[TehBigA]

I'm trying to make a fairly simple syntax highlighter that just matches a few things but I'm not sure how to match multiple expressions, such as I don't want to match a number if is within a comment or quoted string.

For example my text:

// A comment with numbers, 123, and string, "STRING"

Right now I have these expressions:
> Numbers: ~[0-9]+(?:\.[0-9]*)?~m
> Comments: ~(\/\/.*$)|((\/\*[\s\S]*?\*\/))~m
> Strings: ~(?<!\w)(['"])(.*)\1(?!\w)~m
> Special: ~\b(function|local|true|false|if|then|end|for|do|w hile|break|return)\b~m

EDIT: I'm not sure why the forum is putting a space between |while|

[Nico]

Are you aware of PHP's built-in syntax highlighter? - PHP: highlight_string - Manual

I'd also take a look at GeSHi: GeSHi - Generic Syntax Highlighter :: Home

[TehBigA]

Yes I know of both, I just didn't want to include a whole bunch of stuff or libraries that happen to include a highlighter for a one page script, so I started writing my own.

I know pretty much everything to do except a way to check if a number is in a quote or comment and such.

[Nico]

The built-in highlighter is just one line of code. You can also customize the colors via ini_set(). I don¡'t see what's wrong with using it? It'll be faster, and more precise than your own.

[TehBigA]

Well I'm not using it for PHP code, I'm displaying Lua. True the built in would be the absolute best but its a different code.

I probably could just preg_match_all(...) for the differences and change the <font> to span and what not.

[End User]

Originally Posted by TehBigA

Well I'm not using it for PHP code, I'm displaying Lua.

GeSHi does Lua. You can save yourself a lot of time and agony reinventing the wheel by using it.

I use GeSHi on a site that does PHP, mySQL, Javascript, and Oracle's PL/SQL, and it works flawlessly.