Deft

Deft is language support for X-macro .def table files: one macro call per line, such as EVENT(0x0101, BootDone, "Boot done") or CHANNEL(MOD_A, Screen, 4). It works for any macro names and any columns.

Which files

Files with the extension .def get the language xmacro-def. Lines that are not a row are plain text to Deft, so other .def files (for example Windows linker module definitions) just show no highlighting and no diagnostics.

The table format

// line comment, /* block comment */
#include "other.def"
/*  id      name    label */
MACRO_NAME(0x0101, Boot, "string, with commas", (tuple, of, values))

• A row is a line MACRO_NAME(arg, arg, ...): an identifier at the start of the line followed by (. Arguments are split at top-level commas; strings and nested parentheses are respected. A row is a single line.
• The id of a row is its first argument. Numbers compare numerically (0x10 equals 16), anything else by text.
• The name of a row is the argument under a header word name (see below) if that is an identifier, else the first argument after the id that is a plain identifier, if there is one.
• A header is a one-line comment whose words are all identifiers (/* id name label */) above a block of rows. It names the columns by position; prose comments are never headers.
• Everything else (comments, directives, blank lines, any other text) is ignored and never reported.

Features

• Syntax highlighting for macro names, ids, numbers, strings, {0} placeholders, directives and comments.
• Colors from settings: deft.colors.* (below) recolor macro names, ids, names, numbers, strings and placeholders without a theme change.
• Diagnostics while you type, per macro, within the file and one #include level deep: duplicate ids (error, for rows whose first argument is a number) and duplicate names (warning; for rows whose first argument is not a number, such as OPTION(LEVEL, 0, DEBUG), that argument is an owner and names are unique per owner), unterminated strings and rows (error), rows with an argument count that differs from the usual one of their macro (warning), unreadable #include files (warning).
• Hover on an argument shows its position and, if the header comment has a word there, its column name; on a macro name it shows the header and the argument count.
• Outline / breadcrumbs / Go to Symbol: a flat list of rows, labelled by name (or id), with the macro as detail.
• Format Document / Format Selection aligns the columns of rows. A row with as many arguments as the header above it has words is placed under the header words, with ( just before the first. A row with fewer arguments stays on the grid if each argument already sits under a header word (blank columns are allowed). Any other row is aligned with its consecutive neighbours. Only whitespace changes; rows with syntax errors, comments and directives are left alone; trailing comments line up.
• Highlighting and Go to Definition in any file, Find References from tables: in any file other than a table, names that a row defines are colored (deft.colors.use) and Go to Definition jumps to that row. A prefixed use such as PREFIX_Name matches too (longest _-suffix that is a table name); other names are left to other providers. In a table, Find References on a row name lists its whole-word (optionally prefixed) uses in *.c, *.cc, *.cpp, *.cxx, *.h, *.hh, *.hpp, *.hxx (excluding node_modules, build, out). Tables are all **/*.def files of the workspace; C/C++ is scanned only on request.
• #include "file.def" paths are clickable.

Settings

Under Settings, Extensions, Deft. Each takes a color like #E06C75; empty uses the theme (use: no highlighting).