@c -*-texinfo-*-
@c This is part of the GNU Emacs Lisp Reference Manual.
-@c Copyright (C) 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1998, 1999
+@c Copyright (C) 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1998, 1999, 2004, 2005
@c Free Software Foundation, Inc.
@c See the file elisp.texi for copying conditions.
@setfilename ../info/syntax
@dfn{Punctuation characters} (designated by @samp{.}) are those
characters that are used as punctuation in English, or are used in some
way in a programming language to separate symbols from one another.
-Most programming language modes, including Emacs Lisp mode, have no
+Some programming language modes, such as Emacs Lisp mode, have no
characters in this class since the few characters that are not symbol or
-word constituents all have other uses.
+word constituents all have other uses. Other programming language modes,
+such as C mode, use punctuation syntax for operators.
@end deffn
@deffn {Syntax class} @w{open parenthesis character}
@code{char-syntax}.
@end defun
-@defun syntax-after pos
-This function returns a description of the syntax of the character in
-the buffer after position @var{pos}, taking account of syntax
-properties as well as the syntax table.
-
-The value is usually a syntax class character; however, if the buffer
-character has parenthesis syntax, the value is a cons cell of the form
-@code{(@var{class} . @var{match})}, where @var{class} is the syntax
-class character and @var{match} is the buffer character's matching
-parenthesis.
-@end defun
-
@defun set-syntax-table table
This function makes @var{table} the syntax table for the current buffer.
It returns @var{table}.
@section Syntax Properties
@kindex syntax-table @r{(text property)}
-When the syntax table is not flexible enough to specify the syntax of a
-language, you can use @code{syntax-table} text properties to override
-the syntax table for specific character occurrences in the buffer.
-@xref{Text Properties}.
+When the syntax table is not flexible enough to specify the syntax of
+a language, you can use @code{syntax-table} text properties to
+override the syntax table for specific character occurrences in the
+buffer. @xref{Text Properties}. You can use Font Lock mode to set
+@code{syntax-table} text properties. @xref{Setting Syntax
+Properties}.
The valid values of @code{syntax-table} text property are:
string, or the end of a comment or a string, whichever comes first.
@cindex parse state
-The fifth argument @var{state} is a nine-element list of the same form
+The fifth argument @var{state} is a ten-element list of the same form
as the value of this function, described below. (It is OK to omit the
-last element of the nine.) The return value of one call may be used to
-initialize the state of the parse on another call to
+last two elements of this list.) The return value of one call may be
+used to initialize the state of the parse on another call to
@code{parse-partial-sexp}.
-The result is a list of nine elements describing the final state of
+The result is a list of ten elements describing the final state of
the parse:
@enumerate 0
the position where the comment began; while inside a string, this is the
position where the string began. When outside of strings and comments,
this element is @code{nil}.
-@end enumerate
-Elements 0, 3, 4, 5 and 7 are significant in the argument @var{state}.
+@item
+Internal data for continuing the parsing. The meaning of this
+data is subject to change; it is used if you pass this list
+as the @var{state} argument to another call.
-Actually, the return value is currently a list of ten, rather than
-nine, elements and @var{state} is allowed to be a list of ten elements
-as well. However, the meaning of the tenth element is subject to
-change and only the first eight elements of @var{state} need to be
-specified.
+@end enumerate
+
+Elements 0, 3, 4, 5, 7 and 9 are significant in the argument
+@var{state}.
@cindex indenting with parentheses
This function is most often used to compute indentation for languages
@var{matching-char})} corresponding to the syntax descriptor @var{desc}.
@end defun
+@defun syntax-after pos
+This function returns the syntax code of the character in the buffer
+after position @var{pos}, taking account of syntax properties as well
+as the syntax table. If @var{pos} is outside the buffer's accessible
+portion (@pxref{Narrowing, accessible portion}), this function returns
+@code{nil}.
+@end defun
+
+@defun syntax-class syntax
+This function returns the syntax class of the syntax code
+@var{syntax}. (It masks off the high 16 bits that hold the flags
+encoded in the syntax descriptor.) If @var{syntax} is @code{nil}, it
+returns @code{nil}; this is so evaluating the expression
+
+@example
+(syntax-class (syntax-after pos))
+@end example
+
+@noindent
+where @code{pos} is outside the buffer's accessible portion, will
+yield @code{nil} without throwing errors or producing wrong syntax
+class codes.
+@end defun
+
@node Categories
@section Categories
@cindex categories of characters
@defun define-category char docstring &optional table
This function defines a new category, with name @var{char} and
-documentation @var{docstring}, for the category table @var{table},
+documentation @var{docstring}, for the category table @var{table}.
@end defun
@defun category-docstring category &optional table