Syntax Highlighting
< Prev | Next >
EditPlus supports powerful and customizable syntax highlighting for HTML, CSS, PHP, ASP, Perl, C/C++, Java, JavaScript and VBScript by default. Also, you can create your own syntax file to support other programming languages.

In order to add your own syntax type, you must create a syntax file and add it on Settings & Syntax page of the Preferences dialog box.

Syntax file is a plain text file which has ".STX" extension and should be written in predefined format. The format is very simple. The fastest way is to look into the sample .STX file such as JS.STX for JavaScript files (*.JS).

    Header Information

#TITLE=C/C++
#DELIMITER=,()}[]-+*%/="'~!&|\<>?:;.
#QUOTATION1='
#QUOTATION2="
#CONTINUE_QUOTE=n
#LINECOMMENT=//
#LINECOMMENT2=
#COMMENTON=/*
#COMMENTOFF=*/
#COMMENTON2=
#COMMENTOFF2=
#NESTED_COMMENT=
#ESCAPE=\
#CASE=y
#PREFIX1=
#PREFIX2=
#PREFIX3=
#PREFIX4=
#PREFIX5=
#SUFFIX1=
#SUFFIX2=
#SUFFIX3=
#SUFFIX4=
#SUFFIX5=
#HTML_EMBEDDED=
#SCRIPT_BEGIN=
#SCRIPT_END=
#HEREDOC=
#AUTOCASE=
#AUTOCOMPLETE_QUOTE=
#NUMBER_PATTERN=cpp
#SPECIAL_STX=cpp

All statements must be prefixed with '#' sign.

#TITLE
    The title of syntax file. It should be located at the first line of the file. Otherwise, EditPlus cannot load it.
#DELIMITER
    Specify delimiters for parsing keywords. You don't need to specify the space character and the tab character here, since those are treated as delimiter by default.
#QUOTATION1
    Specify quotation mark. Enter only one character.
#QUOTATION2
    Specify alternate quotation mark. Enter only one character.
#CONTINUE_QUOTE
    This option allows un-terminated quotation to be continued to next line. 'y' for yes and 'n' for no. 'n' is default value.
#LINECOMMENT
    Specify a string which turns on line comment. If you prefix ^! to the line comment string, it works only when located at the beginning of line.
#LINECOMMENT2
    Specify a string which turns on line comment 2. If you prefix ^! to the line comment string, it works only when located at the beginning of line.
#COMMENTON
    Specify a string which turns on block comment.
#COMMENTOFF
    Specify a string which turns off block comment.
#COMMENTON2
    Specify a string which turns on block comment 2.
#COMMENTOFF2
    Specify a string which turns off block comment 2.
#NESTED_COMMENT
    'y' if the language allows nested block comments.
#ESCAPE
    Specify escape character. Enter only one character here.
#CASE
    Specify case sensitivity. 'y' for yes and 'n' for no. Default value is 'n'.
#PREFIX1 - #PREFIX5
    Specify keyword prefix character. Any word that follows the prefix will be treated as a keyword.
#SUFFIX1 - #SUFFIX5
    Specify keyword suffix character. Any word that precedes the suffix will be treated as a keyword.
#HTML_EMBEDDED
    Specify 'y' if it is HTML-embedded script such as PHP. See 'PHP.STX' for an example.
#SCRIPT_BEGIN
    Specify the string which turns on HTML-embedded script. Valid only if #HTML_EMBEDDED is 'y'. See 'PHP.STX' for an example.
#SCRIPT_END
    Specify the string which turns off HTML-embedded script. Valid only if #HTML_EMBEDDED is 'y'. See 'PHP.STX' for an example.
#HEREDOC
    Specify a string for heredoc in Perl and PHP files. For example, #HEREDOC=<<EOF.
#AUTOCASE
    Specify 'y' if you would like to use the automatic keyword case correction feature.
#AUTOCOMPLETE_QUOTE
    Specify 'y' if you would like to allow auto completion inside quotes.
#NUMBER_PATTERN
    'cpp' for C/C++ number syntax highlighting, 'pas' for Pascal, 'asm' for Assembly language and 'css' for CSS files.
#SPECIAL_STX
    'html' for HTML sytax file, 'cpp' for C/C++ syntax file, and 'perl' for Perl syntax file. Leave blank for all other syntax files.

    You can also insert comment line in syntax file. Comment line must begin with semicolon(;). If you need to add a keyword which begins with semicolon, you must prefix an escape character '^' to it.

    Keyword groups

    #KEYWORD=Reserved words
    abstract
    boolean
    break

    #KEYWORD=Compiler directives
    ...
    Each keyword group begins with #KEYWORD statement with optional description of the group. Keyword list follows from the next line. If you need to include '#' sign into a keyword, you must prefix an escape character '^' to it like this: '^#'. In this case, the '#' sign should not be included in #DELIMITER statement. You can specify up to 10 keyword groups.

    User files repository
    EditPlus web site has a collection of user files (stx, ctl, acp files) on User Files page. You can submit your own syntax file to <submit@editplus.com> if you would like to share your file with other users.