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https://github.com/oefenweb/nanorc

Syntax highlighting definitions for nano
https://github.com/oefenweb/nanorc

development ide nano syntax-highlighting

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Syntax highlighting definitions for nano

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README 

        
Unmaintained

============



The original maintainer of this project no longer uses nano and hence

has very little motivation to continue working on it. It remains

available on GitHub for archival purposes only.



I highly recommend using [dte] as a simple but much more capable editor.



[dte] screenshot:



![dte screenshot](https://craigbarnes.gitlab.io/dte/screenshot.png)



------



Description

-----------



The syntax highlighting definitions that come bundled with nano are of

pretty poor quality. This is an attempt at providing a good set of accurate

syntax definitions to replace and expand the defaults.



Installation

------------



Using `make install` will install the syntax definitions to the

`~/.nano/syntax/` directory.



To enable highlighting for *all* languages after installation, add the

following command to your `~/.nanorc` file:



    include ~/.nano/syntax/ALL.nanorc



To enable only a subset of languages, `include` them individually:



    include ~/.nano/syntax/c.nanorc

    include ~/.nano/syntax/python.nanorc

    include ~/.nano/syntax/sh.nanorc

    # ...



If you prefer to install to a location that all users can access, using

`sudo make install-global` will install to `/usr/local/share/nano/`.

Syntax files installed under this directory can then be `include`d in

either `/etc/nanorc` or any user's personal `~/.nanorc`.



**Note**: If your terminal **text** color isn't black, you'll need to

specify it when installing, using `make install TEXT=color`, where

`color` must be one of: `red`, `green`, `yellow`, `blue`, `magenta`,

`cyan` or `white`.



After installation, the various source code samples in the `examples`

directory can be used to check that highlighting is working correctly.

If it doesn't work as expected, see the FAQ below.



Theme System

------------



All `*.nanorc` files are passed through [mixins.sed] and [theme.sed] before

installation. These scripts allow rules to be specified in terms of token

names or [mixins], instead of hard-coded colors.



For example, the following named rule:



    TYPE: "int|bool|string"



becomes:



    color green "int|bool|string"



and the following "mixin":



    +BOOLEAN



becomes:



    color brightcyan "\<(true|false)\>"



This system helps to keep colors uniform across different languages and

also to keep the definitions clear and maintainable, which is something that

becomes quite awkward using only plain [nanorc] files.



**Note:** if `~/.nanotheme` exists it will be used as a custom theme, in

place of [theme.sed]. A custom theme may also be specified by installing

with `make THEME=your-custom-theme.sed`. Themes must be valid sed scripts,

defining *all* color codes found in [theme.sed] in order to work correctly.



FAQ

----



### Why does syntax highlighting only work for a subset of supported files?



There appears to be a bug in older versions of nano that causes

highlighting to fail when `/etc/nanorc` and `~/.nanorc` both contain

`syntax` rules. The usual workaround is to remove all `syntax` and `include`

commands from one file or the other, or to use a newer version of nano.



### Why do I get weird errors when running nano < 2.1.5 on *BSD systems?



In order to reliably highlight keywords, this projects makes heavy use of

the GNU regex word boundary extensions (`\<` and `\>`). BSD implementations

also have these extensions but use a different, incompatible syntax

(`[[:<:]]` and `[[:>:]]`). Since version 2.1.5, nano can automatically

translate the GNU syntax to BSD syntax at run-time, but for the benefit of

people running a pre-2.1.5 version of nano on OS X or *BSD, the `.nanorc`

file itself can be translated by installing with `make BSDREGEX=1`.



### Why not use `\s` instead of the verbose `[[:space:]]` pattern?



Because nano compiles against the platform's native regex library and some

platforms don't support `\s` (as it's not required by POSIX [ERE]).



Unlicense

---------



This is free and unencumbered software released into the public domain.



Anyone is free to copy, modify, publish, use, compile, sell, or

distribute this software, either in source code form or as a compiled

binary, for any purpose, commercial or non-commercial, and by any

means.



In jurisdictions that recognize copyright laws, the author or authors

of this software dedicate any and all copyright interest in the

software to the public domain. We make this dedication for the benefit

of the public at large and to the detriment of our heirs and

successors. We intend this dedication to be an overt act of

relinquishment in perpetuity of all present and future rights to this

software under copyright law.



THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND,

EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF

MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT.

IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR

OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE,

ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR

OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.



For more information, please refer to 



[dte]: https://github.com/craigbarnes/dte

[GNU nano]: http://www.nano-editor.org/

[nanorc]: http://www.nano-editor.org/dist/v2.3/nanorc.5.html

[theme.sed]: https://github.com/nanorc/nanorc/tree/master/theme.sed

[mixins.sed]: https://github.com/nanorc/nanorc/tree/master/mixins.sed

[mixins]: https://github.com/nanorc/nanorc/tree/master/mixins

[ERE]: http://pubs.opengroup.org/onlinepubs/009695399/basedefs/xbd_chap09.html#tag_09_04