zsh-users/zsh-syntax-highlighting

"unknown-token" is overloaded

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#695 opened on Mar 15, 2020

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FeatureIdeaImprovementTaskcomponent:testsgood first issue

Description

Highlighting all errors the same way makes sense from a UI perspective (cough #691 cough), but it makes the tests weaker: when a test checks that an alias is highlighted as unknown-token, it can't easily check whether that's due to a syntax error (as in alias x='() ]]') or due to, say, a command word not being an existing alias/function/etc. (as fixed in 9931990b92a276c6ec69cdf6af9f9f3b65603cd1).

How about adding some new styles for more specific errors — e.g., unknown-token-not-a-command-name, unknown-token-parse-error, etc — that will be highlighted the same way by default, but will make the tests more specific?

Contributor guide

Tech stack
shell
Domain
testingdeveloper 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.
half day
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.
clear
Prerequisites
basic understanding of zsh syntax highlighting plugin
Newbie friendlinessA 1-100 score estimating how approachable this issue is for first-time contributors.
50
Research direction
Look at the existing style definitions in the plugin's source code, likely in files like 'highlighters/main/main highlighter.zsh' or similar. Examine how 'unknown token' is currently defined and used in tests, for example in the test files under 'highlighters/main/test data/'. The goal is to add new style names like 'unknown token not a command name' and 'unknown token parse error' that map to the same visual style as 'unknown token' but allow tests to specify the exact error type. Review the linked issue #691 and commit 9931990b92a for context on the current behavior and test weaknesses.