[VS:03] RichText

Situation

I have a RichText Editor. I understand the RichText Box pretty well, and i know this can be done, but im not sure of the best was to do it.

I want to

I want to make a syntax highlighting system, so if the user types "Dim" (btw this isnt syntax highlighting for VB, its just an example), it turns the word dim blue.

Any help would be greatly appriciated.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by francisstokes

Situation

I have a RichText Editor. I understand the RichText Box pretty well, and i know this can be done, but im not sure of the best was to do it.

I want to

I want to make a syntax highlighting system, so if the user types "Dim" (btw this isnt syntax highlighting for VB, its just an example), it turns the word dim blue.

Any help would be greatly appriciated.

---

Hi,

Here's an example when the user types "d" , it turns all Characters turns blue.

VB Code:

Private Sub RichTextBox1_KeyPress(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As System.Windows.Forms.KeyPressEventArgs) Handles RichTextBox1.KeyPress
        If e.KeyChar = Microsoft.VisualBasic.ChrW(100) Then
                    RichTextBox1.ForeColor = Color.Blue
                End If
      
        
    End Sub

I think it's not exactly what you need but I think it's a start.

sparrow1

Thank you, that is a point in the right direction :D.
I was thinking, using code similar to:

VB Code:

Private Sub rt_Check(...) Handles rtb.TextChanged
         'code that checks through all the text to see if any keywords have been used
         'and highlights them
    End Sub

The code you gave me was good but had a major downfall:
1 -- If the user typed the word dim , it highlights ALL the text

Yes, I know.
I thought that I mentioned in my post.
I'm still working on it right now, to solve it.

Wkr,

sparrow1

I didnt mean it the way it looked. Sorry :)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by francisstokes

I didnt mean it the way it looked. Sorry :)

---

No problem :D

In the mean time I found something more, loock at it:

VB Code:

Private Sub RichTextBox1_KeyDown(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As System.Windows.Forms.KeyEventArgs) Handles RichTextBox1.KeyDown
        If e.KeyCode = Keys.D Then
 
            RichTextBox1.SelectionColor = Color.Blue
        Else
            RichTextBox1.SelectionColor = Color.Black
        End If
    End Sub

It's better but still not at the end.

Wkr,

sparrow1 :duck:

Is there a way of searhing through the whole text for a specific word?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by francisstokes

Is there a way of searhing through the whole text for a specific word?

---

Oke francis,

I found the solution!
Here's the code:

VB Code:

Private Sub RichTextBox1_KeyDown(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As System.Windows.Forms.KeyEventArgs) Handles RichTextBox1.KeyDown
        If e.KeyCode = Keys.D Or e.KeyCode = Keys.I Or e.KeyCode = Keys.M Then
 
            RichTextBox1.SelectionColor = Color.Blue
        Else
            RichTextBox1.SelectionColor = Color.Black
        End If
 
    End Sub

Wkr,

sparrow1

Ive got this code, but its not working the way it thought it would

VB Code:

'public vars
 Public HighL(5) As String
 
'other relevent code
 
    Sub highlight()
 
        For i As Integer = 0 To 5
 
            Dim iTextIndex As Integer
            iTextIndex = rtb.Find(HighL(i))
            If iTextIndex >= 0 Then
                rtb.SelectionColor = Color.Blue
            End If
 
        Next i
 
    End Sub
 
    Private Sub Form1_Load(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Load
        HighL(0) = "Dim"
        HighL(1) = "Public"
        HighL(2) = "Sub"
        HighL(3) = "Private"
        HighL(4) = "ByVal"
        HighL(5) = "MyBase"
    End Sub

I tried something like this in VB6. I don't know how much the RichTextBox has changed in .NET, but I bet you would have to modify the RTF code yourself.

Here is a look at the (incomplete) VB6 code that I was working on.

VB Code:

Private Sub ColorAllInputText()
    ' Declarations
    
    Call LockWindowUpdate(txtInput.hWnd)
    ' Store the cursor start position
    Call txtInput.GetSelection(lStart, lEnd)
 
    sOpen = "{"
    sSep = "$"
    sClose = "}"
    sNewLine = vbNullChar & "n"    ' /n
    sComStart = "/*"
    sComEnd = "*/"
 
    'sTextRTF = txtInput.TextRTF
    sTextRTF = txtInput.Contents(SF_RTF)
 
    ' Add colors to the color table
    lDefaultColor = AddColorToTable(sTextRTF, vbWindowText)
    lOpenColor = AddColorToTable(sTextRTF, RGB(255, 0, 0))           ' And Close brace color
    lDefNameColor = AddColorToTable(sTextRTF, RGB(0, 0, 255))
    lDefValueColor = lDefaultColor
    lSepColor = lOpenColor
    lCommentColor = AddColorToTable(sTextRTF, RGB(0, 180, 0))
    If Not mcFormatter.UseRealLineBreaks Then
        lNLColor = lOpenColor  'AddColorToTable(sTextRTF, RGB(0, 128, 0))
    End If
 
    ' Fix any possible errors caused by real text starting with "\cf"
    sTextRTF = Replace$(sTextRTF, "\\", vbNullChar, , , vbTextCompare)
    
    ' Erase any old coloring
    For i = 0 To 8
        sTextRTF = Replace$(sTextRTF, "\cf" & i & " ", vbNullString, , , vbTextCompare)
        sTextRTF = Replace$(sTextRTF, "\cf" & i, vbNullString, , , vbTextCompare)
    Next i
 
    ' Handle all escaped characters
    ReDim sToEscape(5)
    sToEscape(0) = "\{"
    sToEscape(1) = "$"
    sToEscape(2) = "\}"
    sToEscape(3) = "/n"
    sToEscape(4) = "/*"
    sToEscape(5) = "*/"
    For i = 0 To UBound(sToEscape)
        ' Use vbnullchar because \\ has already been replaced with vbnullchar
        sTextRTF = Replace$(sTextRTF, vbNullChar & sToEscape(i), Chr$(i + 1), , , vbTextCompare)
    Next i
 
    ' Color the opening brace and the definiton name
    sReplace = "\cf" & lOpenColor & "\" & sOpen & "\cf" & lDefNameColor & " "
    sTextRTF = Replace$(sTextRTF, "\" & sOpen, sReplace, , , vbTextCompare)
 
    ' End the def name coloring by switching the separator color to its color
    ' and then color stuff after that as black.
    sReplace = "\cf" & lSepColor & "\" & sSep & "\cf" & lDefValueColor & " "
    sTextRTF = Replace$(sTextRTF, sSep, sReplace, , , vbTextCompare)
 
    ' Color the closing brace
    sReplace = "\cf" & lOpenColor & "\" & sClose & "\cf" & lDefaultColor & " "
    sTextRTF = Replace$(sTextRTF, "\" & sClose, sReplace, , , vbTextCompare)
 
    ' Color new line tokens
    If Not mcFormatter.UseRealLineBreaks Then
        ' Use simply sNewLine because backslashes have already
        ' been dealt with when setting sNewLine
        sReplace = "\cf" & lNLColor & sNewLine & "\cf" & lDefaultColor & " "
        sTextRTF = Replace$(sTextRTF, sNewLine, sReplace, , , vbTextCompare)
    End If
 
    ' Color comments last so it overwrites any coloring done inside the comment
    ' - Start comment:
    sReplace = "\cf" & lCommentColor & " " & sComStart
    sTextRTF = Replace$(sTextRTF, sComStart, sReplace, , , vbTextCompare)
    ' - End comment
    sReplace = sComEnd & "\cf" & lDefaultColor & " "
    sTextRTF = Replace$(sTextRTF, sComEnd, sReplace, , , vbTextCompare)
 
    ' Fix all escaped characters
    For i = 0 To UBound(sToEscape)
        sTextRTF = Replace$(sTextRTF, Chr$(i + 1), vbNullChar & sToEscape(i), , , vbTextCompare)
    Next i
 
    ' Undo \\ fix
    sTextRTF = Replace$(sTextRTF, vbNullChar, "\\", , , vbTextCompare)
 
    txtInput.Contents(SF_RTF) = sTextRTF
 
    Call txtInput.SetSelection(lStart, lEnd)
    'txtInput.SelStart = lStart
    Call LockWindowUpdate(0)
 
 
End Sub

Type some text into the RichTextBox and then have another textbox to hold this:

VB Code:

TextBox1.Text = RichTextBox1.RTF

That RTF text is what you will need to edit and learn about if you want this syntax highlighting to be efficient, and even then it is really hard to do when you have a lot of text.

I have a calculator program that I have syntax highlighting as an user option. I use the following code. i found the basic and then modified it to fit my needs. It uses arrays of words.

VB Code:

#Region " Syntax Coloring RichtextBox1 "
    Public Declare Function SendMessage Lib "user32" Alias "SendMessageA" (ByVal hWnd As Integer, ByVal wMsg As Integer, ByVal wParam As Integer, ByVal lParam As Integer) As Integer
    Public Declare Function LockWindowUpdate Lib "user32" (ByVal hWnd As Integer) As Integer
 
    Dim FunctionColor As Color = Color.Blue
    Dim UserVariableNameColor As Color = Color.DarkOrange
    Dim OperatorColor As Color = Color.Red
    Dim NumberColor As Color = Color.Black
    Dim ConstantColor As Color = Color.LimeGreen
    Public Enum EditMessages
        LineIndex = 187
        LineFromChar = 201
        GetFirstVisibleLine = 206
        CharFromPos = 215
        PosFromChar = 1062
    End Enum
    Public Sub ColorRtb()
        'Colors the entire RichTextbox
        Dim FirstVisibleChar As Integer
        Dim i As Integer = 0
        While i < RichTextBox1.Lines.Length
            FirstVisibleChar = GetCharFromLineIndex(i)
            ColorLineNumber(i, FirstVisibleChar)
            i += 1
        End While
        If TB.CanFocus Then TB.Focus()
    End Sub
    Public Sub ColorVisibleLines()
        If SyntaxColoring Then
            'Colors the visible lines in the RichTextbox
            Dim FirstLine As Integer = FirstVisibleLine()
            Dim LastLine As Integer = LastVisibleLine()
            Dim FirstVisibleChar As Integer
            Dim i As Integer = FirstLine
            If (FirstLine = 0) And (LastLine = 0) Then
                Exit Sub
            Else
                While i < LastLine
                    FirstVisibleChar = GetCharFromLineIndex(FirstLine)
                    ColorLineNumber(FirstLine, FirstVisibleChar)
                    FirstLine += 1
                    i += 1
                End While
            End If
        End If
    End Sub
    Public Sub ColorLineNumber(ByVal LineIndex As Integer, ByVal lStart As Integer)
        'Colors a single line in the RichTextBox control
        Dim Line As String = RichTextBox1.Lines(LineIndex).ToLower
        Dim i As Integer = 0
        Dim j As Integer = 0
        Dim k As Integer = 0
        Dim SelectionAt As Integer = RichTextBox1.SelectionStart
        Dim str As String
        ' Lock the update
        LockWindowUpdate(RichTextBox1.Handle.ToInt32)
        ' Color the line black to remove any previous coloring
        RichTextBox1.SelectionStart = lStart
        RichTextBox1.SelectionLength = Line.Length
        RichTextBox1.SelectionColor = Color.Black
 
        '' Find any operators
        i = 0
        While i < strOp.Count
            For j = 0 To Line.Length - 1
                If Line.Substring(j, 1) = strOp(i).ToString Then
                    RichTextBox1.SelectionStart = (lStart + j)
                    RichTextBox1.SelectionLength = 1
                    RichTextBox1.SelectionColor = OperatorColor
                End If
            Next
            i += 1
        End While
        'check for user defined variable names
        If Names.Count > 0 Then
            i = 0
            While i < Names.Count
                j = InStr(Line, CStr(Names(i)))
                If j <> 0 Then
                    RichTextBox1.SelectionStart = (lStart + j - 1)
                    str = CStr(Names(i))
                    RichTextBox1.SelectionLength = str.Length
                    RichTextBox1.SelectionColor = UserVariableNameColor
                End If
                i += 1
            End While
        End If
        i = 0
 
        'check for built in function names
        While i < strFunc.Count
            j = InStr(Line, CStr(strFunc(i)))
            If j <> 0 Then
                RichTextBox1.SelectionStart = (lStart + j - 1)
                str = CStr(strFunc(i))
                RichTextBox1.SelectionLength = str.Length
                RichTextBox1.SelectionColor = FunctionColor
            End If
            i += 1
        End While
        'check for built in constant names
        i = 0
        While i < StrConstant.Count
            str = CStr(StrConstant(i)) 'get the constants name
            j = 0 'reset the pointer
            Do While j < Line.Length - 1 'search for the constant
                j = Line.IndexOf(str, j) ' get the first instance of the constant
                Select Case j
                    Case Is = -1 'constant not in line
                        Exit Do
                    Case Is = 0 'start of the string
                        'make sure that the constant is not the start of a word such as e in exp
                        If Line.Substring(j + 1, 1).ToLower Like "[a-z]" Then 'a letter preceeds
                            'not a constant
                        Else
                            RichTextBox1.SelectionStart = (lStart + j)
                            RichTextBox1.SelectionLength = str.Length
                            RichTextBox1.SelectionColor = ConstantColor
                        End If
                    Case Else
                        Select Case (j + str.Length) = Line.Length
                            Case Is = True 'constant is at the end of the line
                                If Line.Substring(j - 1, 1).ToLower Like "[a-z]" Then 'a letter preceeds
                                    'not a constant
                                Else
                                    RichTextBox1.SelectionStart = (lStart + j)
                                    RichTextBox1.SelectionLength = str.Length
                                    RichTextBox1.SelectionColor = ConstantColor
                                End If
 
                            Case Is = False 'the constant is somewhere within the string
                                If Line.Substring(j - 1, 1).ToLower Like "[a-z]" Then 'a letter preceeds
                                    'not a constant
                                ElseIf Line.Substring(j + str.Length, 1).ToLower Like "[a-z]" Then 'a letter proceeds
                                    'not a constant
                                Else
                                    RichTextBox1.SelectionStart = (lStart + j)
                                    RichTextBox1.SelectionLength = str.Length
                                    RichTextBox1.SelectionColor = ConstantColor
                                End If
                        End Select
                End Select
                j += str.Length
            Loop
            i += 1
        End While
        ' Restore the selectionstart
        RichTextBox1.SelectionStart = SelectionAt
        RichTextBox1.SelectionLength = 0
        ' Unlock the update
        LockWindowUpdate(0)
    End Sub
 
    Private Sub RTBTextChanged(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs)
        ColorVisibleLines()
        If TB.CanFocus Then TB.Focus()
    End Sub
    Public Function FirstVisibleLine() As Integer
        'Uses API to determine the first line in a RichTextbox control
        Return SendMessage(RichTextBox1.Handle.ToInt32, EditMessages.GetFirstVisibleLine, 0, 0)
    End Function
    Public Function LastVisibleLine() As Integer
        'Returns the number of lines in a RichTextbox
        Dim LastLine As Integer = CInt(FirstVisibleLine() + (RichTextBox1.Height / RichTextBox1.Font.Height))
        If LastLine > RichTextBox1.Lines.Length Or LastLine = 0 Then
            LastLine = RichTextBox1.Lines.Length
        End If
        Return LastLine
    End Function
 
    Public Function GetCharFromLineIndex(ByVal LineIndex As Integer) As Integer
        ' Uses API to get the character
        Return SendMessage(RichTextBox1.Handle.ToInt32, EditMessages.LineIndex, LineIndex, 0)
    End Function
 
#End Region

You may get something out of it.

is not declared error list:
TB
SyntaxColoring
StrOp
Names
StrFunc
StrConstant

This is for the code posted above.