ft_ada.txt For Vim version 9.1. Last change: 2024 Sep 29
ADA FILE TYPE PLUG-INS REFERENCE MANUAL
ADA ada.vim
1. Syntax Highlighting ft-ada-syntax
2. File type Plug-in ft-ada-plugin
3. Omni Completion ft-ada-omni
3.1 Omni Completion with "gnat xref" gnat-xref
3.2 Omni Completion with "ctags" ada-ctags
4. Compiler Support ada-compiler
4.1 GNAT compiler-gnat
4.2 Dec Ada compiler-decada
5. References ada-reference
5.1 Options ft-ada-options
5.2 Commands ft-ada-commands
5.3 Variables ft-ada-variables
5.4 Constants ft-ada-constants
5.5 Functions ft-ada-functions
6. Extra Plug-ins ada-extra-plugins
==============================================================================
1. Syntax Highlighting
ft-ada-syntax
This mode is designed for the 2005 edition of Ada ("Ada 2005"), which includes
support for objected-programming, protected types, and so on. It handles code
written for the original Ada language ("Ada83", "Ada87", "Ada95") as well,
though code which uses Ada 2005-only keywords will be wrongly colored (such
code should be fixed anyway). For more information about Ada, see
http://www.adapower.com.
The Ada mode handles a number of situations cleanly.
For example, it knows that the "-" in "-5" is a number, but the same character
in "A-5" is an operator. Normally, a "with" or "use" clause referencing
another compilation unit is coloured the same way as C's "#include" is coloured.
If you have "Conditional" or "Repeat" groups coloured differently, then "end
if" and "end loop" will be coloured as part of those respective groups.
You can set these to different colours using vim's "highlight" command (e.g.,
to change how loops are displayed, enter the command ":hi Repeat" followed by
the colour specification; on simple terminals the colour specification
ctermfg=White often shows well).
There are several options you can select in this Ada mode. See ft-ada-options
for a complete list.
To enable them, assign a value to the option. For example, to turn one on:
let g:ada_standard_types = 1
To disable them use ":unlet". Example:
unlet g:ada_standard_types
You can just use ":" and type these into the command line to set these
temporarily before loading an Ada file. You can make these option settings
permanent by adding the "let" command(s), without a colon, to your "~/.vimrc"
file.
Even on a slow (90Mhz) PC this mode works quickly, but if you find the
performance unacceptable, turn on g:ada_withuse_ordinary.
Syntax folding instructions (fold-syntax) are added when g:ada_folding is
set.
==============================================================================
2. File type Plug-in
ft-ada-indent ft-ada-plugin
The Ada plug-in provides support for:
- auto indenting (indent.txt)
- insert completion (i_CTRL-N)
- user completion (i_CTRL-X_CTRL-U)
- tag searches (tagsrch.txt)
- Quick Fix (quickfix.txt)
- backspace handling ('backspace')
- comment handling ('comments', 'commentstring')
The plug-in only activates the features of the Ada mode whenever an Ada
file is opened and adds Ada related entries to the main and pop-up menu.
==============================================================================
3. Omni Completion
ft-ada-omni
The Ada omni-completions (i_CTRL-X_CTRL-O) uses tags database created either
by "gnat xref -v" or the "Universal Ctags" (https://ctags.io). The complete
function will automatically detect which tool was used to create the tags
file.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3.1 Omni Completion with "gnat xref"
gnat-xref
GNAT XREF uses the compiler internal information (ali-files) to produce the
tags file. This has the advantage to be 100% correct and the option of deep
nested analysis. However the code must compile, the generator is quite
slow and the created tags file contains only the basic Ctags information for
each entry - not enough for some of the more advanced Vim code browser
plug-ins.
NOTE: "gnat xref -v" is very tricky to use as it has almost no diagnostic
output - If nothing is printed then usually the parameters are wrong.
Here some important tips:
1) You need to compile your code first and use the "-aO" option to point to
your .ali files.
2) "gnat xref -v ../Include/adacl.ads" won't work - use the "gnat xref -v
-aI../Include adacl.ads" instead.
3) "gnat xref -v -aI../Include *.ad?" won't work - use "cd ../Include" and
then "gnat xref -v *.ad?"
4) Project manager support is completely broken - don't even try "gnat xref
-Padacl.gpr".
5) Vim is faster when the tags file is sorted - use "sort --unique
--ignore-case --output=tags tags" .
6) Remember to insert "!_TAG_FILE_SORTED 2 %sort ui" as first line to mark
the file assorted.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3.2 Omni Completion with "ctags"
ada-ctags
Universal/Exuberant Ctags use their own multi-language code parser. The
parser is quite fast, produces a lot of extra information and can run on files
which currently do not compile.
There are also lots of other Vim-tools which use Universal/Exuberant Ctags.
Universal Ctags is preferred, Exuberant Ctags is no longer being developed.
You will need to install Universal Ctags which is available from
https://ctags.io
The Ada parser for Universal/Exuberant Ctags is fairly new - don't expect
complete support yet.
==============================================================================
4. Compiler Support
ada-compiler
The Ada mode supports more than one Ada compiler and will automatically load the
compiler set in g:ada_default_compiler whenever an Ada source is opened. The
provided compiler plug-ins are split into the actual compiler plug-in and a
collection of support functions and variables. This allows the easy
development of specialized compiler plug-ins fine tuned to your development
environment.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.1 GNAT
compiler-gnat
GNAT is the only free (beer and speech) Ada compiler available. There are
several versions available which differ in the licence terms used.
The GNAT compiler plug-in will perform a compile on pressing <F7> and then
immediately shows the result. You can set the project file to be used by
setting:
call g:gnat.Set_Project_File ('my_project.gpr')
Setting a project file will also create a Vim session (views-sessions) so -
like with the GPS - opened files, window positions etc. will be remembered
separately for all projects.
gnat_members
GNAT OBJECT
g:gnat.Make()
g:gnat.Make()
Calls g:gnat.Make_Command and displays the result inside a
quickfix window.
g:gnat.Pretty()
g:gnat.Pretty()
Calls g:gnat.Pretty_Program
g:gnat.Find()
g:gnat.Find()
Calls g:gnat.Find_Program
g:gnat.Tags()
g:gnat.Tags()
Calls g:gnat.Tags_Command
g:gnat.Set_Project_File()
g:gnat.Set_Project_File([{file}])
Set gnat project file and load associated session. An open
project will be closed and the session written. If called
without file name the file selector opens for selection of a
project file. If called with an empty string then the project
and associated session are closed.
g:gnat.Project_File
g:gnat.Project_File string
Current project file.
g:gnat.Make_Command
g:gnat.Make_Command string
External command used for g:gnat.Make() ('makeprg').
g:gnat.Pretty_Program
g:gnat.Pretty_Program string
External command used for g:gnat.Pretty()
g:gnat.Find_Program
g:gnat.Find_Program string
External command used for g:gnat.Find()
g:gnat.Tags_Command
g:gnat.Tags_Command string
External command used for g:gnat.Tags()
g:gnat.Error_Format
g:gnat.Error_Format string
Error format ('errorformat')
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.2 Dec Ada
compiler-hpada compiler-decada
compiler-vaxada compiler-compaqada
Dec Ada (also known by - in chronological order - VAX Ada, Dec Ada, Compaq Ada
and HP Ada) is a fairly dated Ada 83 compiler. Support is basic: <F7> will
compile the current unit.
The Dec Ada compiler expects the package name and not the file name to be
passed as a parameter. The compiler plug-in supports the usual file name
convention to convert the file into a unit name. Both '-' and '__' are allowed
as separators.
decada_members
DEC ADA OBJECT
g:decada.Make()
g:decada.Make() function
Calls g:decada.Make_Command and displays the result inside a
quickfix window.
g:decada.Unit_Name()
g:decada.Unit_Name() function
Get the Unit name for the current file.
g:decada.Make_Command
g:decada.Make_Command string
External command used for g:decada.Make() ('makeprg').
g:decada.Error_Format
g:decada.Error_Format string
Error format ('errorformat').
==============================================================================
5. References
ada-reference
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5.1 Options
ft-ada-options
g:ada_standard_types
g:ada_standard_types bool (true when exists)
Highlight types in package Standard (e.g., "Float").
g:ada_space_errors
g:ada_no_trail_space_error
g:ada_no_tab_space_error
g:ada_all_tab_usage
g:ada_space_errors bool (true when exists)
Highlight extraneous errors in spaces ...
g:ada_no_trail_space_error
- but ignore trailing spaces at the end of a line
g:ada_no_tab_space_error
- but ignore tabs after spaces
g:ada_all_tab_usage
- highlight all tab use
g:ada_line_errors
g:ada_line_errors bool (true when exists)
Highlight lines which are too long. Note: This highlighting
option is quite CPU intensive.
g:ada_rainbow_color
g:ada_rainbow_color bool (true when exists)
Use rainbow colours for '(' and ')'. You need the
rainbow_parenthesis for this to work.
g:ada_folding
g:ada_folding set ('sigpft')
Use folding for Ada sources.
's': activate syntax folding on load
'p': fold packages
'f': fold functions and procedures
't': fold types
'c': fold conditionals
'g': activate gnat pretty print folding on load
'i': lone 'is' folded with line above
'b': lone 'begin' folded with line above
'p': lone 'private' folded with line above
'x': lone 'exception' folded with line above
'i': activate indent folding on load
Note: Syntax folding is in an early (unusable) stage and
indent or gnat pretty folding is suggested.
For gnat pretty folding to work the following settings are
suggested: -cl3 -M79 -c2 -c3 -c4 -A1 -A2 -A3 -A4 -A5
For indent folding to work the following settings are
suggested: shiftwidth=3 softtabstop=3
g:ada_abbrev
g:ada_abbrev bool (true when exists)
Add some abbreviations. This feature is more or less superseded
by the various completion methods.
g:ada_withuse_ordinary
g:ada_withuse_ordinary bool (true when exists)
Show "with" and "use" as ordinary keywords (when used to
reference other compilation units they're normally highlighted
specially).
g:ada_begin_preproc
g:ada_begin_preproc bool (true when exists)
Show all begin-like keywords using the colouring of C
preprocessor commands.
g:ada_omni_with_keywords
g:ada_omni_with_keywords
Add Keywords, Pragmas, Attributes to omni-completions
(compl-omni). Note: You can always complete then with user
completion (i_CTRL-X_CTRL-U).
g:ada_extended_tagging
g:ada_extended_tagging enum ('jump', 'list')
use extended tagging, two options are available
'jump': use tjump to jump.
'list': add tags quick fix list.
Normal tagging does not support function or operator
overloading as these features are not available in C and
tagging was originally developed for C.
g:ada_extended_completion
g:ada_extended_completion
Uses extended completion for <C-N> and <C-R> completions
(i_CTRL-N). In this mode the '.' is used as part of the
identifier so that 'Object.Method' or 'Package.Procedure' are
completed together.
g:ada_gnat_extensions
g:ada_gnat_extensions bool (true when exists)
Support GNAT extensions.
g:ada_with_gnat_project_files
g:ada_with_gnat_project_files bool (true when exists)
Add gnat project file keywords and Attributes.
g:ada_default_compiler
g:ada_default_compiler string
set default compiler. Currently supported are 'gnat' and
'decada'.
An "exists" type is a boolean considered true when the variable is defined and
false when the variable is undefined. The value to which the variable is set
makes no difference.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5.2 Commands
ft-ada-commands
:AdaRainbow :AdaRainbow
Toggles rainbow colour (g:ada_rainbow_color) mode for
'(' and ')'.
:AdaLines :AdaLines
Toggles line error (g:ada_line_errors) display.
:AdaSpaces :AdaSpaces
Toggles space error (g:ada_space_errors) display.
:AdaTagDir :AdaTagDir
Creates tags file for the directory of the current file.
:AdaTagFile :AdaTagFile
Creates tags file for the current file.
:AdaTypes :AdaTypes
Toggles standard types (g:ada_standard_types) colour.
:GnatFind :GnatFind
Calls g:gnat.Find()
:GnatPretty :GnatPretty
Calls g:gnat.Pretty()
:GnatTags :GnatTags
Calls g:gnat.Tags()
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5.3 Variables
ft-ada-variables
g:gnat
g:gnat object
Control object which manages GNAT compiles. The object
is created when the first Ada source code is loaded provided
that g:ada_default_compiler is set to 'gnat'. See
gnat_members for details.
g:decada
g:decada object
Control object which manages Dec Ada compiles. The object
is created when the first Ada source code is loaded provided
that g:ada_default_compiler is set to 'decada'. See
decada_members for details.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5.4 Constants
ft-ada-constants
All constants are locked. See :lockvar for details.
g:ada#WordRegex
g:ada#WordRegex string
Regular expression to search for Ada words.
g:ada#DotWordRegex
g:ada#DotWordRegex string
Regular expression to search for Ada words separated by dots.
g:ada#Comment string
Regular expression to search for Ada comments.
g:ada#Keywords
g:ada#Keywords list of dictionaries
List of keywords, attributes etc. pp. in the format used by
omni completion. See complete-items for details.
g:ada#Ctags_Kinds
g:ada#Ctags_Kinds dictionary of lists
Dictionary of the various kinds of items which the Ada support
for Ctags generates.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5.5 Functions
ft-ada-functions
ada#Word([{line}, {col}]) ada#Word()
Return full name of Ada entity under the cursor (or at given
line/column), stripping white space/newlines as necessary.
ada#List_Tag([{line}, {col}]) ada#Listtags()
List all occurrences of the Ada entity under the cursor (or at
given line/column) inside the quick-fix window.
ada#Jump_Tag ({ident}, {mode}) ada#Jump_Tag()
List all occurrences of the Ada entity under the cursor (or at
given line/column) in the tag jump list. Mode can either be
'tjump' or 'stjump'.
ada#Create_Tags ({option}) ada#Create_Tags()
Creates tag file using Ctags. The option can either be 'file'
for the current file, 'dir' for the directory of the current
file or a file name.
gnat#Insert_Tags_Header()
Adds the tag file header (!_TAG_) information to the current
file which are missing from the GNAT XREF output.
ada#Switch_Syntax_Option ({option}) ada#Switch_Syntax_Option()
Toggles highlighting options on or off. Used for the Ada menu.
gnat#New()
gnat#New ()
Create a new gnat object. See g:gnat for details.
==============================================================================
You can optionally install the following extra plug-ins. They work well with
Ada and enhance the ability of the Ada mode:
backup.vim
http://www.vim.org/scripts/script.php?script_id=1537
Keeps as many backups as you like so you don't have to.
rainbow_parenthsis.vim
http://www.vim.org/scripts/script.php?script_id=1561
Very helpful since Ada uses only '(' and ')'.
nerd_comments.vim
http://www.vim.org/scripts/script.php?script_id=1218
Excellent commenting and uncommenting support for almost any
programming language.
matchit.vim
http://www.vim.org/scripts/script.php?script_id=39
'%' jumping for any language. The normal '%' jump only works for '{}'
style languages. The Ada mode will set the needed search patterns.
taglist.vim
http://www.vim.org/scripts/script.php?script_id=273
Source code explorer sidebar. There is a patch for Ada available.
The GNU Ada Project distribution (http://gnuada.sourceforge.net) of Vim
contains all of the above.
==============================================================================
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