highlighted. Then ":hardcopy" will print those lines. You can use other +commands to move in Visual mode, of course. + +This also works on Unix, if you have a PostScript printer. Otherwise, you +will have to do a bit more work. You need to convert the text to HTML first, +and then print it from a web browser. + +Convert the current file to HTML with this command: > + + :TOhtml + +In case that doesn't work: > + + :source $VIMRUNTIME/syntax/2html.vim + +You will see it crunching away, this can take quite a while for a large file. +Some time later another window shows the HTML code. Now write this somewhere +(doesn't matter where, you throw it away later): +> + :write main.c.html + +Open this file in your favorite browser and print it from there. If all goes +well, the output should look exactly as it does in Vim. See |2html.vim| for +details. Don't forget to delete the HTML file when you are done with it. + +Instead of printing, you could also put the HTML file on a web server, and let +others look at the colored text. + +============================================================================== +*06.6* Further reading + +|usr_44.txt| Your own syntax highlighted. +|syntax| All the details. + +============================================================================== + +Next chapter: |usr_07.txt| Editing more than one file + +Copyright: see |manual-copyright| vim:tw=78:ts=8:noet:ft=help:norl: |