Syntax highlighting for line-oriented syntax

[Marc Balcer]

I'm working on a syntax definition file for a markup language that has a line-oriented syntax. Specifically:

A line beginning with a single period is a command and should be subject to syntax highlighting of keywords and operators.

.select any newClass from instances of Class
.for each element in list

A line beginning with a period and double slash (.//) is a comment.

.// Create the syntax definition file correctly

I've put the line
SyntaxStart = .
into the syntax definition file. But what do I use for SyntaxEnd? I've tried \n and \r (guessing at C syntax) and they do not seem to work. In non-command lines, words that match keywords get highlighted.

I have tried using SingleComment and SingleCommentAlt, but since both get colored the same, the distinction between comments and commands is lost.

I also noticed an earlier posting on this board that newline as syntax end was a "requested" feature. Has this been implemented? Has anyone been successful at creating a syntax file where the end of line is used as SyntaxEnd?

Thanks.

Marc Balcer
mbalcer@acm.org