>[Mohsin]:
>>Vim only has syntax coloring with regexps. Emacs has functions to
>>apply properties to text blocks, and I was hoping vim has something
>>comparable.
[Mikolaj Machowski]
>Of course it is possible:
>:help /\%l
>:help /\%c
[François Pinard]
Humph, not really!
[Mikolaj Machowski]
OP asked for highlighting.
I failed to express myself clearly, as my point is not going through,
and some read in my replies intents I do not have. Sorry.
Moshin was asking for coloring text blocks, and by block, I understood
a region of text delimited by the position of boundaries. Mikolaj seems
to have read the request the same way, as he suggested help elements
allowing to tie regexps to precise locations in the text.
If I replied "not really!", this is because regexps tied to precise line
and column are not so useful when text gets edited (characters added or
removed before or within the highlighted region): it is likely that
syntax coloring will appear, for the editing user, more fixed to the
screen than tied to the text.
Emacs text properties are hung between floating text boundaries, and not
to fixed lines and columns. I wanted to show that it is not a simple
matter to implement this correctly. Mikolaj lapidary suggestion, in my
opinion, does not really address Moshin's request.
I did not really take position about if Vim or Emacs are better than one
another, or wrong altogether :-). But I do have an opinion: both are
great editors, each with their own many virtues and few weaknesses, each
being a good source of inspiration and ideas for all open-minded people.
Vim better fits who I am nowadays, but still, I'm convinced that anyone
blindly despising either of these editors (that is, beyond friendly
teases and without happiness in the heart) is publicly making a fool out
of himself, proving that he is either ignorant or stubborn.
--
François Pinard http://pinard.progiciels-bpi.ca
