Nano Syntax Highlighting

From Linuxhelp Wiki

Author:	Corey
Created On:	February 2nd, 2005
Updated On:	Not updated

Contents 1 Introduction 2 nanorc 3 Syntax Highlighting Code 3.1 PHP 3.2 Alternate PHP 3.3 Alternate PHP 3.4 Python 3.5 C file 3.6 Alt C/C++/h 3.7 HTML 3.8 TeX 3.9 Groff 3.10 Perl 3.11 Java 3.12 Patch Files 3.13 Gentoo Ebuilds 3.14 Makefile 3.15 JavaScript 3.16 postgreSQL

Introduction

Nano is one of the most popular console-based text editors available for Linux. It's easy to use for new users, however provides good functionality for experienced users and programmers. It is a little-known fact that you can actually configure syntax highlighting with nano which is useful for any programmer, developer, or even a common user who is editing configuration files.

nanorc

All configuration is done through the nanorc file. Depending on your distribution, you should find an example file in /usr/doc/nano-x.x.x/nanorc.sample.gz , or if you compiled nano from source, you may find it in /usr/local/doc/nano-x.x.x/nanorc.sample.gz.

The first thing we need to do is to copy this sample file to our home directory which can be done with:

zcat /usr/doc/nano-x.x.x/nanorc.sample.gz >~/.nanorc 

This will copy the sample file to our home directory.

There are many things in the nanorc file that not only pertain to syntax highlighting, but also to other features like autoindent, backups, enabling mouse support, turning off word-wrap, etc.

Towards the bottom of your nanorc file, you will notice that are are some samples of syntax highlighting. If you would like to use these, then just un-comment out the line (delete the '#' at the begining of the line), save the file, and run nano on a file with syntax.

Syntax Highlighting Code

The following are blocks of code that you can add to your ~/.nanorc file to enable syntax highlighting. If you plan on working with any of these types of files, copy the blocks of code to the bottom of your configuration file.

One important thing to keep in mind when using or adapting any of the syntax highlighting code is that the process happens in the order the code is listed. E.g.

color white "('[^']*')|(\"[^"]*\")"
color blue start="<[^\?]" end="[^\?]>"

and

color blue start="<[^\?]" end="[^\?]>"
color white "('[^']*')|(\"[^"]*\")"

give very different results (the former makes everything in angle brackets blue, and the latter makes everything in angle brackets blue except for things in quotes, which are white).

PHP

syntax "php" "\.php[2345s~]?$"
color brightblue "(.*)\("
color blue "\$[a-zA-Z_0-9$]*|[=!<>]"
color green "(var|class|function|echo|case|break|default|exit|switch|if|else|elseif|@|while)\s"
color green "[.,{}();]"
color red "('[^']*')|(\"[^"]*\")"
color brightyellow "(#.*|//.*)$"
color brightyellow start="/\*" end="\*/"
color brightblue "(<\?(php)?|\?>)"
color white start="\?>" end="<\?(php)?"

Alternate PHP

syntax "php" "\.php[2345s~]?$"
color brightblue start="<\?(php)?" end="\?>"
color blue start="<[^\?]" end="[^\?]>"
color cyan "\$[a-zA-Z_0-9]*"
color cyan "(\[)|(\])"
color red "(var|class|function|echo|case|break|default|exit|switch|if|else|elseif|@|while)\s"
color red "="
color green "[,{}()]"
color green "=="
color white "('[^']*')|(\"[^"]*\")"
color yellow start="<!--" end="-->"
color yellow start="/\*" end="\*/"
color yellow start="#" end="$"

Alternate PHP

syntax "php" "\.php[2345s~]?$"
color blue "\<(var|class|function|echo|case|break|default|exit|switch|if|else|elseif|@|while|foreach|return|public|private|protected|require|require_once|new|true|false|as)\>"
color red "<\?(php)|\?>"
color red "\$[a-zA-Z_0-9]*"
color red "[0-9]*"
color cyan "('[^']*')|(\"[^"]*\")"
color yellow start=""
color yellow start="/\*" end="\*/"
color yellow start="#" end="$"

Python

syntax "python" "\.py$"
color brightblue "def [a-zA-Z_0-9]+"
color brightcyan  "\<(and|assert|break|class|continue|def|del|elif|else|except|exec|finally|for|from|global|if|import|in|is|lambda|map|not|or|pass|print|raise|return|try|while)\>"
color brightgreen "([\"']).*?[^\\]\1"
color brightgreen start="\"\"\"" end="\"\"\""
color brightred "#.*$" 

C file

syntax "c-file" "\.(c|h)$"
color red "\<[A-Z_]{2,}\>" 
color green "\<(float|double|char|int|short|long|enum|void|static|const|struct|union|typedef|extern|signed|unsigned|inline)\>"
color brightyellow "\<(for|if|while|do|else|case|switch|goto|continue|break|return)\>"
color brightcyan "^ *# *(define|undef|include|ifn?def|endif|elif|else|if)"
color brightmagenta "'([^\]|(\\['abfnrtv\\]))'" "'\\(([0-7][0-7]?)|([0-3][0-7][0-7]))'" "'\\x[0-9A-Fa-f][0-9A-Fa-f]?'"
color brightyellow "<[^= ]*>" ""(\\.|[^\"])*""
color brightyellow start=""(\\.|[^\"])*\\ *$" end="^(\\.|[^\"])*""
color brightblue "//.*"
color brightblue start="/\*" end="\*/"

Alt C/C++/h

syntax "c" "\.(c|C|cc|cpp|cxx|h|H|hh|hpp|hxx)$"
## Preprocessor directives (Anything that begins with #)
color brightblack "#+(.*)"
##
## General syntax
color brightred "\<[A-Z_][0-9A-Z_]+\>"
color green "\<(float|double|bool|char|int|short|long|sizeof|enum|void|static|const|struct|union|typedef|extern|signed|unsigned|inline)\>"
color green "\<(u_?)?int(8|16|32|64|ptr)_t\>"
color green "\<(class|namespace|template|public|protected|private|typename|this|friend|virtual|using|mutable|volatile|register|explicit)\>"
color brightyellow "\<(for|if|while|do|else|case|default|switch)\>"
color brightyellow "\<(try|throw|catch|operator|new|delete)\>"
color magenta "\<(goto|continue|break|return|throw)\>"
color brightcyan "^space:*#space:*(define|undef|include|ifn?def|endif|elif|else|if|warning|error)"
color brightmagenta "'([^'\]|(\\["'abfnrtv\\]))'" "'\\(([0-3]?[0-7]{1,2}))'" "'\\x[0-9A-Fa-f]{1,2}'"
##
## GCC builtins
color cyan "__attribute__space:*\(\([^)]*\)\)" "__(aligned|asm|builtin|hidden|inline|packed|restrict|section|typeof|weak)__"
##
## String highlighting.  You will in general want your comments and
## strings to come last, because syntax highlighting rules will be
## applied in the order they are read in.
color brightyellow "<[^=        ]*>" ""(\\.|[^"])*""
##
## This string is VERY resource intensive!
color brightyellow start=""(\\.|[^"])*\\space:*$" end="^(\\.|[^"])*""
##
## Comment highlighting
color brightblue "//.*"
color brightblue start="/\*" end="\*/"

HTML

syntax "HTML" "\.html$"
color blue start="<" end=">"
color red "&[^; ]*;"

TeX

syntax "TeX" "\.tex$"
color green "\\.|\\[A-Za-z]*"
color magenta "[{}]"
color blue "%.*"

Groff

syntax "groff" "\.ms$" "\.mm$" "\.me$" "\.tmac$" "^tmac." ".rof"
color cyan "^\.ds [^ ]*"
color cyan "^\.nr [^ ]*"
color brightmagenta "\\."
color brightmagenta "\\f."
color brightmagenta "\\f\(.."
color brightmagenta "\\s(\+|\-)?[0-9]"
color cyan "(\\|\\\\)n."
color cyan "(\\|\\\\)n\(.."
color cyan start="(\\|\\\\)n\[" end="]"
color brightgreen "^\. *[^ ]*"
color yellow "^\.\\\".*$"
color green "(\\|\\\\)\*."
color green "(\\|\\\\)\*\(.."
color green start="(\\|\\\\)\*\[" end="]"
color brightred "\\\(.."
color brightred start="\\\[" end="]"
color brightcyan "\\\\\$[1-9]"

Perl

syntax "perl" "\.p[lm]$"
color red "\<(accept|alarm|atan2|bin(d|mode)|c(aller|h(dir|mod|op|own|root)|lose(dir)?|onnect|os|rypt)|d(bm(close|open)|efined|elete|ie|o|ump)|e(ach|of|val|x(ec|ists|it|p))|f(cntl|ileno|lock|ork)|get(c|login|peername|pgrp|ppid|priority|pwnam|(host|net|proto|serv)byname|pwuid|grgid|(host|net)byaddr|protobynumber|servbyport)|([gs]et|end)(pw|gr|host|net|proto|serv)ent|getsock(name|opt)|gmtime|goto|grep|hex|index|int|ioctl|join|keys|kill|last|length|link|listen|local(time)?|log|lstat|m|mkdir|msg(ctl|get|snd|rcv)|next|oct|open(dir)?|ord|pack|pipe|pop|printf?|push|q|qq|qx|rand|re(ad(dir|link)?|cv|do|name|quire|set|turn|verse|winddir)|rindex|rmdir|s|scalar|seek|seekdir|se(lect|mctl|mget|mop|nd|tpgrp|tpriority|tsockopt)|shift|shm(ctl|get|read|write)|shutdown|sin|sleep|socket(pair)?|sort|spli(ce|t)|sprintf|sqrt|srand|stat|study|substr|symlink|sys(call|read|tem|write)|tell(dir)?|time|tr|y|truncate|umask|un(def|link|pack|shift)|utime|values|vec|wait(pid)?|wantarray|warn|write)\>"
color magenta "\<(continue|else|elsif|do|for|foreach|if|unless|until|while|eq|ne|lt|gt|le|ge|cmp|x|my|our|sub|use|package|can|isa)\>"
color cyan start="[$@%]" end="( |\\W|-)"
color yellow ""[^"]*"|qq\|.*\|"
color yellow "'[^']*'"
color white "[sm]/.*/"
color white start="(^use| = new)" end=";"
color green "#.*"
color yellow start="<< 'STOP'" end="STOP"

Java

syntax "Java source" "\.java$"
color green "\<(boolean|byte|char|double|float|int|long|new|short|this|transient|void)\>"
color red "\<(break|case|catch|continue|default|do|else|finally|for|if|return|switch|throw|try|while)\>"
color cyan "\<(abstract|class|extends|final|implements|import|instanceof|interface|native|package|private|protected|public|static|strictfp|super|synchronized|throws|volatile)\>"
color red ""[^\"]*""
color yellow "\<(true|false|null)\>"
color blue "//.*"
color blue start="/\*" end="\*/"
color brightblue start="/\*\*" end="\*/"
color brightgreen,green " +$"

Patch Files

syntax "patch" "\.(patch|diff)$"
color brightgreen "^\+.*"
color green "^\+\+\+.*"
color brightblue "^ .*"
color brightred "^-.*"
color red "^---.*"
color brightyellow "^@@.*"
color magenta "^diff.*"

Gentoo Ebuilds

syntax "ebuild" "\.ebuild$"
color brightcyan "^ *eclass\>" "^ *inherit\>"
color brightwhite "^ *src [^ ]*"
color brightblue "src_compile\>" "src_unpack\>" "src_install\>" "^ *einfo\>" "$ color yellow "^ *export\>"
color magenta "\<(if|then|fi)\>"
color green "#.*$" 

Makefile

syntax "makefile" "^Makefile\.?"
color red "[:=]"
color magenta "\<(if|ifeq|else|endif)\>"
color blue "\$\{.*}"
color brightblue "\w+:"
color green "#.*$"

JavaScript

syntax "JavaScript" "\.(js)$"
# Default
color white "^.+$"
# Decimal, octal and hexadecimal numbers
color yellow "\<[-+]?([1-9][0-9]*|0[0-7]*|0x[0-9a-fA-F]+)([uU][lL]?|[lL][uU]?)?\>"
# Floating point number with at least one digit before decimal point
color yellow "\<[-+]?([0-9]+\.[0-9]*|[0-9]*\.[0-9]+)([EePp][+-]?[0-9]+)?[fFlL]?"
color yellow "\<[-+]?([0-9]+[EePp][+-]?[0-9]+)[fFlL]?"
# Keywords
color green "\<(break|case|catch|continue|default|delete|do|else|finally)\>"
color green "\<(for|function|if|in|instanceof|new|null|return|switch)\>"
color green "\<(switch|this|throw|try|typeof|undefined|var|void|while|with)\>"
# Type specifiers
color red "\<(Array|Boolean|Date|Enumerator|Error|Function|Math)\>"
color red "\<(Number|Object|RegExp|String)\>"
color red "\<(true|false)\>"
# String
color brightyellow "L?\"(\\"|[^"])*\""
color brightyellow "L?'(\'|[^'])*'"
# Escapes
color red "\\[0-7][0-7]?[0-7]?|\\x[0-9a-fA-F]+|\\[bfnrt'"\?\\]"
# Comments
color magenta start="/\*" end="\*/"
color magenta "//.*$"

postgreSQL

syntax "postgreSQL" "\.sql$"
icolor red "\<(A(LL|NALY(S|Z)E|ND|NY|RRAY|S|SC|SYMMETRIC|UTHORIZATION)|B(ETWEEN|INARY|OTH|Y)|C(ASE|AST|HECK|OLLATE|OLUMN|ONSTRAINT|REATE|ROSS|URRENT_(DATE|ROLE|TIME|TIMESTAMP|USER))|D(EFAULT|EFERRABLE|ESC|ISTINCT|O|ROP)|E(LSE|ND|XCEPT)|F(ALSE|OR(EIGN)?|REEZE|ROM|ULL)|GRANT|GROUP|HAVING|I(LIKE|N(ITIALLY|NER|TERSECT|TO)?|S|SNULL)|JOIN|L(EADING|EFT|IKE|IMIT|OCALTIME(STAMP)?)|N(ATURAL|EW|OT(NULL)?|ULL)|O(FF(SET)?|LD|N|NLY|R|RDER|UTER|VERLAPS)|PLACING|PRIMARY|REFERENCES|RIGHT|S(ELECT|ESSION_USER|IMILAR|OME|YMMETRIC)|T(ABLE|HEN|O|RAILING|RUE)|UNION|UNIQUE|USER|USING|VE(IW|RBOSE)|WHEN|WHERE|)\>"
color magenta "(\{|\}|\(|\)|\;|\]|\[|`|\\|\$|<|>|!|=|&|\|)"
color yellow "'[^']*'"
color green "--.*$"