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Some languages have flow control or loop structures that require a few words, for example, shell has
if [...]
then
...
fi
Is it possible to use the syntax highlighting features of vim to indicate that there is an error, if, for example a fi is detected before a then? And if it is, how to do it for that example?
With some languages, the syntax highlighting can show an error, if the syntax rules define them. For example, the C syntax definition in my system includes an error for invalid octal numbers:
syn match cOctalError display contained "0\o*[89]\d*"
Or in shell scripts, an unmatched fi:
More commonly, this is achieved via syntax checking plugins which show messages. For example, the syntastic plugin can indicate lines with errors, and the error message given by the program used to check the syntax:
Admittedly, the error is a bit cryptic, and in some cases, can be quite long-winded. But with a bit of practice, this will help you spot errors quickly enough.
sh -n, and it's supported by syntastic.
fi) is quite simple. However I still haven't seen how to get that middle then with a syntax file. I'll try the recommended plugins.
Nov 12, 2015 at 6:38
an unmatched fi in one line. Syntax highlighting in Vim is a messy business, it isn't powerful enough for a lot of things.