VIM: syntax

## SYNTAX

    *syntax.txt*    For Vim version 6.1.  Last change: 2002 Mar 24

    		  VIM REFERENCE MANUAL    by Bram Moolenaar

    Syntax highlighting		*syntax* *syntax-highlighting* *coloring*

    Syntax highlighting enables Vim to show parts of the text in another font or
    color.  Those parts can be specific keywords or text matching a pattern.  Vim
    doesn't parse the whole file (to keep it fast), so the highlighting has its
    limitations.  Lexical highlighting might be a better name, but since everybody
    calls it syntax highlighting we'll stick with that.

    Vim supports syntax highlighting on all terminals.  But since most ordinary
    terminals have very limited highlighting possibilities, it works best in the
    GUI version, gvim.

    In the User Manual:
    |usr_06| introduces syntax highlighting.
    |usr_44| introduces writing a syntax file.

    1.  Quick start			|:syn-qstart|
    2.  Syntax files		|:syn-files|
    3.  Syntax loading procedure	|syntax-loading|
    4.  Syntax file remarks		|:syn-file-remarks|
    5.  Defining a syntax		|:syn-define|
    6.  :syntax arguments		|:syn-arguments|
    7.  Syntax patterns		|:syn-pattern|
    8.  Syntax clusters		|:syn-cluster|
    9.  Including syntax files	|:syn-include|
    10. Synchronizing		|:syn-sync|
    11. Listing syntax items	|:syntax|
    12. Highlight command		|:highlight|
    13. Linking groups		|:highlight-link|
    14. Cleaning up			|:syn-clear|
    15. Highlighting tags		|tag-highlight|
    16. Color xterms		|xterm-color|

    {Vi does not have any of these commands}

    Syntax highlighting is not available when the |+syntax| feature has been
    disabled at compile time.

    1. Quick start						*:syn-qstart*

    						*:syn-enable* *:syntax-enable*
    This command switches on syntax highlighting:

    	:syntax enable

    What this command actually does is to execute the command
    	:source $VIMRUNTIME/syntax/syntax.vim

    If the VIM environment variable is not set, Vim will try to find
    the path in another way (see |$VIMRUNTIME|).  Usually this works just
    fine.  If it doesn't, try setting the VIM environment variable to the
    directory where the Vim stuff is located.  For example, if your syntax files
    are in the "/usr/vim/vim50/syntax" directory, set $VIMRUNTIME to
    "/usr/vim/vim50".  You must do this in the shell, before starting Vim.

    							*:syn-on* *:syntax-on*
    The ":syntax enable" command will keep your current color settings.  This
    allows using ":highlight" commands to set your preferred colors before or
    after using this command.  If you want Vim to overrule your settings with the
    defaults, use:
    	:syntax on

    					*:hi-normal* *:highlight-normal*
    If you are running in the GUI, you can get white text on a black background
    with:
    	:highlight Normal guibg=Black guifg=White
    For a color terminal see |:hi-normal-cterm|.
    For setting up your own colors syntax highlighting see |syncolor|.

    NOTE: The syntax files on MS-DOS and Windows have lines that end in <CR><NL>.
    The files for Unix end in <NL>.  This means you should use the right type of
    file for your system.  Although on MS-DOS and Windows the right format is
    automatically selected if the 'fileformats' option is not empty.

    NOTE: When using reverse video ("gvim -fg white -bg black"), the default value
    of 'background' will not be set until the GUI window is opened, which is after
    reading the .gvimrc.  This will cause the wrong default highlighting to be
    used.  To set the default value of 'background' before switching on
    highlighting, include the ":gui" command in the .gvimrc:

       :gui		" open window and set default for 'background'
       :syntax on	" start highlighting, use 'background' to set colors

    NOTE: Using ":gui" in the .gvimrc means that "gvim -f" won't start in the
    foreground!  Use ":gui -f" then.

    You can toggle the syntax on/off with this command
       :if exists("syntax_on") | syntax off | else | syntax enable | endif

    To put this into a mapping, you can use:
       :map <F7> :if exists("syntax_on") <Bar>
    	\   syntax off <Bar>
    	\ else <Bar>
    	\   syntax enable <Bar>
    	\ endif <CR>
    [using the |<>| notation, type this literally]

    Details
    The ":syntax" commands are implemented by sourcing a file.  To see exactly how
    this works, look in the file:
        command		file
        :syntax enable	$VIMRUNTIME/syntax/syntax.vim
        :syntax on		$VIMRUNTIME/syntax/syntax.vim
        :syntax manual	$VIMRUNTIME/syntax/manual.vim
        :syntax off		$VIMRUNTIME/syntax/nosyntax.vim
    Also see |syntax-loading|.

    2. Syntax files						*:syn-files*

    The syntax and highlighting commands for one language are normally stored in
    a syntax file.  The name convention is: "{name}.vim".  Where {name} is the
    name of the language, or an abbreviation (to fit the name in 8.3 characters,
    a requirement in case the file is used on a DOS filesystem).
    Examples:
    	c.vim		perl.vim	java.vim	html.vim
    	cpp.vim		sh.vim		csh.vim

    The syntax file can contain any Ex commands, just like a vimrc file.  But
    the idea is that only commands for a specific language are included.  When a
    language is a superset of another language, it may include the other one,
    for example, the cpp.vim file could include the c.vim file:
       :so $VIMRUNTIME/syntax/c.vim

    The .vim files are normally loaded with an autocommand.  For example:
       :au Syntax c	    source $VIMRUNTIME/syntax/c.vim
       :au Syntax cpp   source $VIMRUNTIME/syntax/cpp.vim
    These commands are normally in the file $VIMRUNTIME/syntax/synload.vim.

    MAKING YOUR OWN SYNTAX FILES				*mysyntaxfile*

    When you create your own syntax files, and you want to have Vim use these
    automatically with ":syntax enable", do this:

    1. Create your user runtime directory.  You would normally use the first item
       of the 'runtimepath' option.  Example for Unix:
    	mkdir ~/.vim

    2. Create a directory in there called "syntax".  For Unix:
    	mkdir ~/.vim/syntax

    3. Write the Vim syntax file.  Or download one from the internet.  Then write
       it in your syntax directory.  For example, for the "mine" syntax:
    	:w ~/.vim/syntax/mine.vim

    Now you can start using your syntax file manually:
    	:set syntax=mine
    You don't have to exit Vim to use this.

    If you also want Vim to detect the type of file, see |new-filetype|.

    If you are setting up a system with many users and you don't want each user
    to add the same syntax file, you can use another directory from 'runtimepath'.

    ADDING TO AN EXISTING SYNTAX FILE		*mysyntaxfile-add*

    If you are mostly satisfied with an existing syntax file, but would like to
    add a few items or change the highlighting, follow these steps:

    1. Create your user directory from 'runtimepath', see above.

    2. Create a directory in there called "after/syntax".  For Unix:
    	mkdir ~/.vim/after
    	mkdir ~/.vim/after/syntax

    3. Write a Vim script that contains the commands you want to use.  For
       example, to change the colors for the C syntax:
    	highlight cComment ctermfg=Green guifg=Green

    4. Write that file in the "after/syntax" directory.  Use the name of the
       syntax, with ".vim" added.  For our C syntax:
    	:w ~/.vim/after/syntax/c.vim

    That's it.  The next time you edit a C file the Comment color will be
    different.  You don't even have to restart Vim.

    REPLACING AN EXISTING SYNTAX FILE			*mysyntaxfile-replace*

    If you don't like a distributed syntax file, or you have downloaded a new
    version, follow the same steps as for |mysyntaxfile| above.  Just make sure
    that you write the syntax file in a directory that is early in 'runtimepath'.
    Vim will only load the first syntax file found.

    NAMING CONVENTIONS
    							*group-name*
    To be able to allow each user to pick his favorite set of colors, there must
    be preferred names for highlight groups that are common for many languages.
    These are the suggested group names:

    	*Comment	any comment

    	*Constant	any constant
    	 String		a string constant: "this is a string"
    	 Character	a character constant: 'c', '\n'
    	 Number		a number constant: 234, 0xff
    	 Boolean	a boolean constant: TRUE, false
    	 Float		a floating point constant: 2.3e10

    	*Identifier	any variable name
    	 Function	function name (also: methods for classes)

    	*Statement	any statement
    	 Conditional	if, then, else, endif, switch, etc.
    	 Repeat		for, do, while, etc.
    	 Label		case, default, etc.
    	 Operator	"sizeof", "+", "*", etc.
    	 Keyword	any other keyword
    	 Exception	try, catch, throw

    	*PreProc	generic Preprocessor
    	 Include	preprocessor #include
    	 Define		preprocessor #define
    	 Macro		same as Define
    	 PreCondit	preprocessor #if, #else, #endif, etc.

    	*Type		int, long, char, etc.
    	 StorageClass	static, register, volatile, etc.
    	 Structure	struct, union, enum, etc.
    	 Typedef	A typedef

    	*Special	any special symbol
    	 SpecialChar	special character in a constant
    	 Tag		you can use CTRL-] on this
    	 Delimiter	character that needs attention
    	 SpecialComment	special things inside a comment
    	 Debug		debugging statements

    	*Underlined	text that stands out, HTML links

    	*Ignore		left blank, hidden

    	*Error		any erroneous construct

    	*Todo		anything that needs extra attention; mostly the
    			keywords TODO FIXME and XXX

    The names marked with * are the preferred groups; the others are minor groups.
    For the preferred groups, the "syntax.vim" file contains default highlighting.
    The minor groups are linked to the preferred groups, so they get the same
    highlighting.  You can override these defaults by using ":highlight" commands
    after sourcing the "syntax.vim" file.

    Note that highlight group names are not case sensitive.  "String" and "string"
    can be used for the same group.

    The following names are reserved and cannot be used as a group name:
    	NONE   ALL   ALLBUT   contains   contained

    3. Syntax loading procedure				*syntax-loading*

    This explains the details that happen when the command ":syntax enable" is
    issued.  When Vim initializes itself, it finds out where the runtime files are
    located.  This is used here as the variable |$VIMRUNTIME|.

    ":syntax enable" and ":syntax on" do the following:

        Source $VIMRUNTIME/syntax/syntax.vim
        |
        +-	Clear out any old syntax by sourcing $VIMRUNTIME/syntax/nosyntax.vim
        |
        +-	Source $VIMRUNTIME/syntax/synload.vim from 'runtimepath'
        |	|
        |	+-  Setup the colors for syntax highlighting.  If a color scheme is
        |	|   defined it is loaded again with ":colors {name}".  Otherwise
        |	|   ":runtime! syntax/syncolor.vim" is used.  ":syntax on" overrules
        |	|   existing colors, ":syntax enable" only sets groups that weren't
        |	|   set yet.
        |	|
        |	+-  Set up syntax autocmds to load the appropriate syntax file when
        |	|   the 'syntax' option is set. *synload-1*
        |	|
        |	+-  Source the user's optional file, from the |mysyntaxfile| variable.
        |	    This is for backwards compatibility with Vim 5.x only. *synload-2*
        |
        +-	Do ":filetype on", which does ":runtime! filetype.vim".  It loads any
        |	filetype.vim files found.  It should always Source
        |	$VIMRUNTIME/filetype.vim, which does the following.
        |	|
        |	+-  Install autocmds based on suffix to set the 'filetype' option
        |	|   This is where the connection between file name and file type is
        |	|   made for known file types. *synload-3*
        |	|
        |	+-  Source the user's optional file, from the *myfiletypefile*
        |	|   variable.  This is for backwards compatibility with Vim 5.x only.
        |	|   *synload-4*
        |	|
        |	+-  Install one autocommand which sources scripts.vim when no file
        |	|   type was detected yet. *synload-5*
        |	|
        |	+-  Source $VIMRUNTIME/menu.vim, to setup the Syntax menu. |menu.vim|
        |
        +-	Install a FileType autocommand to set the 'syntax' option when a file
        |	type has been detected. *synload-6*
        |
        +-	Execute syntax autocommands to start syntax highlighting for each
    	already loaded buffer.

    Upon loading a file, Vim finds the relevant syntax file as follows:

        Loading the file triggers the BufReadPost autocommands.
        |
        +-	If there is a match with one of the autocommands from |synload-3|
        |	(known file types) or |synload-4| (user's file types), the 'filetype'
        |	option is set to the file type.
        |
        +-	The autocommand at |synload-5| is triggered.  If the file type was not
        |	found yet, then scripts.vim is searched for in 'runtimepath'.  This
        |	should always load $VIMRUNTIME/scripts.vim, which does the following.
        |	|
        |	+-  Source the user's optional file, from the *myscriptsfile*
        |	|   variable.  This is for backwards compbatibility with Vim 5.x only.
        |	|
        |	+-  If the file type is still unknown, check the contents of the file,
        |	    again with checks like "getline(1) =~ pattern" as to whether the
        |	    file type can be recognized, and set 'filetype'.
        |
        +-	When the file type was determined and 'filetype' was set, this
        |	triggers the FileType autocommand |synload-6| above.  It sets
        |	'syntax' to the determined file type.
        |
        +-	When the 'syntax' option was set above, this triggers an autocommand
        |	from |synload-1| (and |synload-2|).  This find the main syntax file in
        |	'runtimepath', with this command:
        |		runtime! syntax/<name>.vim
        |
        +-	Any other user installed FileType or Syntax autocommands are
    	triggered.  This can be used to change the highlighting for a specific
    	syntax.

    4. Syntax file remarks					*:syn-file-remarks*

    						*b:current_syntax-variable*
    Vim stores the name of the syntax that has been loaded in the
    "b:current_syntax" variable.  You can use this if you want to load other
    settings, depending on which syntax is active.  Example:
       :au BufReadPost * if b:current_syntax == "csh"
       :au BufReadPost *   do-some-things
       :au BufReadPost * endif

    2HTML						*2html.vim* *convert-to-HTML*

    This is not a syntax file itself, but a script that converts the current
    window into HTML.  Vim opens a new window in which it builds the HTML file.

    You are not supposed to set the 'filetype' or 'syntax' option to "2html"!
    Source the script to convert the current file:

    	:runtime! syntax/2html.vim

    	Warning: This is slow!

    After you save the resulting file, you can view it with any HTML viewer, such
    as Netscape.  The colors should be exactly the same as you see them in Vim.

    The lines are numbered according to 'number' option and the Number
    highlighting.  You can force lines to be numbered in the HTML output by
    setting "html_number_lines" to nonzero value:
       :let html_number_lines = 1
    Force to omit the line numbers by using a zero value:
       :let html_number_lines = 0
    Go back to the default to use 'number' by deleting the variable:
       :unlet html_number_lines

    By default, HTML optimized for old browsers is generated.  If you prefer using
    cascading style sheets (CSS1) for the attributes (resulting in considerably
    shorter and valid HTML 4 file), use:
       :let html_use_css = 1

    Remarks:
    - This only works in a version with GUI support.  If the GUI is not actually
      running (possible for X11) it still works, but not very well (the colors
      may be wrong).
    - Older browsers will not show the background colors.
    - From most browsers you can also print the file (in color)!

    Here is an example how to run the script over all .c and .h files from a
    Unix shell:
       for f in *.[ch]; do gvim -f +"syn on" +"run! syntax/2html.vim" +"wq" +"q" $f; done

    ABEL							*abel.vim* *abel-syntax*

    ABEL highlighting provides some user-defined options.  To enable them, assign
    any value to the respective variable.  Example:
    	:let abel_obsolete_ok=1
    To disable them use ":unlet".  Example:
    	:unlet abel_obsolete_ok

    Variable			Highlight
    abel_obsolete_ok		obsolete keywords are statements, not errors
    abel_cpp_comments_illegal	do not interpret '//' as inline comment leader

    ADA							*ada.vim* *ada-syntax*

    This mode is designed for the 1995 edition of Ada ("Ada95"), which
    includes support for objected-programming, protected types, and so on.
    It handles code written for the original Ada language
    ("Ada83" or "Ada87") as well, though Ada83 code which uses Ada95-only
    keywords will be wrongly colored (such code should be fixed anyway).
    For more information about Ada, see http://www.adapower.com.

    The Ada mode handles a number of situations cleanly.
    For example, it knows that the "-" in "-5" is a number, but the same
    character in "A-5" is an operator.  Normally, a "with" or "use" clause
    referencing another compilation unit is colored the same way as C's
    "#include" is colored.  If you have "Conditional" or "Repeat"
    groups colored differently, then "end if" and "end loop" will be
    colored as part of those respective groups.
    You can set these to different colors using vim's "highlight" command
    (e.g., to change how loops are displayed, enter the command
    ":hi Repeat" followed by the color specification; on simple terminals
    the color specification ctermfg=White often shows well).

    There are several options you can select in this Ada mode.
    To enable them, assign a value to the option.  For example, to turn one on:
       let ada_standard_types = 1
    To disable them use ":unlet".  Example:
       unlet ada_standard_types = 1
    You can just use ":" and type these into the command line to set these
    temporarily before loading an Ada file.  You can make these option settings
    permanent by adding the "let" command(s), without a colon,
    to your "~/.vimrc" file.

    Here are the Ada mode options:

    Variable                 Action
    ada_standard_types       Highlight types in package Standard (e.g., "Float")
    ada_space_errors         Highlight extraneous errors in spaces...
    ada_no_trail_space_error   but ignore trailing spaces at the end of a line
    ada_no_tab_space_error     but ignore tabs after spaces
    ada_withuse_ordinary     Show "with" and "use" as ordinary keywords
                               (when used to reference other compilation units
                               they're normally highlighted specially).
    ada_begin_preproc        Show all begin-like keywords using the coloring
                               of C preprocessor commands.

    Even on a slow (90Mhz) PC this mode works quickly, but if you find
    the performance unnacceptable, turn on ada_withuse_ordinary.

    ANT						*ant.vim* *ant-syntax*

    The ant syntax file provides syntax highlighting for javascript and python
    by default. Syntax highlighting for other script languages can be installed
    by the function AntSyntaxScript(), which takes the tag name as first argument
    and the script syntax file name as second argument. Example:

    	:call AntSyntaxScript('perl', 'perl.vim')

    will install syntax perl highlighting for the following ant code

    	<script language = 'perl'><![CDATA[
    	    # everything inside is highlighted as perl
    	]]></script>

    See |mysyntaxfile-add| for installing script languages permanently.

    		*asm.vim* *asmh8300.vim* *nasm.vim* *masm.vim* *asm68k*
    ASSEMBLY	*asm-syntax* *asmh8300-syntax* *nasm-syntax* *masm-syntax*
    		*asm68k-syntax*

    Files matching "*.i" could be Progress or Assembly.  If the automatic detection
    doesn't work for you, or you don't edit Progress at all, use this in your
    startup vimrc:
       :let filetype_i = "asm"
    Replace "asm" with the type of assembly you use.

    There are many types of assembly languages that all use the same file name
    extensions.  Therefore you will have to select the type yourself, or add a
    line in the assembly file that Vim will recognize.  Currently these syntax
    files are included:
    	asm		GNU assembly (the default)
    	asm68k		Motorola 680x0 assembly
    	asmh8300	Hitachi H-8300 version of GNU assembly
    	ia64		Intel Itanium 64
    	masm		Microsoft assembly (probably works for any 80x86)
    	nasm		Netwide assembly
    	tasm		Turbo Assembly (with opcodes 80x86 up to Pentium, and
    			MMX)
    	pic		PIC assembly (currently for PIC16F84)

    The most flexible is to add a line in your assembly file containing:
    	:asmsyntax=nasm
    Replace "nasm" with the name of the real assembly syntax.  This line must be
    one of the first five lines in the file.

    The syntax type can always be overruled for a specific buffer by setting the
    b:asmsyntax variable:
    	:let b:asmsyntax=nasm

    If b:asmsyntax is not set, either automatically or by hand, then the value of
    the global variable asmsyntax is used.  This can be seen as a default assembly
    language:
    	:let asmsyntax=nasm

    As a last resort, if nothing is defined, the "asm" syntax is used.

    Netwide assembler (nasm.vim) optional highlighting

    To enable a feature:
    	:let   {variable}=1|set syntax=nasm
    To disable a feature:
    	:unlet {variable}  |set syntax=nasm

    Variable		Highlight
    nasm_loose_syntax	unofficial parser allowed syntax not as Error
    			  (parser dependend; not recommended)
    nasm_ctx_outside_macro	contexts outside macro not as Error
    nasm_no_warn		potentially risky syntax not as ToDo

    ASPPERL and ASPVBS			*aspperl-syntax* *aspvbs-syntax*

    *.asp and *.asa files could be either Perl or Visual Basic script.  Since it's
    hard to detect this you can set two global variables to tell Vim what you are
    using.  For Perl script use:
    	:let g:filetype_asa = "aspperl"
    	:let g:filetype_asp = "aspperl"
    For Visual Basic use:
    	:let g:filetype_asa = "aspvbs"
    	:let g:filetype_asp = "aspvbs"

    BASIC				*basic.vim* *vb.vim* *basic-syntax* *vb-syntax*

    Both Visual Basic and "normal" basic use the extension ".bas".  To detect
    which one should be used, Vim checks for the string "VB_Name" in the first
    five lines of the file.  If it is not found, filetype will be "basic",
    otherwise "vb".  Files with the ".frm" extension will always be seen as Visual
    Basic.

    C							*c.vim* *c-syntax*

    A few things in C highlighting are optional.  To enable them assign any value
    to the respective variable.  Example:
    	:let c_comment_strings=1
    To disable them use ":unlet".  Example:
    	:unlet c_comment_strings

    Variable		Highlight
    c_gnu			GNU gcc specific items
    c_comment_strings	strings and numbers inside a comment
    c_space_errors		trailing white space and spaces before a <Tab>
    c_no_trail_space_error	 ... but no trailing spaces
    c_no_tab_space_error	 ... but no spaces before a <Tab>
    c_no_bracket_error	don't highlight {}; inside [] as errors
    c_no_ansi		don't do standard ANSI types and constants
    c_ansi_typedefs		 ... but do standard ANSI types
    c_ansi_constants	 ... but do standard ANSI constants
    c_no_utf		don't highlight \u and \U in strings
    c_syntax_for_h		use C syntax for *.h files, instead of C++
    c_no_if0		don't highlight "#if 0" blocks as comments
    c_no_cformat		don't highlight %-formats in strings
    c_no_c99		con't highlight C99 standard items

    If you notice highlighting errors while scrolling backwards, which are fixed
    when redrawing with CTRL-L, try setting the "c_minlines" internal variable
    to a larger number:
    	:let c_minlines = 100
    This will make the syntax synchronization start 100 lines before the first
    displayed line.  The default value is 50 (15 when c_no_if0 is set).  The
    disadvantage of using a larger number is that redrawing can become slow.

    When using the "#if 0" / "#endif" comment highlighting, notice that this only
    works when the "#if 0" is within "c_minlines" from the top of the window.  If
    you have a long "#if 0" construct it will not be highlighted correctly.

    To match extra items in comments, use the cCommentGroup cluster.
    Example:
       :au Syntax c call MyCadd()
       :function MyCadd()
       :  syn keyword cMyItem contained Ni
       :  syn cluster cCommentGroup add=cMyItem
       :  hi link cMyItem Title
       :endfun

    ANSI constants will be highlighted with the "cConstant" group.  This includes
    "NULL", "SIG_IGN" and others.  But not "TRUE", for example, because this is
    not in the ANSI standard.  If you find this confusing, remove the cConstant
    highlighting:
    	:hi link cConstant NONE

    If you see '{' and '}' highlighted as an error where they are OK, reset the
    highlighting for cErrInParen and cErrInBracket.

    COBOL						*cobol.vim* *cobol-syntax*

    COBOL highlighting has different needs for legacy code than it does for fresh
    development.  This is due to differences in what is being done (maintenance
    versus development) and other factors.  To enable legacy code highlighting,
    add this line to your .vimrc:
    	:let cobol_legacy_code=1
    To disable it again, use this:
    	:unlet cobol_legacy_code

    COLD FUSION				*coldfusion.vim* *coldfusion-syntax*

    The ColdFusion has its own version of HTML comments. To turn on ColdFusion
    comment highlighting, add the following line to your startup file:

    	:let html_wrong_comments=1

    The ColdFusion syntax file is based on the HTML syntax file.

    CYNLIB						*cynlib.vim* *cynlib-syntax*

    Cynlib files are C++ files that use the Cynlib class library to enable
    hardware modelling and simulation using C++. Typically Cynlib files have a .cc
    or a .cpp extension, which makes it very difficult to distinguish them from a
    normal C++ file. Thus, to enable Cynlib highlighting for .cc files, add this
    line to your .vimrc file:

    	:let cynlib_cyntax_for_cc=1

    Similarly for cpp files (this extension is only usually used in Windows)

    	:let cynlib_cyntax_for_cpp=1

    To disable these again, use this:

    	:unlet cynlib_cyntax_for_cc
    	:unlet cynlib_cyntax_for_cpp

    CWEB						*cweb.vim* *cweb-syntax*

    Files matching "*.w" could be Progress or cweb.  If the automatic detection
    doesn't work for you, or you don't edit Progress at all, use this in your
    startup vimrc:
       :let filetype_w = "cweb"

    DOSBATCH				*dosbatch.vim* *dosbatch-syntax*

    There is one option with highlighting DOS batch files.  This covers new
    extensions to the Command Interpreter introduced with Windows 2000 and
    is controlled by the variable dosbatch_cmdextversion.  For Windows NT
    this should have the value 1, and for Windows 2000 it should be 2.
    Select the version you want with the following line:

      :let dosbatch_cmdextversion = 1

    If this variable is not defined it defaults to a value of 2 to support
    Windows 2000.

    DTD						*dtd.vim* *dtd-syntax*

    The DTD syntax highlighting is case sensitive by default. To disable
    case-sensitive highlighting, add the following line to your startup file:

    	:let dtd_ignore_case=1

    The DTD syntax file will highlight unknown tags as errors. If
    this is annoying, it can be turned off by setting:

    	:let dtd_no_tag_errors=1

    before sourcing the dtd.vim syntax file.
    Parameter entity names are highlighted in the definition using the
    'Type' highlighting group and 'Comment' for punctuation and '%'.
    Parameter entity instances are highlighted using the 'Constant'
    highlighting group and the 'Type' highlighting group for the
    delimiters % and ;. This can be turned off by setting:

    	:let dtd_no_param_entities=1

    The DTD syntax file is also included by xml.vim to highlight included dtd's.

    EIFFEL						*eiffel.vim* *eiffel-syntax*

    While Eiffel is not case-sensitive, its style guidelines are, and the
    syntax highlighting file encourages their use. This also allows to
    highlight class names differently. If you want to disable case-sensitive
    highlighting, add the following line to your startup file:

    	:let eiffel_ignore_case=1

    Case still matters for class names and TODO marks in comments.

    Conversely, for even stricter checks, add one of the following lines:

    	:let eiffel_strict=1
    	:let eiffel_pedantic=1

    Setting eiffel_strict will only catch improper capitalization for the
    five predefined words "Current", "Void", "Result", "Precursor", and
    "NONE", to warn against their accidental use as feature or class names.

    Setting eiffel_pedantic will enforce adherence to the Eiffel style
    guidelines fairly rigorously (like arbitrary mixes of upper- and
    lowercase letters as well as outdated ways to capitalize keywords).

    If you want to use the lower-case version of "Current", "Void",
    "Result", and "Precursor", you can use

    	:let eiffel_lower_case_predef=1

    instead of completely turning case-sensitive highlighting off.

    Support for ISE's proposed new creation syntax that is already
    experimentally handled by some compilers can be enabled by:

    	:let eiffel_ise=1

    Finally, some vendors support hexadecimal constants. To handle them, add

    	:let eiffel_hex_constants=1

    to your startup file.

    ERLANG						*erlang.vim* *erlang-syntax*

    The erlang highlighting supports Erlang (ERicsson LANGuage).
    Erlang is case sensitive and default extension is ".erl".

    If you want to disable keywords highlighting, put in your .vimrc:
    	:let erlang_keywords = 1
    If you want to disable built-in-functions highlighting, put in your
    .vimrc file:
    	:let erlang_functions = 1
    If you want to disable special characters highlighting, put in
    your .vimrc:
    	:let erlang_characters = 1

    FORM						*form.vim* *form-syntax*

    The coloring scheme for syntax elements in the FORM file uses the default
    modes Conditional, Number, Statement, Comment, PreProc, Type, and String,
    following the language specifications in 'Symbolic Manipulation with FORM'' by
    J.A.M. Vermaseren, CAN, Netherlands, 1991.

    If you want include your own changes to the default colors, you have to
    redefine the following syntax groups:

        - formConditional
        - formNumber
        - formStatement
        - formHeaderStatement
        - formComment
        - formPreProc
        - formDirective
        - formType
        - formString

    Note that the form.vim syntax file implements FORM preprocessor commands and
    directives per default in the same syntax group.

    A predefined enhanced color mode for FORM is available to distinguish between
    header statements and statements in the body of a FORM program. To activate
    this mode define the following variable in your vimrc file

    	:let form_enhanced_color=1

    The enhanced mode also takes advantage of additional color features for a dark
    gvim display. Here, statements are colored LightYellow instead of Yellow, and
    conditionals are LightBlue for better distinction.

    FORTRAN					*fortran.vim* *fortran-syntax*

    Default highlighting and dialect
    Highlighting appropriate for f95 (Fortran 95) is used by default. This choice
    should be appropriate for most users most of the time because Fortran 95 is a
    superset of Fortran 90 and almost a superset of Fortran 77.

    Fortran source code form
    Fortran 9x code can be in either fixed or free source form. Note that the
    syntax highlighting will not be correct if the form is incorrectly set.

    When you create a new fortran file, the syntax script assumes fixed source
    form. If you always use free source form, then
        :let fortran_free_source=1
    in your .vimrc prior to the :syntax on command.

    If the form of the source code depends upon the file extension, then it is
    most convenient to set fortran_free_source in a ftplugin file. For more
    information on ftplugin files, see |ftplugin|. For example, if all your
    fortran files with an .f90 extension are written in free source form and the
    rest in fixed source form, add the following code to your ftplugin file
        let s:extfname = expand("%:e")
        if s:extfname ==? "f90"
    	let fortran_free_source=1
        else
    	unlet! fortran_free_source
        endif

    When you edit an existing fortran file, the syntax script will assume free
    source form if the fortran_free_source variable has been set. If it has not
    been set, the syntax script attempts to determine which source form has been
    used by examining the first five columns of the first 25 lines of your file.
    If no signs of free source form are detected, then the file is assumed to be
    in fixed source form. The algorithm should work in the vast majority of cases.
    In some cases, such as a file that begins with 25 or more full-line comments,
    the script may incorrectly decide that the fortran code is in fixed form. If
    that happens, just add a non-comment statement beginning anywhere in the first
    five columns of the first twenty five lines, save (:w) and then reload (:e!)
    the file.

    Tabs in fortran files
    Tabs are not recognized by the Fortran standards. Tabs are not a good idea in
    fixed format fortran source code which requires fixed column boundaries.
    Therefore, tabs are marked as errors. Nevertheless, some programmers like
    using tabs. If your fortran files contain tabs, then you should set the
    variable fortran_have_tabs in your .vimrc with a command such as
        :let fortran_have_tabs=1
    placed prior to the :syntax on command. Unfortunately, the use of tabs will
    mean that the syntax file will not be able to detect incorrect margins.

    Syntax folding of fortran files
    If you wish to use foldmethod=syntax, then you must first set the variable
    fortran_fold with a command such as
        :let fortran_fold=1
    to instruct the syntax script to define fold regions for program units, that
    is main programs starting with a program statement, subroutines, function
    subprograms, block data subprograms, and modules. If you also set the variable
    fortran_fold_conditionals with a command such as
        :let fortran_fold_conditionals=1
    then fold regions will also be defined for do loops, if blocks, and select
    case constructs. If you also set the variable
    fortran_fold_multilinecomments with a command such as
        :let fortran_fold_multilinecomments=1
    then fold regions will also be defined for three or more consecutive comment
    lines. Note that defining fold regions can be slow for large files.

    If fortran_fold, and possibly fortran_fold_conditionals and/or
    fortran_fold_multilinecomments, have been set, then vim will fold your file if
    you set foldmethod=syntax. Comments or blank lines placed between two program
    units are not folded because they are seen as not belonging to any program
    unit.

    More precise fortran syntax
    If you set the variable fortran_more_precise with a command such as
        :let fortran_more_precise=1
    then the syntax coloring will be more precise but slower. In particular,
    statement labels used in do, goto and arithmetic if statements will be
    recognized, as will construct names at the end of a do, if, select or forall
    construct.

    Non-default fortran dialects
    The syntax script supports five Fortran dialects: f95, f90, f77, the Lahey
    subset elf90, and the Imagine1 subset F.

    If you use f77 with extensions, even common ones like do/enddo loops, do/while
    loops and free source form that are supported by most f77 compilers including
    g77 (GNU Fortran), then you will probably find the default highlighting
    satisfactory. However, if you use strict f77 with no extensions, not even free
    source form or the MIL STD 1753 extensions, then the advantages of setting the
    dialect to f77 are that names such as SUM are recognized as user variable
    names and not highlighted as f9x intrinsic functions, that obsolete constructs
    such as ASSIGN statements are not highlighted as todo items, and that fixed
    source form will be assumed.

    If you use elf90 or F, the advantage of setting the dialect appropriately is
    that f90 features excluded from these dialects will be highlighted as todo
    items and that free source form will be assumed as required for these
    dialects.

    The dialect can be selected by setting the variable fortran_dialect. The
    permissible values of fortran_dialect are case-sensitive and must be "f95",
    "f90", "f77", "elf" or "F". Invalid values of fortran_dialect are ignored.

    If all your fortran files use the same dialect, set fortran_dialect in your
    .vimrc prior to your syntax on statement. If the dialect depends upon the file
    extension, then it is most convenient to set it in a ftplugin file. For more
    information on ftplugin files, see |ftplugin|. For example, if all your
    fortran files with an .f90 extension are written in the elf subset, your
    ftplugin file should contain the code
        let s:extfname = expand("%:e")
        if s:extfname ==? "f90"
    	let fortran_dialect="elf"
        else
    	unlet! fortran_dialect
        endif

    Finer control is necessary if the file extension does not uniquely identify
    the dialect. You can override the default dialect, on a file-by-file basis, by
    including a comment with the directive "fortran_dialect=xx" (where xx=f77 or
    elf or F or f90 or f95) in one of the first three lines in your file. For
    example, your older .f files may be written in extended f77 but your newer
    ones may be F codes, and you would identify the latter by including in the
    first three lines of those files a Fortran comment of the form
      ! fortran_dialect=F
    F overrides elf if both directives are present.

    Limitations
    Parenthesis checking does not catch too few closing parentheses. Hollerith
    strings are not recognized. Some keywords may be highlighted incorrectly
    because Fortran90 has no reserved words.

    For further information related to fortran, see |fortran-indent| and
    |fortran-plugin|.

    FVWM CONFIGURATION FILES			*fvwm.vim* *fvwm-syntax*

    In order for Vim to recognize Fvwm configuration files that do not match
    the patterns *fvwmrc* or *fvwm2rc*, you must put additional patterns
    appropriate to your system in your myfiletypes.vim file.  For these
    patterns, you must set the variable "b:fvwm_version" to the major version
    number of Fvwm, and the 'filetype' option to fvwm.

    For example, to make Vim identify all files in /etc/X11/fvwm2/
    as Fvwm2 configuration files, add the following:

      :au! BufNewFile,BufRead /etc/X11/fvwm2/*  let b:fvwm_version = 2 |
    					 \ set filetype=fvwm

    If you'd like Vim to highlight all valid color names, tell it where to
    find the color database (rgb.txt) on your system.  Do this by setting
    "rgb_file" to its location.  Assuming your color database is located
    in /usr/X11/lib/X11/, you should add the line

    	:let rgb_file = "/usr/X11/lib/X11/rgb.txt"

    to your .vimrc file.

    GSP							*gsp.vim*

    The default coloring style for GSP pages is defined by |html.vim|, and
    the coloring for java code (within java tags or inline between backticks)
    is defined by |java.vim|.  The following HTML groups defined in |html.vim|
    are redefined to incorporate and highlight inline java code:

        htmlString
        htmlValue
        htmlEndTag
        htmlTag
        htmlTagN

    Highlighting should look fine most of the places where you'd see inline
    java code, but in some special cases it may not.  To add another HTML
    group where you will have inline java code where it does not highlight
    correctly, just copy the line you want from |html.vim| and add gspJava
    to the contains clause.

    The backticks for inline java are highlighted according to the htmlError
    group to make them easier to see.

    HTML						*html.vim* *html-syntax*

    The coloring scheme for tags in the HTML file works as follows.

    The  <> of opening tags are colored differently than the </> of a closing tag.
    This is on purpose! For opening tags the 'Function' color is used, while for
    closing tags the 'Type' color is used (See syntax.vim to check how those are
    defined for you)

    Known tag names are colored the same way as statements in C.  Unknown tag
    names are colored with the same color as the <> or </> respectively which
    makes it easy to spot errors

    Note that the same is true for argument (or attribute) names. Known attribute
    names are colored differently than unknown ones.

    Some HTML tags are used to change the rendering of text. The following tags
    are recognized by the html.vim syntax coloring file and change the way normal
    text is shown: <B> <I> <U> <EM> <STRONG> (<EM> is used as an alias for <I>,
    while <STRONG> as an alias for <B>), <H1> - <H6>, <HEAD>, <TITLE> and <A>, but
    only if used as a link that is, it must include a href as in
    <A href="somfile.html">).

    If you want to change how such text is rendered, you must redefine the
    following syntax groups:

        - htmlBold
        - htmlBoldUnderline
        - htmlBoldUnderlineItalic
        - htmlUnderline
        - htmlUnderlineItalic
        - htmlItalic
        - htmlTitle for titles
        - htmlH1 - htmlH6 for headings

    To make this redefinition work you must redefine them all with the exception
    of the last two (htmlTitle and htmlH[1-6], which are optional) and define the
    following variable in your vimrc (this is due to the order in which the files
    are read during initialization)
    	:let html_my_rendering=1

    If you'd like to see an example download mysyntax.vim at
    http://www.fleiner.com/vim/mysyntax.vim

    You can also disable this rendering by adding the following line to your
    vimrc file:
    	:let html_no_rendering=1

    HTML comments are rather special (see an HTML reference document for the
    details), and the syntax coloring scheme will highlight all errors.
    However, if you prefer to use the wrong style (starts with <!-- and
    ends with --!>) you can define
    	:let html_wrong_comments=1

    JavaScript and Visual Basic embedded inside HTML documents are highlighted as
    'Special' with statements, comments, strings and so on colored as in standard
    programming languages. Note that only JavaScript and Visual Basic are currently
    supported, no other scripting language has been added yet.

    Embedded and inlined cascading style sheets (CSS) are highlighted too.

    There are several html preprocessor languages out there. html.vim has been
    written such that it should be trivial to include it. To do so add the
    following two lines to the syntax coloring file for that language
    (the example comes from the asp.vim file):

        runtime! syntax/html.vim
        syn cluster htmlPreproc add=asp

    Now you just need to make sure that you add all regions that contain
    the preprocessor language to the cluster htmlPreproc.

    HTML/OS (by Aestiva)				*htmlos.vim* *htmlos-syntax*

    The coloring scheme for HTML/OS works as follows:

    Functions and variable names are the same color by default, because VIM
    doesn't specify different colors for Functions and Identifiers.  To change
    this (which is recommended if you want function names to be recognizable in a
    different color) you need to add the following line to either your ~/.vimrc:
      :hi Function term=underline cterm=bold ctermfg=LightGray

    Of course, the ctermfg can be a different color if you choose.

    Another issues that HTML/OS runs into is that there is no special filetype to
    signify that it is a file with HTML/OS coding.  You can change this by opening
    a file and turning on HTML/OS syntax by doing the following:
      :set syntax=htmlos

    Lastly, it should be noted that the opening and closing characters to begin a
    block of HTML/OS code can either be << or [[ and >> or ]], respectively.

    IA64				*ia64.vim* *intel-itanium* *ia64-syntax*

    Highlighting for the Intel Itanium 64 assembly language.  See |asm.vim| for
    how to recognize this filetype.

    To have *.inc files be recognized as IA64, add this to your .vimrc file:
    	:let g:filetype_inc = "ia64"

    INFORM						*inform.vim* *inform-syntax*

    Inform highlighting includes symbols provided by the Inform Library, as
    most programs make extensive use of it.  If do not wish Library symbols
    to be highlighted add this to your vim startup:
    	:let inform_highlight_simple=1

    By default it is assumed that Inform programs are Z-machine targetted,
    and highlights Z-machine assembly language symbols appropriately.  If
    you intend your program to be targetted to a Glulx/Glk environment you
    need to add this to your startup sequence:
    	:let inform_highlight_glulx=1

    This will highlight Glulx opcodes instead, and also adds glk() to the
    set of highlighted system functions.

    JAVA						*java.vim* *java-syntax*

    The java.vim syntax highlighting file offers several options:

    In Java 1.0.2 it was never possible to have braces inside parens, so this was
    flagged as an error.  Since Java 1.1 this is possible (with anonymous
    classes), and therefore is no longer marked as an error. If you prefer the old
    way, put the following line into your vim startup file:
    	:let java_mark_braces_in_parens_as_errors=1

    All identifiers in java.lang.* are always visible in all classes.  To
    highlight them use:
    	:let java_highlight_java_lang_ids=1

    You can also highlight identifiers of most standard java packages if you
    download the script at http://www.fleiner.com/vim/syntax/javaid.vim
    If you prefer to only highlight identifiers of a certain package, say java.io
    use the following:
    	:let java_highligh_java_io=1
    Check the javaid.vim file for a list of all the packages that are supported.

    Function names are not highlighted, as the way to find functions depends on
    how you write java code.  The syntax file knows two possible ways to highlight
    functions:

    If you write function declarations that are always indented by either
    a tab, 8 spaces or 2 spaces you may want to set
    	:let java_highlight_functions="indent"
    However, if you follow the java guidlines about how functions and classes are
    supposed to be named (with respect to upper and lowercase), use
    	:let java_highlight_functions="style"
    If both options do not work for you, but you would still want function
    declarations to be highlighted create your own definitions by changing the
    definitions in java.vim or by creating your own java.vim which includes the
    original one and then adds the code to highlight functions.

    In java 1.1 the functions System.out.println() and System.err.println() should
    only be used for debugging. Therefor it is possible to highlight debugging
    statements differently. To do this you must add the following definition in
    your startup file:
    	:let java_highlight_debug=1
    The result will be that those statements are highlighted as 'Special'
    characters. If you prefer to have them highlighted differently you must define
    new highlightings for the following groups.:
        Debug, DebugSpecial, DebugString, DebugBoolean, DebugType
    which are used for the statement itself, special characters used in debug
    strings, strings, boolean constants and types (this, super) respectively. I
    have opted to chose another background for those statements.

    In order to help you to write code that can be easely ported between
    java and C++, all C++ keywords are marked as error in a java program.
    However, if you use them regularly, you may want to define the following
    variable in your .vimrc file:
    	:let java_allow_cpp_keywords=1

    Javadoc is a program that takes special comments out of java program files and
    creates HTML pages. The standard configuration will highlight this HTML code
    similarly to HTML files (see |html.vim|). You can even add javascript
    and CSS inside this code (see below). There are four differences however:
      1. The title (all characters up to the first '.' which is followed by
         some white space or up to the first '@') is colored differently (to change
         the color change the group CommentTitle).
      2. The text is colored as 'Comment'.
      3. HTML comments are colored as 'Special'
      4. The special javadoc tags (@see, @param, ...) are highlighted as specials
         and the argument (for @see, @param, @exception) as Function.
    To turn this feature off add the following line to your startup file:
    	:let java_ignore_javadoc=1

    If you use the special javadoc comment highlighting described above you
    can also turn on special highlighting for javascript, visual basic
    scripts and embedded CSS (stylesheets). This makes only sense if you
    actually have javadoc comments that include either javascript or embedded
    CSS. The options to use are
    	:let java_javascript=1
    	:let java_css=1
    	:let java_vb=1

    In order to highlight nested parens with different colors define colors
    for javaParen, javaParen1 and javaParen2, for example with
    	:hi link javaParen Comment
    or
    	:hi javaParen ctermfg=blue guifg=#0000ff

    If you notice highlighting errors while scrolling backwards, which are fixed
    when redrawing with CTRL-L, try setting the "java_minlines" internal variable
    to a larger number:
    	:let java_minlines = 50
    This will make the syntax synchronization start 50 lines before the first
    displayed line.  The default value is 10.  The disadvantage of using a larger
    number is that redrawing can become slow.

    LACE						*lace.vim* *lace-syntax*

    Lace (Language for Assembly of Classes in Eiffel) is case insensitive, but the
    style guide lines are not.  If you prefer case insensitive highlighting, just
    define the vim variable 'lace_case_insensitive' in your startup file:
    	:let lace_case_insensitive=1

    LEX						*lex.vim* *lex-syntax*

    Lex uses brute-force synchronizing as the "^%%$" section delimiter
    gives no clue as to what section follows.  Consequently, the value for
    	:syn sync minlines=300
    may be changed by the user if s/he is experiencing synchronization
    difficulties (such as may happen with large lex files).

    LITE						*lite.vim* *lite-syntax*

    There are two options for the lite syntax highlighting.

    If you like SQL syntax highligthing inside Strings, use this:

    	:let lite_sql_query = 1

    For syncing, minlines defaults to 100.  If you prefer another value, you can
    set "lite_minlines" to the value you desire.  Example:

    	:let lite_minlines = 200

    MAPLE						*maple.vim* *maple-syntax*

    Maple V, by Waterloo Maple Inc, supports symbolic algebra.  The language
    supports many packages of functions which are selectively loaded by the user.
    The standard set of packages' functions as supplied in Maple V release 4 may be
    highlighted at the user's discretion.  Users may place in their .vimrc file:

    	:let mvpkg_all= 1

    to get all package functions highlighted, or users may select any subset by
    choosing a variable/package from the table below and setting that variable to
    1, also in their .vimrc file (prior to sourcing
    $VIMRUNTIME/syntax/syntax.vim).

    	Table of Maple V Package Function Selectors
      mv_DEtools	 mv_genfunc	mv_networks	mv_process
      mv_Galois	 mv_geometry	mv_numapprox	mv_simplex
      mv_GaussInt	 mv_grobner	mv_numtheory	mv_stats
      mv_LREtools	 mv_group	mv_orthopoly	mv_student
      mv_combinat	 mv_inttrans	mv_padic	mv_sumtools
      mv_combstruct mv_liesymm	mv_plots	mv_tensor
      mv_difforms	 mv_linalg	mv_plottools	mv_totorder
      mv_finance	 mv_logic	mv_powseries

    MOO						*moo.vim* *moo-syntax*

    If you use C-style comments inside expressions and find it mangles your
    highlighting, you may want to use extended (slow!) matches for C-style
    comments:

    	:let moo_extended_cstyle_comments = 1

    To disable highlighting of pronoun substitution patterns inside strings:

    	:let moo_no_pronoun_sub = 1

    To disable highlighting of the regular expression operator '%|', and matching
    '%(' and '%)' inside strings:

    	:let moo_no_regexp = 1

    Unmatched double quotes can be recognized and highlighted as errors:

    	:let moo_unmatched_quotes = 1

    To highlight builtin properties (.name, .location, .programmer etc.):

    	:let moo_builtin_properties = 1

    Unknown builtin functions can be recognized and highlighted as errors. If you
    use this option, add your own extensions to the mooKnownBuiltinFunction group.
    To enable this option:

    	:let moo_unknown_builtin_functions = 1

    An example of adding sprintf() to the list of known builtin functions:

    	:syn keyword mooKnownBuiltinFunction sprintf contained

    MSQL						*msql.vim* *msql-syntax*

    There are two options for the msql syntax highlighting.

    If you like SQL syntax highligthing inside Strings, use this:

    	:let msql_sql_query = 1

    For syncing, minlines defaults to 100.  If you prefer another value, you can
    set "msql_minlines" to the value you desire.  Example:

    	:let msql_minlines = 200

    NCF						*ncf.vim* *ncf-syntax*

    There is one option for NCF syntax highlighting.

    If you want to have unrecognized (by ncf.vim) statements highlighted as
    errors, use this:

    	:let ncf_highlight_unknowns = 1

    If you don't want to highlight these errors, leave it unset.

    NROFF						*nroff.vim* *nroff-syntax*

    To mark trailing spaces as an error, use this:

    >  let nroff_space_errors = 1

    PAPP						*papp.vim* *papp-syntax*

    The PApp syntax file handles .papp files and, to a lesser extend, .pxml
    and .pxsl files which are all a mixture of perl/xml/html/other using xml
    as the top-level file format. By default everything inside phtml or pxml
    sections is treated as a string with embedded preprocessor commands. If
    you set the variable:

    	:let papp_include_html=1

    in your startup file it will try to syntax-hilight html code inside phtml
    sections, but this is relatively slow and much too colourful to be able to
    edit sensibly ;)

    The newest version of the papp.vim syntax file can usually be found at
    http://papp.plan9.de.

    PASCAL						*pascal.vim* *pascal-syntax*

    Files matching "*.p" could be Progress or Pascal.  If the automatic detection
    doesn't work for you, or you don't edit Progress at all, use this in your
    startup vimrc:

       :let filetype_p = "pascal"

    The Pascal syntax file has been extended to take into account some extensions
    provided by Turbo Pascal, Free Pascal Compiler and GNU Pascal Compiler.
    Delphi keywords are also supported. By default, Turbo Pascal 7.0 features are
    enabled.  If you prefer to stick with the standard Pascal keywords, add the
    following line to your startup file:

       :let pascal_traditional=1

    To switch on Delphi specific constructions (such as one-line comments,
    keywords, etc):

       :let pascal_delphi=1

    The option pascal_symbol_operator controls whether symbol operators such as +,
    *, .., etc. are displayed using the Operator color or not.  To colorize symbol
    operators, add the following line to your startup file:

       :let pascal_symbol_operator=1

    Some functions are highlighted by default.  To switch it off:

       :let pascal_no_functions=1

    Furthermore, there are specific variable for some compiler.  Besides
    pascal_delphi, there are pascal_gpc and pascal_fpc.  Default extensions try to
    match Turbo Pascal.

       :let pascal_gpc=1

    or

       :let pascal_fpc=1

    To ensure that strings are defined on a single line, you can define the
    pascal_one_line_string variable.

       :let pascal_one_line_string=1

    If you dislike <Tab> chars, you can set the pascal_no_tabs variable.  Tabs
    will be highlighted as Error.

       :let pascal_no_tabs=1

    PERL						*perl.vim* *perl-syntax*

    There are a number of possible options to the perl syntax highlighting.

    If you use POD files or POD segments, you might:

    	:let perl_include_POD = 1

    To handle package references in variable and function names differently from
    the rest of the name (like 'PkgName::' in '$PkgName::VarName'):

    	:let perl_want_scope_in_variables = 1

    If you want complex things like '@{${"foo"}}' to be parsed:

    	:let perl_extended_vars = 1

    The coloring strings can be changed. By default strings and qq friends will be
    highlighted like the first line. If you set the variable
    perl_string_as_statement, it will be highlighted as in the second line.

       "hello world!"; qq|hello world|;
       ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^NN^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^N       (unlet perl_string_as_statement)
       S^^^^^^^^^^^^SNNSSS^^^^^^^^^^^^N       (let perl_string_as_statement)

    (^ = perlString, S = perlStatement, N = None at all)

    The syncing has 3 options. The first two switch off some triggering of
    synchronization and should only be needed in case it fails to work properly.
    If while scrolling all of a sudden the whole screen changes color completely
    then you should try and switch off one of those. Let me know if you can figure
    out the line that causes the mistake.

    One triggers on "^\s*sub\s*" and the other on "^[$@%]" more or less.

    	:let perl_no_sync_on_sub
    	:let perl_no_sync_on_global_var

    Below you can set the maximum distance VIM should look for starting points for
    its attempts in syntax highlighting.

    	:let perl_sync_dist = 100

    For the "<<xxx" construct (here Documents), Vim can't check for any value of
    "xxx".  If you have a choice use "<<EOF ... EOF", then the highlighting will
    work.

    If you want to use folding with perl, set perl_fold:

           :let perl_fold = 1

    PHP3 and PHP4		*php.vim* *php3.vim* *php-syntax* *php3-syntax*

    [note: previously this was called "php3", but since it now also supports php4
    it has been renamed to "php"]

    There are the following options for the php syntax highlighting.

    If you like SQL syntax hightlighting inside Strings:

      let php_sql_query = 1

    For highlighting the Baselib methods:

      let php_baselib = 1

    Enable HTML syntax highlighting inside strings:

      let php_htmlInStrings = 1

    Using the old colorstyle:

      let php_oldStyle = 1

    Enable highlighting ASP-style short tags:

      let php_asp_tags = 1

    Disable short tags:

      let php_noShortTags = 1

    For highlighting parent error ] or ):

      let php_parent_error_close = 1

    For skipping an php end tag, if there exists an open ( or [ without a closing
    one:

      let php_parent_error_open = 1

    Enable folding for classes and functions:

      let php_folding = 1

    Selecting syncing method:

      let php_sync_method = x

    x = -1 to sync by search (default),
    x > 0 to sync at least x lines backwards,
    x = 0 to sync from start.

    PPWIZARD					*ppwiz.vim* *ppwiz-syntax*

    PPWizard is a preprocessor for HTML and OS/2 INF files

    This syntax file has the options:

    - ppwiz_highlight_defs : determines highlighting mode for PPWizard's
      definitions. Possible values are

      ppwiz_highlight_defs = 1 : PPWizard #define statements retain the
        colors of their contents (e. g. PPWizard macros and variables)

      ppwiz_highlight_defs = 2 : preprocessor #define and #evaluate
        statements are shown in a single color with the exception of line
        continuation symbols

      The default setting for ppwiz_highlight_defs is 1.

    - ppwiz_with_html : If the value is 1 (the default), highlight literal
      HTML code; if 0, treat HTML code like ordinary text.

    PHTML						*phtml.vim* *phtml-syntax*

    There are two options for the phtml syntax highlighting.

    If you like SQL syntax highligthing inside Strings, use this:

    	:let phtml_sql_query = 1

    For syncing, minlines defaults to 100.  If you prefer another value, you can
    set "phtml_minlines" to the value you desire.  Example:

    	:let phtml_minlines = 200

    POSTSCRIPT					*postscr.vim* *postscr-syntax*

    There are several options when it comes to highlighting PostScript.

    First which version of the PostScript language to highlight.  There are
    currently three defined language versions, or levels.  Level 1 is the original
    and base version, and includes all extensions prior to the release of level 2.
    Level 2 is the most common version around, and includes its own set of
    extensions prior to the release of level 3.  Level 3 is currently the highest
    level supported.  You select which level of the PostScript language you want
    highlighted by defining the postscr_level variable as follows:

    	:let postscr_level=2

    If this variable is not defined it defaults to 2 (level 2) since this is
    the most prevalent version currently.

    Note, not all PS interpreters will support all language features for a
    particular language level.  In particular the %!PS-Adobe-3.0 at the start of
    PS files does NOT mean the PostScript present is level 3 PostScript!

    If you are working with Display PostScript, you can include highlighting of
    Display PS language features by defining the postscr_display variable as
    follows:

    	:let postscr_display=1

    If you are working with Ghostscript, you can include highlighting of
    Ghostscript specific language features by defining the variable
    postscr_ghostscript as follows:

    	:let postscr_ghostscript=1

    PostScript is a large language, with many predefined elements.  While it
    useful to have all these elements highlighted, on slower machines this can
    cause Vim to slow down.  In an attempt to be machine friendly font names and
    character encodings are not highlighted by default.  Unless you are working
    explicitly with either of these this should be ok.  If you want them to be
    highlighted you should set one or both of the following variables:

    	:let postscr_fonts=1
    	:let postscr_encodings=1

    There is a stylistic option to the highlighting of and, or, and not.  In
    PostScript the function of these operators depends on the types of their
    operands - if the operands are booleans then they are the logical operators,
    if they are integers then they are binary operators.  As binary and logical
    operators can be highlighted differently they have to be highlighted one way
    or the other.  By default they are treated as logical operators.  They can be
    highlighted as binary operators by defining the variable
    postscr_andornot_binary as follows:

    	:let postscr_andornot_binary=1

    			*ptcap.vim*
    PRINTCAP + TERMCAP	*ptcap-syntax* *termcap-syntax* *printcap-syntax*

    This syntax file applies to the printcap and termcap databases.

    In order for Vim to recognize printcap/termcap files that do not match
    the patterns *printcap*, or *termcap*, you must put additional patterns
    appropriate to your system in your |myfiletypefile| file.  For these
    patterns, you must set the variable "b:ptcap_type" to either "print" or
    "term", and then the 'filetype' option to ptcap.

    For example, to make Vim identify all files in /etc/termcaps/ as termcap
    files, add the following:

       :au BufNewFile,BufRead /etc/termcaps/* let b:ptcap_type = "term" |
    				       \ set filetype=ptcap

    If you notice highlighting errors while scrolling backwards, which
    are fixed when redrawing with CTRL-L, try setting the "ptcap_minlines"
    internal variable to a larger number:

      let ptcap_minlines = 50

    (The default is 20 lines.)

    PROGRESS				*progress.vim* *progress-syntax*

    Files matching "*.w" could be Progress or cweb.  If the automatic detection
    doesn't work for you, or you don't edit cweb at all, use this in your
    startup vimrc:
       :let filetype_w = "progress"
    The same happens for "*.i", which could be assembly, and "*.p", which could be
    Pascal.  Use this if you don't use assembly and Pascal:
       :let filetype_i = "progress"
       :let filetype_p = "progress"

    PYTHON						*python.vim* *python-syntax*

    There are four options to control Python syntax highlighting.

    For highlighted numbers:
    	:let python_highlight_numbers = 1

    For highlighted builtin functions:
    	:let python_highlight_builtins = 1

    For highlighted standard exceptions:
    	:let python_highlight_exceptions = 1

    If you want all possible Python highlighting (the same as setting the
    preceding three options):
    	:let python_highlight_all = 1

    REXX						*rexx.vim* *rexx-syntax*

    If you notice highlighting errors while scrolling backwards, which are fixed
    when redrawing with CTRL-L, try setting the "rexx_minlines" internal variable
    to a larger number:
    	:let rexx_minlines = 50
    This will make the syntax synchronization start 50 lines before the first
    displayed line.  The default value is 10.  The disadvantage of using a larger
    number is that redrawing can become slow.

    RUBY						*ruby.vim* *ruby-syntax*

    There are a few options to the Ruby syntax highlighting.

    By default, the "end" keyword is colorized according to the opening statement
    of the block it closes. While useful, this feature can be expensive: if you
    experience slow redrawing (or you are on a terminal with poor color support)
    you may want to turn it off by defining the "ruby_no_expensive" variable:
    	:let ruby_no_expensive = 1
    In this case the same color will be used for all control keywords.

    If you do want this feature enabled, but notice highlighting errors while
    scrolling backwards, which are fixed when redrawing with CTRL-L, try setting
    the "ruby_minlines" variable to a value larger than 50:
    	:let ruby_minlines = 100
    Ideally, this value should be a number of lines large enough to embrace your
    largest class or module.

    Finally, if you do not like to see too many color items around, you can define
    "ruby_no_identifiers":
    	:let ruby_no_identifiers = 1
    This will prevent highlighting of special identifiers like "ConstantName",
    "$global_var", "@instace_var", "| iterator |", and ":symbol".

    SDL						*sdl.vim* *sdl-syntax*

    The SDL highlighting probably misses a few keywords, but SDL has so many
    of them it's almost impossibly to cope.

    The new standard, SDL-2000, specifies that all identifiers are
    case-sensitive (which was not so before), and that all keywords can be
    used either completely lowercase or completely uppercase. To have the
    highlighting reflect this, you can set the following variable:
    	:let sdl_2000=1

    This also sets many new keywords. If you want to disable the old
    keywords, which is probably a good idea, use:
    	:let SDL_no_96=1

    The indentation is probably also incomplete, but right now I am very
    satisfied with it for my own projects.

    The last thing is a little PO-editing helper. It adds a couple of menu
    entries. Though it doesn't do much, I find it extremely helpful for
    translating PO files. I just won't use Emacs, you know.

    SED						*sed.vim* *sed-syntax*

    To make tabs stand out from regular blanks (accomplished by using Todo
    highlighting on the tabs), define "highlight_sedtabs" by putting

    	:let highlight_sedtabs = 1

    in the vimrc file.  (This special highlighting only applies for tabs
    inside search patterns, replacement texts, addresses or text included
    by an Append/Change/Insert command.)  If you enable this option, it is
    also a good idea to set the tab width to one character; by doing that,
    you can easily count the number of tabs in a string.

    Bugs:

      The transform command (y) is treated exactly like the substitute
      command.  This means that, as far as this syntax file is concerned,
      transform accepts the same flags as substitute, which is wrong.
      (Transform accepts no flags.)  I tolerate this bug because the
      involved commands need very complex treatment (95 patterns, one for
      each plausible pattern delimiter).

    SGML						*sgml.vim* *sgml-syntax*

    The coloring scheme for tags in the SGML file works as follows.

    The <> of opening tags are colored differently than the </> of a closing tag.
    This is on purpose! For opening tags the 'Function' color is used, while for
    closing tags the 'Type' color is used (See syntax.vim to check how those are
    defined for you)

    Known tag names are colored the same way as statements in C.  Unknown tag
    names are not colored which makes it easy to spot errors.

    Note that the same is true for argument (or attribute) names. Known attribute
    names are colored differently than unknown ones.

    Some SGML tags are used to change the rendering of text. The following tags
    are recognized by the sgml.vim syntax coloring file and change the way normal
    text is shown: <varname> <emphasis> <command> <function> <literal>
    <replaceable> <ulink> and <link>.

    If you want to change how such text is rendered, you must redefine the
    following syntax groups:

        - sgmlBold
        - sgmlBoldItalic
        - sgmlUnderline
        - sgmlItalic
        - sgmlLink for links

    To make this redefinition work you must redefine them all and define the
    following variable in your vimrc (this is due to the order in which the files
    are read during initialization)
       let sgml_my_rendering=1

    You can also disable this rendering by adding the following line to your
    vimrc file:
       let sgml_no_rendering=1

    (Adapted from the html.vim help text by Claudio Fleiner <claudio@fleiner.com>)

    SH						*sh.vim* *sh-syntax*

    This covers the "normal" Unix (Borne) sh, bash and the korn shell.

    Vim attempts to determine which shell type is in use by specifying that
    various filenames are of specific types:

        ksh : .kshrc* *.ksh
    	bash: .bashrc* bashrc bash.bashrc .bash_profile* *.bash

    If neither of these cases pertain, then the first line of the file is examined
    (ex. /bin/sh  /bin/ksh  /bin/bash).  If the first line specifies a shelltype,
    then that shelltype is used.  However some files (ex. .profile) are known to
    be shell files but the type is not apparent.  One may specify buffer specific
    variables prior to sourcing the <sh.vim> syntax file (b:is_kornshell,
    b:is_bash, or b:is_sh) so that the associated shell type will be used.  One
    may also specify a global default by instantiating one of the following
    three variables:

        ksh : is_kornshell
    	bash: is_bash
    	sh  : is_sh

    One may also specify that what looks like the "sh" shell is actually
    to be interpreted as a bash shell by setting 'bash_is_sh'.  It is
    best to set any of these global variables in your '.vimrc' file.

    To choose between the two ways to treat single-quotes inside a pair of
    double-quotes, I have introduced a Vim variable "highlight_balanced_quotes".
    By default (ie by not declaring this variable) single quotes can be used
    inside double quotes, and are not highlighted.  If you prefer balanced single
    quotes as I do you just make the statement in your .vimrc file:
    	:let highlight_balanced_quotes = 1

    Similarly I have introduced another vim variable "highlight_function_name" to be
    used to enable/disable highlighting of the function-name in function
    declarations.  The default is not to highlight the function name.  If you want to
    highlight function names, include this in your .vimrc file:
    	:let highlight_function_name = 1

    If you notice highlighting errors while scrolling backwards, which are fixed
    when redrawing with CTRL-L, try setting the "sh_minlines" internal variable
    to a larger number:
    	:let sh_minlines = 200
    This will make the syntax synchronization start 200 lines before the first
    displayed line.  The default value is 100.  The disadvantage of using a larger
    number is that redrawing can become slow.

    If you don't have much to synchronize on, displaying can be very slow.  To
    reduce this, the "sh_maxlines" internal variable can be set:
    	:let sh_maxlines = 100
    The default is to use the double of "sh_minlines".  Set it to a smaller number
    to speed up displaying.  The disadvantage is that highlight errors may appear.

    SPEEDUP (AspenTech plant simulator)		*spup.vim* *spup-syntax*

    The Speedup syntax file has some options:

    - strict_subsections : If this variable is defined, only keywords for
      sections and subsections will be highlighted as statements but not
      other keywords (like WITHIN in the OPERATION section).

    - highlight_types : Definition of this variable causes stream types
      like temperature or pressure to be highlighted as Type, not as a
      plain Identifier. Included are the types that are usually found in
      the DECLARE section; if you defined own types, you have to include
      them in the syntax file.

    - oneline_comments : this value ranges from 1 to 3 and determines the
      highlighting of # style comments.

      oneline_comments = 1 : allow normal Speedup code after an even
      number of #s.

      oneline_comments = 2 : show code starting with the second # as
      error. This is the default setting.

      oneline_comments = 3 : show the whole line as error if it contains
      more than one #.

    Since especially OPERATION sections tend to become very large due to
    PRESETting variables, syncing may be critical. If your computer is
    fast enough, you can increase minlines and/or maxlines near the end of
    the syntax file.

    TEX						*tex.vim* *tex-syntax*

    The tex highlighting supports TeX, LaTeX, and some AmsTeX.  The
    highlighting supports three primary zones: normal, texZone, and texMathZone.
    Although a considerable effort has been made to have these zones terminate
    properly, zones delineated by $..$ and $$..$$ cannot be synchronized as
    there's no difference between start and end patterns.  Consequently, a
    special "TeX comment" has been provided
    	%stopzone
    which will forcibly terminate the highlighting of either a texZone or a
    texMathZone.

    If you have a slow computer, you may wish to reduce the values for
    	:syn sync maxlines=200
    	:syn sync minlines=50
    (especially the latter).  If your computer is fast, you may wish to
    increase them.  This primarily affects synchronizing (ie. just what group,
    if any, is the text at the top of the screen supposed to be in?).

    The <tex.vim> supports lexical error checking of various sorts.  Thus,
    although the error checking is ofttimes very useful, it can indicate
    errors where none actually are.  If this proves to be a problem for you,
    you may put in your <.vimrc> the following statement:
    	let tex_no_error=1
    and all error checking by <tex.vim> will be suppressed.

    TF						*tf.vim* *tf-syntax*

    There is one option for the tf syntax highlighting.

    For syncing, minlines defaults to 100.  If you prefer another value, you can
    set "tf_minlines" to the value you desire.  Example:

    	:let tf_minlines = your choice

    XF86CONFIG                              *xf86conf.vim* *xf86conf-syntax*

    The syntax of XF86Config file differs in XFree86 v3.x and v4.x.  Both
    variants are supported.  Automatic detection is used, but is far from perfect.
    You may need to specify the version manually.  Set the variable
    xf86conf_xfree86_version to 3 or 4 according to your XFree86 version in
    your .vimrc.  Example:
            :let xf86conf_xfree86_version=3
    When using a mix of versions, set the b:xf86conf_xfree86_version variable.

    Note that spaces and underscores in option names are not supported.  Use
    "SyncOnGreen" instead of "__s yn con gr_e_e_n" if you want the option name
    highlighted.

    XML						*xml.vim* *xml-syntax*

    Xml namespaces are highlighted by default. This can be inhibited by
    setting a global variable:

    	:let g:xml_namespace_transparent=1

    							*xml-folding*
    The xml syntax file provides syntax |folding| (see |:syn-fold|) between
    start and end tags. This can be turned on by

    	:set foldmethod=syntax

    X Pixmaps (XPM)					*xpm.vim* *xpm-syntax*

    xpm.vim creates its syntax items dynamically based upon the contents of the
    XPM file.  Thus if you make changes e.g. in the color specification strings,
    you have to source it again e.g. with ":set syn=xpm".

    To copy a pixel with one of the colors, yank a "pixel" with "yl" and insert it
    somewhere else with "P".

    Do you want to draw with the mouse?  Try the following:
       :function! GetPixel()
       :   let c = getline(line("."))[col(".") - 1]
       :   echo c
       :   exe "noremap <LeftMouse> <LeftMouse>r".c
       :   exe "noremap <LeftDrag>  <LeftMouse>r".c
       :endfunction
       :noremap <RightMouse> <LeftMouse>:call GetPixel()<CR>
       :set guicursor=n:hor20	   " to see the color beneath the cursor
    This turns the right button into a pipette and the left button into a pen.
    It will work with XPM files that have one character per pixel only and you
    must not click outside of the pixel strings, but feel free to improve it.

    It will look much better with a font in a quadratic cell size, e.g. for X:
    	:set guifont=-*-clean-medium-r-*-*-8-*-*-*-*-80-*

    5. Defining a syntax					*:syn-define* *E410*

    Vim understands three types of syntax items:

    1. Keyword.
       It can only contain keyword characters, according to the 'iskeyword'
       option.  It cannot contain other syntax items.  It will only match with a
       complete word (there are no keyword characters before or after the match).
       The keyword "if" would match in "if(a=b)", but not in "ifdef x", because
       "(" is not a keyword character and "d" is.

    2. Match.
       This is a match with a single regexp pattern.

    3. Region.
       This starts at a match of the "start" regexp pattern and ends with a match
       with the "end" regexp pattern.  Any other text can appear in between.  A
       "skip" regexp pattern can be used to avoid matching the "end" pattern.

    Several syntax ITEMs can be put into one syntax GROUP.  For a syntax group
    you can give highlighting attributes.  For example, you could have an item
    to define a "/* .. */" comment and another one that defines a "// .." comment,
    and put them both in the "Comment" group.  You can then specify that a
    "Comment" will be in bold font and have a blue color.  You are free to make
    one highlight group for one syntax item, or put all items into one group.
    This depends on how you want to specify your highlighting attributes.  Putting
    each item in its own group results in having to specify the highlighting
    for a lot of groups.

    Note that a syntax group and a highlight group are similar.  For a highlight
    group you will have given highlight attributes.  These attributes will be used
    for the syntax group with the same name.

    In case more than one item matches at the same position, the one that was
    defined LAST wins.  Thus you can override previously defined syntax items by
    using an item that matches the same text.  But a keyword always goes before a
    match or region.  And a keyword with matching case always goes before a
    keyword with ignoring case.

    DEFINING CASE						*:syn-case* *E390*

    :sy[ntax] case [match|ignore]
    	This defines if the following ":syntax" commands will work with
    	matching case, when using "match", or with ignoring case, when using
    	"ignore".  Note that any items before this are not affected, and all
    	items until the next ":syntax case" command are affected.

    DEFINING KEYWORDS					*:syn-keyword*

    :sy[ntax] keyword {group-name} [{options}] {keyword} .. [{options}]

    	This defines a number of keywords.

    	{group-name}	Is a syntax group name such as "Comment".
    	[{options}]	See |:syn-arguments| below.
    	{keyword} ..	Is a list of keywords which are part of this group.

    	Example:
      :syntax keyword   Type   int long char

    	The {options} can be given anywhere in the line.  They will apply to
    	all keywords given, also for options that come after a keyword.
    	These examples do exactly the same:
      :syntax keyword   Type   contained int long char
      :syntax keyword   Type   int long contained char
      :syntax keyword   Type   int long char contained

    	When you have a keyword with an optional tail, like Ex commands in
    	Vim, you can put the optional characters inside [], to define all the
    	variations at once:
      :syntax keyword   VimCommand   ab[breviate] n[ext]

    	Don't forget that a keyword can only be recognized if all the
    	characters are included in the 'iskeyword' option.  If one character
    	isn't, the keyword will never be recognized.
    	Multi-byte characters can also be used.  These do not have to be in
    	'iskeyword'.

    	A keyword always has higher priority than a match or region, the
    	keyword is used if more than one item matches.  Keywords do not nest
    	and a keyword can't contain anything else.

    	Note that when you have a keyword that is the same as an option (even
    	one that isn't allowed here), you can not use it.  Use a match
    	instead.

    	The maximum length of a keyword is 80 characters.

    	The same keyword can be defined multiple times, when its containment
    	differs.  For example, you can define the keyword once not contained
    	and use one highlight group, and once contained, and use a different
    	highlight group. Example:
      :syn keyword vimCommand tag
      :syn keyword vimSetting contained tag
    	When finding "tag" outside of any syntax item, the "vimCommand"
    	highlight group is used.  When finding "tag" in a syntax item that
    	contains "vimSetting", the "vimSetting" group is used.

    DEFINING MATCHES					*:syn-match*

    :sy[ntax] match {group-name} [{options}] [excludenl] {pattern} [{options}]

    	This defines one match.

    	{group-name}		A syntax group name such as "Comment".
    	[{options}]		See |:syn-arguments| below.
    	[excludenl]		Don't make a pattern with the end-of-line "$"
    				extend a containing match or region.  Must be
    				given before the pattern. |:syn-excludenl|
    	{pattern}		The search pattern that defines the match.
    				See |:syn-pattern| below.
    				Note that the pattern may match more than one
    				line, which makes the match depend on where
    				Vim starts searching for the pattern.  You
    				need to make sure syncing takes care of this.

    	Example (match a character constant):
      :syntax match Character /'.'/hs=s+1,he=e-1

    DEFINING REGIONS	*:syn-region* *:syn-start* *:syn-skip* *:syn-end*
    							*E398* *E399*
    :sy[ntax] region {group-name} [{options}]
    		[matchgroup={group_name}]
    		[keepend]
    		[extend]
    		[excludenl]
    		start={start_pattern} ..
    		[skip={skip_pattern}]
    		end={end_pattern} ..
    		[{options}]

    	This defines one region.  It may span several lines.

    	{group-name}		A syntax group name such as "Comment".
    	[{options}]		See |:syn-arguments| below.
    	[matchgroup={group-name}]  The syntax group to use for the following
    				start or end pattern matches only.  Not used
    				for the text in between the matched start and
    				end patterns.  Use NONE to reset to not using
    				a different group for the start or end match.
    				See |:syn-matchgroup|.
    	keepend			Don't allow contained matches to go past a
    				match with the end pattern.  See
    				|:syn-keepend|.
    	extend			Override a "keepend" for an item this region
    				is contained in. See |:syn-extend|.
    	excludenl		Don't make a pattern with the end-of-line "$"
    				extend a containing match or item.  Only
    				useful for end patterns.  Must be given before
    				the patterns it applies to. |:syn-excludenl|
    	start={start_pattern}	The search pattern that defines the start of
    				the region.  See |:syn-pattern| below.
    	skip={skip_pattern}	The search pattern that defines text inside
    				the region where not to look for the end
    				pattern.  See |:syn-pattern| below.
    	end={end_pattern}	The search pattern that defines the end of
    				the region.  See |:syn-pattern| below.

    	Example:
      :syntax region String   start=+"+  skip=+\\"+  end=+"+

    	The start/skip/end patterns and the options can be given in any order.
    	There can be zero or one skip pattern.  There must be one or more
    	start and end patterns.  This means that you can omit the skip
    	pattern, but you must give at least one start and one end pattern.  It
    	is allowed to have white space before and after the equal sign
    	(although it mostly looks better without white space).

    	When more than one start pattern is given, a match with one of these
    	is sufficient.  This means there is an OR relation between the start
    	patterns.  The last one that matches is used.  The same is true for
    	the end patterns.

    	The search for the end pattern starts right after the start pattern.
    	Offsets are not used for this.  This implies that the match for the
    	end pattern will never overlap with the start pattern.

    	The skip and end pattern can match across line breaks, but since the
    	search for the pattern can start in any line it often does not do what
    	you want.  The skip pattern doesn't avoid a match of an end pattern in
    	the next line.  Use single-line patterns to avoid trouble.

    	Note: The decision to start a region is only based on a matching start
    	pattern.  There is no check for a matching end pattern.  This does NOT
    	work:
    		:syn region First  start="("  end=":"
    		:syn region Second start="("  end=";"
    	The Second always matches before the First (last defined pattern has
    	higher priority).  The Second region then continues until the next
    	';', no matter if there is a ':' before it.  Using a match does work:
    		:syn match First  "(\_.\{-}:"
    		:syn match Second "(\_.\{-};"
    	This pattern matches any character or line break with "\_." and
    	repeats that with "\{-}" (repeat as few as possible).

    							*:syn-keepend*
    	By default, a contained match can obscure a match for the end pattern.
    	This is useful for nesting.  For example, a region that starts with
    	"{" and ends with "}", can contain another region.  An encountered "}"
    	will then end the contained region, but not the outer region:
    	    {		starts outer "{}" region
    		{	starts contained "{}" region
    		}	ends contained "{}" region
    	    }		ends outer "{} region
    	If you don't want this, the "keepend" argument will make the matching
    	of an end pattern of the outer region also end any contained item.
    	This makes it impossible to nest the same region, but allows for
    	contained items to highlight parts of the end pattern, without causing
    	that to skip the match with the end pattern.  Example:
      :syn match  VimComment +"[^"]\+$+
      :syn region VimCommand start="set" end="$" contains=VimComment keepend
    	The "keepend" makes the VimCommand always end at the end of the line,
    	even though the contained VimComment includes a match with the <EOL>.

    	When "keepend" is not used, a match with an end pattern is retried
    	after each contained match.  When "keepend" is included, the first
    	encountered match with an end pattern is used, truncating any
    	contained matches.
    							*:syn-extend*
    	The "keepend" behavior can be changed by using the "extend" argument.
    	When an item with "extend" is contained in an item that uses
    	"keepend", the "keepend" is ignored and the containing region will be
    	extended.
    	This can be used to have some contained items extend a region while
    	others don't.  Example:

       :syn region htmlRef start=+<a>+ end=+</a>+ keepend contains=htmlItem,htmlScript
       :syn match htmlItem +<[^>]*>+ contained
       :syn region htmlScript start=+<script+ end=+</script[^>]*>+ contained extend

    	Here the htmlItem item does not make the htmlRef item continue
    	further, it is only used to highlight the <> items.  The htmlScript
    	item does extend the htmlRef item.

    	Another example:
       :syn region xmlFold start="<a>" end="</a>" fold transparent keepend extend
    	This defines a region with "keepend", so that its end cannot be
    	changed by contained items, like when the "</a>" is matched to
    	highlight it differently.  But when the xmlFold region is nested (it
    	includes itself), the "extend" applies, so that the "</a>" of a nested
    	region only ends that region, and not the one it is contained in.

    							*:syn-excludenl*
    	When a pattern for a match or end pattern of a region includes a '$'
    	to match the end-of-line, it will make a region item that it is
    	contained in continue on the next line.  For example, a match with
    	"\\$" (backslash at the end of the line) can make a region continue
    	that would normally stop at the end of the line.  This is the default
    	behavior.  If this is not wanted, there are two ways to avoid it:
    	1. Use "keepend" for the containing item.  This will keep all
    	   contained matches from extending the match or region.  It can be
    	   used when all contained items must not extend the containing item.
    	2. Use "excludenl" in the contained item.  This will keep that match
    	   from extending the containing match or region.  It can be used if
    	   only some contained items must not extend the containing item.
    	   "excludenl" must be given before the pattern it applies to.

    							*:syn-matchgroup*
    	"matchgroup" can be used to highlight the start and/or end pattern
    	differently than the body of the region.  Example:
      :syntax region String matchgroup=Quote start=+"+  skip=+\\"+  end=+"+
    	This will highlight the quotes with the "Quote" group, and the text in
    	between with the "String" group.
    	The "matchgroup" is used for all start and end patterns that follow,
    	until the next "matchgroup".  Use "matchgroup=NONE" to go back to not
    	using a matchgroup.

    	In a start or end pattern that is highlighted with "matchgroup" the
    	contained items of the region are not used.  This can be used to avoid
    	that a contained item matches in the start or end pattern match.  When
    	using "transparent", this does not apply to a start or end pattern
    	match that is highlighted with "matchgroup".

    	Here is an example, which highlights three levels of parentheses in
    	different colors:
       :sy region par1 matchgroup=par1 start=/(/ end=/)/ contains=par2
       :sy region par2 matchgroup=par2 start=/(/ end=/)/ contains=par3 contained
       :sy region par3 matchgroup=par3 start=/(/ end=/)/ contains=par1 contained
       :hi par1 ctermfg=red guifg=red
       :hi par2 ctermfg=blue guifg=blue
       :hi par3 ctermfg=darkgreen guifg=darkgreen

    6. :syntax arguments					*:syn-arguments*

    The :syntax commands that define syntax items take a number of arguments.
    The common ones are explained here.  The arguments may be given in any order
    and may be mixed with patterns.

    Not all commands accept all arguments.  This table shows which arguments
    can not be used for all commands:
    							*E395* *E396*
    		    contains  oneline	fold  display  extend
    :syntax keyword		 -	 -	 -	 -	 -
    :syntax match		yes	 -	yes	yes	yes
    :syntax region		yes	yes	yes	yes	yes

    These arguments can be used for all three commands:
    	contained
    	containedin
    	nextgroup
    	transparent
    	skipwhite
    	skipnl
    	skipempty

    contained						*:syn-contained*

    When the "contained" argument is given, this item will not be recognized at
    the top level, but only when it is mentioned in the "contains" field of
    another match.  Example:
       :syntax keyword Todo    TODO    contained
       :syntax match   Comment "//.*"  contains=Todo

    display							*:syn-display*

    If the "display" argument is given, this item will be skipped when the
    detected highlighting will not be displayed.  This will speed up highlighting,
    by skipping this item when only finding the syntax state for the text that is
    to be dislayed.

    Generally, you can use "display" for match and region items that meet these
    conditions:
    - The item does not continue past the end of a line.  Example for C: A region
      for a "/*" comment can't contain "display", because it continues on the next
      line.
    - The item does not contain items that continue past the end of the line or
      make it continue on the next line.
    - The item does not change the size of any item it is contained in.  Example
      for C: A match with "\\$" in a preprocessor match can't have "display",
      because it may make that preprocessor match shorter.
    - The item does not allow other items to match that didn't match otherwise,
      and that item may extend the match too far.  Example for C: A match for a
      "//" comment can't use "display", because a "/*" inside that comment would
      match then and start a comment which extends past the end of the line.

    Examples, for the C language, where "display" can be used:
    - match with a number
    - match with a label

    transparent						*:syn-transparent*

    If the "transparent" argument is given, this item will not be highlighted
    itself, but will take the highlighting of the item it is contained in.  This
    is useful for syntax items that don't need any highlighting but are used
    only to skip over a part of the text.

    The "contains=" argument is also inherited from the item it is contained in,
    unless a "contains" argument is given for the transparent item itself.  To
    avoid that unwanted items are contained, use "contains=NONE".  Example, which
    highlights words in strings, but makes an exception for "vim":
    	:syn match myString /'[^']*'/ contains=myWord,myVim
    	:syn match myWord   /\<[a-z]*\>/ contained
    	:syn match myVim    /\<vim\>/ transparent contained contains=NONE
    	:hi link myString String
    	:hi link myWord   Comment
    Since the "myVim" match comes after "myWord" it is the preferred match (last
    match in the same position overrules an earlier one).  The "transparent"
    argument makes the "myVim" match use the same highlighting as "myString".  But
    it does not contain anything.  If the "contains=NONE" argument would be left
    out, then "myVim" would use the contains argument from myString and allow
    "myWord" to be contained, which will be highlighted as a Constant.  This
    happens because a contained match doesn't match inside itself in the same
    position, thus the "myVim" match doesn't overrule the "myWord" match here.

    When you look at the colored text, it is like looking at layers of contained
    items.  The contained item is on top of the item it is contained in, thus you
    see the contained item.  When a contained item is transparent, you can look
    through, thus you see the item it is contained in.  In a picture:

    		look from here

    	    |	|   |	|   |	|
    	    V	V   V	V   V	V

    	       xxxx	  yyy		more contained items
    	    ....................	contained item (transparent)
    	=============================	first item

    The 'x', 'y' and '=' represent a highlighted syntax item.  The '.' represent a
    transparent group.

    What you see is:

    	=======xxxx=======yyy========

    Thus you look through the transparent "....".

    oneline							*:syn-oneline*

    The "oneline" argument indicates that the region does not cross a line
    boundary.  It must match completely in the current line.  However, when the
    region has a contained item that does cross a line boundary, it continues on
    the next line anyway.  A contained item can be used to recognize a line
    continuation pattern.

    When the start pattern includes a "\n" to match an end-of-line, the end
    pattern must found in the same line as where the start pattern ends.  The end
    pattern may also include an end-of-line.  Thus the "oneline" argument
    means that the end of the start pattern and the start of the end pattern must
    be within one line.  This can't be changed by a skip pattern that matches a
    line break.

    fold							*:syn-fold*

    The "fold" argument makes the fold level increased by one for this item.
    Example:
       :syn region myFold start="{" end="}" transparent fold
       :syn sync fromstart
       :set foldmethod=syntax
    This will make each {} block form one fold.

    The fold will start on the line where the item starts, and end where the item
    ends.  If the start and end are within the same line, there is no fold.
    The 'foldnestmax' option limits the nesting of syntax folds.
    {not available when Vim was compiled without |+folding| feature}

    			*:syn-contains* *E405* *E406* *E407* *E408* *E409*
    contains={groupname},..

    The "contains" argument is followed by a list of syntax group names.  These
    groups will be allowed to begin inside the item (they may extend past the
    containing group's end).  This allows for recursive nesting of matches and
    regions.  If there is no "contains" argument, no groups will be contained in
    this item.  The group names do not need to be defined before they can be used
    here.

    contains=ALL
    		If the only item in the contains list is "ALL", then all
    		groups will be accepted inside the item.

    contains=ALLBUT,{group-name},..
    		If the first item in the contains list is "ALLBUT", then all
    		groups will be accepted inside the item, except the ones that
    		are listed.  Example:
      :syntax region Block start="{" end="}" ... contains=ALLBUT,Function

    contains=TOP
    		If the first item in the contains list is "TOP", then all
    		groups will be accepted that don't have the "contained"
    		argument.
    contains=TOP,{group-name},..
    		Like "TOP", but excluding the groups that are listed.

    contains=CONTAINED
    		If the first item in the contains list is "CONTAINED", then
    		all groups will be accepted that have the "contained"
    		argument.
    contains=CONTAINED,{group-name},..
    		Like "CONTAINED", but excluding the groups that are
    		listed.

    The {group-name} in the "contains" list can be a pattern.  All group names
    that match the pattern will be included (or excluded, if "ALLBUT" is used).
    The pattern cannot contain white space or a ','.  Example:
       ... contains=Comment.*,Keyw[0-3]
    The matching will be done at moment the syntax command is executed.  Groups
    that are defined later will not be matched.  Also, if the current syntax
    command defines a new group, it is not matched.  Be careful: When putting
    syntax commands in a file you can't rely on groups NOT being defined, because
    the file may have been sourced before, and ":syn clear" doesn't remove the
    group names.

    The contained groups will also match in the start and end patterns of a
    region.  If this is not wanted, the "matchgroup" argument can be used
    |:syn-matchgroup|.  The "ms=" and "me=" offsets can be used to change the
    region where contained items do match.  Note that this may also limit the
    area that is highlighted

    containedin={groupname}...				*:syn-containedin*

    The "containedin" argument is followed by a list of syntax group names.  The
    item will be allowed to begin inside these groups.  This works as if the
    containing item has a "contains=" argument that includes this item.

    The {groupname}... can be used just like for "contains", as explained above.

    This is useful when adding a syntax item afterwards.  An item can be told to
    be included inside an already existing item, without changing the definition
    of that item.  For example, to highlight a word in a C comment after loading
    the C syntax:
    	:syn keyword myword HELP containedin=cComment contained
    Note that "contained" is also used, to avoid that the item matches at the top
    level.

    Matches for "containedin" are added to the other places where the item can
    appear.  A "contains" argument may also be added as usual.  Don't forget that
    keywords never contain another item, thus adding them to "containedin" won't
    work.

    nextgroup={groupname},..				*:syn-nextgroup*

    The "nextgroup" argument is followed by a list of syntax group names,
    separated by commas (just like with "contains", so you can also use patterns).

    If the "nextgroup" argument is given, the mentioned syntax groups will be
    tried for a match, after the match or region ends.  If none of the groups have
    a match, highlighting continues normally.  If there is a match, this group
    will be used, even when it is not mentioned in the "contains" field of the
    current group.  This is like giving the mentioned group priority over all
    other groups.  Example:
       :syntax match  ccFoobar  "Foo.\{-}Bar"  contains=ccFoo
       :syntax match  ccFoo     "Foo"	    contained nextgroup=ccFiller
       :syntax region ccFiller  start="."  matchgroup=ccBar  end="Bar"  contained

    This will highlight "Foo" and "Bar" differently, and only when there is a
    "Bar" after "Foo".  In the text line below, "f" shows where ccFoo is used for
    highlighting, and "bbb" where ccBar is used.

       Foo asdfasd Bar asdf Foo asdf Bar asdf
       fff	       bbb      fff      bbb

    Note the use of ".\{-}" to skip as little as possible until the next Bar.
    when ".*" would be used, the "asdf" in between "Bar" and "Foo" would be
    highlighted according to the "ccFoobar" group, because the ccFooBar match
    would include the first "Foo" and the last "Bar" in the line (see |pattern|).

    skipwhite						*:syn-skipwhite*
    skipnl							*:syn-skipnl*
    skipempty						*:syn-skipempty*

    These arguments are only used in combination with "nextgroup".  They can be
    used to allow the next group to match after skipping some text:
    	skipwhite	skip over space and Tab characters
    	skipnl		skip over the end of a line
    	skipempty	skip over empty lines (implies a "skipnl")

    When "skipwhite" is present, the white space is only skipped if there is no
    next group that matches the white space.

    When "skipnl" is present, the match with nextgroup may be found in the next
    line.  This only happens when the current item ends at the end of the current
    line!  When "skipnl" is not present, the nextgroup will only be found after
    the current item in the same line.

    When skipping text while looking for a next group, the matches for other
    groups are ignored.  Only when no next group matches, other items are tried
    for a match again.  This means that matching a next group and skipping white
    space and <EOL>s has a higher priority than other items.

    Example:
      :syn match ifstart "if.*"     nextgroup=ifline skipwhite skipempty
      :syn match ifline  "endif"    contained
      :syn match ifline  "[^ \t].*" nextgroup=ifline skipwhite skipempty contained
    Note that the last match, which matches any non-white text, is put last,
    otherwise the "endif" of the indent would never match, because the "[^ \t].*"
    would match first.
    Note that this example doesn't work for nested "if"s.  You need to add
    "contains" arguments to make that work (omitted for simplicity of the
    example).

    7. Syntax patterns				*:syn-pattern* *E401* *E402*

    In the syntax commands, a pattern must be surrounded by two identical
    characters.  This is like it works for the ":s" command.  The most common to
    use is the double quote.  But if the pattern contains a double quote, you can
    use another character that is not used in the pattern.  Examples:
      :syntax region Comment  start="/\*"  end="\*/"
      :syntax region String   start=+"+    end=+"+   skip=+\\"+

    See |pattern| for the explanation of what a pattern is.  Syntax patterns are
    always interpreted like the 'magic' options is set, no matter what the actual
    value of 'magic' is.  And the patterns are interpreted like the 'l' flag is
    not included in 'cpoptions'.  This was done to make syntax files portable and
    independent of 'compatible' and 'magic' settings.

    Try to avoid patterns that can match an empty string, such as "[a-z]*".
    This slows down the highlighting a lot, because it matches everywhere.

    						*:syn-pattern-offset*
    The pattern can be followed by a character offset.  This can be used to
    change the highlighted part, and to change the text area included in the
    match or region (which only matters when trying to match other items).  Both
    are relative to the matched pattern.  The character offset for a skip
    pattern can be used to tell where to continue looking for an end pattern.

    The offset takes the form of "{what}={offset}"
    The {what} can be one of seven strings:

    ms	Match Start	offset for the start of the matched text
    me	Match End	offset for the end of the matched text
    hs	Highlight Start	offset for where the highlighting starts
    he	Highlight End	offset for where the highlighting ends
    rs	Region Start	offset for where the body of a region starts
    re	Region End	offset for where the body of a region ends
    lc	Leading Context	offset past "leading context" of pattern

    The {offset} can be:

    s	start of the matched pattern
    s+{nr}	start of the matched pattern plus {nr} chars to the right
    s-{nr}	start of the matched pattern plus {nr} chars to the left
    e	end of the matched pattern
    e+{nr}	end of the matched pattern plus {nr} chars to the right
    e-{nr}	end of the matched pattern plus {nr} chars to the left
    {nr}	(for "lc" only): start matching {nr} chars to the left

    Examples: "ms=s+1", "hs=e-2", "lc=3".

    Although all offsets are accepted after any pattern, they are not always
    meaningful.  This table shows which offsets are actually used:

    		    ms   me   hs   he   rs   re	  lc
    match item	    yes  yes  yes  yes  -    -    yes
    region item start   yes  -    yes  -    yes  -    yes
    region item skip    -    yes  -    -    -    -    yes
    region item end     -    yes  -    yes  -    yes  yes

    Offsets can be concatenated, with a ',' in between.  Example:
      :syn match String  /"[^"]*"/hs=s+1,he=e-1

        some "string" text
    	  ^^^^^^		highlighted

    Notes:
    - There must be no white space between the pattern and the character
      offset(s).
    - The highlighted area will never be outside of the matched text.
    - A negative offset for an end pattern may not always work, because the end
      pattern may be detected when the highlighting should already have stopped.
    - The start of a match cannot be in a line other than where the pattern
      matched.  This doesn't work: "a\nb"ms=e.  You can make the highlighting
      start in another line, this does work: "a\nb"hs=e.

    Example (match a comment but don't highlight the /* and */):
      :syntax region Comment start="/\*"hs=e+1 end="\*/"he=s-1

    	/* this is a comment */
    	  ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^     highlighted

    A more complicated Example:
      :syn region Exa matchgroup=Foo start="foo"hs=s+2,rs=e+2 matchgroup=Bar end="bar"me=e-1,he=e-1,re=s-1

    	 abcfoostringbarabc
    	    mmmmmmmmmmm	    match
    	      ssrrrreee	    highlight start/region/end ("Foo", "Exa" and "Bar")

    Leading context			*:syn-lc* *:syn-leading* *:syn-context*

    Note: This is an obsolete feature, only included for backwards compatibility
    with previous Vim versions.  It's now recommended to use the |/\@<=| construct
    in the pattern.

    The "lc" offset specifies leading context -- a part of the pattern that must
    be present, but is not considered part of the match.  An offset of "lc=n" will
    cause Vim to step back n columns before attempting the pattern match, allowing
    characters which have already been matched in previous patterns to also be
    used as leading context for this match.  This can be used, for instance, to
    specify that an "escaping" character must not precede the match:

      :syn match ZNoBackslash "[^\\]z"ms=s+1
      :syn match WNoBackslash "[^\\]w"lc=1
      :syn match Underline "_\+"

    	  ___zzzz ___wwww
    	  ^^^     ^^^	  matches Underline
    	      ^ ^	  matches ZNoBackslash
    		     ^^^^ matches WNoBackslash

    The "ms" offset is automatically set to the same value as the "lc" offset,
    unless you set "ms" explicitly.

    Multi-line patterns					*:syn-multi-line*

    The patterns can include "\n" to match an end-of-line.  Mostly this works as
    expected, but there are a few exceptions.

    When using a start pattern with an offset, the start of the match is not
    allowed to start in a following line.  The highlighting can start in a
    following line though.

    The skip pattern can include the "\n", but the search for an end pattern will
    continue in the first character of the next line, also when that character is
    matched by the skip pattern.  This is because redrawing may start in any line
    halfway a region and there is no check if the skip pattern started in a
    previous line.  For example, if the skip pattern is "a\nb" and an end pattern
    is "b", the end pattern does match in the second line of this:
    	 x x a
    	 b x x
    Generally this means that the skip pattern should not match any characters
    after the "\n".

    External matches					*:syn-ext-match*

    These extra regular expression items are available in region patterns:

    						*/\z(* */\z(\)* *E50* *E52*
        \z(\)	Marks the sub-expression as "external", meaning that it is can
    		be accessed from another pattern match.  Currently only usable
    		in defining a syntax region start pattern.

        \z1  ...  \z9				*/\z1* */\z2* *\z9* *E66* *E67*
    		Matches the same string that was matched by the corresponding
    		sub-expression in a previous start pattern match.

    Sometimes the start and end patterns of a region need to share a common
    sub-expression.  A common example is the "here" document in Perl and many Unix
    shells.  This effect can be achieved with the "\z" special regular expression
    items, which marks a sub-expression as "external", in the sense that it can be
    referenced from outside the pattern in which it is defined.  The here-document
    example, for instance, can be done like this:
      :syn region hereDoc start="<<\z(\I\i*\)" end="^\z1$"

    As can be seen here, the \z actually does double duty.  In the start pattern,
    it marks the "\(\I\i*\)" sub-expression as external; in the end pattern, it
    changes the \1 back-reference into an external reference referring to the
    first external sub-expression in the start pattern.  External references can
    also be used in skip patterns:
      :syn region foo start="start \(\I\i*\)" skip="not end \z1" end="end \z1"

    Note that normal and external sub-expressions are completely orthogonal and
    indexed separately; for instance, if the pattern "\z(..\)\(..\)" is applied
    to the string "aabb", then \1 will refer to "bb" and \z1 will refer to "aa".
    Note also that external sub-expressions cannot be accessed as back-references
    within the same pattern like normal sub-expressions.  If you want to use one
    sub-expression as both a normal and an external sub-expression, you can nest
    the two, as in "\(\z(...\)\)".

    Note that only matches within a single line can be used.  Multi-line matches
    cannot be referred to.

    8. Syntax clusters					*:syn-cluster* *E400*

    :sy[ntax] cluster {cluster-name} [contains={group-name}..]
    				 [add={group-name}..]
    				 [remove={group-name}..]

    This command allows you to cluster a list of syntax groups together under a
    single name.

    	contains={group-name}..
    		The cluster is set to the specified list of groups.
    	add={group-name}..
    		The specified groups are added to the cluster.
    	remove={group-name}..
    		The specified groups are removed from the cluster.

    A cluster so defined may be referred to in a contains=.., nextgroup=.., add=..
    or remove=.. list with a "@" prefix.  You can also use this notation to
    implicitly declare a cluster before specifying its contents.

    Example:
       :syntax match Thing "# [^#]\+ #" contains=@ThingMembers
       :syntax cluster ThingMembers contains=ThingMember1,ThingMember2

    As the previous example suggests, modifications to a cluster are effectively
    retroactive; the membership of the cluster is checked at the last minute, so
    to speak:
       :syntax keyword A aaa
       :syntax cluster AandB contains=A
       :syntax match Stuff "( aaa bbb )" contains=@AandB
       :syntax cluster AandB add=B    " now both keywords are matched in Stuff

    This also has implications for nested clusters:
       :syntax keyword A aaa
       :syntax keyword B bbb
       :syntax cluster SmallGroup contains=B
       :syntax cluster BigGroup contains=A,@SmallGroup
       :syntax match Stuff "( aaa bbb )" contains=@BigGroup
       :syntax cluster BigGroup remove=B    " no effect, since B isn't in BigGroup
       :syntax cluster SmallGroup remove=B  " now bbb isn't matched within Stuff

    9. Including syntax files				*:syn-include* *E397*

    It is often useful for one language's syntax file to include a syntax file for
    a related language.  Depending on the exact relationship, this can be done in
    two different ways:

    	- If top-level syntax items in the included syntax file are to be
    	  allowed at the top level in the including syntax, you can simply use
    	  the |:runtime| command:

      " In cpp.vim:
      :runtime! syntax/c.vim
      :unlet b:current_syntax

    	- If top-level syntax items in the included syntax file are to be
    	  contained within a region in the including syntax, you can use the
    	  ":syntax include" command:

    :sy[ntax] include [@{grouplist-name}] {file-name}

    	  All syntax items declared in the included file will have the
    	  "contained" flag added.  In addition, if a group list is specified,
    	  all top-level syntax items in the included file will be added to
    	  that list.

       " In perl.vim:
       :syntax include @Pod <sfile>:p:h/pod.vim
       :syntax region perlPOD start="^=head" end="^=cut" contains=@Pod

    	  When {file-name} is an absolute path (starts with "/", "c:", "$VAR"
    	  or "<sfile>") that file is sourced.  When it is a relative path
    	  (e.g., "syntax/pod.vim") the file is searched for in 'runtimepath'.
    	  All matching files are loaded.  Using a relative path is
    	  recommended, because it allows a user to replace the included file
    	  with his own version, without replacing the file that does the ":syn
    	  include".

    10. Synchronizing				*:syn-sync* *E403* *E404*

    Vim wants to be able to start redrawing in any position in the document.  To
    make this possible it needs to know the syntax state at the position where
    redrawing starts.

    :sy[ntax] sync [ccomment [group-name] | minlines={N} | ...]

    There are four ways to synchronize:
    1. Always parse from the start of the file.
       |:syn-sync-first|
    2. Based on C-style comments.  Vim understands how C-comments work and can
       figure out if the current line starts inside or outside a comment.
       |:syn-sync-second|
    3. Jumping back a certain number of lines and start parsing there.
       |:syn-sync-third|
    4. Searching backwards in the text for a pattern to sync on.
       |:syn-sync-fourth|

    				*:syn-sync-maxlines* *:syn-sync-minlines*
    For the last three methods, the line range where the parsing can start is
    limited by "minlines" and "maxlines".

    If the "minlines={N}" argument is given, the parsing always starts at least
    that many lines backwards.  This can be used if the parsing may take a few
    lines before it's correct, or when it's not possible to use syncing.

    If the "maxlines={N}" argument is given, the number of lines that are searched
    for a comment or syncing pattern is restricted to N lines backwards (after
    adding "minlines".  This is useful if you have few things to sync on and a
    slow machine.  Example:
       :syntax sync ccomment maxlines=500

    						*:syn-sync-linebreaks*
    When using a pattern that matches multiple lines, a change in one line may
    cause a pattern to no longer match in a previous line.  This means has to
    start above where the change was made.  How many lines can be specified with
    the "linebreaks" argument.  For example, when a pattern may include one line
    break use this:
       :syntax sync linebreaks=1
    The result is that redrawing always starts at least one line before where a
    change was made.  The default value for "linebreaks" is zero.  Usually the
    value for "minlines" is bigger than "linebreaks".

    First syncing method:			*:syn-sync-first*

       :syntax sync fromstart

    The file will be parsed from the start.  This makes syntax highlighting
    accurate, but can be slow for long files.  Vim caches previously parsed text,
    so that it's only slow when parsing the text for the first time.  However,
    when making changes some part of the next needs to be parsed again (worst
    case: to the end of the file).

    Using "fromstart" is equivalent to using "minlines" with a very large number.

    Second syncing method:			*:syn-sync-second* *:syn-sync-ccomment*

    For the second method, only the "ccomment" argument needs to be given.
    Example:
       :syntax sync ccomment

    When Vim finds that the line where displaying starts is inside a C-style
    comment, the last region syntax item with the group-name "Comment" will be
    used.  This requires that there is a region with the group-name "Comment"!
    An alternate group name can be specified, for example:
       :syntax sync ccomment javaComment
    This means that the last item specified with "syn region javaComment" will be
    used for the detected C comment region.  This only works properly if that
    region does have a start pattern "\/*" and an end pattern "*\/".

    The "maxlines" argument can be used to restrict the search to a number of
    lines.  The "minlines" argument can be used to at least start a number of
    lines back (e.g., for when there is some construct that only takes a few
    lines, but it hard to sync on).

    Note: Syncing on a C comment doesn't work properly when strings are used
    that cross a line and contain a "*/".  Since letting strings cross a line
    is a bad programming habit (many compilers give a warning message), and the
    chance of a "*/" appearing inside a comment is very small, this restriction
    is hardly ever noticed.

    Third syncing method:				*:syn-sync-third*

    For the third method, only the "minlines={N}" argument needs to be given.
    Vim will subtract {N} from the line number and start parsing there.  This
    means {N} extra lines need to be parsed, which makes this method a bit slower.
    Example:
       :syntax sync minlines=50

    "lines" is equivalent to "minlines" (used by older versions).

    Fourth syncing method:				*:syn-sync-fourth*

    The idea is to synchronize on the end of a few specific regions, called a
    sync pattern.  Only regions can cross lines, so when we find the end of some
    region, we might be able to know in which syntax item we are.  The search
    starts in the line just above the one where redrawing starts.  From there
    the search continues backwards in the file.

    This works just like the non-syncing syntax items.  You can use contained
    matches, nextgroup, etc.  But there are a few differences:
    - Keywords cannot be used.
    - The syntax items with the "sync" keyword form a completely separated group
      of syntax items.  You can't mix syncing groups and non-syncing groups.
    - The matching works backwards in the buffer (line by line), instead of
      forwards.
    - A line continuation pattern can be given.  It is used to decide which group
      of lines need to be searched like they were one line.  This means that the
      search for a match with the specified items starts in the first of the
      consecutive that contain the continuation pattern.
    - When using "nextgroup" or "contains", this only works within one line (or
      group of continued lines).
    - When using a region, it must start and end in the same line (or group of
      continued lines).  Otherwise the end is assumed to be at the end of the
      line (or group of continued lines).
    - When a match with a sync pattern is found, the rest of the line (or group of
      continued lines) is searched for another match.  The last match is used.
      This is used when a line can contain both the start end the end of a region
      (e.g., in a C-comment like /* this */, the last "*/" is used).

    There are two ways how a match with a sync pattern can be used:
    1. Parsing for highlighting starts where redrawing starts (and where the
       search for the sync pattern started).  The syntax group that is expected
       to be valid there must be specified.  This works well when the regions
       that cross lines cannot contain other regions.
    2. Parsing for highlighting continues just after the match.  The syntax group
       that is expected to be present just after the match must be specified.
       This can be used when the previous method doesn't work well.  It's much
       slower, because more text needs to be parsed.
    Both types of sync patterns can be used at the same time.

    Besides the sync patterns, other matches and regions can be specified, to
    avoid finding unwanted matches.

    [The reason that the sync patterns are given separately, is that mostly the
    search for the sync point can be much simpler than figuring out the
    highlighting.  The reduced number of patterns means it will go (much)
    faster.]

    					    *syn-sync-grouphere* *E393* *E394*
        :syntax sync match {sync-group-name} grouphere {group-name} "pattern" ..

    	Define a match that is used for syncing.  {group-name} is the
    	name of a syntax group that follows just after the match.  Parsing
    	of the text for highlighting starts just after the match.  A region
    	must exist for this {group-name}.  The first one defined will be used.
    	"NONE" can be used for when there is no syntax group after the match.

    						*syn-sync-groupthere*
        :syntax sync match {sync-group-name} groupthere {group-name} "pattern" ..

    	Like "grouphere", but {group-name} is the name of a syntax group that
    	is to be used at the start of the line where searching for the sync
    	point started.  The text between the match and the start of the sync
    	pattern searching is assumed not to change the syntax highlighting.
    	For example, in C you could search backwards for "/*" and "*/".  If
    	"/*" is found first, you know that you are inside a comment, so the
    	"groupthere" is "cComment".  If "*/" is found first, you know that you
    	are not in a comment, so the "groupthere" is "NONE".  (in practice
    	it's a bit more complicated, because the "/*" and "*/" could appear
    	inside a string.  That's left as an exercise to the reader...).

        :syntax sync match ..
        :syntax sync region ..

    	Without a "groupthere" argument.  Define a region or match that is
    	skipped while searching for a sync point.

        :syntax sync linecont {pattern}

    	When {pattern} matches in a line, it is considered to continue in
    	the next line.  This means that the search for a sync point will
    	consider the lines to be concatenated.

    If the "maxlines={N}" argument is given too, the number of lines that are
    searched for a match is restricted to N.  This is useful if you have very
    few things to sync on and a slow machine.  Example:
       :syntax sync maxlines=100

    You can clear all sync settings with:
       :syntax sync clear

    You can clear specific sync patterns with:
       :syntax sync clear {sync-group-name} ..

    11. Listing syntax items		*:syntax* *:sy* *:syn* *:syn-list*

    This commands lists all the syntax items:

        :sy[ntax] [list]

    To show the syntax items for one syntax group:

        :sy[ntax] list {group-name}

    To list the syntax groups in one cluster:			*E392*

        :sy[ntax] list @{cluster-name}

    See above for other arguments for the ":syntax" command.

    Note that the ":syntax" command can be abbreviated to ":sy", although ":syn"
    is mostly used, because it looks better.

    12. Highlight command			*:highlight* *:hi* *E28* *E411* *E415*

    There are three types of highlight groups:
    - The ones used for specific languages.  For these the name starts with the
      name of the language.  Many of these don't have any attributes, but are
      linked to a group of the second type.
    - The ones used for all syntax languages.
    - The ones used for the 'highlight' option.
    							*hitest.vim*
    You can see all the groups currently active with this command:
        :so $VIMRUNTIME/syntax/hitest.vim
    This will open a new window containing all highlight group names, displayed
    in their own color.

    						*:colo* *:colorscheme* *E185*
    :colo[rscheme] {name}	Load color scheme {name}.  This searches 'runtimepath'
    			for the file "colors/{name}.vim.  The first one that
    			is found is loaded.
    			To see the name of the currently active color scheme:
    				:echo colors_name

    :hi[ghlight]		List all the current highlight groups that have
    			attributes set.

    :hi[ghlight] {group-name}
    			List one highlight group.

    :hi[ghlight] clear	Reset all highlighting to the defaults.  Removes all
    			highlighting for groups added by the user!
    			Uses the current value of 'background' to decide which
    			default colors to use.

    :hi[ghlight] clear {group-name}
    :hi[ghlight] {group-name} NONE
    			Disable the highlighting for one highlight group.  It
    			is _not_ set back to the default colors.

    :hi[ghlight] [default] {group-name} {key}={arg} ..
    			Add a highlight group, or change the highlighting for
    			an existing group.
    			See |highlight-args| for the {key}={arg} arguments.
    			See |:highlight-default| for the optional [default]
    			argument.

    Normally a highlight group is added once, in the *.vim file.  This sets
    the default values for the highlighting.  After that, you can use additional
    highlight commands to change the arguments that you want to set to
    non-default values.  The value "NONE" can be used to switch the value off or
    go back to the default value.

    Example.  The syntax.vim file contains this line:
       :hi Comment	term=bold ctermfg=Cyan guifg=#80a0ff

    You can change this by giving another ":highlight: command:
       :hi Comment	gui=bold

    Note that all settings that are not included remain the same, only the
    specified field is used, and settings are merged with previous ones.  So, the
    result is like this single command has been used:
       :hi Comment	term=bold ctermfg=Cyan guifg=#80a0ff gui=bold

    					*highlight-args* *E416* *E417* *E423*
    There are three types of terminals for highlighting:
    term	a normal terminal (vt100, xterm)
    cterm	a color terminal (MS-DOS console, color-xterm, these have the "Co"
    	termcap entry)
    gui	the GUI

    For each type the highlighting can be given.  This makes it possible to use
    the same syntax file on all terminals, and use the optimal highlighting.

    1. highlight arguments for normal terminals

    term={attr-list}			*attr-list* *highlight-term* *E418*
    	attr-list is a comma separated list (without spaces) of the
    	following items (in any order):
    		bold
    		underline
    		reverse
    		inverse		same as reverse
    		italic
    		standout
    		NONE		no attributes used (used to reset it)

    	Note that "bold" can be used here and by using a bold font.  They
    	have the same effect.

    start={term-list}				*highlight-start* *E422*
    stop={term-list}				*term-list* *highlight-stop*
    	These lists of terminal codes can be used to get
    	non-standard attributes on a terminal.

    	The escape sequence specified with the "start" argument
    	is written before the characters in the highlighted
    	area.  It can be anything that you want to send to the
    	terminal to highlight this area.  The escape sequence
    	specified with the "stop" argument is written after the
    	highlighted area.  This should undo the "start" argument.
    	Otherwise the screen will look messed up.

    	The {term-list} can have two forms:

    	1. A string with escape sequences.
    	   This is any string of characters, except that it can't start with
    	   "t_" and blanks are not allowed.  The <> notation is recognized
    	   here, so you can use things like "<Esc>" and "<Space>".  Example:
    		start=<Esc>[27h;<Esc>[<Space>r;

    	2. A list of terminal codes.
    	   Each terminal code has the form "t_xx", where "xx" is the name of
    	   the termcap entry.  The codes have to be separated with commas.
    	   White space is not allowed.  Example:
    		start=t_C1,t_BL
    	   The terminal codes must exist for this to work.

    2. highlight arguments for color terminals

    cterm={attr-list}					*highlight-cterm*
    	See above for the description of {attr-list} |attr-list|.
    	The "cterm" argument is likely to be different from "term", when
    	colors are used.  For example, in a normal terminal comments could
    	be underlined, in a color terminal they can be made Blue.
    	Note: Many terminals (e.g., DOS console) can't mix these attributes
    	with coloring.  Use only one of "cterm=" OR "ctermfg=" OR "ctermbg=".

    ctermfg={color-nr}				*highlight-ctermfg* *E421*
    ctermbg={color-nr}				*highlight-ctermbg*
    	The {color-nr} argument is a color number.  Its range is zero to
    	(not including) the number given by the termcap entry "Co".
    	The actual color with this number depends on the type of terminal
    	and its settings.  Sometimes the color also depends on the settings of
    	"cterm".  For example, on some systems "cterm=bold ctermfg=3" gives
    	another color, on others you just get color 3.

    	For an xterm this depends on your resources, and is a bit
    	unpredictable.  See your xterm documentation for the defaults.  The
    	colors for a color-xterm can be changed from the .Xdefaults file.
    	Unfortunately this means that it's not possible to get the same colors
    	for each user.  See |xterm-color| for info about color xterms.

    	The MSDOS standard colors are fixed (in a console window), so these
    	have been used for the names.  But the meaning of color names in X11
    	are fixed, so these color settings have been used, to make the
    	highlighting settings portable (complicated, isn't it?).  The
    	following names are recognized, with the color number used:

    	    NR-16   NR-8    COLOR NAME
    							*cterm-colors*
    	    0	    0	    Black
    	    1	    4	    DarkBlue
    	    2       2	    DarkGreen
    	    3       6	    DarkCyan
    	    4       1	    DarkRed
    	    5       5	    DarkMagenta
    	    6       3	    Brown, DarkYellow
    	    7       7	    LightGray, LightGrey, Gray, Grey
    	    8	    0*	    DarkGray, DarkGrey
    	    9	    4*	    Blue, LightBlue
    	    10	    2*	    Green, LightGreen
    	    11	    6*	    Cyan, LightCyan
    	    12	    1*	    Red, LightRed
    	    13	    5*	    Magenta, LightMagenta
    	    14	    3*	    Yellow, LightYellow
    	    15	    7*	    White

    	The number under "NR-16" is used for 16-color terminals ('t_Co'
    	greater than or equal to 16).  The number under "NR-8" is used for
    	8-color terminals ('t_Co' less than 16).  The '*' indicates that the
    	bold attribute is set for ctermfg.  In many 8-color terminals (e.g.,
    	"linux"), this causes the bright colors to appear.  This doesn't work
    	for background colors!  Without the '*' the bold attribute is removed.
    	If you want to set the bold attribute in a different way, put a
    	"cterm=" argument AFTER the "ctermfg=" or "ctermbg=" argument.  Or use
    	a number instead of a color name.

    	The case of the color names is ignored.
    	Note that for 16 color ansi style terminals (including xterms), the
    	numbers in the NR-8 column is used. Here '*' means 'add 8' so that Blue
    	is 12, DarkGray is 8 etc.

    	Note that for some color terminals these names may result in the wrong
    	colors!

    							*:hi-normal-cterm*
    	When setting the "ctermfg" or "ctermbg" colors for the Normal group,
    	these will become the colors used for the non-highlighted text.
    	Example:
    		:highlight Normal ctermfg=grey ctermbg=darkblue
    	When setting the "ctermbg" color for the Normal group, the
    	'background' option will be adjusted automatically.  This causes the
    	highlight groups that depend on 'background' to change!  This means
    	you should set the colors for Normal first, before setting other
    	colors.
    	When a colorscheme is being used, changing 'background' causes it to
    	be reloaded, which may reset all colors (including Normal).  First
    	delete the "colors_name" variable when you don't want this.

    	When you have set "ctermfg" or "ctermbg" for the Normal group, Vim
    	needs to reset the color when exiting.  This is done with the "op"
    	termcap entry |t_op|.  If this doesn't work correctly, try setting the
    	't_op' option in your .vimrc.
    							*E419* *E420*
    	When Vim knows the normal foreground and background colors, "fg" and
    	"bg" can be used as color names.  This only works after setting the
    	colors for the Normal group and for the MS-DOS console.  Example, for
    	reverse video:
    	    :highlight Visual ctermfg=bg ctermbg=fg
    	Note that the colors are used that are valid at the moment this
    	command are given.  If the Normal group colors are changed later, the
    	"fg" and "bg" colors will not be adjusted.

    3. highlight arguments for the GUI

    gui={attr-list}						*highlight-gui*
    	These give the attributes to use in the GUI mode.
    	See |attr-list| for a description.
    	Note that "bold" can be used here and by using a bold font.  They
    	have the same effect.
    	Note that the attributes are ignored for the "Normal" group.

    font={font-name}					*highlight-font*
    	font-name is the name of a font, as it is used on the system Vim
    	runs on.  For X11 this is a complicated name, for example:
       font=-misc-fixed-bold-r-normal--14-130-75-75-c-70-iso8859-1

    	The font-name "NONE" can be used to revert to the default font.
    	When setting the font for the "Normal" group, this becomes the default
    	font (until the 'guifont' option is changed; the last one set is
    	used).
    	The following only works with Motif and Athena, not with other GUIs:
    	When setting the font for the "Menu" group, the menus will be changed.
    	When setting the font for the "Tooltip" group, the tooltips will be
    	changed.
    	All fonts used, except for Menu and Tooltip, should be of the same
    	character size as the default font!  Otherwise redrawing problems will
    	occur.

    guifg={color-name}					*highlight-guifg*
    guibg={color-name}					*highlight-guibg*
    	These give the foreground (guifg) and background (guibg) color to
    	use in the GUI.  There are a few special names:
    		NONE		no color (transparent)
    		bg		use normal background color
    		background	use normal background color
    		fg		use normal foreground color
    		foreground	use normal foreground color
    	To use a color name with an embedded space or other special character,
    	put it in single quotes.  The single quote cannot be used then.
    	Example:
    	    :hi comment guifg='salmon pink'

    							*gui-colors*
    	Suggested color names (these are available on most systems):
    	    Red		LightRed	DarkRed
    	    Green	LightGreen	DarkGreen	SeaGreen
    	    Blue	LightBlue	DarkBlue	SlateBlue
    	    Cyan	LightCyan	DarkCyan
    	    Magenta	LightMagenta	DarkMagenta
    	    Yellow	LightYellow	Brown		DarkYellow
    	    Gray	LightGray	DarkGray
    	    Black	White
    	    Orange	Purple		Violet

    	In the Win32 GUI version, additional system colors are available.  See
    	|win32-colors|.

    	You can also specify a color by its Red, Green and Blue values.
    	The format is "#rrggbb", where
    		"rr"	is the Red value
    		"bb"	is the Blue value
    		"gg"	is the Green value
    	All values are hexadecimal, range from "00" to "ff".  Examples:
      :highlight Comment guifg=#11f0c3 guibg=#ff00ff

    					*highlight-groups* *highlight-default*
    These are the default highlighting groups.  These groups are used by the
    'highlight' option default.  Note that the highlighting depends on the value
    of 'background'.  You can see the current settings with the ":highlight"
    command.
    							*hl-Cursor*
    Cursor		the character under the cursor
    							*hl-CursorIM*
    CursorIM	like Cursor, but used when in IME mode |CursorIM|
    							*hl-Directory*
    Directory	directory names (and other special names in listings)
    							*hl-DiffAdd*
    DiffAdd		diff mode: Added line |diff|
    							*hl-DiffChange*
    DiffChange	diff mode: Changed line |diff|
    							*hl-DiffDelete*
    DiffDelete	diff mode: Deleted line |diff|
    							*hl-DiffText*
    DiffText	diff mode: Changed text within a changed line |diff|
    							*hl-ErrorMsg*
    ErrorMsg	error messages on the command line
    							*hl-VertSplit*
    VertSplit	the column separating vertically split windows
    							*hl-Folded*
    Folded		line used for closed folds
    							*hl-FoldColumn*
    FoldColumn	'foldcolumn'
    							*hl-IncSearch*
    IncSearch	'incsearch' highlighting; also used for the text replaced with
    		":s///c"
    							*hl-LineNr*
    LineNr		line number for ":number" and ":#" commands, and when 'number'
    		option is set.
    							*hl-ModeMsg*
    ModeMsg		'showmode' message (e.g., "-- INSERT --")
    							*hl-MoreMsg*
    MoreMsg		|more-prompt|
    							*hl-NonText*
    NonText		'~' and '@' at the end of the window, characters from
    		'showbreak' and other characters that do not really exist in
    		the text (e.g., ">" displayed when a double-wide character
    		doesn't fit at the end of the line).
    							*hl-Normal*
    Normal		normal text
    							*hl-Question*
    Question	|hit-enter| prompt and yes/no questions
    							*hl-Search*
    Search		last search pattern highlighting (see 'hlsearch')
    							*hl-SpecialKey*
    SpecialKey	Meta and special keys listed with ":map", also for text used
    		to show unprintable characters in the text, 'listchars'.
    		Generally: text that is displayed differently from what it
    		really is.
    							*hl-StatusLine*
    StatusLine	status line of current window
    							*hl-StatusLineNC*
    StatusLineNC	status lines of not-current windows
    		Note: if this is equal to "StatusLine" Vim will use "^^^" in
    		the status line of the current window.
    							*hl-Title*
    Title		titles for output from ":set all", ":autocmd" etc.
    							*hl-Visual*
    Visual		Visual mode selection
    							*hl-VisualNOS*
    VisualNOS	Visual mode selection when vim is "Not Owning the Selection".
    		Only X11 Gui's |gui-x11| and |xterm-clipboard| supports this.
    							*hl-WarningMsg*
    WarningMsg	warning messages
    							*hl-WildMenu*
    WildMenu	current match in 'wildmenu' completion

    						*hl-User1* *hl-User1..9*
    The 'statusline' syntax allows the use of 9 different highlights in the
    statusline and ruler (via 'rulerformat'). The names are User1 to User9.

    For the GUI you can use these groups to set the colors for the menu,
    scrollbars and tooltips.  They don't have defaults.  This doesn't work for the
    Win32 GUI.  Only three highlight arguments have any effect here: font, guibg,
    and guifg.

    							*hl-Menu*
    Menu		Current font, background and foreground colors of the menus.
    		Also used for the toolbar.
    		Applicable highlight arguments: font, guibg, guifg.

    		NOTE: For Motif and Athena the font argument actually
    		specifies a fontset at all times, no matter if 'guifontset' is
    		empty, and as such it is tied to the current |:language| when
    		set.

    							*hl-Scrollbar*
    Scrollbar	Current background and foreground of the main window's
    		scrollbars.
    		Applicable highlight arguments: guibg, guifg.

    							*hl-Tooltip*
    Tooltip		Current font, background and foreground of the tooltips.
    		Applicable highlight arguments: font, guibg, guifg.

    		NOTE: For Motif and Athena the font argument actually
    		specifies a fontset at all times, no matter if 'guifontset' is
    		empty, and as such it is tied to the current |:language| when
    		set.

    13. Linking groups		*:hi-link* *:highlight-link* *E412* *E413*

    When you want to use the same highlighting for several syntax groups, you
    can do this more easily by linking the groups into one common highlight
    group, and give the color attributes only for that group.

    To set a link:

        :hi[ghlight][!] [default] link {from-group} {to-group}

    To remove a link:

        :hi[ghlight][!] [default] link {from-group} NONE

    Notes:							*E414*
    - If the {from-group} and/or {to-group} doesn't exist, it is created.  You
      don't get an error message for a non-existing group.
    - As soon as you use a ":highlight" command for a linked group, the link is
      removed.
    - If there are already highlight settings for the {from-group}, the link is
      not made, unless the '!' is given.  For a ":highlight link" command in a
      sourced file, you don't get an error message.  This can be used to skip
      links for groups that already have settings.

    					*:hi-default* *:highlight-default*
    The [default] argument is used for setting the default highlighting for a
    group.  If highlighting has already been specified for the group the command
    will be ignored.  Also when there is an existing link.

    Using [default] is especially useful to overrule the highlighting of a
    specific syntax file.  For example, the C syntax file contains:
    	:highlight default link cComment Comment
    If you like Question highlighting for C comments, put this in your vimrc file:
    	:highlight link cComment Question
    Without the "default" in the C syntax file, the highlighting would be
    overruled when the syntax file is loaded.

    14. Cleaning up						*:syn-clear* *E391*

    If you want to clear the syntax stuff for the current buffer, you can use this
    command:
      :syntax clear

    This command should be used when you want to switch off syntax highlighting,
    or when you want to switch to using another syntax.  It's normally not needed
    in a syntax file itself, because syntax is cleared by the autocommands that
    load the syntax file.
    The command also deletes the "b:current_syntax" variable, since no syntax is
    loaded after this command.

    If you want to disable syntax highlighting for all buffers, you need to remove
    the autocommands that load the syntax files:
      :syntax off

    What this command actually does, is executing the command
      :source $VIMRUNTIME/syntax/nosyntax.vim
    See the "nosyntax.vim" file for details.  Note that for this to work
    $VIMRUNTIME must be valid.  See |$VIMRUNTIME|.

    To clean up specific syntax groups for the current buffer:
      :syntax clear {group-name} ..
    This removes all patterns and keywords for {group-name}.

    To clean up specific syntax group lists for the current buffer:
      :syntax clear @{grouplist-name} ..
    This sets {grouplist-name}'s contents to an empty list.

    						*:syntax-reset* *:syn-reset*
    If you have changed the colors and messed them up, use this command to get the
    defaults back:

      :syntax reset

    This doesn't change the colors for the 'highlight' option.

    Note that the syntax colors that you set in your vimrc file will also be reset
    back to their Vim default.
    Note that if you are using a color scheme, the colors defined by the color
    scheme for syntax highlighting will be lost.

    What this actually does is:

    	let g:syntax_cmd = "reset"
    	runtime! syntax/syncolor.vim

    Note that this uses the 'runtimepath' option.

    							*syncolor*
    If you want to use different colors for syntax highlighting, you can add a Vim
    script file to set these colors.  Put this file in a directory in
    'runtimepath' which comes after $VIMRUNTIME, so that your settings overrule
    the default colors.  This way these colors will be used after the ":syntax
    reset" command.

    For Unix you can use the file ~/.vim/after/syntax/syncolor.vim.  Example:

    	if &background == "light"
    	  highlight comment ctermfg=darkgreen guifg=darkgreen
    	else
    	  highlight comment ctermfg=green guifg=green
    	endif

    Note that when a color scheme is used, there might be some confusion whether
    your defined colors are to be used or the colors from the scheme.  This
    depends on the color scheme file.  See |:colorscheme|.

    							*syntax_cmd*
    The "syntax_cmd" variable is set to one of these values when the
    syntax/syncolor.vim files are loaded:
       "on"		":syntax on" command.  Highlight colors are overruled but
    		links are kept
       "enable"	":syntax enable" command.  Only define colors for groups that
    		don't have highlighting yet.  Use ":syntax default".
       "reset"	":syntax reset" command or loading a color scheme.  Define all
    		the colors.
       "skip"	Dont' define colors.  Used to skip the default settings when a
    		syncolor.vim file earlier in 'runtimepath' has already set
    		them.

    15. Highlighting tags					*tag-highlight*

    If you want to highlight all the tags in your file, you can use the following
    mappings.

    	<F11>	-- Generate tags.vim file, and highlight tags.
    	<F12>	-- Just highlight tags based on existing tags.vim file.

      :map <F11>  :sp tags<CR>:%s/^\([^	:]*:\)\=\([^	]*\).*/syntax keyword Tag \2/<CR>:wq! tags.vim<CR>/^<CR><F12>
      :map <F12>  :so tags.vim<CR>

    WARNING: The longer the tags file, the slower this will be, and the more
    memory Vim will consume.

    Only highlighting typedefs, unions and structs can be done too.  For this you
    must use Exuberant ctags (found at http://ctags.sf.net).

    Put these lines in your Makefile:

    # Make a highlight file for types.  Requires Exuberant ctags and awk
    types: types.vim
    types.vim: *.[ch]
    	ctags -i=gstuS -o- *.[ch] |\
    		awk 'BEGIN{printf("syntax keyword Type\t")}\
    			{printf("%s ", $$1)}END{print ""}' > $@

    And put these lines in your .vimrc:

       " load the types.vim highlighting file, if it exists
       autocmd BufRead,BufNewFile *.[ch] let fname = expand('<afile>:p:h') . '/types.vim'
       autocmd BufRead,BufNewFile *.[ch] if filereadable(fname)
       autocmd BufRead,BufNewFile *.[ch]   exe 'so ' . fname
       autocmd BufRead,BufNewFile *.[ch] endif

    16. Color xterms				*xterm-color* *color-xterm*

    Most color xterms have only eight colors.  They should work with these
    lines in your .vimrc:
       :if has("terminfo")
       :  set t_Co=8
       :  set t_Sf=<Esc>[3%p1%dm
       :  set t_Sb=<Esc>[4%p1%dm
       :else
       :  set t_Co=8
       :  set t_Sf=<Esc>[3%dm
       :  set t_Sb=<Esc>[4%dm
       :endif
    	[<Esc> is a real escape, type CTRL-V <Esc>]

    You might want to put these lines in an ":if" that checks the name of your
    terminal, for example:
       :if &term =~ "xterm"
    <  put above lines here
       :endif

    Note: Do these settings BEFORE doing ":syntax on".  Otherwise the colors may
    be wrong.
    							*xiterm* *rxvt*
    The above settings have been mentioned to work for xiterm and rxvt too.
    But for using 16 colors in an rxvt these should work with terminfo:
    	:set t_AB=<Esc>[%?%p1%{8}%<%t25;%p1%{40}%+%e5;%p1%{32}%+%;%dm
    	:set t_AF=<Esc>[%?%p1%{8}%<%t22;%p1%{30}%+%e1;%p1%{22}%+%;%dm

    							*colortest.vim*
    To test your color setup, a file has been included in the Vim distribution.
    To use it, execute these commands:
       :e $VIMRUNTIME/syntax/colortest.vim
       :so %

    Some versions of xterm (and other terminals, like the linux console) can
    output lighter foreground colors, even though the number of colors is defined
    at 8.  Therefore Vim sets the "cterm=bold" attribute for light foreground
    colors, when 't_Co' is 8.

    							*xfree-xterm*
    To get 16 colors or more, get the newest xterm version (which should be
    included with Xfree86 3.3 and later).  You can also find the latest version
    at:
    	http://www.clark.net/pub/dickey/xterm
    Here is a good way to configure it.  This uses 88 colors and enables the
    termcap-query feature, which allows Vim to ask the xterm how many colors it
    supports.
    	./configure --disable-bold-color --enable-88-color --enable-tcap-query
    If you only get 8 colors, check the xterm compilation settings.
    (Also see |UTF8-xterm| for using this xterm with UTF-8 character encoding).

    This xterm should work with these lines in your .vimrc:
       :if has("terminfo")
       :  set t_Co=16
       :  set t_AB=<Esc>[%?%p1%{8}%<%t%p1%{40}%+%e%p1%{92}%+%;%dm
       :  set t_AF=<Esc>[%?%p1%{8}%<%t%p1%{30}%+%e%p1%{82}%+%;%dm
       :else
       :  set t_Co=16
       :  set t_Sf=<Esc>[3%dm
       :  set t_Sb=<Esc>[4%dm
       :endif
    	[<Esc> is a real escape, type CTRL-V <Esc>]

    Without |+terminfo|, Vim will recognize these settings, and automatically
    translate cterm colors of 8 and above to "<Esc>[9%dm" and "<Esc>[10%dm".
    Colors above 16 are also translated automatically.

    Or just set the TERM environment variable to "xterm-16color" and try if that
    works.

    You probably want to use these X resources (in your ~/.Xdefaults file):
    	XTerm*color0:			#000000
    	XTerm*color1:			#c00000
    	XTerm*color2:			#008000
    	XTerm*color3:			#808000
    	XTerm*color4:			#0000c0
    	XTerm*color5:			#c000c0
    	XTerm*color6:			#008080
    	XTerm*color7:			#c0c0c0
    	XTerm*color8:			#808080
    	XTerm*color9:			#ff6060
    	XTerm*color10:			#00ff00
    	XTerm*color11:			#ffff00
    	XTerm*color12:			#8080ff
    	XTerm*color13:			#ff40ff
    	XTerm*color14:			#00ffff
    	XTerm*color15:			#ffffff
    	Xterm*cursorColor:		Black

    [Note: The cursorColor is required to work around a bug, which changes the
    cursor color to the color of the last drawn text.  This has been fixed by a
    newer version of xterm, but not everybody is it using yet.]

    To get these right away, reload the .Xdefaults file to the X Option database
    Manager (you only need to do this when you just changed the .Xdefaults file):
      xrdb -merge ~/.Xdefaults

    							*xterm-blink*
    To make the cursor blink in an xterm, see tools/blink.c.  Or use Thomas
    Dickey's xterm above patchlevel 107 (see above for where to get it), with
    these resources:
    	XTerm*cursorBlink:	on
    	XTerm*cursorOnTime:	400
    	XTerm*cursorOffTime:	250
    	XTerm*cursorColor:	White

    							*hpterm-color*
    These settings work (more or less) for a hpterm, which only supports 8
    foreground colors:
       :if has("terminfo")
       :  set t_Co=8
       :  set t_Sf=<Esc>[&v%p1%dS
       :  set t_Sb=<Esc>[&v7S
       :else
       :  set t_Co=8
       :  set t_Sf=<Esc>[&v%dS
       :  set t_Sb=<Esc>[&v7S
       :endif
    	[<Esc> is a real escape, type CTRL-V <Esc>]

    						*Eterm* *enlightened-terminal*
    These settings have been reported to work for the Enlightened terminal
    emulator, or Eterm.  They might work for all xterm-like terminals that use the
    bold attribute to get bright colors.  Add an ":if" like above when needed.
           :set t_Co=16
           :set t_AF=^[[%?%p1%{8}%<%t3%p1%d%e%p1%{22}%+%d;1%;m
           :set t_AB=^[[%?%p1%{8}%<%t4%p1%d%e%p1%{32}%+%d;1%;m

    						*TTpro-telnet*
    These settings should work for TTpro telnet.  Tera Term Pro is a freeware /
    open-source program for MS-Windows.
    	set t_Co=16
    	set t_AB=^[[%?%p1%{8}%<%t%p1%{40}%+%e%p1%{32}%+5;%;%dm
    	set t_AF=^[[%?%p1%{8}%<%t%p1%{30}%+%e%p1%{22}%+1;%;%dm
    Also make sure TTpro's Setup / Window / Full Color is enabled, and make sure
    that Setup / Font / Enable Bold is NOT enabled.
    (info provided by John Love-Jensen <eljay@Adobe.COM>)

     vim:tw=78:sw=4:ts=8:ft=help:norl:

Generated by vim2html on Tue Apr 16 08:10:03 UTC 2002