What editor to use for writing MetaSL shaders?

[Zoltan]

So far I was using Notepad++ but it's lack of proper support for the
MetaSL language is a letdown. Handling several shaders in a single
file is a pain in the ass as the fold/unfold functionality doesn't work
very well. I'd really like to have a "table of contents" kind of listing
of shader definitions in the currently open file among other things,
so I'm looking for a better application.

What software do you use for writing MSL shaders?

[maxt]

you can configure easily enough np++ by adding metasl keywords, np++ config files are xml files.

[Zoltan]

Hmm.. thanks I'll give it a try.

[Zoltan]

I attached the first iteration of the MetaSL language definition
file for Notepad++. It works ok for simpler stuff but I'm not
sure if all keywords are properly colored. Let me know if you
want something changed.

[Ian_]

The MetaSL_spec documentation does have a set of reserved words that should be helpful-

abstract after annotation attachment auto before
bool2 bool3 bool4 bool break bsdf
case catch char class const cast const
continue decltype default delete do dynamic cast
else enum event explicit export extern
false finally final foreach for friend
global graph if import inline inout
int2 int3 int4 interface int in
long mutable namespace native new operator
out phaser phenomenon private protected public
reinterpret cast return scenedata sealed shader short
signed sizeof state static cast static struct
super switch technique template texture1D texture2D
texture3D textureCUBE this throw true try
typedef typeid typename uniform union unsigned
using varying virtual void while
half half2 half3 half4 half2x2 half2x3 half3x2 half3x3
half3x4 half4x3 half4x4 half4x2 half2x4
float float2 float3 float4 float2x2 float2x3 float3x2 float3x3
float3x4 float4x3 float4x4 float4x2 float2x4
double double2 double3 double4 double2x2 double2x3 double3x2 double3x3
double3x4 double4x3 double4x4 double4x2 double2x4

One good app I use for anything code related is PSPad.You can set up various syntax highlighters and make default templates. and set up User Converters, which acts as an advanced search/replace, which I use a lot to convert between similar shaders, such as converting a. color add shader into a float3 add shader.The syntaxes are stored in ini files and are fairly easy to change.

I do have a metaSL syntax and an mi scene syntax, both of which could still use more work, but they do help. I'm also have a decent max script syntax, which does okay. I'll include these, let me know if I should add anything to these.

[Zoltan]

Yeah I copied them from there. I'm just not sure if I grouped
them properly because I don't know what many of them do.
"Virtual" and "void" should be in one color group? Stuff like that.

PSPad looks cool, I'll take a closer look.

[Ian_]

Well I made a revision of the the MSL keywords, and grouped them into a few categories, which should be pretty accurate. I don't know what every term means exactly, but for the most part, I know which ones are MSL-specific and which ones are from c, and which ones are data types. Here's the list-

MetaSL Keywords--
after
annotation
attachment
before
bsdf
decltype
dynamic
final
foreach
global
graph
import
in
inout
input
native
out
output
phaser
phenomenon
reinterpret
scenedata
shader
state
super
technique
then
uniform
varying

C++ Keywords--
abstract
auto
break
case
cast
catch
class
const
continue
default
delete
do
else
event
explicit
export
extern
false
finally
for
friend
if
inline
interface
internal
mutable
namespace
new
object
operator
private
protected
public
return
sealed
sizeof
static
static_cast
switch
this
throw
true
try
typedef
typeid
typename
using
virtual
void
while

Function Keywords--
abs
acos
all
any
asin
atan
atan2
ceil
clamp
cos
cross
ddx
ddy
degrees
distance
dot
exp
exp2
faceforward
floor
fmod
frac
isfinite
isnan
length
lerp
log
log10
log2
max
min
modf
normalize
pow
radians
reflect
refract
round
rsqrt
saturate
sign
sin
sincos
smoothstep
sqrt
step
tan
tex3D
texCUBE
transpose

Data Type Keywords--
bool
bool2
bool3
bool4
char
Color
double
double2
double2x2
double2x3
double2x4
double3
double3x2
double3x3
double3x4
double4
double4x2
double4x3
double4x4
enum
float
float2
float2x2
float2x3
float2x4
float3
float3x2
float3x3
float3x4
float4
float4x2
float4x3
float4x4
half
half2
half2x2
half2x3
half2x4
half3
half3x2
half3x3
half3x4
half4
half4x2
half4x3
half4x4
int
int2
int3
int4
long
short
signed
Spectrum
String
struct
template
texture1D
texture2D
texture3D
textureCUBE
union
unsigned
void

Preprocessor--
#define
#undef
#if
#ifdef
#ifndef
#else
#elif
#endif
#include
#import
#native
#version

I'll include the updated ini file and a screen grab of it in pspad, hope this helps.

[Zoltan]

Great job! I fixed quite a few things in the NP++ highlighter (attached).

I noticed a few things with the list above:

"Foreach" and "then" are present in both the c++ and metasl sections.
"Event", "finally" and "new" are there twice.

[Ian_]

Yeah, sorry about that, I noticed that returning to this thread, darn those human errors! XD I'll update my last attachment. I used pspad to alphabetize the keywords, so its easy to spot duplicates.

Also, the function keywords are both functions from metasl and c++, so if you want less sections, you could put them in the corresponding sections, here is a list of functions from c++. If anyone uses another app for metasl with syntax highlighting, please feel free to post the syntax file for that app here.

[Ian_]

BTW, I forgot to mention, pspad does have something called a Code Explorer, which I believe is similar to what you wanted with a "table of contents". The code explorer looks for specific text patterns to detect functions, include files and macro definitions based on the currently selected syntax. It mainly works best with HTML, XML or C so it isn't implemented very well with metasl. For most shaders, it will only recognize preprocessors, like #define and #include and c-like functions. Unfortunately I don't think there is a way to change this yet.