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I'm trying to see whether it's possible to define a syntax file for the hosts file (C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts).

Since the file doesn't have a suffix, I created a new syntax file (hosts.syn) with the following:

SingleComment = #

If I open the hosts file and manually set it to use this syntax file, it works, and commented-out lines display differently.

But I can't seem to create a document class which only applies to hosts - creating a new class and specifying "Files in class hosts" as simply "hosts" doesn't work.



Anyone got any great ideas?

IIRC the trick is to use "hosts." as Files in class pattern.
The dot was important ...

Also check whether another document class fits the file name - in my textpad, the text document class matches for "*.".
IIRC the classes are checked from bottom to top - first hit wins ...
(and I don't see any chance to change the order ...)

The dot in the filename is not required.

As MudGuard suggests, you can remove the entry:
Configure | Preferences... | Document Classes | Text | Files in class | *.

Alternatively, you can give the class a name, for example, ~ hosts, that places it lexicographically after all the other classes.

Thanks @ben_josephs and @MudGuard - I simply removed the *. entry from the TXT class, and it's all working fine.