High Speed Syntax Coloring

High Speed Syntax Coloring
(Written by me in Visual Studio 2008, Project attached, as well as a text file for users with version 2005)

Updates
Version 1.01
1: Fixed bugs, such as quotes not coloring if you can't see the first quote on screen
2: All updates now ignore quoted & commented text, so they don't conflict, and they don't waste time

Good
1: The code doesn't flash
2: Colors an entire document of 500 lines with 50 key words in 2 seconds
3: Colors the current line your modifying actively without notice
4: Colors text pasted into the rich text box
5: Includes customized tabs (as well as removing them with back space)
6: Very easily modified key words

Bad
1: It does not work with word wrap
2: If you paste 500 lines, with 50 key words it will take 2 seconds to color it
3: Undo & redo actions are disabled, you will have to make your own (to get a proper effect anyway, (they work, but strangely...))

All you do is download the solution and click test, or download the text document, copy & paste the text into a new solution (you've created), and you'll need to make the rich text box you want to use (named rtbEdit)

License
You can use this code freely, regardless of whether your charging for your application or not.

Feed back
Please reply and tell me what you think of it, I'd appreciate any comments & sugguestions

Cheers
Icyculyr

Excellent project Icyculyr! If only you could also make paired brackets flash, you could make your own Visual Studio :p

Lol thanks, there's a big difference between executing code, and coloring it though lol...

I wouldn't survive if I had to build a visual studio..

Cheers
Icyculyr

Updated, see first post for details...

Icyculyr, great stuff, man it's fast.

This project works by coloring syntax (words). Can it be modified to work for background highlighting those words.

Instead of syntax coloring for 'code', Can this be modified to work as background coloring for lines based on "searchstring/s"

Eg: if line starts with "sugar" then highlight entire line.

Really appreciate any help.

Thanks, yeah it can, although I wouldn't modify it, I would instead write a new one, as this is more complex as it is to do with coloring individual words..

If I get this straight, only the first word of each line counts.

I'd do it like this:

Code:

---

Imports System.Text.RegularExpressions
Public Class WordDictionary
    Private _rRegex As New List(Of Regex)
    Private _cColors As New List(Of Color)
    Sub New()
    End Sub
    Public Sub AddWord(ByVal sWord As String, ByVal cColor As Color)
        _rRegex.Add(New Regex("\b" & sWord & "\b"))
        _cColor.Add(cColor)
    End Sub
    Public Function GetColor(ByVal i As Integer) As Color
        Return _cColor(i)
    End Function
End Class

---

Now, do that code in a new project (for testing), but also tell me, what exactly happens, every time text changes it needs updating? or only when you click a button etc..?

I need a bit more information for the rest.

Cheers
Icyculyr

Thanks very much for helping.

Basically as the word "mywordfromDictionaryArray" is typed
*highlight that line immediately till present caret position
*and continue the highlighting until user starts a new line.
So the whole line starting with "mywordfromDictionaryArray" will be highlighted

So the code will fire on 2 scenarios:
1. User types (textchanged)
2. User pastes text into the richtextbox (textchanged)

There will not be any button to fire the coloring. It'll be color as you go. Hope this makes it clearer.

You can see an image of what I'm trying to achieve. AS user types "verse" at the beginning of the line, highlighting begins and ends when the line is ended, ie: newline.

I assume it's in a rich text box..

Well, you'd have it modify only the current line, so

Code:

---

Imports System.Text.RegularExpressions
Public Declare Function LockWindowUpdate Lib "user32" (ByVal hWnd As IntPtr) As Integer
Public Class WordDictionary
    Private _rRegex As New List(Of Regex)
    Private _sWord As New List(Of String)
    Private _cColors As New List(Of Color)
    Sub New()
    End Sub
    Public Sub AddWord(ByVal sWord As String, ByVal cColor As Color)
        _rRegex.Add(New Regex("\b" & sWord & "\b"))
        If _sWord.IndexOf(sWord) <> -1 Then
            Throw New Exception("Duplicate word entered - " & sWord)
        End If
        _sWord.Add(sWord)
        _cColor.Add(cColor)
    End Sub
    Public Function GetColor(ByVal sWord As String) As Color
        Return _cColor(_sWord.IndexOf(sWord))
    End Function
End Class
Public wdDictionary As New WordDictionary()
Private Sub Form1_Load(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Load
    wdDictionary.AddWord("Sugar", Color.Red)
    wdDictionary.AddWord("Sour", Color.Green)
End Sub

Private Sub RtbCode_TextChanged(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As EventArgs) Handles RtbCode.TextChanged
    ColorCurrentLine(RtbCode)
End Sub

Public Sub ColorCurrentLine(ByVal RtbBox As RichTextBox)
    Dim iStart As Integer = RtbBox.SelectionStart
    Dim iLine As Integer = RtbBox.GetLineFromCharIndex(iStart)
    Dim sText As String = RtbBox.Lines(iLine)
    Dim iFirst As integer = RtbBox.GetFirstCharIndexFromLine(iLine)
    Dim iEnd As Integer = sText.Length
    'Get First word
    Dim sWord As String = ""
    Dim sTemp As String = ""
    For i As Integer = 0 To sText.Length-1
        sTemp = sText.Substring(i, 1)
        If sTemp = " "  Then 'End of first word is a space
            Exit For
        End If
        sWord &= sTemp
    Next i
    Dim cColor As Color = Nothing
    If wdDictionary._sWord.IndexOf(sWord) <> -1 Then
        cColor = wdDictionary.GetColor(sWord)
    End If
    If cColor Is Nothing Then
        'Word not found, ignore it, keep it black.
        Return
    End If
    'Color Entire Line
    LockWindowUpdate(RtbBox.Handle)
    RtbBox.SelectionLength = 0
    RtbBox.Select(iFirst, iEnd)
    RtbBox.SelectionColor = cColor
    RtbBox.SelectionLength = 0
    RtbBox.SelectionStart = iStart
    RtbBox.SelectionColor = Color.Black
    LockWindowUpdate(IntPtr.Zero)
End Sub

---

Untested, but that should work for text, if you want pasting as well, you'll have to do that:P

All you do is check there is data from My.Computer.Clipboard, set that text value to RtbBox.SelectedText in a ColorPaste(RtbCode) sub that you will make, on the key down event of your rich text box, you check for e.Control() and also e.KeyCode = Keys.V (Paste), you use e.SuppressKeyPress=True, and you use the coloring stuff as above to do that.

Cheers
Icyculyr

Thanks very much.

I am testing this with a richtextbox.

Code:

---

Public Class Form1
    Public Declare Function LockWindowUpdate Lib "user32" (ByVal hWnd As IntPtr) As Integer
    Public wdDictionary As New WordDictionary()
    Private Sub Form1_Load(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Load
        wdDictionary.AddWord("Sugar", Color.Red)
        wdDictionary.AddWord("Sour", Color.Green)
    End Sub

    Private Sub rtbCode_TextChanged(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles rtbCode.TextChanged
        ColorCurrentLine(rtbCode)
    End Sub

    Public Sub ColorCurrentLine(ByVal RtbBox As RichTextBox)
        Dim iStart As Integer = RtbBox.SelectionStart
        Dim iLine As Integer = RtbBox.GetLineFromCharIndex(iStart)

        Dim sText As String = RtbBox.Lines(iLine)
        Dim iFirst As Integer = RtbBox.GetFirstCharIndexFromLine(iLine)
        Dim iEnd As Integer = sText.Length
        'Get First word
        Dim sWord As String = ""
        Dim sTemp As String = ""


        For i As Integer = 0 To sText.Length - 1
            sTemp = sText.Substring(i, 1)
            If sTemp = " " Then 'End of first word is a space
                Exit For
            End If
            sWord &= sTemp
        Next i
        Dim cColor As Color = Nothing
        If wdDictionary._sWord.IndexOf(sWord) <> -1 Then
            cColor = wdDictionary.GetColor(sWord)
        End If
        If cColor = Nothing Then
            'Word not found, ignore it, keep it black.
            Return
        End If
        'Color Entire Line
        LockWindowUpdate(RtbBox.Handle)
        RtbBox.SelectionLength = 0
        RtbBox.Select(iFirst, iEnd)
        RtbBox.SelectionColor = cColor
        'add a backcolor as yellow
        'THIS BACKCOLORFEATURE NEEDS TO BE ADDED TO wdDictionary.AddWord("word", forecolor, backcolor)
        RtbBox.SelectionBackColor = Color.Yellow
        RtbBox.SelectionLength = 0
        RtbBox.SelectionStart = iStart
        RtbBox.SelectionColor = Color.Black
        'return the backcolor to white
        RtbBox.SelectionBackColor = Color.White
        LockWindowUpdate(IntPtr.Zero)


    End Sub
End Class

---

I added a new class called WordDictionary.vb and added this.

Code:

---

Imports System.Text.RegularExpressions

Public Class WordDictionary
    Private _rRegex As New List(Of Regex)
    Public _sWord As New List(Of String)
    Private _cColors As New List(Of Color)
    Sub New()
    End Sub
    Public Sub AddWord(ByVal sWord As String, ByVal cColor As Color)
        _rRegex.Add(New Regex("\b" & sWord & "\b"))
        If _sWord.IndexOf(sWord) <> -1 Then
            Throw New Exception("Duplicate word entered - " & sWord)
        End If
        _sWord.Add(sWord)
        _cColors.Add(cColor)
    End Sub
    Public Function GetColor(ByVal sWord As String) As Color
        Return _cColors(_sWord.IndexOf(sWord))
    End Function
End Class

---

It seems to work great. I have attached the project and image to make things easier. Almost there...

There seems to be a few things going wrong.

• Line starting with "SugarY" behaved oddly. The rest of the line after Sugar returns to black.
• Try adding text and then backspacing to remove all text. There is an error

Also how can I add background highlighting to the line starting with "Sugar" or "Sour" This BACKCOLORFEATURE needs to be added to wdDictionary.AddWord("word", forecolor, backcolor)

Code:

---

Imports System.Text.RegularExpressions
Public Class Form1
    Public Declare Function LockWindowUpdate Lib "user32" (ByVal hWnd As IntPtr) As Integer
    Public Class WordDictionary
        Private _rRegex As New List(Of Regex)
        Public _sWord As New List(Of String)
        Private _cTextColors As New List(Of Color)
        Private _cBGColors As New List(Of Color)
        Sub New()
        End Sub
        Public Sub AddWord(ByVal sWord As String, ByVal cTextColor As Color, ByVal cBGColor As Color)
            _rRegex.Add(New Regex("\b" & sWord & "\b"))
            If _sWord.IndexOf(sWord) <> -1 Then
                Throw New Exception("Duplicate word entered - " & sWord)
            End If
            _sWord.Add(sWord)
            _cTextColors.Add(cTextColor)
            _cBGColors.Add(cBGColor)
        End Sub
        Public Function GetTextColor(ByVal sWord As String) As Color
            Return _cTextColors(_sWord.IndexOf(sWord))
        End Function
        Public Function GetBGColor(ByVal sWord As String) As Color
            Return _cBGColors(_sWord.IndexOf(sWord))
        End Function
    End Class
    Private Sub Form1_Load(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Load
        wdDictionary.AddWord("Sugar", Color.Red, Color.Green)
        wdDictionary.AddWord("Sour", Color.Green, Color.Red)
    End Sub
    Public wdDictionary As New WordDictionary()

    Private Sub RtbCode_TextChanged(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As EventArgs) Handles rtbCode.TextChanged
        ColorCurrentLine(rtbCode)
    End Sub

    Public Sub ColorCurrentLine(ByVal RtbBox As RichTextBox)
        Dim iStart As Integer = RtbBox.SelectionStart
        Dim iLine As Integer = RtbBox.GetLineFromCharIndex(iStart)
        If RtbBox.Lines.Length <= 0 Then
            Return
        End If
        Dim sText As String = RtbBox.Lines(iLine)
        If sText.Length <= 0 Then
            'Return
        End If
        Dim iFirst As Integer = RtbBox.GetFirstCharIndexFromLine(iLine)
        Dim iEnd As Integer = sText.Length
        'Get First word
        Dim sWord As String = ""
        Dim sTemp As String = ""
        LockWindowUpdate(RtbBox.Handle)
        RtbBox.SelectionLength = 0
        RtbBox.Select(iFirst, iEnd)
        RtbBox.SelectionColor = Color.Black 'Normal Color
        RtbBox.SelectionBackColor = Color.White 'Normal BG Color
        RtbBox.SelectionLength = 0
        RtbBox.SelectionStart = iStart
        For i As Integer = 0 To sText.Length - 1
            sTemp = sText.Substring(i, 1)
            If sTemp = " " Then 'End of first word is a space
                Exit For
            End If
            sWord &= sTemp
        Next i
        Dim cColor As Color = Nothing
        If wdDictionary._sWord.IndexOf(sWord) <> -1 Then
            cColor = wdDictionary.GetTextColor(sWord)
        End If
        If cColor = Nothing Then
            'Word not found, ignore it, keep it black.
            LockWindowUpdate(IntPtr.Zero)
            Return
        End If
        'Color Entire Line
        RtbBox.SelectionLength = 0
        RtbBox.Select(iFirst, iEnd)
        RtbBox.SelectionColor = cColor
        RtbBox.SelectionBackColor = wdDictionary.GetBGColor(sWord)
        RtbBox.SelectionLength = 0
        RtbBox.SelectionStart = iStart
        RtbBox.SelectionColor = Color.Black
        RtbBox.SelectionBackColor = Color.White 'Normal BG Color
        LockWindowUpdate(IntPtr.Zero)
    End Sub
End Class

---

Fully working, minor bugs, you probably could have fixed them yourself.

Cheers
Icyculyr

I just want to put my sincere appreciation on record. I have been searching for this solution for months.

When I saw your high speed coloring project, I knew that you would have know-how to answer this one. THANKS :thumb: :wave:

Thanks Icy. That works great when the user types in the rtb. But it doesn't work on copy/paste.

How can I colorize the lines when user PASTES text ? I'm trying this code but it doesn't work.

Code:

---

    Private Sub rtbCode_KeyDown(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.Windows.Forms.KeyEventArgs) Handles rtbCode.KeyDown
        'aware of Paste or Insert
        If e.Control AndAlso e.KeyCode = Keys.V _
        OrElse e.Shift AndAlso e.KeyCode = Keys.I Then

            If Clipboard.ContainsImage OrElse Clipboard.ContainsFileDropList Then
                'some images are transferred as filedrops - strip image
                e.Handled = True 'stops here
            ElseIf Clipboard.ContainsText() Then 'strip formatting
                Me.rtbCode.Text = Clipboard.GetText()
                e.Handled = True
            End If
            ColorCurrentLine(rtbCode)
        End If
    End Sub

---

Also can you please show me how to replace "sugar" with propercase "Sugar" if it occurs at the start of the line, so that the code will fire and color Sugar even if it is typed in lowercase.

Here's a propercase function if it helps

Code:

---

  Private Function ProperCase(ByVal strValue As String) As String
        Try
            ProperCase = StrConv(strValue, VbStrConv.ProperCase)
        Catch ex As System.Exception
          'Error hadler goes here
        End Try
    End Function

---

Icy, How can I colorize the lines when user PASTES text ?

Man, this was a while ago o_O...

The file included the function ColorPaste(), that should work.
I'm not sure about the other.

Kind Regards
Icyculyr

Well this has been very helpful but I ran into a small problem. When I do a control+V to paste syntax into the rtbEdit it only colors syntax in the last line but when I run your program and paste stuff every keyword is highlighted. I haven't changed and of your code except for the keywords that are highlighted and what color they are.

Hi, can you rephrase that? when you paste code into the rtb, only the last line is colored, or the entire text box is recolored?

Kind Regards
Icyculyr

oh sorry i fixed my problem but i forgot to let everyone know but the problem was that only the last line of the pasted text would have its keywords highlighted. but it doenst matter now i got it working. thanks again for the awesome code.

hey nice code just what a been lookin for.i got a problem when i create i simple editer.i enable it to open files so when i open files they are then pasted onto the rtb but only the first line gets highlighted and the rest does not.how can i fix this?

this is my open file code that seems to be working

Code:

---

       
Using ofd As New OpenFileDialog
            '// Set properties
            ofd.Title = "Open File"
            ofd.Filter = "Text files (*.txt)|*.txt|All files|*.*"
            '// Show dialog and only continue when OK was pressed
            If ofd.ShowDialog = Windows.Forms.DialogResult.OK Then
                '// Set filepath
                sFilePath = ofd.FileName
                '// Get fileTitle via function
                sFileTitle = GetFileTitle(ofd.FileName)
                '// Load file into RTB
                rtbEdit.LoadFile(sFilePath, RichTextBoxStreamType.PlainText)
                '// Set changed/saved status
                DocumentChanged = False
                DocumentSaved = True
                '// Update title
                UpdateTitle()
'// updates all of the code in rtbedit
                ColorLines(rtbEdit)
                lblFilepath.Text = sFilePath
                lblLineInfo.Width = Me.Width - lblFilepath.Width
                Dim ln As Long = rtbEdit.GetLineFromCharIndex(rtbEdit.SelectionStart)
                Dim ch As Integer = rtbEdit.SelectionStart - rtbEdit.GetFirstCharIndexFromLine(ln)
                Me.lblLineInfo.Text = "Ln " & ln + 1 & ", Ch " & ch + 1
            End If
        End Using

---

hope that helps

I'd have to see your code to see what's wrong.

I'm not sure if it's mine or yours at the moment, I'll have to have a look.

Kind Regards
Icyculyr

hello Icyculyr
I downloaded the file. and im playing around with it ive changed most of the tags.but I was wondering if there is any way of adding more colors?

instead of 3. (ie the blue one the comment one and the "" one)
I need more. and im having trouble adding more i thought making new variables

example
(
Public cTokens As Color = Color.Beige
Public rTokens As New Regex("//")
)

and it does not work. i was also skimming thru the code and there is a LOT of things. and im thinking that your answer will not be an easy one for me. meaning I will have to do Complex things to add new colors.

thx for the comment when its added.


and THANK YOU For this Fantastic File you made.


EDIT --ahhaah I figured it out =] THX again for this.!!

hmm.. i'm thinking why "<<",">>","{}","()","[]" and other mathematical operators will not be colored..