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.Options.................................|syntastic-options|
    5.Writing syntax checkers.................|syntastic-syntax-checkers|
    6.About...................................|syntastic-about|
    7.Changelog...............................|syntastic-changelog|
    8.Credits.................................|syntastic-credits|
    9.License.................................|syntastic-license|


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

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 script
(i.e. syntastic.vim). 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. At the time of this writing, syntax checking plugins
exist for c, coffee, cpp, css, cucumber, cuda, docbk, erlang, eruby, fortran,
go, haml, haskell, html, javascript, less, lua, matlab, perl, php, puppet,
python, ruby, sass/scss, sh, tcl, tex, vala, xhtml, xml, xslt, zpt

Take a look in the syntax_checkers directory for the most up to date list.

If your language is not supported then see |syntastic-syntax-checkers| for
details on how to implement a syntax checking plugin, and be sure to send me a
patch ;-)

This plugin is currently only recommended for *nix users. It is functional on
Windows, but since the syntax checking plugins shell out, the command window
briefly appears whenever one is executed.


==============================================================================
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 configurable statusline flag
    * Lines with errors can have |signs| placed beside them - where a different
      sign is used for errors and warnings.
    * A |location-list| can be displayed with error messages for erroneous
      buffers.
    * Offending 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.


Note: This functionality is only available if a syntax checker plugin is
present for the filetype of the buffer in question. See
|syntastic-syntax-checkers| for details.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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.


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


                                              *'syntastic_echo_current_error'*
Default: 1
If enabled, syntastic will error message 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_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_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_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 availble 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. Writing syntax checkers                         *syntastic-syntax-checkers*


A syntax checker plugin is really nothing more than a single function.  You
should define them in ~/.vim/syntax_checkers/<filetype>.vim, but this is
purely for convenience; Syntastic doesn't actually care where these functions
are defined.

A syntax checker plugin must define a function of the form:
>
    SyntaxCheckers_<filetype>_GetLocList()
<
The output of this function must be of the same format as that returned by
the |getloclist()| function. See |getloclist()| and |getqflist()| for
details.

To achieve this, the function should call |SyntasticMake()| or shell out to a
syntax checker, parse the output and munge it into the format.

There are several syntax checker plugins provided with this plugin. The ruby
one is a good example of |SyntasticMake()|, while the haml one is a good
example of how to create the data structure manually.


SyntasticMake({options})                                     *SyntasticMake()*
    {options} must be a dictionary. It can contain "makeprg" and "errorformat"
    as keys (both optional).

    SyntasticMake will run |:lmake| with the given |'makeprg'| and
    |'errorformat'| (using the current settings if none are supplied). It will
    store the resulting error list and use it to provide all of the
    |syntastic-functionality|. The previous makeprg and errorformat settings
    will then be restored, as well as the location list for the window.  From
    the user's perspective, it will be as though |:lmake| was never run.

    Note that the given "makeprg" and "errorformat" will be set using |:let-&|,
    so you should not escape spaces.


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

The author of syntastic is a mighty wild stallion, hear him roar! >
     _   _ _____ _____ ___ ___ ___ ____ _   _ _
    | \ | | ____| ____|_ _|_ _|_ _/ ___| | | | |
    |  \| |  _| |  _|  | | | | | | |  _| |_| | |
    | |\  | |___| |___ | | | | | | |_| |  _  |_|
    |_| \_|_____|_____|___|___|___\____|_| |_(_)

<
He likes to trot around in the back yard reading his emails and sipping a
scolding hot cup of Earl Grey. Email him at martin.grenfell at gmail dot com.
He can also be found trolling the #vim channel on the freenode IRC network as
scrooloose.

Bug reports, feedback, suggestions etc are welcomed.


The latest official releases will be on vim.org at some point.

The latest dev versions are on github
    http://github.com/scrooloose/syntastic

==============================================================================
7. Changelog                                             *syntastic-changelog*

Next version
    - when the cursor is on a line containing an error, echo the
      error msg (kevinw)
    - various bug fixes and refactoring
    - updates/fixes to existing checkers:
        - html (millermedeiros)
        - erlang
        - coffeescript
        - javascript
        - sh
        - php (add support for phpcs - technosophos)
    - add an applescript checker (Zhai Cai)

2.0.0
    - Add support for highlighting the erroneous parts of lines (kstep)
    - Add support for displaying errors via balloons (kstep)
    - Add syntastic_mode_map option to give more control over when checking
      should be done.
    - Add :SyntasticCheck command to force a syntax check -  useful in passive
      mode (justone).
    - Add the option to automatically close the location list, but not
      automatically open it (milkypostman)
    - Add syntastic_auto_jump option to automatically jump to the first
      error (milkypostman)
    - Only source syntax checkers as needed - instead of loading all of them
      when vim starts

    - Support for new filetypes:
        - less (julienXX)
        - docbook (tpope)
        - matlab (jasongraham)
        - go (dtjm)
        - puppet (uggedal, roman, zsprackett)
        - haskell (baldo, roman)
        - tcl (et)
        - vala (kstep)
        - cuda (temporaer)
        - css (oryband, sitedyno)
        - fortran (Karl Yngve Lervåg)
        - xml (kusnier)
        - xslt (kusnier)
        - erlang (kTT)
        - zpt (claytron)

    - updates to existing checkers:
        - javascript (mogren, bryanforbes, cjab, ajduncan)
        - sass/scss (tmm1, atourino, dlee, epeli)
        - ruby (changa)
        - perl (harleypig)
        - haml (bmihelac)
        - php (kstep, docteurklein)
        - python (kstep, soli)
        - lua (kstep)
        - html (kstep)
        - xhtml (kstep)
        - c (kongo2002, brandonw)
        - cpp (kongo2002)
        - coffee (industrial)
        - eruby (sergevm)

1.2.0
    - New syntax checkers from github:kongo2002
      - c (thanks also to github:jperras)
      - cpp
      - lua
      - sh (thanks also to github:jmcantrell)
    - add coffee syntax checked by github:lstoll
    - add tex syntax checker
    - make html checker play nicer with html5, thanks to github:enaeseth
    - escape filenames properly when invoking syntax checkers, thanks to
      github:jmcantrell
    - adjust the ruby syntax checker to avoid some common annoying warnings,
      thanks to github:robertwahler

1.1.0 [codenamed: tpimp]
    - Dont load rubygems for ruby/eruby syntax checkers. Thanks tpope.
    - Improve the javascript syntax checker to catch some warnings that were
      getting missed. Thanks tpope.
    - Dont automatically focus the error window. Thanks tpope.
    - Add support for cucumber [tpope], haskell & perl [Anthony Carapetis],
      and xhtml
    - Add commands to enable/disable syntax checking at runtime. See :help
      syntastic-commands.
    - Add an option to specifiy syntax checkers that should be disabled by
      default. See :help syntastic_disabled_filetypes.
    - Dont use :signs if vim wasnt compiled with support for them.
)

==============================================================================
8. Credits                                                 *syntastic-credits*

Thanks to the following people for testing, bug reports, patches etc. They own,
hard.

    Zhai Cai
    Matt Butcher (technosophos)
    Kevin Watters (kevinw)
    Miller Medeiros (millermedeiros)
    Pawel Salata (kTT)
    Fjölnir Ásgeirsson (aptiva)
    Clayton Parker (claytron)
    S. Zachariah Sprackett (zsprackett)
    Sylvain Soliman (soli)
    Ricardo Catalinas Jiménez (jimenezrick)
    kusnier
    Klein Florian (docteurklein)
    sitedyno
    Matthew Batema (mlb-)
    Nate Jones (justone)
    sergevm
    Karl Yngve Lervåg
    Pavel Argentov (argent-smith)
    Andy Duncan (ajduncan)
    Antonio Touriño (atourino)
    Chad Jablonski (cjab)
    Roman Gonzalez (roman)
    Tom Wieland (industrial)
    Ory Band (oryband)
    Esa-Matti Suuronen (epeli)
    Brandon Waskiewicz (brandonw)
    dlee
    temporaer
    Jason Graham (jasongraham)
    Sam Nguyen (dtjm)
    Claes Mogren (mogren)
    Eivind Uggedal (uggedal)
    kstep
    Andreas Baldeau (baldo)
    Eric Thomas (et)
    Brian Donovan (eventualbuddha)
    Bryan Forbes (bryanforbes)
    Aman Gupta (tmm1)
    Donald Ephraim Curtis (milkypostman)
    Dominique Rose-Rosette (changa)
    Harley Pig (harleypig)
    bmihelac
    Julien Blanchard (julienXX)
    Gregor Uhlenheuer (kongo2002)
    Lincoln Stoll
    Tim Carey-Smith (halorgium)
    Tim Pope (tpope)
    Travis Jeffery
    Anthony Carapetis


==============================================================================
9. License                                                 *syntastic-license*

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