# PML Syntax Highlighting for Obsidian

Colors AVEVA PML (Programmable Macro Language, PML1 and PML2) code: ` ```pml ` fenced blocks in notes (Reading mode and Live Preview), and raw `.pml`, `.pmlobj`, `.pmlfnc`, `.pmlfrm`, `.pmlmac`, `.pmlcmd` files opened directly. Also folds PML blocks.

![PML syntax highlighting in light and dark themes](docs/preview.png)

*Generated by `preview.html` from the plugin's real `styles.css` and a JS port of `src/tokenizer.ts`. Colors are Obsidian's documented default theme variables, so this is a faithful approximation rather than a live screenshot of one particular theme.*

## Coverage

- Comments (`$* ...`)
- Strings (`'...'`, `|...|`)
- Local variables (`!var`) and global variables (`!!var`)
- UDA/attribute references (`:attribute`)
- Keywords (`define`, `method`, `endmethod`, `if/then/endif`, `do/enddo`, `handle any/endhandle`, …)
- Built-in types (`STRING`, `ARRAY`, `REAL`, `DBREF`, …), plus user-defined extra type words (module-specific DB elements)
- Numbers
- Method and member names after a `.` (`!obj.method()`, `!!ce.owner.name`, `define method .foo()`)
- Raw `.pml`-family files open in their own editable view (line numbers, undo/redo, same highlighting)
- Code folding for `if/endif`, `do/enddo`, `define method|function|object/end...`, `setup form/endsetup`, `handle/endhandle`, in both fenced blocks and raw files
- Settings tab: toggle Reading mode / Live Preview / raw-file highlighting / folding independently, per-category color overrides

Not a language server: no autocompletion, no error diagnostics, no cross-file symbol resolution. Visual coloring plus light editing aids (folding, an editable raw-file view).

## Install

**From Obsidian**: Settings → Community plugins → Browse → search "PML Syntax Highlighting" → Install → Enable.

**Manual install**: download `main.js`, `manifest.json` and `styles.css` from the [latest release](https://github.com/ML9373/obsidian-pml-highlight/releases/latest), copy them into `<vault>/.obsidian/plugins/syd-pml-highlight/`, then enable "PML Syntax Highlighting" in Obsidian's Community Plugins settings. To build the files yourself, see Dev below.

Requires Obsidian 1.13.0 or later.

## Dev

```bash
npm install --legacy-peer-deps
npm run build   # writes main.js; with manifest.json and styles.css, that is the whole plugin
npm run dev     # esbuild watch mode
```

`--legacy-peer-deps` is required: the `obsidian` devDependency's own peer dependency on `@codemirror/state` is newer than the version this repo pins directly, and plain `npm install` refuses to resolve that conflict (ERESOLVE). It's harmless here — Obsidian provides the real CodeMirror modules at runtime (see `esbuild.config.mjs`'s `external` list); these devDependencies only exist for TypeScript's type-checking.

### Rendering preview

`preview.html` renders the shipped `styles.css` against a JS port of the tokenizer, using Obsidian's documented default theme colors (light + dark), without needing Obsidian open. Useful to catch coloring issues before a real in-app check.

```bash
npm run preview   # serves the repo at http://localhost:4321/preview.html
```

Open the URL, and (optionally) screenshot both panels. The tokenizer in `preview.html` is a manual port of `tokenizePmlLine`/`KEYWORDS`/`TYPES`/`TOKEN_RE` in `src/tokenizer.ts` — if you change any of those, update `preview.html` to match, and add new coverage to its `BLOCKS` array. A new token class also needs its theme variable declared in `preview.html`'s own `:root` blocks, which only define the colors currently in use: without it the token renders in the default text color and the preview silently understates the change. This is a close approximation of Obsidian's real rendering, not a substitute for actually checking inside Obsidian.

## Feedback, license and affiliation

Bugs and requests: [GitHub issues](https://github.com/ML9373/obsidian-pml-highlight/issues). MIT license.

This is an independent personal project, not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by AVEVA. AVEVA is named only to say which language the plugin colors.