syntastic/doc/syntastic.txt

*syntastic.txt*   Syntax checking on the fly has never been so pimp.
*syntastic*


                    It's a bird! It's a plane! ZOMG It's ... ~

                   _____             __             __  _      ~
                  / ___/__  ______  / /_____ ______/ /_(_)____ ~
                  \__ \/ / / / __ \/ __/ __ `/ ___/ __/ / ___/ ~
                 ___/ / /_/ / / / / /_/ /_/ (__  ) /_/ / /__   ~
                /____/\__, /_/ /_/\__/\__,_/____/\__/_/\___/   ~
                     /____/                                    ~



                              Reference Manual~


==============================================================================
CONTENTS                                                  *syntastic-contents*

    1.Intro...................................|syntastic-intro|
    2.Functionality provided..................|syntastic-functionality|
        2.1.The statusline flag...............|syntastic-statusline-flag|
        2.2.Error signs.......................|syntastic-error-signs|
        2.3.Error window......................|syntastic-error-window|
    3.Commands................................|syntastic-commands|
    4.Global Options..........................|syntastic-global-options|
    5.Checker Options.........................|syntastic-checker-options|
    6.About...................................|syntastic-about|
    7.License.................................|syntastic-license|


==============================================================================
1. Intro                                                     *syntastic-intro*

Note: This doc only deals with using syntastic. To learn how to write syntax
checker integrations, see the guide on the github wiki:

    https://github.com/scrooloose/syntastic/wiki/Syntax-Checker-Guide

Syntastic is a syntax checking plugin that runs files through external syntax
checkers. This can be done on demand, or automatically as files are saved and
opened.  If syntax errors are detected, the user is notified and is happy
because they didn't have to compile their code or execute their script to find
them.

Syntastic comes in two parts: the syntax checker plugins, and the core. The
syntax checker plugins are defined on a per-filetype basis where each one wraps
up an external syntax checking program. The core script delegates off to these
plugins and uses their output to provide the syntastic functionality.

Take a look in the syntax_checkers directory for a list of supported filetypes
and checkers.


==============================================================================
2. Functionality provided                            *syntastic-functionality*

Syntax checking can be done automatically or on demand (see
|'syntastic_mode_map'| for configuring this).

When syntax checking is done, the features below can be used to notify the
user of errors. See |syntastic-options| for how to configure and
activate/deactivate these features.

    * A statusline flag
    * Signs beside lines with errors
    * The |location-list| can be populated with the errors for the associated
      buffer.
    * Erroneous parts of lines can be highlighted (this functionality is only
      provided by some syntax checkers).
    * Balloons (if compiled in) can be used to display error messages for
      erroneous lines when hovering the mouse over them.


------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2.1. The statusline flag                           *syntastic-statusline-flag*

To use the statusline flag, this must appear in your |'statusline'| setting >
    %{SyntasticStatuslineFlag()}
<
Something like this could be more useful: >
    set statusline+=%#warningmsg#
    set statusline+=%{SyntasticStatuslineFlag()}
    set statusline+=%*
<
When syntax errors are detected a flag will be shown. The content of the flag
is derived from the |syntastic_stl_format| option
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2.2. Error signs                                       *syntastic-error-signs*

Syntastic uses the |:sign| commands to mark lines with errors and warnings in
the sign column. To enable this feature, use the |'syntastic_enable_signs'|
option.

Signs are colored using the Error and Todo syntax highlight groups by default.
If you wish to customize the colors for the signs, you can use the following
groups:
    SyntasticErrorSign - For syntax errors, links to 'error' by default
    SyntasticWarningSign - For syntax warnings, links to 'todo' by default
    SyntasticStyleErrorSign - For style errors, links to 'SyntasticErrorSign'
                              by default
    SyntasticStyleWarningSign - For style warnings, links to
                                'SyntasticWarningSign' by default

Example: >
    highlight SyntasticErrorSign guifg=white guibg=red
<
To set up highlighting for the line where a sign resides, you can use the
following highlight groups:
    SyntasticErrorLine
    SyntasticWarningLine
    SyntasticStyleErrorLine - Links to 'SyntasticErrorLine' by default
    SyntasticStyleWarningLine - Links to 'SyntasticWarningLine' by default

Example: >
    highlight SyntasticErrorLine guibg=#2f0000
<

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2.3. The error window                       *:Errors* *syntastic-error-window*

You can use the :Errors command to display the errors for the current buffer
in the |location-list|.

Note that when you use :Errors, the current location list is overwritten with
Syntastic's own location list.


==============================================================================
3. Commands                                               *syntastic-commands*

:Errors                                                     *:SyntasticErrors*

When errors have been detected, use this command to pop up the |location-list|
and display the error messages.


:SyntasticToggleMode                                    *:SyntasticToggleMode*

Toggles syntastic between active and passive mode. See |'syntastic_mode_map'|
for more info.


:SyntasticCheck                                              *:SyntasticCheck*

Manually cause a syntax check to be done. Useful in passive mode, or if the
current filetype is set to passive. See |'syntastic_mode_map'| for more info.

:SyntasticInfo                                               *:SyntasticInfo*

Output info about what checkers are available and in use for the current
filetype.


==============================================================================
4. Global Options                                   *syntastic-global-options*


                                                   *'syntastic_check_on_open'*
Default: 0
If enabled, syntastic will do syntax checks when buffers are first loaded as
well as on saving >
    let g:syntastic_check_on_open=1
<

                                                     *'syntastic_check_on_wq'*
Default: 1
Normally syntastic runs syntax checks whenever buffers are written to disk.
If you want to skip these checks when you issue |:wq|, |:x|, and |:ZZ|, set this
variable to 0. >
    let g:syntastic_check_on_wq=0
<

                                              *'syntastic_echo_current_error'*
Default: 1
If enabled, syntastic will echo the errror associated with the current line to
the command window. If multiple errors are found, the first will be used. >
    let g:syntastic_echo_current_error=1
<

                                                    *'syntastic_enable_signs'*
Default: 1
Use this option to tell syntastic whether to use the |:sign| interface to mark
syntax errors: >
    let g:syntastic_enable_signs=1
<

                   *'syntastic_error_symbol'* *'syntastic_style_error_symbol'*
               *'syntastic_warning_symbol'* *'syntastic_style_warning_symbol'*
Use this option to control what the syntastic |:sign| text contains. Several
error symobls can be customized:
    syntastic_error_symbol - For syntax errors, defaults to '>>'
    syntastic_style_error_symbol - For style errors, defaults to 'S>'
    syntastic_warning_symbol - For syntax warnings, defaults to '>>'
    syntastic_style_warning_symbol - For style warnings, defaults to 'S>'

Example: >
    let g:syntastic_error_symbol='✗'
    let g:syntastic_warning_symbol='⚠'
<

                                                 *'syntastic_enable_balloons'*
Default: 1
Use this option to tell syntastic whether to display error messages in balloons
when the mouse is hovered over erroneous lines: >
    let g:syntastic_enable_balloons = 1
<
Note that vim must be compiled with |+balloon_eval|.

                                            *'syntastic_enable_highlighting'*
Default: 1
Use this option to tell syntastic whether to use syntax highlighting to mark
errors (where possible). Highlighting can be turned off with the following >
    let g:syntastic_enable_highlighting = 0
<

                                        *'syntastic_always_populate_loc_list'*
Default: 0
Enable this option to tell syntastic to always stick any detected errors into
the loclist: >
    let g:syntastic_always_populate_loc_list=1
<
                                                       *'syntastic_auto_jump'*
Default: 0
Enable this option if you want the cursor to jump to the first detected error
when saving or opening a file: >
    let g:syntastic_auto_jump=1
<

                                                   *'syntastic_auto_loc_list'*
Default: 2
Use this option to tell syntastic to automatically open and/or close the
|location-list| (see |syntastic-error-window|).

When set to 0 the error window will not be opened or closed automatically. >
    let g:syntastic_auto_loc_list=0
<

When set to 1 the error window will be automatically opened when errors are
detected, and closed when none are detected. >
    let g:syntastic_auto_loc_list=1
<
When set to 2 the error window will be automatically closed when no errors are
detected, but not opened automatically. >
    let g:syntastic_auto_loc_list=2
<

                                                 *'syntastic_loc_list_height'*
Default: 10
Use this option to specify the height of the location lists that syntastic
opens. >
    let g:syntastic_loc_list_height=5
<

                                                    *'syntastic_ignore_files'*
Default: []
Use this option to specify files that syntastic should neither check, nor
include in error lists. It has to be a list of |regular-expression| patterns.
The full paths of files (see |::p|) are matched against these patterns, and
the matches are case sensitive. Use |\c| if you need case insensitive
patterns. >
    let g:syntastic_ignore_files=['^/usr/include/', '\c\.h$']
<

                                                        *'syntastic_mode_map'*
Default: { "mode": "active",
           "active_filetypes": [],
           "passive_filetypes": [] }

Use this option to fine tune when automatic syntax checking is done (or not
done).

The option should be set to something like: >

    let g:syntastic_mode_map = { 'mode': 'active',
                               \ 'active_filetypes': ['ruby', 'php'],
                               \ 'passive_filetypes': ['puppet'] }
<

"mode" can be mapped to one of two values - "active" or "passive". When set to
active, syntastic does automatic checking whenever a buffer is saved or
initially opened.  When set to "passive" syntastic only checks when the user
calls :SyntasticCheck.

The exceptions to these rules are defined with "active_filetypes" and
"passive_filetypes". In passive mode, automatic checks are still done
for all filetypes in the "active_filetypes" array. In active mode,
automatic checks are not done for any filetypes in the
"passive_filetypes" array.

At runtime, the |:SyntasticToggleMode| command can be used to switch between
active and passive mode.

If any of "mode", "active_filetypes", or "passive_filetypes" are not specified
then they will default to their default value as above.

                                                  *'syntastic_quiet_warnings'*

Use this option if you only care about syntax errors, not warnings. When set,
this option has the following effects:
    * no |signs| appear unless there is at least one error, whereupon both
      errors and warnings are displayed
    * the |'syntastic_auto_loc_list'| option only pops up the error window if
      there's at least one error, whereupon both errors and warnings are
      displayed
>
    let g:syntastic_quiet_warnings=1
<

                                                      *'syntastic_stl_format'*

Default: [Syntax: line:%F (%t)]
Use this option to control what the syntastic statusline text contains. Several
magic flags are available to insert information:
    %e - number of errors
    %w - number of warnings
    %t - total number of warnings and errors
    %fe - line number of first error
    %fw - line number of first warning
    %F - line number of first warning or error

Several additional flags are available to hide text under certain conditions:
    %E{...} - hide the text in the brackets unless there are errors
    %W{...} - hide the text in the brackets unless there are warnings
    %B{...} - hide the text in the brackets unless there are both warnings AND
              errors
These flags cant be nested.

Example: >
    let g:syntastic_stl_format = '[%E{Err: %fe #%e}%B{, }%W{Warn: %fw #%w}]'
<
If this format is used and the current buffer has 5 errors and 1 warning
starting on lines 20 and 10 respectively then this would appear on the
statusline: >
    [Err: 20 #5, Warn: 10 #1]
<
If the buffer had 2 warnings, starting on line 5 then this would appear: >
    [Warn: 5 #2]
<

==============================================================================
5. Checker Options                                  *syntastic-checker-options*

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5.1 Telling syntastic which checker to use.

Stick a line like this in your vimrc: >
    let g:syntastic_<filetype>_checkers = ['<checker-name>']
<
e.g. >
    let g:syntastic_python_checkers = ['flake8']
<

There's also a per-buffer version of this setting, b:syntastic_checkers. Use
this in an autocmd to configure specific checkers for particular paths: >
    autocmd FileType python if stridx(expand('%:p'), '/some/path/') == 0 |
        \ let b:syntastic_checkers = ['pylint'] | endif
<

To see the list of available checkers for your filetype, look in
`syntax_checkers/<filetype>/`. The names of the files here correspond to
'<checker-name>' above.

e.g. Python has the following checkers: flake8, pyflakes, pylint and a
native python checker.

Some filetypes, like PHP, have style checkers as well as syntax checkers. These
can be chained together like this: >
    let g:syntastic_php_checkers=['php', 'phpcs', 'phpmd']`
<
This is telling syntastic to run the 'php' checker first, and if no errors are
found, run 'phpcs', and then 'phpmd'.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5.2 Configuring specific checkers                  *syntastic-config-makeprg*

Most checkers use the 'syntastic#makeprg#build()' function and provide many
options by default - in fact you can customise every part of the command
that gets called.

Checkers that use 'syntastic#makeprg#build()' look like this: >
    let makeprg = syntastic#makeprg#build({
                \ 'exe': 'ruby',
                \ 'args': '-a -b -c',
                \ 'post_args': '--more --args',
                \ 'tail': '> /tmp/output',
                \ 'subchecker': 'mri' })
<

All of the parameters above can be overriden by setting global variables -
even parameters not specified in the call to syntastic#makeprg#build().

E.g. To override the checker exe above, you could do this: >
    let g:syntastic_ruby_mri_exe="another_ruby_checker_exe.rb"
<
To override the args and the tail: >
    let g:syntastic_ruby_mri_args="--my --args --here"
    let g:syntastic_ruby_mri_tail="> /tmp/my-output-file-biatch"
<

The general form of the override options is: >
    syntastic_[filetype]_[subchecker]_[option-name]
<

For checkers that do not use the 'syntastic#makeprg#build()' function you
will have to look at the source code of the checker in question. If there are
specific options that can be set, these are usually documented at the top of
the script.

==============================================================================
6. About                                                     *syntastic-about*

The core maintainers of syntastic are:
    Martin Grenfell (github: scrooloose)
    Gregor Uhlenheuer (github: kongo2002)

Find the latest version of syntastic here:
    http://github.com/scrooloose/syntastic

==============================================================================
7. License                                                 *syntastic-license*

Syntastic is released under the wtfpl.
See http://sam.zoy.org/wtfpl/COPYING.

 vim:tw=78:sw=4:ft=help:norl: