Possible to add custom highlight syntax for file types?

[Schwegg]

Godot Version

4.2.1.stable

Question

I was wondering if it’s possible to add custom syntax to specific file types?
I’m writing a “dialogue script” parser for my dialogue system and I currently read from .txt files, but was wondering if I could easily add highlightable syntax specifically for the txt file type, or somehow add it if I have a custom file type (.dialogue as eg.)? Having the highlightable syntax for my dialogue would make it so much easier to read, eg. easier to see any misspellings.

[mrcdk]

Yes, you can create a plugin and register a new syntax highlighter with ScriptEditor.register_syntax_highlighter()

Example:

@tool
extends EditorPlugin


var dialogue_highlighter:DialogueHighlighter


func _enter_tree() -> void:
	dialogue_highlighter = DialogueHighlighter.new()
	var script_editor = EditorInterface.get_script_editor()
	script_editor.register_syntax_highlighter(dialogue_highlighter)


func _exit_tree() -> void:
	if is_instance_valid(dialogue_highlighter):
		var script_editor = EditorInterface.get_script_editor()
		script_editor.unregister_syntax_highlighter(dialogue_highlighter)
		dialogue_highlighter = null


class DialogueHighlighter extends EditorSyntaxHighlighter:


	func _get_name() -> String:
		return "Dialogue"


	func _get_supported_languages() -> PackedStringArray:
		return ["TextFile"]


	func _get_line_syntax_highlighting(line: int) -> Dictionary:
		var color_map = {}
		var text_editor = get_text_edit()
		var str = text_editor.get_line(line)

		if str.strip_edges().begins_with("#"):
			color_map[0] = { "color": Color.RED }

		var name_dialog_separator = str.find("::")

		if name_dialog_separator > -1:
			color_map[0] = { "color": Color.BLUE }
			color_map[name_dialog_separator] = { "color": Color.GREEN }
			color_map[name_dialog_separator + 2] = { "color": Color.WHITE }

		return color_map

Result:

More info on how to make plugins Making plugins — Godot Engine (stable) documentation in English

[Schwegg]

Would there be a way to access autoload variables with this script? I’m having issues with that, eg.

[mrcdk]

No, scripts running in the editor can’t access Autoloads.