Chapter 11. Installing Edit Modes
Prev | Part II. Writing Edit Modes | Next

## Chapter 11. Installing Edit Modes

jEdit looks for edit modes in two locations; the `modes` subdirectory of the jEdit settings directory, and the `modes` subdirectory of the jEdit install directory. The location of the settings directory is system-specific; see the section called “The jEdit Settings Directory”.

Each mode directory contains a `catalog` file. All edit modes contained in that directory must be listed in the catalog, otherwise they will not be available to jEdit.

Catalogs, like modes themselves, are written in XML. They consist of a single `MODES` tag, with a number of `MODE` tags inside. Each mode tag associates a mode name with an XML file, and specifies the file name and first line pattern for the mode. A sample mode catalog looks as follows:

    <?xml version="1.0"?>
    <!DOCTYPE CATALOG SYSTEM "catalog.dtd">

    <MODES>
        <MODE NAME="shellscript" FILE="shellscript.xml"
            FILE_NAME_GLOB="*.sh"
            FIRST_LINE_GLOB="#!/*sh*" />
    </MODES>

In the above example, a mode named “shellscript” is defined, and is used for files whose names end with `.sh`, or whose first line starts with “#!/” and contains “sh”.

The `MODE` tag supports the following attributes:

- `NAME` - the name of the edit mode, as it will appear in the Buffer Options dialog box, the status bar, and so on.

- `FILE` - the name of the XML file containing the mode definition.

- `FILE_NAME_GLOB` - files whose names match this glob pattern will be opened in this edit mode.

- `FIRST_LINE_GLOB` - files whose first line matches this glob pattern will be opened in this edit mode.

Glob pattern syntax is described in Appendix D, Glob Patterns.

### Tip

If an edit mode in the user-specific catalog has the same name as an edit mode in the system catalog, the version in the user-specific catalog will override the system default.

Prev | Up | Next
Token Types | Home | Chapter 12. Updating Edit Modes for jEdit 4.1/4.2