* How to add syntax-highlighting to a Help buffer? @ 2015-07-03 7:59 Raffaele Ricciardi 2015-07-03 9:20 ` Vaidheeswaran C ` (2 more replies) 0 siblings, 3 replies; 13+ messages in thread From: Raffaele Ricciardi @ 2015-07-03 7:59 UTC (permalink / raw) To: help-gnu-emacs I would like to add some syntax-highlighting to Help buffers. I have tried to do that for example with the Help buffer displayed by C-h f read-string RET, by following the usual way: (font-lock-add-keywords nil `(("\\(arbitrary regexp\\)" 1 'font-lock-function-name-face))) But the above expression breaks the existing highlighting (the highlighting of the function arguments disappears). Also, now C-- C-x C-q M-: (insert (propertize "test" 'face 'font-lock-warning-face)) RET does not insert colorized text as it would do with a fresh Help buffer. I am using GNU Emacs 24.5. Thank you. ^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 13+ messages in thread
* Re: How to add syntax-highlighting to a Help buffer? 2015-07-03 7:59 How to add syntax-highlighting to a Help buffer? Raffaele Ricciardi @ 2015-07-03 9:20 ` Vaidheeswaran C 2015-07-03 20:09 ` Emanuel Berg 2015-07-03 23:22 ` Michael Heerdegen 2 siblings, 0 replies; 13+ messages in thread From: Vaidheeswaran C @ 2015-07-03 9:20 UTC (permalink / raw) To: help-gnu-emacs Put it in hi-lock-mode. See if it helps. C-h K C-x w h On Friday 03 July 2015 01:29 PM, Raffaele Ricciardi wrote: > I would like to add some syntax-highlighting to Help buffers. I have > tried to do that for example with the Help buffer displayed by C-h f > read-string RET, by following the usual way: > > (font-lock-add-keywords > nil > `(("\\(arbitrary regexp\\)" 1 'font-lock-function-name-face))) > > But the above expression breaks the existing highlighting (the > highlighting of the function arguments disappears). Also, now C-- C-x > C-q M-: (insert (propertize "test" 'face 'font-lock-warning-face)) RET > does not insert colorized text as it would do with a fresh Help buffer. > > I am using GNU Emacs 24.5. > > Thank you. > ^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 13+ messages in thread
* Re: How to add syntax-highlighting to a Help buffer? 2015-07-03 7:59 How to add syntax-highlighting to a Help buffer? Raffaele Ricciardi 2015-07-03 9:20 ` Vaidheeswaran C @ 2015-07-03 20:09 ` Emanuel Berg 2015-07-03 23:22 ` Michael Heerdegen 2 siblings, 0 replies; 13+ messages in thread From: Emanuel Berg @ 2015-07-03 20:09 UTC (permalink / raw) To: help-gnu-emacs Raffaele Ricciardi <rfflrccrd@gmail.com> writes: > I would like to add some syntax-highlighting to Help > buffers. I have tried to do that for example with > the Help buffer displayed by C-h f read-string RET, > by following the usual way: You mean, you want *more* than what's already there for buttons etc.? Check out this file - it isn't help, but the one of the buffer menus, but you might find the mechanics interesting for your purposes: http://user.it.uu.se/~embe8573/conf/emacs-init/buffer-menu.el Here are the actual regexps to "help" you to a quick start: (defvar buffer-menu-buffer-font-lock-keywords '( ("\\(KILL\\|my-kill\\) " . font-lock-builtin-face) ("\\*\\(Errors\\|Backtrace\\)\\*" . font-lock-warning-face) ("\\*\\(Group\\|Server\\)\\*" . font-lock-comment-face) ("\\*\\(Help\\|Completions\\|Messages\\|info\\|Apropos\\)\\*" . font-lock-constant-face) ("\\*\\(ielm\\|Article\\)\\*" . 'font-lock-regexp-grouping-backslash) (".* \\(.*\\.txt\\) " (1 font-lock-negation-char-face)) ("[[:space:]]+\\([[:digit:]]+\\) " (1 font-lock-comment-delimiter-face)) ("<.*\\(>\\|\\.\\.\\.\\)" . 'font-lock-regexp-grouping-construct) ("Makefile" . font-lock-comment-face) ("\\(\\*Man\\) \\(.*\\)\\(\\*\\)" (1 font-lock-type-face) (2 'font-lock-regexp-grouping-construct) (3 font-lock-type-face) ) (".* \\(.*\\.\\(el\\|cc?\\|cpp\\)\\) "(1 font-lock-string-face)) ("\\*w3m\\*" . font-lock-function-name-face) (".* \\(.*\\.html?\\) " (1 font-lock-doc-face)) (".* \\(.*\\.\\(hh?\\|tex\\)\\) " (1 font-lock-variable-name-face)) (".* \\(\\.[[:alnum:]_.-]*\\) " (1 font-lock-builtin-face)) )) Be sure to post your results somewhere - here, the repos (ELPA, MELPA, etc.), the EmacsWiki, #emacs, ... And come back with more questions if you'd like. Good luck! -- underground experts united http://user.it.uu.se/~embe8573 ^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 13+ messages in thread
* Re: How to add syntax-highlighting to a Help buffer? 2015-07-03 7:59 How to add syntax-highlighting to a Help buffer? Raffaele Ricciardi 2015-07-03 9:20 ` Vaidheeswaran C 2015-07-03 20:09 ` Emanuel Berg @ 2015-07-03 23:22 ` Michael Heerdegen 2015-07-04 15:09 ` Emanuel Berg 2 siblings, 1 reply; 13+ messages in thread From: Michael Heerdegen @ 2015-07-03 23:22 UTC (permalink / raw) To: help-gnu-emacs Raffaele Ricciardi <rfflrccrd@gmail.com> writes: > (font-lock-add-keywords > nil > `(("\\(arbitrary regexp\\)" 1 'font-lock-function-name-face))) > > But the above expression breaks the existing highlighting (the > highlighting of the function arguments disappears). AFAICT you experience a normal "feature" of font-lock-mode. help-mode doesn't use font-lock. It directly attaches face text properties to the buffer text. If font-lock-mode fontifies such a buffer (it doesn't as long as font-lock-keywords is nil even when it is active), all face text properties get ignored by the display engine. Note that there is a font-lock-face text property existing as well. hi-lock works in this case because it handles that case specially and uses overlays. HTH, Michael. ^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 13+ messages in thread
* Re: How to add syntax-highlighting to a Help buffer? 2015-07-03 23:22 ` Michael Heerdegen @ 2015-07-04 15:09 ` Emanuel Berg 2015-07-04 15:25 ` Michael Heerdegen ` (3 more replies) 0 siblings, 4 replies; 13+ messages in thread From: Emanuel Berg @ 2015-07-04 15:09 UTC (permalink / raw) To: help-gnu-emacs Michael Heerdegen <michael_heerdegen@web.de> writes: > help-mode doesn't use font-lock. It directly attaches > face text properties to the buffer text. > If font-lock-mode fontifies such a buffer (it > doesn't as long as font-lock-keywords is nil even > when it is active), all face text properties get > ignored by the display engine. Yes, however that doesn't mean we can't use it the same way we are used to. See the below solution. One question is, why doesn't help-mode do this the customary way? > Note that there is a font-lock-face text property > existing as well. Yes - see line 17 in the source below, in the original file. It is set to nil. Here is is a dump that shows this works: http://user.it.uu.se/~embe8573/dumps/color-help.png Here is the source that does it: http://user.it.uu.se/~embe8573/conf/emacs-init/help-font-lock.el Here is the source that does it, only yanked: (defvar help-font-lock-keywords '( ("interactive" . 'font-lock-regexp-grouping-backslash) ("autoloaded" . font-lock-function-name-face) ("compiled" . font-lock-doc-face) ("Lisp" . font-lock-variable-name-face) ("function" . font-lock-builtin-face) )) (defun help-custom-font-lock () (interactive) (let ((font-lock-unfontify-region-function (lambda (start end) (remove-text-properties (point-min) (point-max) '(font-lock-face nil))))) (font-lock-unfontify-buffer) (set (make-local-variable 'font-lock-defaults) '(help-font-lock-keywords t)) (font-lock-fontify-buffer))) (add-hook 'help-mode-hook 'help-custom-font-lock) -- underground experts united http://user.it.uu.se/~embe8573 ^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 13+ messages in thread
* Re: How to add syntax-highlighting to a Help buffer? 2015-07-04 15:09 ` Emanuel Berg @ 2015-07-04 15:25 ` Michael Heerdegen 2015-07-04 23:24 ` Emanuel Berg 2015-07-04 16:30 ` tomas ` (2 subsequent siblings) 3 siblings, 1 reply; 13+ messages in thread From: Michael Heerdegen @ 2015-07-04 15:25 UTC (permalink / raw) To: help-gnu-emacs Emanuel Berg <embe8573@student.uu.se> writes: > One question is, why doesn't help-mode do this the > customary way? `font-lock-mode' is not so useful for the fontification of Help buffers, so it makes sense not to use it. For highlighting regexps, as in your examples, hi-lock is just fine. *Help* is mostly text, not code. OTOH the code could be easily rewritten to use font-lock-mode and propertize via the font-lock-face text property. I guess the reason for that this is not the case is just that *Help* is much older than font-lock-face, and nobody yet wanted/needed/requested to use font-lock-mode in *Help*. Michael. ^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 13+ messages in thread
* Re: How to add syntax-highlighting to a Help buffer? 2015-07-04 15:25 ` Michael Heerdegen @ 2015-07-04 23:24 ` Emanuel Berg 0 siblings, 0 replies; 13+ messages in thread From: Emanuel Berg @ 2015-07-04 23:24 UTC (permalink / raw) To: help-gnu-emacs Michael Heerdegen <michael_heerdegen@web.de> writes: >> One question is, why doesn't help-mode do this the >> customary way? > > `font-lock-mode' is not so useful for the > fontification of Help buffers, so it makes sense not > to use it. For highlighting regexps, as in your > examples, hi-lock is just fine. I am unfamiliar with hi-lock. > *Help* is mostly text, not code. Yeah, but there are recurring patterns, for example those that I just fontified: interactive, compiled, Lisp (sometimes "C"), function, etc. Here, highlighting could be used just as anywhere to reduce reading and increase seeing. Hand on the heart, when you bring up the help, do you actually *read* ... is an interactive compiled Lisp function ... I sure don't, so for me it is a small window of improvement to have that colorized because then it would enter my mind that way instead (more), and I would still not read it. For example, having "Lisp" in one color and "C" in another would be cool. > OTOH the code could be easily rewritten to use > font-lock-mode and propertize via the font-lock-face > text property. I guess the reason for that this is > not the case is just that *Help* is much older than > font-lock-face, and nobody yet > wanted/needed/requested to use font-lock-mode in > *Help*. Yeah, that sound reasonable. -- underground experts united http://user.it.uu.se/~embe8573 ^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 13+ messages in thread
* Re: How to add syntax-highlighting to a Help buffer? 2015-07-04 15:09 ` Emanuel Berg 2015-07-04 15:25 ` Michael Heerdegen @ 2015-07-04 16:30 ` tomas 2015-07-04 23:25 ` Emanuel Berg [not found] ` <mailman.6316.1436023528.904.help-gnu-emacs@gnu.org> [not found] ` <mailman.6317.1436027452.904.help-gnu-emacs@gnu.org> 3 siblings, 1 reply; 13+ messages in thread From: tomas @ 2015-07-04 16:30 UTC (permalink / raw) To: help-gnu-emacs -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 On Sat, Jul 04, 2015 at 05:09:03PM +0200, Emanuel Berg wrote: [...] > One question is, why doesn't help-mode do this the > customary way? Perhaps because much of font-lock's complexity deals with keeping up with changes to the buffer (while you are editing), something which doesn't happen to a help buffer. But this is just my guess. - -- t -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.4.12 (GNU/Linux) iEYEARECAAYFAlWYCi0ACgkQBcgs9XrR2kZwZACfULir+3EKDrrfGu0YhVp3EPLO GbAAn0zdzPX4Hyjw4eA+f5OV8Kk8M2Pe =h0fS -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- ^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 13+ messages in thread
* Re: How to add syntax-highlighting to a Help buffer? 2015-07-04 16:30 ` tomas @ 2015-07-04 23:25 ` Emanuel Berg 0 siblings, 0 replies; 13+ messages in thread From: Emanuel Berg @ 2015-07-04 23:25 UTC (permalink / raw) To: help-gnu-emacs <tomas@tuxteam.de> writes: > Perhaps because much of font-lock's complexity deals > with keeping up with changes to the buffer (while > you are editing), something which doesn't happen to > a help buffer. All the more reason to use it because if it isn't edited it only has to be done once :) -- underground experts united http://user.it.uu.se/~embe8573 ^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 13+ messages in thread
[parent not found: <mailman.6316.1436023528.904.help-gnu-emacs@gnu.org>]
* Re: How to add syntax-highlighting to a Help buffer? [not found] ` <mailman.6316.1436023528.904.help-gnu-emacs@gnu.org> @ 2015-07-04 17:29 ` Raffaele Ricciardi 2015-07-04 17:43 ` Michael Heerdegen 2015-07-04 23:31 ` Emanuel Berg 0 siblings, 2 replies; 13+ messages in thread From: Raffaele Ricciardi @ 2015-07-04 17:29 UTC (permalink / raw) To: help-gnu-emacs On 04/07/15 17:25, Michael Heerdegen wrote: > `font-lock-mode' is not so useful for the fontification of Help buffers, > so it makes sense not to use it. For highlighting regexps, as in your > examples, hi-lock is just fine. *Help* is mostly text, not code. I thought that Help buffers relied on Font Lock Mode because -- in a Help buffer -- `C-h v font-lock-mode RET' replied: Its value is t Local in buffer *Help*; global value is nil Non-nil if Font-Lock mode is enabled. Had the value of `font-lock-mode' been `nil', I would have thought otherwise. > OTOH the code could be easily rewritten to use font-lock-mode and > propertize via the font-lock-face text property. Now that I have understood how things work, I doubt that it would be beneficial to use Font Lock Mode in Help buffers, because the text could be mixed (for example: Emacs Lisp code and regular text). Therefore, it makes sense to highlight each portion of text in an specific way, as Emacs does now. ^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 13+ messages in thread
* Re: How to add syntax-highlighting to a Help buffer? 2015-07-04 17:29 ` Raffaele Ricciardi @ 2015-07-04 17:43 ` Michael Heerdegen 2015-07-04 23:31 ` Emanuel Berg 1 sibling, 0 replies; 13+ messages in thread From: Michael Heerdegen @ 2015-07-04 17:43 UTC (permalink / raw) To: help-gnu-emacs Raffaele Ricciardi <rfflrccrd@gmail.com> writes: > I thought that Help buffers relied on Font Lock Mode because -- in a > Help buffer -- `C-h v font-lock-mode RET' replied: > > Its value is t > Local in buffer *Help*; global value is nil > > Non-nil if Font-Lock mode is enabled. AFAIK this is a side effect of `global-font-lock-mode'. The global mode (on by default) enables font-lock-mode in any buffer, while the default value of `font-lock-mode' remains nil. But OTOH the font-lock-mode related display functions kick in only when certain variables are not nil (like `font-lock-keywords'). Michael. ^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 13+ messages in thread
* Re: How to add syntax-highlighting to a Help buffer? 2015-07-04 17:29 ` Raffaele Ricciardi 2015-07-04 17:43 ` Michael Heerdegen @ 2015-07-04 23:31 ` Emanuel Berg 1 sibling, 0 replies; 13+ messages in thread From: Emanuel Berg @ 2015-07-04 23:31 UTC (permalink / raw) To: help-gnu-emacs Raffaele Ricciardi <rfflrccrd@gmail.com> writes: > I thought that Help buffers relied on Font Lock Mode > because -- in a Help buffer -- `C-h v font-lock-mode > RET' replied: > > Its value is t Local in buffer *Help*; global > value is nil > > Non-nil if Font-Lock mode is enabled. > > Had the value of `font-lock-mode' been `nil', > I would have thought otherwise. Yeah, but just because it is enabled doesn't mean it is used. I don't know why it is enabled if it isn't used, perhaps someone else can answer that. > Now that I have understood how things work, I doubt > that it would be beneficial to use Font Lock Mode in > Help buffers, because the text could be mixed (for > example: Emacs Lisp code and regular text). That is not a problem and that happens all the time. The regexps are so advanced. This sentence - describe-key is an interactive compiled Lisp function in `help.el' - can be picked apart with only one regexp, and with groups every single word can be highlighted in a different color, and none of that that appears anywhere else would get that color. I'll do an example some other time and show you. But if you don't want it, I still want it :) -- underground experts united http://user.it.uu.se/~embe8573 ^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 13+ messages in thread
[parent not found: <mailman.6317.1436027452.904.help-gnu-emacs@gnu.org>]
* Re: How to add syntax-highlighting to a Help buffer? [not found] ` <mailman.6317.1436027452.904.help-gnu-emacs@gnu.org> @ 2015-07-04 17:54 ` Stefan Monnier 0 siblings, 0 replies; 13+ messages in thread From: Stefan Monnier @ 2015-07-04 17:54 UTC (permalink / raw) To: help-gnu-emacs There are 2 "font-lock"s: - the font-lock-mode minor mode is used to control whether to highlight or not. IOW it's the way the user tells Emacs whether she wants things to be "colorized/highlighted/fontlocked/younameit". - font-lock.el provides a functionality to automatically highlight/colorize/fontlock based on the buffer's content. At some point in time the two were one and the same. But there are cases where it's easier to add the highlighting as part of the creation of the buffer's content rather than separately (where we'd have to re-discover what that buffer's content mean in order to highlight it correctly). So there were modes that highlighted their content without resorting the to font-lock machinery. Since then we've tried to unify the two using the `font-lock-face' property: you can add this property to your buffer while filling it, and if the user enables font-lock-mode then this property will be "displayed" whereas if font-lock-mode is off then this property stays dormant. For some reason (not sure why) help-mode does not use the font-lock machinery, so it could/should use the font-lock-face property, but it has not been updated to that yet. Stefan ^ permalink raw reply [flat|nested] 13+ messages in thread
end of thread, other threads:[~2015-07-04 23:31 UTC | newest] Thread overview: 13+ messages (download: mbox.gz follow: Atom feed -- links below jump to the message on this page -- 2015-07-03 7:59 How to add syntax-highlighting to a Help buffer? Raffaele Ricciardi 2015-07-03 9:20 ` Vaidheeswaran C 2015-07-03 20:09 ` Emanuel Berg 2015-07-03 23:22 ` Michael Heerdegen 2015-07-04 15:09 ` Emanuel Berg 2015-07-04 15:25 ` Michael Heerdegen 2015-07-04 23:24 ` Emanuel Berg 2015-07-04 16:30 ` tomas 2015-07-04 23:25 ` Emanuel Berg [not found] ` <mailman.6316.1436023528.904.help-gnu-emacs@gnu.org> 2015-07-04 17:29 ` Raffaele Ricciardi 2015-07-04 17:43 ` Michael Heerdegen 2015-07-04 23:31 ` Emanuel Berg [not found] ` <mailman.6317.1436027452.904.help-gnu-emacs@gnu.org> 2015-07-04 17:54 ` Stefan Monnier
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