TIP_Nano_Context_Highlighting

1 Configuration files
2 Language specific config examples
3 HTML
4 See also

Configuration files

~/.nanorc - user specific settings
/etc/nanorc - global settings
/usr/share/nano/*.nanorc - Syntax files

If you look at the files in /usr/share/doc/nano-*/*nanorc*, there are already some examples in place you can choose to use as a base. In the next section we'll cover some different language-specific configuration options that have been submitted.

If you wish, you may put your syntaxes in separate files. You can make use of such files in your .nanorc or /etc/nanorc (which can only include "syntax", "color", and "icolor" commands) as follows:

include "/path/to/syntax_file.nanorc"

Default (and example) files are located in /usr/share/nano/. They are included in the /etc/nanorc example file but still commented. (Uncomment to enable) You can also copy /etc/nanorc to your home dir as .nanorc and make customizations there.

Unless otherwise noted, the name of the syntax file (without the ".nanorc" extension) should be the same as the "short description" name inside that file. These names are kept fairly short to make them easier to remember and faster to type using nano's -Y option.

Language specific config examples

PHP

Code: PHP syntax highlighting

## PHP syntax highlighting
##
syntax "php" "\.php$" "\.php[2345s]$" "\.phtml$"
#functions
color brightmagenta "([A-Za-z0-9])"
#numbers
color brightblue "[0-9]"
#special
color brightwhite "(^|[^A-Za-z0-9])(<\?php|\?>|var|and|or|default|class|extends|true|false|global|function|new|switch|case|break|next|prev|elseif|if|else|foreach|for|as|do|while|exit|die|declare|require_once|require|include_once|include|return|echo|static|array|isset)([^A-Za-z0-9])"
#types
color brightred "([^A-Za-z0-9])|[^A-Za-z](null|int|string|float|bool|object|resource)[^A-Za-z0-9_]+[^A-Za-z]"
#strings
color brightyellow ""(\\.|[^\"])*""
color brightyellow "'(\\.|[^\'])*'"
#Variables
color brightcyan "\$[]\[A-Za-z0-9_'\"]*"
#comments
color green "//.*"
color green "#.*"
color green start="/\*" end="\*/"

Gentoo

Note: Included as /usr/share/nano/gentoo.nanorc

ebuild

Code: ebuilds

## Here is an example for ebuilds/eclasses
##
syntax "ebuild" "\.e(build|class)$"
## All the standard portage functions
color brightgreen "^src_(unpack|compile|install|test)" "^pkg_(config|nofetch|setup|(pre|post)(inst|rm))"
## Highlight bash related syntax
color green "\<(case|do|done|elif|else|esac|exit|fi|for|function|if|in|local|read|return|select|shift|then|time|until|while)\>"
color green "(\{|\}|\(|\)|\;|\]|\[|`|\\|\$|<|>|!|=|&|\|)"
color green "-(e|d|f|r|g|u|w|x|L)\>"
color green "-(eq|ne|gt|lt|ge|le|s|n|z)\>"
## Highlight variables ... official portage ones in red, all others in bright red
color brightred "\$\{?[a-zA-Z_0-9]+\}?"
color red "\<(ARCH|HOMEPAGE|DESCRIPTION|IUSE|SRC_URI|LICENSE|SLOT|KEYWORDS|FILESDIR|WORKDIR|(P|R)?DEPEND|PROVIDE|DISTDIR|RESTRICT)\>"
color red "\<(S|D|T|PV|PF|P|PN|A)\>" "\<C(XX)?FLAGS\>"
## Highlight portage commands
color magenta "\<use(_(with|enable))?\> [a-z0-9X ]*" "inherit.*"
color brightblue "e(begin|end|conf|install|make|warn|infon?|error|patch)"
color brightblue "\<die\>" "\<use((v|_(with|enable)))?\>" "\<inherit\>" "\<has\>" "\<(has|best)_version\>" "\<unpack\>"
color brightblue "\<(do|new)(ins|s?bin|doc|lib(|\.so|\.a)|man|info|exe)\>"
color brightblue "\<do(python|sed|dir|hard|sym|html|jar|mo)\>" "\<keepdir\>" 
color brightblue "prepall(|docs|info|man|strip)" "prep(info|lib|lib\.so|man|strip)"
color brightblue "\<(|doc|ins|exe)into\>" "\<f(owners|perms)\>" "\<(exe|ins|dir)opts\>"
## Highlight common commands used in ebuilds
color blue "\<make\>" "\<(cat|cd|chmod|chown|cp|echo|env|export|grep|let|ln|mkdir|mv|rm|sed|set|tar|touch|unset)\>"
## Highlight comments (doesnt work that well)
color yellow "#.*$"
## Highlight strings (doesnt work that well)
color brightyellow "'(\\.|[^\"])*'" "'(\\.|[^'])*'"

/etc/portage/*

Code: /etc/portage/*

## Here is an example for Portage control files
##
syntax "/etc/portage" "\.(keywords|mask|unmask|use)(/.+)?$"
## Base text:
color green "^.+$"
## Use flags:
color brightred "[[:space:]]+\+?[a-zA-Z0-9_-]+"
color brightblue "[[:space:]]+-[a-zA-Z0-9_-]+"
## Likely version numbers:
color magenta "-[[:digit:]].*([[:space:]]|$)"
## Accepted arches:
color white "[~-]?\<(alpha|amd64|arm|hppa|ia64|mips|ppc|ppc64|s390|sh|sparc|x86$)"
color white "[[:space:]][\*~-]?\*"
## Categories:
color cyan "^[[:space:]]*.*/"
## Masking regulators:
color brightmagenta "^[[:space:]]*(=|~|<|<=|=<|>|>=|=>)"
## Comments:
color yellow "#.*$"

xorg.conf

Code: xorg.conf

## syntax highlighting in xorg.conf
##
syntax "xorg" "xorg\.conf$"
color brightwhite "(Section|EndSection|Sub[sS]ection|EndSub[sS]ection)"
# keywords
color yellow "[^A-Za-z0-9](Identifier|Screen|InputDevice|Option|RightOf|LeftOf|Driver|RgbPath|FontPath|ModulePath|Load|VendorName|ModelName|BoardName|BusID|Device|Monitor|DefaultDepth|View[pP]ort|Depth|Virtual|Modes|Mode|DefaultColorDepth|Modeline|\+vsync|\+hsync|HorizSync|VertRefresh)[^A-Za-z0-9]"
# numbers
color magenta "[0-9]"
# strings
color green ""(\\.|[^\"])*""
# comments
color blue "#.*"

C

Note: C/C++ also included as /usr/share/nano/c.nanorc

Code: C

##############################################################################
#
# Syntax highlighting for C files
#
# Author:  Josef 'Jupp' Schugt, jupp(a)rubyforge.org
# License: GPL 2  or later
#
# Version: 2004-02-25
#
##############################################################################

syntax "c-file" "\.(c|h)$"

# Default
color white "^.+$"

# Trigraphs
color brightyellow "\?\?[-=(\\)'<!>]"

# Decimal, cotal and hexadecimal numbers
color red "\<[-+]?([1-9][0-9]*|0[0-7]*|0x[0-9a-fA-F]+)([uU][lL]?|[lL][uU]?)?\>"

# Floating point number with at least one digit before decimal point
color red "\<[-+]?([0-9]+\.[0-9]*|[0-9]*\.[0-9]+)([EePp][+-]?[0-9]+)?[fFlL]?"
color red "\<[-+]?([0-9]+[EePp][+-]?[0-9]+)[fFlL]?"
# Keywords
color brightyellow "\<(break|case|continue|default|do|else|for|goto|if)\>"
color brightyellow "\<(inline|return|sizeof|switch|typedef|while)\>"

# Storage classes
color cyan "\<(auto|register|static|extern)\>"

# Type qualifiers
color cyan "\<(const|restrict|volatile)\>"

# Enumerations, structs, and unions
color cyan "\<(enum|struct|union)\>"

# Type specifiers
color cyan "\<(char|double|float|int|long|short|(un)?signed|void)\>"
color cyan "\<(_(Bool|Complex|Imaginary)|FILE|va_list|wc(trans|type)_t)\>"
color cyan "\<(u?int((_fast|_least)?(8|16|32|64)|max|ptr)|w(char|int))_t|\>"

# Preprocessor directives: Conditions
color red "^[ \t]*#(ifn?def|else|endif)\>"
color red "^[ \t]*#(if|elif)[ \t]*!?[ \t]*(defined)?\>"

# Preprocessor directive: Set line number
color yellow "^[ \t]*#line\>.*$"
color red    "^[ \t]*#line\>"

# Preprocessor: Issue error message
color yellow "^[ \t]*#error\>.*$"
color red    "^[ \t]*#error\>"

# Preprocessor: Pragma (don't ask :-)
color yellow "^[ \t]*#pragma\>.*$"
color red    "^[ \t]*#pragma\>"

# Preprocessor: Predefined macros
color red "__(LINE|FILE|func|DATE|TIME|STD(C|_HOSTED|_VERSION))__"

# Preprocessor directives: Definition
color red "^[ \t]*#(define|undef)\>"

# Preprocessor directive: File inclusion
color yellow "^[ \t]*#include[ \t]*(\"[^"]*\"|<[^>]*>)"
color red    "^[ \t]*#include\>"

# String
color yellow "L?\"(\\"|[^"])*\""
color yellow "L?'(\'|[^'])*'"

# Escapes
color red "\\[0-7][0-7]?[0-7]?|\\x[0-9a-fA-F]+|\\[abfnrtv'"\?\\]"

# Comments
color magenta start="/\*" end="\*/"
color magenta "//.*$"

ruby

Code: ruby

##############################################################################
#
# Ruby syntax highlighting for Nano.
#
# Author:  Josef 'Jupp' Schugt, jupp(a)rubyforge.org
# License: GPL 2  or later
#
# Version: 2004-02-27
#
##############################################################################


# Automatically use for '.rb' files
syntax "ruby" ".*\.*rb$"

# General
color white ".+"
# Operators
color brightyellow "::|\*\*|!|~|\*|/|%|\+|-|&|<<|>>|\|\^|>|>=|<|<=|<=>|\|\||!=|=~|!~|&&|\+=|-=|=|\.\.|\.\.\.|\<(not|and|or)\>"

# Keywords
color brightyellow "\<(BEGIN|END|alias|and|begin|break|case|class|def|defined|do|else|elsif|end|ensure|for|if|in|module)\>"
color brightyellow "\<(next|not|or|redo|rescue|retry|return|self|super|then|undef|unless|until|when|while|yield)\>"

# false, nil, true
color magenta "\<(false|nil|true)\>"

# Above must not match 'nil?'
color white "\<nil\?"

# external stuff
color brightgreen "(\<(load|require|include)|%q|%!|%Q|%r|%x)\>"

# Iterators
color brightgreen "\|\w+(,[ \t]*\w+)*\|"

# Constants
color yellow "\<[A-Z]\w*\>"

# Variables starting with '$', '@' or '@@'
color white "(\$|@@?)\w+\>"

# Function names ending in '!' or '?'
color white "\w+(!|\?)"

# Symbols
color yellow "([ \t]|^):(@|@@|\$)?\w+\>"
# Strings
color green "\"(\\.|[^\\\"])*\"|'(\\.|[^\\'])*'"

# Strings
color green "\"(\\.|[^\\\"])*\"|'(\\.|[^\\'])*'"

# Backticks
color green "`(\\.|[^\\\"])*`"

# Regular expressions
color green "/(\\.|[^\\/])*/[imox]*"

# Escapes
color red "\\[0-7][0-7][0-7]|\\x[0-9a-fA-F][0-9a-fA-F]|\\[abefnrs]|(\\c|\\C-|\\M-|\\M-\\C-)."

# Expression substitution
color red "#\{[^}]*\}|#[@$]\w+"

# Simple comments
color cyan         "#([^{$@].*)?$"

# Shebang
color brightcyan   "^#!.*"

# Multiline comments
color cyan         start="^=begin" end="^=end"

xml

Note: Remove "[jrs]?html?|" if you want to use another syntax marking for html pages

Code: xml

##############################################################################
#
# Syntax highlighting for XML files
#
# Author:  Josef 'Jupp' Schugt, jupp(a)rubyforge.org
# Secondary author: Barry Burns, bburnsatsynsetdotnet
# License: GPL 2  or later
#
# Version: 2007-09-28
#
##############################################################################

syntax "ml" ".*\.([jrs]?htm?|xml|xul|rdf|rss|xbl|sgml?)$"
color white "^.+$"
# Attribute names
color green start="<" end=">"
# Attribute text
color brightgreen ""[^"]+""
# Tag names
color brightcyan "<[^> ]+"
# Alligators
color cyan "<"
color cyan ">"
# DTDs
color brightyellow start="<!DOCTYPE" end="[/]?>"
# Comments
color white start="<!--" end="-->"
# Entities
color red "&[^;]*;"
# Preprocessing instructions
color brightred "<\?.+?>"
color red "<\?"
color red "\?>"
# CDATA
color white start="<!\[CDATA\[" end="\]\]>"
color brightwhite "<!\[CDATA\["
color brightwhite "\]\]>"

HTTP

Code: HTTP

##############################################################################
#
# Syntax highlighting for HTTP codes
#
# Author:  Josef 'Jupp' Schugt, jupp(a)rubyforge.org
# License: GPL 2  or later
#
# Version: 2004-02-25
#
##############################################################################

syntax "urls"
color brightmagenta   "^.*$"
color cyan      "^(1[0-9][0-9]|20[256]|30[45]).*$"
color green      "^20[03].*$"
color brightyellow   "^(201|30[0-37]).*$"
color brightred      "^(204|[45][0-9][0-9]|666).*$"

Perl

Code: Perl

###########################################################
# 
# nano Syntax highlighting for perl files
# Author: David Benbennick
# 
# Version: 2003-02-28
#
###########################################################

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

CSS

Code: CSS

##############################################################################
#
# Syntax highlighting for CSS files
#  
# Author:  Simon Rupf, simon.rupf(a)int-ag.ch
# License: GPL 2  or later
#
# Version: 2005-02-14
#
# 2008-09-29: Tweaked by kojiro to add '!important' coloring
#
##############################################################################

syntax "css" "\.css$"
color brightcyan    "."
color brightyellow  start="\{" end="\}"
color brightwhite   start=":" end="[;^\{]"
color brightblue    ":active|:focus|:hover|:link|:visited|:link|:after|:before|$"
color brightblue    start="\/\*" end="\\*/"
color green         ";|:|\{|\}"
color brightred     "!important"

conf

Code: conf

# Generic *.conf file syntax highlighting
#

syntax "conf" "\.(c(onf|nf|fg))$"

# string
icolor yellow ""(\\.|[^"])*""

# variable name & value
icolor brightyellow start="=" end="$"
icolor magenta start="(^|[[:space:]])[0-9a-z-]" end="="

# bracket/parenthesis
icolor brightred "(^|[[:space:]])((\[|\()[0-9a-z_!@#$%^&*-]+(\]|\)))"

# number
color green "[[:space:]][0-9.KM]+"

# comment
color cyan start="(^|[[:space:]])(#|;).*$" end="$"
color brightblue "(^|[[:space:]])(#|;)"

Paludis

Note: For paludis configuration files, exclusive of repositories configuration

Warning: For context highlighting in repository configuration files you have to use:

nano -Y repo <repository_config-file_path>

Code: Paludis

## Here is an example for Paludis control files
##

syntax "bashrc" "bashrc$"
## Base text:
color brightblack "^.+$"
## sh syntax:
color brightwhite "\<(case|do|done|elif|else|esac|exit|fi|for|function|if|in|local|read|return|select|shift|then|time|until|while)\>"
icolor magenta "(.+\)|\[.+\])"
color brightwhite "(\{|\}|\(|\)|\;|\]|\[|`|\\|\$|<|>|!|==|&|\|)"
color brightwhite "-[Ldefgruwx]\>"
color brightwhite "-(eq|ne|gt|lt|ge|le|s|n|z)\>"
color brightblue "\<(cat|cd|chmod|chown|cp|echo|env|export|grep|install|let|ln|make|mkdir|mv|rm|sed|set|tar|touch|umask|unset)\>"
icolor brightred "\$\{?[0-9A-Z_!@#$*?-]+\}?"
color ,green "[[:space:]]+$"
color green "\".*\""
color brightwhite "case[[:space:]]\".+\""
color brightgreen "\$\{.+\}"
## Package name:
color brightmagenta "\$\{PN\}"
## Keywords:
color brightwhite "(CHOST|CFLAGS|CXXFLAGS|MAKEOPTS)="
color white "(SKIP_FUNCTIONS|PATH|CCACHE_SIZE|CCACHE_DIR|PALUDIS_USE_SAFE_RESUME)="
## Comments:
color brightred "#.*$"
color yellow "^#.*$"
color brightyellow "^##[[:space:]].*$"

syntax "license-use" "(licenses|use)\.conf$"
## Base text:
color brightblack "^.+$"
## Package name:
color brightblue "/.*[[:space:]]"
## Categories:
color cyan "^.*/"
## Version number:
color white "-[[:digit:]]+(\.|[[:digit:]]|-.)*([[:space:]]|::)"
## Repository name:
color magenta "::.*[[:space:]]"
## licenses and use:
color green "[[:space:]][^[:space:]]*"
color red "[[:space:]]-[^[:space:]]*"
## Masking regulators:
color brightred "^(<|<=|=|>=|>)*"
color brightwhite "^(<|<=|=|>=|>)"
## Additional variables:
color brightgreen "(ALSA_CARDS|INPUT_DEVICES|LANGUAGE|LINGUAS|VIDEO_CARDS|PALUDIS_HOOKS):?"
## Mark lines with spaces at end of it:
color brightred ".*[[:space:]]$"
## Comments:
color brightred "#.*$"
color yellow "^#.*$"
color brightyellow "^##[[:space:]].*$"

syntax "keywords" "keywords\.conf$"
## Base text:
color brightblack "^.+$"
## Package name:
color brightblue "/.*[[:space:]]"
## Categories:
color cyan "^.*/"
## Version number:
color white "-[[:digit:]]+(\.|[[:digit:]]|-.)*([[:space:]]|::)"
## Repository name:
color magenta "::.*[[:space:]]"
## Accepted arches:
color green "[[:space:]][~]?(alpha|amd64|arm|hppa|ia64|mips|ppc|ppc64|s390|sh|sparc|x86|x86-fbsd|\*)"
color red "-\*"
## Masking regulators:
color brightred "^(<|<=|=|>=|>)*"
color brightwhite "^(<|<=|=|>=|>)"
## Mark lines with spaces at end of it:
color brightred ".*[[:space:]]$"
## Comments:
color brightred "#.*$"
color yellow "^#.*$"
color brightyellow "^##[[:space:]].*$"

syntax "mask-unmask" "package_(mask|unmask)\.conf$"
## Base text:
color brightblack "^.+$"
## Package name:
color brightblue "/.*"
## Categories:
color cyan "^.*/"
## Version number:
color white "-[[:digit:]]+(\.|[[:digit:]]|-.)*($|::)"
## Repository name:
color magenta "::.*$"
## Masking regulators:
color brightred "^(<|<=|=|>=|>)*"
color brightwhite "^(<|<=|=|>=|>)"
## Mark lines with spaces at end of it:
color brightred ".*[[:space:]]$"
## Comments:
color brightred "#.*$"
color yellow "^#.*$"
color brightyellow "^##[[:space:]].*$"

syntax "mirrors" "mirrors\.conf$"
## Base text:
color red "^.+$"
## Serwer name:
color brightwhite "^.*[[:space:]]"
## Adress
color brightblue "[[:space:]](ftp://|http://).*$"
## Mark lines with spaces at end of it:
color brightred ".*[[:space:]]$"
## Comments:
color brightred "#.*$"
color yellow "^#.*$"
color brightyellow "^##[[:space:]].*$"

syntax "repositories" "repo"
## Base text:
color brightblack "^.+$"
## Parameters:
color magenta "=[[:space:]].+$"
color brightwhite "^.*[[:space:]]=[[:space:]]"
## Path:
color green "/.+"
color brightgreen "\$\{.*\}"
## Adress:
color brightblue "(svn\+https|svn\+http|http|rsync)://.*$"
## Mark lines with spaces at end of it:
color brightred ".*[[:space:]]$"
## Comments:
color brightred "#.*$"
color yellow "^#.*$"
color brightyellow "^##[[:space:]].*$"

ECMAScript/JavaScript

Code: JavaScript/ECMAScript

# ECMAScript/JavaScript/JScript/ActionScript/LiveScript (ugh!) Syntax Highlighting
# by Barry Burns <bburns at synset dot net>
# License: GPL 2 or later

syntax "ecmascript" "\.js$"
color white "^.+$"
# Identifiers
color brightcyan "\b[a-zA-Z\$_][a-zA-Z0-9\$_]*\b"
# Braces, brackets and parentheses
color brightmagenta "\[|\]|\(|\)|\{|\}"
# Integers, floats
color brightblue "\b[0-9]+(.[0-9]+)?\b"
# Reserved words
color brightyellow "\b(break|case|catch|continue|default|delete|do|else|finally|for|function|if|in|instanceof|new|return|switch|this|throw|try|typeof|var|void|while|with)\b"
# Operations
color brightgreen "\||~|!|\.|\*|\+|-|=|<|>|/"
# Strings
color blue ""[^"]*""
color blue "'[^']*'"
# Comments
color brightwhite "//[^\n]*"
color brightwhite start="/\*" end="\*/"

HTML

Code: HTML

# ECMAScript/JavaScript/JScript/ActionScript/LiveScript (ugh!) Syntax Highlighting
# by --
# License: GPL 2 (not later)
syntax "HTML" "\.html$"
# list of tags
color brightcyan "<[\/]?(html|head|title|metal|link|meta|table|tr|td|h[1-6])[>]?"
# list of attributes
color cyan "(alt|src|type|onclick|name|content|id|class|style)"
# text in quotes
color brightwhite ""(\\.|[^\"])*""
# comments
color yellow start="<!--" end="-->"
# html entities
color red "&[^; ]*;"

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