Re: Feedback wanted: syntax highlighting in the LilyPond documentation

[David Kastrup]

Flaming Hakama by Elaine <elaine@flaminghakama.com> writes:

> In this sense, it seems like the place that has the most potential use
> for helping people distinguish different data types is where the
> syntax is the most complicated and dense, which is in music entry.
>
> The ability to quickly distinguish articulations, dynamics, notes, and
> durations seems like it would probably be most useful to people
> reading examples in docs, since that is the most unusual aspect of
> lilypond syntax.

I find splitting a8 into different colors about as helpful for reading
music as coloring note stems differently would be for reading score
sheets: there is a standard place they are attached to anyway and there
is no particular reason to look elsewhere.

It would be much more useful to highlight note lengths separated by
space but still common to a preceding note or rest, like

\drummode { bd4 r r 4. 8 }

where the 4. is sucked into the second r likely unintentionally.
Highlighting this is helpful.  When there is a general "angry fruit
salad" flavor pervading the highlighting with lots of colors everywhere,
there just is not a lot of attention one can draw to actually important
things.

-- 
David Kastrup