Foobar2000 Title Formatting Syntax

Provides syntax highlighting, code snippets and code context for Foobar2000 title formatting scripts.

Handles all scripting related to Foobar2000 native tags and functions, as well as those of ColumnsUI.

Updated with Foobar2000 v2.25.2 and ColumnsUI v3.1.0.

Features

Syntax highlighting

All elements of the title-formatting syntax are recognized

• Functions are highlighted in two ways:
  • Predefined functions (recognized by Foobar2000) are colored as valid functions.
  • Unrecognized functions (not supported by Foobar2000) are highlighted as errors.
• Tags are colored differently depending on their type:
  • Predefined tags use one color.
  • User-defined tags (custom tags) use a distinct color to differentiate them from the standard ones.

Snippets

Complete code snippets are provided for all predefined tags, functions and query keywords.

Code Context

This plugin delivers detailed, contextual information directly to your cursor via a simple hover. For each element of the language, a link to the official documentation is provided.

Markdown fenced blocks

This plugin introduces support for fenced code blocks within your markdown files, specifically utilizing the tag 'fb2k' for dedicated syntax highlighting. By wrapping code segments with three backticks and the 'fb2k' identifier, you can embed title formatting like the following example:

```fb2k
$puts(
  artist,
  $stripprefix(
    $trim(%artist%),
    'The'
  )
)
$get(artist)
```

Folding

Indentation-based folding is supported when writing title formatting scripts: a folding region starts when a line has a smaller indent than one or more following lines, and ends when there is a line with the same or smaller indent. Empty lines are ignored.

Additionally, you can define a folding region.

The start of a folding region is defined by a line starting with

//section>

The end of a folding region is defined by a line starting with

//endsection>

For example:

//section> tags normalization
$puts(
  artist,
  $stripprefix(
    $trim(%artist%),
    'The'
  )
)
//endsection> tags normalization

Folding regions can be nested inside each other.

Commands

The plugin provides the following commands:

Remove Indentation

To simplify writing and reading complex scripts, code is indented within functions. For example:

$puts(
  target,
  $if(
    %series%,
    $stripprefix(
      %series%,
      'The'
    ),
    $stripprefix(
      %album artist%,
      'The'
    )
  )
)

To use this function in Foobar2000, you must remove indentation, since all spaces are significant in FB2k title formatting, even those at the beginning of the lines.

This command removes indentation from all selected lines, or from all unselected lines between blank or commented lines.

• Keybinding: Ctrl+K Ctrl+H (Cmd+K Cmd+H on Mac)
• Command Palette: Shift+Ctrl+P (Windows/Linux) Shift+Cmd+P (Mac) then type Remove Indentation
• Context menu: FB2K -> Remove Indentation

Join Lines

This command joins into a single line all selected lines of code, or all unselected lines between blank or commented lines.

This is useful when a complex script has been written on multiple lines of text but needs to be copied into a single line of input text in the Foobar2000 interface.

• Keybinding: Ctrl+K Ctrl+Z (Cmd+K Cmd+Z on Mac)
• Command Palette: Shift+Ctrl+P (Windows/Linux) Shift+Cmd+P (Mac) then type Join Lines
• Context menu: FB2K -> Join Lines

Join Lines No Comments

This command joins all selected lines of code, or all unselected lines between blank lines, into a single line, after removing the commented lines.

This is useful when there are commented lines within a script that must be removed before the script can be used in Foobar2000.

• Keybinding: Ctrl+K Ctrl+Y (Cmd+K Cmd+Y on Mac)
• Command Palette: Shift+Ctrl+P (Windows/Linux) Shift+Cmd+P (Mac) then type Join Lines No Comments
• Context menu: FB2K -> Join Lines Join Lines Remove Comments

Transpile (experimental)

This command allows you to transform the code present in a scripting file to make it compatible with old versions of Foobar2000.

The command acts on an entire file. The processing result is automatically saved in a file with the same name as the starting one, but with the pre-suffix "transpiled", and shown in a side window of VSCode.

The algorithm is in an experimental phase.

• Keybinding: Ctrl+K Ctrl+P (Cmd+K Cmd+P on Mac)
• Command Palette: Shift+Ctrl+P (Windows/Linux) Shift+Cmd+P (Mac) then type Transpile
• Context menu: FB2K -> Transpile

note: these commands are only available in files with the '.f2k' extension.

Customizing Syntax Highlighting Colors

VS Code allows for granular control over syntax highlighting colors using TextMate scopes. This customization can be applied either globally (affecting all projects) or locally (per-project).

1. Global Customization

To apply color changes globally, you must edit your VS Code User Settings file (settings.json).

1. Open the Command Palette (Ctrl+Shift+P or Cmd+Shift+P).
2. Type and select "Preferences: Open User Settings (JSON)."
3. Add or modify the editor.tokenColorCustomizations object. Within the textMateRules array, you define rules by targeting specific TextMate scopes (like support.function.fb2k for your built-in functions) and setting the desired foreground color and fontStyle.

{
  "editor.tokenColorCustomizations": {
    "textMateRules": [
      {
        "scope": "comment.line.double-slash.fb2k",
        "settings": {
          "foreground": "#6A9955"
        }
      },
      {
        "scope": "support.function.fb2k",
        "settings": {
          "foreground": "#DCDCAA",
          "fontStyle": "bold"
        }
      }
    ]
  }
}

2. Project-Level Customization

For changes that apply only to the current workspace, you must create a file named settings.json inside the .vscode folder at the root of your project.

1. Create the folder .vscode/ in your project root.
2. Create the file .vscode/settings.json.
3. Apply the same editor.tokenColorCustomizations structure shown above. These settings will override the global settings only when this specific project is open.

You can use this file as a reference for the specific TextMate scopes defined in the syntax grammar for Foobar2000 Title Formatting.

Usage

Open a file with the .f2k extension to activate all the features of the plugin.

Installation

1. Open Extensions sidebar panel in VS Code. View → Extensions
2. Search for Foobar2000 Title Formatting Syntax
3. Click Install to install it.

Contributing

Contributions to this project are welcomed!

Whether you have

• questions, concerns, or suggestions for improving this extension
• want to report a bug
• submit a fix
• propose new features

please don't hesitate to reach out to us on GitHub and open an issue.

Disclaimer

Copyright 2025 Thorn Duke

Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the “Software”), to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:

The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED “AS IS”, WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.