How to fix DreamWeaver's comment highlighting for javascript? - comments

Question

I have a JavaScript line similar to:
var a = (b / 2) + (c / 2);
In Dreamweaver, it highlights this segment as a comment and treats it like this:
var a = (b /* 2 ) + (c */ 2);
It's incorrect syntax highlighting and very annoying. Where do I find syntax highlighting definitions and how do I modify them to correct this?

Answer 1

You can delete/modify the regex definition yourself by finding CodeColoring.xml in your Dreamweaver's configuration path. For CS6 in Windows 7, the default is:
C:\Program Files (x86)\Adobe\Adobe Dreamweaver CS6\configuration\
You will then need to find the JavaScript scheme:
<scheme MMString:name="JavaScript/scheme/name" id="JavaScript" ...>
And within it, you'll find the regexp definition:
<regexp name="RegExp" id="CodeColor_JavascriptRegexp" delimiter="/" escape="\\">
<searchPattern><![CDATA[/\e+\\/]]></searchPattern>
</regexp>
This can probably be refined, but I don't use regular expressions in most scenarios so I just deleted this segment. Restart DW, and voila.
If you want to refine the definition, StackOverflow seems to have its regex highlighting down:
var regex = /a+b/;
var number = (window.innerWidth / window.innerHeight) / 2;

Answer 2

This article explains how to do it:
Modifying Dreamweaver’s syntax highlighting
http://realworldz.wordpress.com/2007/10/04/modifying-dreamweavers-syntax-highlighting/
It gives an example of how to add syntax highlighting to the keyword new for VBScript:
Close Dreamweaver if it’s already open.
Go to C:\Documents and Settings\<YOUR USERNAME>\Application Data\Macromedia\Dreamweaver 8\Configuration\CodeColoring
Open the “ASP VBScript.xml” file in Notepad.
Look for the tags and after the one for “Mod”, add in a new one called for the keyword “New” like this; <keyword>New</keyword>

Answer 3

I have looked everywhere and I agree with the answer from this previous question: Dreamweaver CS5 code hinting
There is just not that much control over syntax highlighting. You can use the method described by Robert's answer here to add more reserved words and such. But editing that file does not apply to changing how Dreamweaver handles highlighting of constants and operators.
Here is a reasonable way to change the way you write you code so that you syntax will still be highlighted in examples like this.
<script>
var a =
(b/2) //Because the forward slashes are not on the same line,
+(c/2); //Dreamweaver will not stop highlighting the numbers
//and operators
document.write(a);
</script>
Note: in this specific example your code can also be simplified to var a = (b+c)/2;

Answer 4

Since the characters /([{;,=!|&~^<>+-*%?:} can't be followed by a division sign, this is what I came up with:
<searchPattern><![CDATA[/\s+/\e+\\/]]></searchPattern>
(this one must have at least one whitespace character to avoid conflicts with end-of-line comments)
<searchPattern><![CDATA[(\s*/\e+\\/]]></searchPattern>
<searchPattern><![CDATA[[\s*/\e+\\/]]></searchPattern>
<searchPattern><![CDATA[{\s*/\e+\\/]]></searchPattern>
<searchPattern><![CDATA[;\s*/\e+\\/]]></searchPattern>
<searchPattern><![CDATA[,\s*/\e+\\/]]></searchPattern>
<searchPattern><![CDATA[=\s*/\e+\\/]]></searchPattern>
<searchPattern><![CDATA[!\s*/\e+\\/]]></searchPattern>
<searchPattern><![CDATA[|\s*/\e+\\/]]></searchPattern>
<searchPattern><![CDATA[&\s*/\e+\\/]]></searchPattern>
<searchPattern><![CDATA[~\s*/\e+\\/]]></searchPattern>
<searchPattern><![CDATA[^\s*/\e+\\/]]></searchPattern>
<searchPattern><![CDATA[<\s*/\e+\\/]]></searchPattern>
<searchPattern><![CDATA[>\s*/\e+\\/]]></searchPattern>
<searchPattern><![CDATA[+\s*/\e+\\/]]></searchPattern>
<searchPattern><![CDATA[-\s*/\e+\\/]]></searchPattern>
<searchPattern><![CDATA[*\s*/\e+\\/]]></searchPattern>
<searchPattern><![CDATA[%\s*/\e+\\/]]></searchPattern>
<searchPattern><![CDATA[?\s*/\e+\\/]]></searchPattern>
<searchPattern><![CDATA[:\s*/\e+\\/]]></searchPattern>
<searchPattern><![CDATA[}\s*/\e+\\/]]></searchPattern>
For scenarios like if (x) /foo/.exec('bar'), just put the RegExp in parenthesis to format it properly. The only other ill effect is that the preceding character will just be formatted as regular text (not bold or colored).