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Asked: 2026-05-14T08:40:49+00:00

I am embarking on some learning and I want to write my own syntax

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I am embarking on some learning and I want to write my own syntax highlighting for files in C++.

Can anyone give me ideas on how to go about doing this?

To me it seems that when a file is opened:

  1. It would need to be parsed and decided what type of source file it is. Trusting the extension might not be fool-proof

  2. A way to know what keywords/commands apply to what language

  3. A way to decide what color each keyword/command gets

I want to do this on OS X, using C++ or Objective-C.

Can anyone provide pointers on how I might get started with this?

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1 Answer

  1. Editorial Team

    Assuming that you are using Cocoa frameworks you can use UTIs to determine the file type.

    For an overview of the api:

    http://developer.apple.com/mac/library/documentation/FileManagement/Conceptual/understanding_utis/understand_utis_intro/understand_utis_intro.html#//apple_ref/doc/uid/TP40001319-CH201-SW1

    For a list of known UTIs:

    http://developer.apple.com/mac/library/documentation/Miscellaneous/Reference/UTIRef/Articles/System-DeclaredUniformTypeIdentifiers.html#//apple_ref/doc/uid/TP40009259-SW1

    The two keys are you probably most interested in would be kUTTypeObjectiveC​PlusPlusSource and kUTTypeCPlusPlusHeader.

    For the highlighting you might find the information on this page helpful as it discusses syntax highlighting with an NSView and temporary attributes:

    http://www.cocoadev.com/index.pl?ImplementSyntaxHighlightingUsingTemporaryAttributes

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