zsh-users/zsh-syntax-highlighting

Highlight function definitions

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#223 opened on Oct 29, 2015

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Featuregood first issueneeds:lookahead

Description

In f() {}, highlight f specially. Ditto for f g h() {} when MULTI_FUNC_DEF is in effect (that would help with a common user mistake).

The default color of f g h shall be different from the default color of the [command] style.

The first word is parsed differently from the others: it is subject to alias expansion and to must not be a reserved word. That said, using a reserved word for g or h would probably be a mistake on the user's part (so it might be useful to check for that and highlight it as unknown-token).

The first word should never be considered for the [command] and [path] highlights.

Further ideas (which might be good and might be pure feature creep):

  • Highlight the syntax function f g h () {} as well?
  • Highlight f differently depending on whether it shadows/overwrites an existing function, builtin, or command?

Compare #194.

Contributor guide

Tech stack
shell
Domain
developer experience
Issue type
feature
DifficultyEstimated implementation difficulty for a new contributor, from 1 for very small changes to 5 for expert-level work.
3
Estimated timeA rough time range for an experienced contributor to investigate, implement, test, and prepare a pull request.
1-2 days
Activity statusHow available the issue appears right now: fresh, active, stale, blocked, or waiting on maintainer input.
stale
ClarityHow clearly the issue explains the expected change, acceptance criteria, and next step.
mostly clear
Prerequisites
familiarity with zsh syntaxbasic regex knowledge
Newbie friendlinessA 1-100 score estimating how approachable this issue is for first-time contributors.
30
Research direction
Examine the existing highlighting code in the repository, likely in 'highlighters/main/main.zsh' or similar files, to understand how reserved words and commands are currently highlighted. The issue requests a new highlight style for function definition names, which may require adding a new pattern in the keyword highlighter or creating a new highlighter. Note the distinction between first word and subsequent words, as first word is subject to alias expansion. Look at existing tests for guidance on how to contribute.