How to get correct syntax highlighting for Python 3 formatted strings

J Vickroy

For me, Notepad++ 7.9.1 is rendering f-strings as unstyled text rather than in the style of regular strings.
Could someone provide guidance on how to address this issue?
Thanks.
/jimv

Alan Kilborn

@J-Vickroy

Have you tried searching this forum for f-strings ?

J Vickroy

Thanks for your quick response.

I did search this forum prior to posting - implicit in my subject title being verbatim that of a previous (now locked) posting.
My search revealed posts on this subject by you (among others) that seemed to indicate f-string styling should be supported by Notepad 3.9.1 without modification to XML configuration files. Am I mistaken?

Prior to posting, I also verified C:\Program Files (x86)\Notepad++\stylers.model.xml contains F STRING specifications under the <LexerType name=“python” desc=“Python” ext=“”> tag.

I’m misunderstanding something, but I do not know what.

Michael Vincent

@J-Vickroy said in How to get correct syntax highlighting for Python 3 formatted strings:

without modification to XML configuration files. Am I mistaken?

You’re using the default styler, not a theme, correct?

PeterJones

@J-Vickroy said in How to get correct syntax highlighting for Python 3 formatted strings:

Prior to posting, I also verified C:\Program Files (x86)\Notepad++\stylers.model.xml contains F STRING specifications under the <LexerType name=“python” desc=“Python” ext=“”> tag.

Right. but does your %AppData%\Notepad++\stylers.xml (or, appropriate theme) also contain the F STRING. Because stylers.model.xml is only read if there isn’t a stylers.xml in an appropriate config directory (either the install directory or the appdata location I mentioned or in your cloud folder) – and that, only to effectively copy stylers.model.xml right\path\to\stylers.xml before loading that new stylers.xml. If you have an outdated stylers.xml (or if you have a different theme selected, and the theme config XML hasn’t been updated), then the config file Notepad++ actually reads that stylers.xml (or theme xml), and doesn’t see the F STRING setting.

I did search this forum prior to posting - implicit in my subject title being verbatim that of a previous (now locked) posting.

Hmm, I haven’t found that verbatim-title post yet. My search-fu must be weak.

I did find Python Syntax Highlighting, whose last post gives the strong indication that having an outdated theme can be the culprit.

Or then there’s the Python 3 f-strings not colourizing correctly discussion, where the user supplied the screenshot showing that the Style Configurator was out of date – where I even provide a procedure for how to copy the relevant portions of stylers.model.xml into stylers.xml, if you don’t want to overwrite any other customizations you’ve made to stylers.xml.

J Vickroy

@Michael-Vincent
Thanks for your reply. I was using the Zenburn theme, but switching to Default (stylers.xml) did not alter the behavior.

PeterJones

@J-Vickroy said in How to get correct syntax highlighting for Python 3 formatted strings:

switching to Default (stylers.xml) did not alter the behavior.

… which confirms that your stylers.xml has not been updated to match stylers.model.xml. (and I just checked: the most recent zenburn.xml has not been updated to have f-string syntax…)

So follow the instructions I linked which explain how to get those appropriate lines from stylers.model.xml into stylers.xml or zenburn.xml, or whatever theme you want to put them in (same instructions, different filename).

J Vickroy

@PeterJones
Thanks Peter.

I just verified my %AppData%\Notepad++\stylers.xml file did not contain any F * entries.
Adding the F * entries to stylers.xml and switching to the Default theme fixed the issue. So it seems, I did have to modify an XML (stylers.xml) file.

All that remains is for me to determine how to make it work for other (e.g., Zenburn) themes.

J Vickroy

@PeterJones
Thanks again Peter for your followup post with the link on how to repair for non-default themes! This is great and I learned something in the process!