Custom Syntax Files

Compare It! can use syntax highlighting to simplify reading of comparison results for source code files. Syntaxes for C++, C#, Java, Delphi and HTML are supported internally, but you can add your own syntax files for other languages. The default extension for these files is chl. The format of the language files is compatible with files used by the ConTEXT editor.

To use a custom syntax file:

Create a custom language definition file.
Place the file (with a .chl extension) in a new "Syntax" folder.
Follow the instructions in Options dialog box: File Filters to add the custom syntax file.

Custom Syntax File Format

A syntax file is a simple text file with key/value pairs, delimited with a colon (:). Here is a typical example:

Language:               CSharp
Filter:                 CSharp files (*.cs)|*.cs
CaseSensitive:          1
LineComment:            //
BlockCommentBeg:        /*
BlockCommentEnd:        */

This format is compatible with files used by the ConTEXT editor (freeware). If you need a syntax file for an additional language, be sure to check the their site, it already has a collection of dozens of languages.

Currently, only a limited set of keys is supported. This list will grow in the future:

CaseSensitive - whether keywords are case-sensitive (1/0)
LineComment - sequence to begin comment, which ends with line
BlockCommentBeg/BlockCommentEnd, BlockCommentBeg2/BlockCommentEnd2 - block comments

KeyWords1, KeyWords2, KeyWords3 - list of keywords, delimited with spaces, may continue on several lines:

KeyWords1:              as new break switch finally case fixed throw
                        catch for try checked foreach typeof goto lock

StringBegChar - character to limit strings
CharSymbol - character to limit single character
UsePreprocessor - whether to use preprocessor (1/0)
IdentifierBegChars - which symbols can start identifier
IdentifierChars - which characters can be in identifier
EscapeChar - symbol for inserting other special symbols into text as is