Provided by: dte_1.10-1_amd64 
NAME
dte-syntax - Format of syntax highlighting files used by dte(1)
SYNOPSIS
Commands:
Main commands:
syntax name
state name [emit-color]
default color name...
list [-i] name string...
Conditionals:
bufis [-i] string destination [emit-name]
char [-bn] characters destination [emit-name]
heredocend destination
inlist list destination [emit-name]
str [-i] string destination [emit-name]
Default actions:
eat destination [emit-name]
heredocbegin subsyntax return-state
noeat [-b] destination
Other commands:
recolor color [count]
DESCRIPTION
A dte syntax file consists of multiple states. A state consists of optional conditionals and one default
action. The best way understand the syntax is to read through some of the built-in syntax files, which
can be printed with dte -b, for example:
dte -b syntax/dte
The basic syntax used is the same as in dterc(5) files, but the available commands are different.
Conditionals and default actions have a destination state. The special destination state this can be used
to jump to the current state.
COMMANDS
Main commands
syntax name
Begin a new syntax. One syntax file can contain multiple syntax definitions, but you should only
define one real syntax in one syntax file.
See also: sub-syntaxes.
state name [emit-color]
Add new state. Conditionals (if any) and one default action must follow. The first state is the
start state.
default color name...
Set default color for emitted name.
Example:
default numeric oct dec hex
If there is no color defined for oct, dec or hex then color numeric is used instead.
list [-i] name string...
Define a list of strings.
Example:
list keyword if else for while do continue switch case
Use the inlist command to test if a buffered string is in a list.
-i Make list case-insensitive.
Conditionals
bufis [-i] string destination [emit-name]
Test if buffered bytes are same as string. If they are, emit emit-name and jump to destination
state.
-i Case-insensitive.
char [-bn] characters destination [emit-name]
Test if current byte is in the characters list. If it is then emit emit-color and jump to
destination state. If emit-name is not given then the destination state's emit name is used.
characters is a list of strings. Ranges are supported (a-d is the same as abcd).
-b Add byte to buffer.
-n Invert character bitmap.
heredocend destination
Compare following characters to heredoc end delimiter and go to destination state if comparison is
true.
inlist list destination [emit-name]
Test if buffered bytes are found in list. If found, emit emit-name and jump to destination state.
str [-i] string destination [emit-name]
See if following bytes are same as string. If they are, emit emit-name and jump to destination
state.
-i Case-insensitive.
NOTE: This conditional can be slow, especially if string is longer than two bytes.
Default actions
The last command of every state must be a default action. It is an unconditional jump.
eat destination [emit-name]
Consume byte, emit emit-name color and continue to destination state.
heredocbegin subsyntax return-state
Store buffered bytes as heredoc end delimiter and go to subsyntax. Sub-syntax is like any other
sub-syntax but it must contain a heredocend conditional.
noeat [-b] destination
Continue to destination state without emitting color or consuming byte.
-b Don't stop buffering.
Other commands
recolor color [count]
If count is given, recolor count previous bytes, otherwise recolor buffered bytes.
SUB-SYNTAXES
Sub-syntaxes are useful when the same states are needed in many contexts.
Sub-syntax names must be prefixed with .. It's recommended to also use the main syntax name in the
prefix. For example .c-comment if c is the main syntax.
A sub-syntax is a syntax in which some destination state's name is END. END is a special state name that
is replaced by the state specified in another syntax.
Example:
# Sub-syntax
syntax .c-comment
state comment
char "*" star
eat comment
state star comment
# END is a special state name
char / END comment
noeat comment
# Main syntax
syntax c
state c code
char " \t\n" c
char -b a-zA-Z_ ident
char "\"" string
char "'" char
# Call sub-syntax
str "/*" .c-comment:c
eat c
# Other states removed
In this example the destination state .c-comment:c is a special syntax for calling a sub-syntax.
.c-comment is the name of the sub-syntax and c is the return state defined in the main syntax. The whole
sub-syntax tree is copied into the main syntax and all destination states in the sub-syntax whose name is
END are replaced with c.
SEE ALSO
dte(1), dterc(5)
AUTHORS
Craig Barnes
Timo Hirvonen
May 2020 DTE-SYNTAX(5)