Kyle Isom
1a77f28ce4
- Introduced `HighlighterRegistry` with support for multiple language highlighters (e.g., JSON, Markdown, Python). - Added `JsonHighlighter` implementation for basic JSON syntax highlighting.
53 lines
2.8 KiB
Markdown
53 lines
2.8 KiB
Markdown
Syntax highlighting in kte
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==========================
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Overview
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--------
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kte provides lightweight syntax highlighting with a pluggable highlighter interface. The initial implementation targets C/C++ and focuses on speed and responsiveness.
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Core types
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----------
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- `TokenKind` — token categories (keywords, types, strings, comments, numbers, preprocessor, operators, punctuation, identifiers, whitespace, etc.).
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- `HighlightSpan` — a half-open column range `[col_start, col_end)` with a `TokenKind`.
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- `LineHighlight` — a vector of `HighlightSpan` and the buffer `version` used to compute it.
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Engine and caching
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------------------
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- `HighlighterEngine` maintains a per-line cache of `LineHighlight` keyed by row and buffer version.
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- Cache invalidation occurs when the buffer version changes or when the buffer calls `InvalidateFrom(row)`, which clears cached lines and line states from `row` downward.
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- The engine supports both stateless and stateful highlighters. For stateful highlighters, it memoizes a simple per-line state and computes lines sequentially when necessary.
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Stateful highlighters
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---------------------
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- `LanguageHighlighter` is the base interface for stateless per-line tokenization.
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- `StatefulHighlighter` extends it with a `LineState` and the method `HighlightLineStateful(buf, row, prev_state, out)`.
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- The engine detects `StatefulHighlighter` via dynamic_cast and feeds each line the previous line’s state, caching the resulting state per line.
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C/C++ highlighter
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-----------------
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- `CppHighlighter` implements `StatefulHighlighter`.
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- Stateless constructs: line comments `//`, strings `"..."`, chars `'...'`, numbers, identifiers (keywords/types), preprocessor at beginning of line after leading whitespace, operators/punctuation, and whitespace.
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- Stateful constructs (v2):
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- Multi-line block comments `/* ... */` — the state records whether the next line continues a comment.
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- Raw strings `R"delim(... )delim"` — the state tracks whether we are inside a raw string and its delimiter `delim` until the closing sequence appears.
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Limitations and TODOs
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---------------------
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- Raw string detection is intentionally simple and does not handle all corner cases of the C++ standard.
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- Preprocessor handling is line-based; continuation lines with `\\` are not yet tracked.
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- No semantic analysis; identifiers are classified via small keyword/type sets.
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- Additional languages (JSON, Markdown, Shell, Python, Go, Rust, Lisp, …) are planned.
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- Terminal color mapping is conservative to support 8/16-color terminals. Rich color-pair themes can be added later.
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Renderer integration
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--------------------
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- Terminal and GUI renderers request line spans via `Highlighter()->GetLine(buf, row, buf.Version())`.
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- Search highlight and cursor overlays take precedence over syntax colors.
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