3. Syntax Highlighting

jEdit offers many options for syntax highlighting by default. In addition there have been files built for mel, Mayas API and the new Maya python commands. The current files are available here:

Jedit Syntax Highlighting Mode

a. Setting it up
As described above, the modes/ directory is where the syntax highlighting mode files are stored. A new syntax highlighting mode is set up in two steps. First, each mode has an .xml file which describes how jEdit can apply syntax rules to a language and what tags should be applied to each rule. This file doesn't usually need to be modified until a new version of Maya is released.

The second step is to set up the catalog file which is also in .xml format. The catalog file associates the name of the scripting language with the mode file so that jEdit will recognize the file type. Add these lines to the catalog file if it hasn't already been done:

<MODES>

 

<!-- Add lines like the following, one for each edit mode you add: -->

<!-- <MODE NAME="foo" FILE="foo.xml" FILE_NAME_GLOB="*.foo" /> -->

<MODE NAME="mel" FILE="mel.xml" FILE_NAME_GLOB="*.mel" />

<MODE NAME="maya_Plugin" FILE="mel.xml" FILE_NAME_GLOB="*.{cpp, h}" />

<MODE NAME="python_Maya" FILE="pythonMaya.xml" FILE_NAME_GLOB="*.py" />

</MODES>

Now when jEdit is relaunched, the new file types will be recognized. You can set the default edit mode to one of these new types by going to:
Utilities/Global options/Editing/Default edit mode

Note: syntax highlighting will not normally show up until a file has been saved as a particular type first.

b. Syntax colors
Syntax highlighting colors can be specified by going to:
Utilities/Global options/Syntax Highlighting

COMMENT 1 -> single line comments (ie. // )
COMMENT 2 -> multiple line comments (ie. /* */ )
DIGIT -> 0-9
FUNCTION -> a procedure with parentheses immediately after the name,
ie. myProcName()
KEYWORD 1 -> datatype, boolean and flow control keywords, ie. Int, float, if, else, return, etc.
KEYWORD 2 -> Maya node and attribute keywords, API classes
KEYWORD 3 -> Maya mel keywords
LABEL -> special characters ie. {, }, |, ;, ?, etc.
LITERAL 1 -> anything between double quotes and between single quotes

c. Automatic word completion
Once this is set up, the new function Complete Word can be used. This is found: Edit/Complete Word or with the shortcut Ctrl-b. Type a few letters and invoke the command and it will offer several choices that were found in the current buffer or the current syntax mode file very handy.

4. Plugins

jEdit plugins offer a great variety of extra functionality to the editor. There is an active group of plugin writers so it's good to check often on the status of plugins.

Plugins are accessed by going to: Plugins/Plugin Manager

Under the Install tab, there is a list of all compatible plugins for the current version of jEdit. Older versions of the plugins have to be downloaded from the www.jedit.org site if you find you have an incompatible version.

Its best to download the plugins to your user settings area. If you havent specified this go to: Download Options

The plugin manager will automatically place the plugin in the jars/ directory. If you have downloaded the plugin manually, then place the .jar file in your jars/ directory yourself.

Usually a plugin will have its own help file which you can access by going to:
Help/jEdit help and scrolling to the bottom of the page.

Each plugin will most likely have options which can be accessed by going to:
Plugins/Plugin Options

Some plugins I find really useful are:

• Buffer List - easily navigate between open buffers
• Editor Scheme - save/load different user settings and colors
• Info Viewer  - display web sites in jEdit
• JDiff Plugin
• Project Viewer  - organize and manage files into project folders