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fmSyntaxColorizer logo

fmSyntaxColorizer

[See What You Mean!]

A tool for FileMaker developers from MrWatson to put color in your scripts and meaning into your life.

Copyright © 2021 MrWatson of www.mrwatson.de (LICENSE)

Welcome

Welcome to the new OPEN SOURCE version of fmSyntaxColorizer from MrWatson of www.mrwatson.de and fmworkmate.com

Did you say OPEN SOURCE?

  • Yes, fmSyntaxColorizer is now OPEN SOURCE :D
  • It's licenced under a GNU GPLv3 licence
  • That means you have full access to the file, can change it to your needs, and you can - indeed are heartily invited to - contribute back to the project!

What has changed?

  • fmSyntaxColorizer is now a separate project to fmWorkMate
  • Collections - to quickly add/remove a bunch of syntax colors
  • Version 1.2 removed a bug making it possible again to change colors with the right-click > Text Color menu :D
  • Version 1.3 added support for dark mode - at last!
  • Version 1.4 together with MBS 11.5 added wildcard searches in formulas
    • *zzz* highlights any zzz text in a calculation, such as zzz_DiscontinuedField
    • With */*/** (*) your attention is drawn to commented out comments, for example, in broken custom functions.
      • (*) that's two block comments /* /* between two wildcard asterisks *...*- tricky!
  • Version 1.5 added MBS options to use variable checking in scripts longer than 500 lines [:-)]
  • Versions 1.6 thru 1.12 have continued to improve fmSyntaxColorizer and keep it up to date with all the latest FM-changes and MBS goodies (not an easy task! :D)
  • See the CHANGES file for more

One thing, however, won't change...

  • fmSyntaxColorizer is a mac-only tool. Sorry win-guys

Happy FileMaking!

MrWatson 2023-03-03

mrwatson.de

Links

Get Started

  1. Install:
    • Download the latest release of fmSyntaxColorizer from the fmSyntaxColorizer repo
    • Copy the fmSyntaxColorizer folder to your machine, wherever you want, or...
      • Applications folder (recommended)
      • Note: If you want to start fmSyntaxColorizer from [fmWorkMate|(https://www.fmworkmate.com) place the fmSyntaxColorizer folder next to the fmWorkMate folder, or put the fmSyntaxColorizer file in the fmWorkMate folder!
    • Make Sure you have the latest MBS-Plugin installed and registered
  2. Use:
    • Open fmSyntaxColorizer in the FileMaker of your choice.
    • On the right enable all the MBS Developer extras you desire (and there may well be more in FileMaker Pro > Preferences > Plugins > MBS-Plugin > Configure ...Christian Schmitz develops faster than I can breathe!)
    • Choose the Collections that you want to colorize (just the Core collection will do for most people ... we may introduce a minimal collection later :-) ... you can also define your own)
    • Choose a different color pallette, if you wish (for example for dark mode)
    • Press the [Colorize] button
  3. See the colo(u)rs:
    • Open the script editor
    • Enjoy your colorful scripts(*)
    • If the colors don't look right please read the section below on light/dark mode.

It's a colorful life! :)

(*) Not enjoying? Let me know, feedback, contribute!

Light mode / dark mode troubleshooting

You only need to run fmSyntaxColorizer once to get colored scripts every time you open your Script Workspace or calculation editor.

If, however, you switch between light and dark mode (manually or automatically), the colors DON'T change!

FileMaker, fmSyntaxColorizer & MBS-Plugin do not currently support automatic color switching.

So, if you switch between light and dark mode:

  • reopen fmSyntaxColorizer and select the relevant dark/light color palette to switch fmSyntaxColorizers colors

And if the colors still don't look right:

  • Reset the FileMaker Script Workspace colors:
    • Script Workspace > Edit > Script Workspace Preferences > Syntax Coloring > [Reset to Default]

=> Note: To avoid this problem you might prefer to NOT choose automatic light/dark mode switching in your system preferences.

Get in!

SO, you are interested in how it all works?

To open fmSyntaxColorizer in developer mode:

  • Hold [ALT] [[SHIFT] on Windows) as you open fmSyntaxColorizer
  • Login using "the secret admin/admin password” ;-)
  • You're in - take a look around! (Note: It's not all nice on the inside :-] )

Get Involved

Please do help make fmSyntaxColorizer better!

Maybe we can make a better dark mode palette? Or add automatic dark/light palette selection?

See the CONTRIBUTING file

Tips & Tricks

You can define your own color palette or syntax if you like.

Take a look at the GBS syntax - for example, we use a zzz prefix to mark unused stuff, so we color it to warn if it is still in use.

If you need to highlight a particular phrase, you can use the minimised mode to color up to four phrases dynamically as you need.

You can define syntax entries for your GUI language - just enter the phrase in your langauge in the second column! (If anyone can automate this please let me know!)

Get More

MrWatson has a bunch of other stuff, check out [fmworkmate.com], mrwatson.de, or check out my repositories @mrwatson-de on github

Known Issues & Limitations

  • It's not possible to define colors which automatically change for light & dark mode
  • fmSyntaxColorizer does not automatically choose the correct color palette for the current light/dark mode
  • See the github issues page for more...