3 Block Comment Strings

danv · Nov 15, 2014#12014-11-15T22:17+00:00

Hi forum,

PeopleCode has 3 block comment string combinations: /* */, <* *>, and rem ;

rem requires a trailing semicolon, for example:

rem This is a comment;
&string = "This is not a comment";
Continue;

Is there a way that I can configure UltraEdit syntax highlighting and code folding for this? I currently use:

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/L15"PeopleCode 8.4" PEOPLECODE_LANG Line Comment = rem Block Comment On = /* Block Comment Off = */ Block Comment On Alt = <* Block Comment Off Alt = *> Nocase String Chars = " File Extensions = PPL

But this does not catch rem lines with a missing semicolon at the end. I would like it to highlight and fold everything after the "rem" at the start of a line as a comment until the next semicolon, for example:

rem This is a comment
&string = "This is not a comment";
Continue;

Thanks, Dan

Mofi · Nov 15, 2014#22014-11-15T23:17+00:00

First, remove PEOPLECODE_LANG as this is a string not recognized by UltraEdit. The language markers really interpreted by UE/UES are listed all on help page with title Syntax Highlighting near bottom. All other languages simply do not have a language marker.

Second, as long as rem is defined as begin of a line comment, code folding ignores rem as open fold string. UltraEdit ignores all strings in a comment, except those specified with

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/Open Comment Fold Strings = "..."
/Close Comment Fold Strings = "..."

But both strings must be found in a comment for comment string folding. And the comment starting strings itself cannot be included in the defined comment folding strings.

Something like

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/L15"PeopleCode 8.4" Block Comment On = /* Block Comment Off = */ Block Comment On Alt = <* Block Comment Off Alt = *> Nocase String Chars = " File Extensions = PPL
/Open Fold Strings = "rem"
/Close Fold Strings = ";"

enables code folding for a line containing rem to next line with a semicolon. But the disadvantage of this solution is that no line containing rem is now highlighted as comment.

It would have been possible to highlight lines containing (starting with) a single character and containing (ending with) a single character as a comment (marker string) and get the starting character highlighted with a color like red if the ending character is not on same line.

I am afraid that there is no solution to get a third block comment highlighting and folding for PeopleCode. I don't have any idea how to achieve that.

danv · Nov 18, 2014#32014-11-18T18:44+00:00

Thanks, Mofi. The marker characters are an interesting idea that I didn't know about. I tried playing with them but they don't span over multiple lines, but they could be useful elsewhere.

I ended up using rem ; as the alt block comment:

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/L15"PeopleCode 8.4" Block Comment On = /* Block Comment Off = */ Block Comment On Alt = rem Block Comment Off Alt = ; Nocase String Chars = " File Extensions = PPL

I gave the Alt Comments a unique background color that would make them stand out if they span multiple lines. Then I added:

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/C6"CommentOuts"
<*
*>

I gave them a yellow background so at least the start and end of the block stand out.

Is there a way to select a block and set the color for the selected text? I would love a way to color code my files and especially my open file list.

Thanks again, Dan

Mofi · Nov 19, 2014#42014-11-19T06:30+00:00

danv wrote:Is there a way to select a block and set the color for the selected text?

No. Highlighting works only based on syntax highlighting file. There is no method to select a block, define a color or background color for this block and UltraEdit remembers those settings anywhere in a separate file. Multi-line highlighting is supported by syntax highlighting only for block comments and for multi-line strings. That's it.

danv · Nov 20, 2014#52014-11-20T15:42+00:00

I'll send a feature request to IDM. Thanks again, Mofi.