sensetalk-mode for emacs?

Eggplant Functional
3

@edwindjb I knew I wasn’t the only one looking for something like this :wink:

While this post is quite old, I was also looking for a SenseTalk mode for GNU Emacs around 2018. I had a couple false starts on my own mode, and then started up again recently when I saw this post!

The two main references I’m using are Xah Lee’s brief but excellent tutorial and Aemon Cannon’s code for as3-mode.el (ActionScript mode) or a newer one by Austin Haas.

Someone else must have done this by now, but I’ve yet to see it out there on any public SCM’s :slight_smile: If I ever finish even a simple version I’ll post it. But if someone else already completed one I’m game to try it out :wink:

Just from the perspective of getting the shell of the mode started, the below could get an enterprising person started (should be fine for GNU Emacs v27+ but results may vary for previous releases) using the two references above. Additionally, you’ll want to compare how SenseTalk highlighting compares to ActionScript and Objective-C in Emacs; this will make the task of “simulating” Eggplant Functional highlighting a little easier in terms of copying over existing .el features for modification as needed (with appropriate credit, of course, if using a GPL’d major mode file as reference like Cannon’s above).

  1. sensetalk-mode-map: Used (make-sparse-keymap) to create a sparse keymap, which may be more efficient.
  2. Example settings in the sensetalk-mode definition:
  • comment-start: Sets the comment prefix to # .
  • indent-tabs-mode: Disables the use of tabs for indentation.
  • tab-width: Sets the tab width to 2 spaces. Adjust this value as needed.
  1. Placed (run-hooks 'sensetalk-mode-hook) at the end of the sensetalk-mode definition to run any user-defined hooks. You can add custom hooks to this mode if desired.
  2. Placed the (add-to-list 'auto-mode-alist ...) line at the end, after the provide statement, to ensure it is executed after all the necessary functions and variables have been defined.
;;; sensetalk-mode.el --- A mode for editing Eggplant .script SenseTalk files

;; Copyright (C) 2023 Ian "GNUian" Bryant

;; Author: Ian "GNUian" Bryant
;; Keywords: language modes

;; This file is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
;; it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
;; the Free Software Foundation; either version 2, or (at your option)
;; any later version.

;; This file is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
;; but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
;; MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
;; GNU General Public License for more details.

;; You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
;; along with GNU Emacs; see the file COPYING. If not, write to
;; the Free Software Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place - Suite 330,
;; Boston, MA 02111-1307, USA.

(require 'font-lock)
(eval-when-compile
  (require 'cl)
  (require 'regexp-opt))

(defconst sensetalk-mode-version "0.0.0"
  "SenseTalk Mode version number.")

(defgroup sensetalk nil
  "Major mode for editing Eggplant .script SenseTalk files."
  :group 'languages)

(defvar sensetalk-mode-hook nil)

(defvar sensetalk-mode-map
  (let ((map (make-sparse-keymap)))
    ;; Add custom keybindings here, if needed
    map)
  "Keymap for SenseTalk major mode")

;;;###autoload
(define-derived-mode sensetalk-mode prog-mode "SenseTalk"
  "Major mode for editing SenseTalk scripts."
  :syntax-table sensetalk-mode-syntax-table
  (setq-local font-lock-defaults '(sensetalk-font-lock-keywords))
  ;; Enable some additional features
  (setq-local comment-start "# ")
  (setq-local indent-tabs-mode nil)
  (setq-local tab-width 2)
  ;; Add any other necessary settings

  ;; Run user-defined hooks
  (run-hooks 'sensetalk-mode-hook))

;; Syntax highlighting definitions
(setq sensetalk-font-lock-keywords
      '(
        ;; Add regex patterns for syntax highlighting here
        ;; Example: (("\\<\\(if\\|then\\|else\\)\\>" . font-lock-keyword-face))
        ;; You can define multiple patterns using the same face

        ;; String literals
        ;; Example: ("\"[^\"]+\"" . font-lock-string-face)

        ;; Comment syntax
        ;; Example: ("#.*$" . font-lock-comment-face)
        ))

(defvar sensetalk-mode-syntax-table
  (let ((st (make-syntax-table)))
    ;; Add character syntax definitions here, if needed
    ;; Example: (modify-syntax-entry ?_ "w")
    st))

;;;###autoload
(add-to-list 'auto-mode-alist '("\\.script\\'" . sensetalk-mode))

(provide 'sensetalk-mode)

;;; sensetalk-mode.el ends here
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