Drastic proposal: rename eruby to rhtml to make way for an HTML free eruby filetype

[Tim Pope-2]

The subject says it all.  The most common use of eruby is filling out
HTML templates, but this is by no means the only use.  I think it
would be a good idea to have an rhtml filetype for html templates, and
an eruby filetype for everything else.  There is precedent for this
elsewhere:  Vim has a django filetype for Django templates and
apparently will be getting a separate djangohtml filetype.

I am well aware that changing filetypes around is not something to be
taken lightly.  I would anticipate phasing this in over a couple of
*Vim* releases.  I have no intention of even starting such a
transition until Vim 7.1 draws nearer.  At this point, I'm looking for
objections other than "this would be hard to do."  If there were
no technical or backwards compatibility restrictions, and such a
change could be made with zero side-effects, would anybody disagree
with such a change?

An alternative to this is to have a new filetype for eruby files
without HTML.  Something like plaineruby or erubytext.  This would
work but it makes me cringe, much like the tex filetype being LaTeX
and the plaintex filetype being TeX.  I'd like to make my proposed
change while Vim support for eruby is still young and evolving.

Once again, I'm looking for idealistic objections at this point rather
than practical ones.  Does anyone object to the idea of two filetypes,
or of my suggested naming scheme?

Cheers,
Tim
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[Tim Pope-2]

On Fri, Mar 09, 2007 at 04:39:20PM +0000, Hugh Sasse wrote:
> > The subject says it all.  The most common use of eruby is filling out
> > HTML templates, but this is by no means the only use.  I think it
>
> No, see the book "Code Generation in Action" for example.  
>
> http://www.codegeneration.net/tiki-index.php?page=GenerationBooks

I'd say HTML templates are still the most common, due to Rails alone,
but okay, you're actually helping make my case.

> The difficulty I see is that when you mix syntaxes you have to pull
> in the right syntax groups, and there isn't a *simple* way to do thig
> in vim.  With lots of help from Doug and others I have, for example
> in my .vimrc:
>
> <snip>

These look to be the opposite of ERB: other syntax embedded in Ruby
rather than Ruby embedded in other syntax.

> Is the extension .erb already taken?

The extension isn't the limiting factor, the filetype is.  Having erb
for plain text and eruby for HTML is confusing.  However, it might be
a good idea to use erb rather than eruby for the new file type, so
that we end up with erb and rhtml.

> Drat! :-)  I've answered the wrong question.  Hope soemthing in here
> is of use...  In principle I'm in favour of encouraging this use of
> eruby, mainly because I keep forgetting about it, and doing code generation
> the hard way.  Hence all that sfuff in my vimrc.

If you want to use ERB with C, attached is a proof of concept for you
to try.  Drop it in ~/.vim/syntax/erb.vim.  Edit somefile.c.erb and
and :set ft=erb.  This syntax file looks at the filename to determine
what to embed.  So foo.c.erb will embed in C, foo.html.erb will embed
in HTML, and foo.sql.erb will embed in SQL.  In fact, this script
could be renamed to eruby.vim and it would more or less be a drop-in
replacement, rendering my original suggestion moot.  But all the magic
going on in the background is probably a bad idea.  If we get rid of
the magic, having a file like this would still make using ERB with
other file types a lot easier.

if exists("b:current_syntax")
  finish
endif
runtime! syntax/c.vim
unlet b:current_syntax
runtime! syntax/erb.vim
let b:current_syntax = "erbc"

That's all you would need in an erbc.vim to get ERB C highlighting.

Anyways, this is just wild brainstorming at this point.

Cheers,
Tim

" Vim syntax file
" Language: ERB
" Maintainer: Tim Pope <rails@...>
" Info: $Id$
" URL: http://vim-ruby.rubyforge.org
" Anon CVS: See above site
" Release Coordinator: Doug Kearns <dougkearns@...>

" For version 5.x: Clear all syntax items
" For version 6.x: Quit when a syntax file was already loaded
if version < 600
  syntax clear
elseif exists("b:current_syntax")
  finish
endif

if !exists("main_syntax")
  let main_syntax = 'eruby'
endif

" Always check for this magic hearder
let s:type = matchstr(getline(1),'erb_syntax=\zs\w\+')
" Check extension if main_syntax wasn't set
if main_syntax == 'eruby' && s:type == ''
  let s:type = matchstr(substitute(expand("%:t"),'\.erb$','',''),'\.\zs\w\+$')
endif
if s:type == 'rhtml'
  let s:type = 'html'
endif

if version < 600
  syn include @rubyTop <sfile>:p:h/ruby.vim
else
  if s:type != ''
    exe "runtime! syntax/".s:type.".vim"
    unlet! b:current_syntax
  endif
  syn include @rubyTop syntax/ruby.vim
endif

syn cluster erbRegions contains=erbOneLiner,erbBlock,erbExpression,erbComment

syn region  erbOneLiner   matchgroup=erbDelimiter start="^%%\@!"    end="$"     contains=@rubyTop     containedin=ALLBUT,@erbRegions keepend oneline
syn region  erbBlock      matchgroup=erbDelimiter start="<%%\@!-\=" end="-\=%>" contains=@rubyTop     containedin=ALLBUT,@erbRegions
syn region  erbExpression matchgroup=erbDelimiter start="<%="       end="-\=%>" contains=@rubyTop     containedin=ALLBUT,@erbRegions
syn region  erbComment    matchgroup=erbDelimiter start="<%#"       end="-\=%>" contains=rubyTodo,@Spell containedin=ALLBUT,@erbRegions keepend

" Define the default highlighting.
" For version 5.7 and earlier: only when not done already
" For version 5.8 and later: only when an item doesn't have highlighting yet
if version >= 508 || !exists("did_erb_syntax_inits")
  if version < 508
    let did_ruby_syntax_inits = 1
    command -nargs=+ HiLink hi link <args>
  else
    command -nargs=+ HiLink hi def link <args>
  endif

  HiLink erbDelimiter Delimiter
  HiLink erbComment Comment

  delcommand HiLink
endif
let b:current_syntax = "erb"

if main_syntax == 'eruby'
  unlet main_syntax
endif

" vim: nowrap sw=2 sts=2 ts=8 ff=unix:

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[Doug Kearns]

On Fri, Mar 09, 2007 at 09:47:38AM -0600, Tim Pope wrote:
> The subject says it all.  The most common use of eruby is filling out
> HTML templates, but this is by no means the only use.  I think it
> would be a good idea to have an rhtml filetype for html templates, and
> an eruby filetype for everything else.  There is precedent for this
> elsewhere:  Vim has a django filetype for Django templates and
> apparently will be getting a separate djangohtml filetype.

What is special, other than its current predominance, of rhtml over
other files containing eRuby?  Why should rhtml files be given special
treatment and rfoo and rbar files be lumped together in some other
generic eRuby filetype?
 
> I am well aware that changing filetypes around is not something to be
> taken lightly.  I would anticipate phasing this in over a couple of
> *Vim* releases.  I have no intention of even starting such a
> transition until Vim 7.1 draws nearer.  At this point, I'm looking for
> objections other than "this would be hard to do."  If there were
> no technical or backwards compatibility restrictions, and such a
> change could be made with zero side-effects, would anybody disagree
> with such a change?

Allowing other 'host' filetypes to work is actually something on my ever
growing TODO list but I don't actually use eRuby so motivation can be
hard to come by... ;-)  I'm glad you're working on it - thanks.
 
> An alternative to this is to have a new filetype for eruby files
> without HTML.  Something like plaineruby or erubytext.  This would
> work but it makes me cringe,

YUCK!

> much like the tex filetype being LaTeX
> and the plaintex filetype being TeX.  I'd like to make my proposed
> change while Vim support for eruby is still young and evolving.
>
> Once again, I'm looking for idealistic objections at this point rather
> than practical ones.  Does anyone object to the idea of two filetypes,
> or of my suggested naming scheme?

Well, again, it seems to me that there shouldn't really be an
"idealistic" need to make a special case for rhtml files.  What am I
missing?
 
The implementation is, as always, a whole other matter...

Regards,
Doug
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[Doug Kearns]

On Fri, Mar 09, 2007 at 01:49:06PM -0600, Tim Pope wrote:
> On Fri, Mar 09, 2007 at 04:39:20PM +0000, Hugh Sasse wrote:

<snip>
 
> The extension isn't the limiting factor, the filetype is.  Having erb
> for plain text and eruby for HTML is confusing.  However, it might be
> a good idea to use erb rather than eruby for the new file type, so
> that we end up with erb and rhtml.

Isn't erb, along with eruby and possibly others, just an
_implementation_ of eRuby?
 

> > Drat! :-)  I've answered the wrong question.  Hope soemthing in here
> > is of use...  In principle I'm in favour of encouraging this use of
> > eruby, mainly because I keep forgetting about it, and doing code generation
> > the hard way.  Hence all that sfuff in my vimrc.
>
> If you want to use ERB with C, attached is a proof of concept for you
> to try.  Drop it in ~/.vim/syntax/erb.vim.  Edit somefile.c.erb and
> and :set ft=erb.  This syntax file looks at the filename to determine
> what to embed.  So foo.c.erb will embed in C, foo.html.erb will embed
> in HTML, and foo.sql.erb will embed in SQL.  In fact, this script
> could be renamed to eruby.vim and it would more or less be a drop-in
> replacement, rendering my original suggestion moot.

This is what I had in mind but it's more difficult to get this right
with the ftplugins.

> But all the magic
> going on in the background is probably a bad idea.  If we get rid of
> the magic, having a file like this would still make using ERB with
> other file types a lot easier.

I like magic. :-)

<snip>
 
Regards,
Doug
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[Hugh Sasse]

On Fri, 9 Mar 2007, Tim Pope wrote:

> On Fri, Mar 09, 2007 at 04:39:20PM +0000, Hugh Sasse wrote:
> > > The subject says it all.  The most common use of eruby is filling out
> > > HTML templates, but this is by no means the only use.  I think it
> >
> > No, see the book "Code Generation in Action" for example.  
> >
> > http://www.codegeneration.net/tiki-index.php?page=GenerationBooks
>
> I'd say HTML templates are still the most common, due to Rails alone,
> but okay, you're actually helping make my case.
>
> > The difficulty I see is that when you mix syntaxes you have to pull
> > in the right syntax groups, and there isn't a *simple* way to do thig
> > in vim.  With lots of help from Doug and others I have, for example
> > in my .vimrc:
> >
> > <snip>
>
> These look to be the opposite of ERB: other syntax embedded in Ruby
> rather than Ruby embedded in other syntax.

The principles still apply: to embed one syntax in another is not
trivial, except what you've written below challenges that.

>
> > Is the extension .erb already taken?
>
> The extension isn't the limiting factor, the filetype is.  Having erb
> for plain text and eruby for HTML is confusing.  However, it might be
> a good idea to use erb rather than eruby for the new file type, so
> that we end up with erb and rhtml.
>
> > Drat! :-)  I've answered the wrong question.  Hope soemthing in here
> > is of use...  In principle I'm in favour of encouraging this use of
> > eruby, mainly because I keep forgetting about it, and doing code generation
> > the hard way.  Hence all that sfuff in my vimrc.
>
> If you want to use ERB with C, attached is a proof of concept for you
> to try.  Drop it in ~/.vim/syntax/erb.vim.  Edit somefile.c.erb and
> and :set ft=erb.  This syntax file looks at the filename to determine
> what to embed.  So foo.c.erb will embed in C, foo.html.erb will embed
> in HTML, and foo.sql.erb will embed in SQL.  In fact, this script
> could be renamed to eruby.vim and it would more or less be a drop-in
> replacement, rendering my original suggestion moot.  But all the magic
> going on in the background is probably a bad idea.  If we get rid of
> the magic, having a file like this would still make using ERB with
> other file types a lot easier.
>
> if exists("b:current_syntax")
>   finish
> endif
> runtime! syntax/c.vim
> unlet b:current_syntax
> runtime! syntax/erb.vim
> let b:current_syntax = "erbc"
>
> That's all you would need in an erbc.vim to get ERB C highlighting.
>

OK, I'll have to have a go with this, and it's variants.  Thank you.

> Anyways, this is just wild brainstorming at this point.
>
> Cheers,
> Tim
>

        Hugh
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[Tim Pope-2]

On Sat, Mar 10, 2007 at 04:52:02PM +1100, Doug Kearns wrote:

> On Fri, Mar 09, 2007 at 09:47:38AM -0600, Tim Pope wrote:
> > The subject says it all.  The most common use of eruby is filling out
> > HTML templates, but this is by no means the only use.  I think it
> > would be a good idea to have an rhtml filetype for html templates, and
> > an eruby filetype for everything else.  There is precedent for this
> > elsewhere:  Vim has a django filetype for Django templates and
> > apparently will be getting a separate djangohtml filetype.
>
> What is special, other than its current predominance, of rhtml over
> other files containing eRuby?  Why should rhtml files be given special
> treatment and rfoo and rbar files be lumped together in some other
> generic eRuby filetype?

<snip>

> Well, again, it seems to me that there shouldn't really be an
> "idealistic" need to make a special case for rhtml files.  What am I
> missing?
>  
> The implementation is, as always, a whole other matter...

I can't really name a good reason other than popularity and "they're
getting special treatment now anyways".  Idealistically, one filetype
to rule them all does indeed sounds grand.  But I was breaking my own
rule and taking the practicalities into account when I suggested two.

Cheers,
Tim
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[Tim Pope-2]

On Sat, Mar 10, 2007 at 04:58:39PM +1100, Doug Kearns wrote:
> Isn't erb, along with eruby and possibly others, just an
> _implementation_ of eRuby?

I haven't managed to confirm either way with google.

> > If you want to use ERB with C, attached is a proof of concept for you
> > to try.  Drop it in ~/.vim/syntax/erb.vim.  Edit somefile.c.erb and
> > and :set ft=erb.  This syntax file looks at the filename to determine
> > what to embed.  So foo.c.erb will embed in C, foo.html.erb will embed
> > in HTML, and foo.sql.erb will embed in SQL.  In fact, this script
> > could be renamed to eruby.vim and it would more or less be a drop-in
> > replacement, rendering my original suggestion moot.
>
> This is what I had in mind but it's more difficult to get this right
> with the ftplugins.

Yes, this is partially why I suggested a separate rhtml filetype.
Things like indenting may prove nearly impossible to hack together.
>
> > But all the magic
> > going on in the background is probably a bad idea.  If we get rid of
> > the magic, having a file like this would still make using ERB with
> > other file types a lot easier.
>
> I like magic. :-)

So long as it works properly.  If the one magic filetype detects the
embedded language incorrectly, it may prove difficult to override.

Perhaps we should start by making a list of common filetypes combined
with eruby, so we can see what the common cases are.  So far I have

HTML
YAML - used with ERB in Rails
C - as mentioned by Hugh Sasse

Cheers,
Tim
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[Doug Kearns]

On Mon, Mar 12, 2007 at 04:39:16PM -0500, Tim Pope wrote:
> On Sat, Mar 10, 2007 at 04:58:39PM +1100, Doug Kearns wrote:
> > Isn't erb, along with eruby and possibly others, just an
> > _implementation_ of eRuby?
>
> I haven't managed to confirm either way with google.

I turned up these...

http://blade.nagaokaut.ac.jp/cgi-bin/scat.rb/ruby/ruby-talk/1731
"I wrote 'Tiny eRuby - ERb'.
ERb is an implementation of eRuby (embedded ruby)."

http://www.modruby.net/en/index.rbx/eruby/whatis.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eruby
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erb
...so it must be true. ;-)

<snip>

Regards,
Doug
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[Hugh Sasse]

On Mon, 12 Mar 2007, Tim Pope wrote:

> Perhaps we should start by making a list of common filetypes combined
> with eruby, so we can see what the common cases are.  So far I have
>
> HTML
> YAML - used with ERB in Rails
> C - as mentioned by Hugh Sasse
  Java -- See Code Generation In Action, mentioned before.

  There is a school of thought that programmers consider
  [0, 1, Many] as the numbers that are important.  Thus I suggest
  C + Java  implies C#, C++, ... and any language which doesn't have
  it's own templater available.  Things like Perl and Lua may not
  need ERB...  Which doesn't mean someone won't use it anyway.

        Hugh
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[Tim Pope-2]

On Tue, Mar 13, 2007 at 10:08:38AM +0000, Hugh Sasse wrote:

> On Mon, 12 Mar 2007, Tim Pope wrote:
> > Perhaps we should start by making a list of common filetypes combined
> > with eruby, so we can see what the common cases are.  So far I have
> >
> > HTML
> > YAML - used with ERB in Rails
> > C - as mentioned by Hugh Sasse
>   Java -- See Code Generation In Action, mentioned before.
>
>   There is a school of thought that programmers consider
>   [0, 1, Many] as the numbers that are important.  Thus I suggest
>   C + Java  implies C#, C++, ... and any language which doesn't have
>   it's own templater available.  Things like Perl and Lua may not
>   need ERB...  Which doesn't mean someone won't use it anyway.

I certainly agree, glad you're still keeping idealistic.  But when it
comes down to implementation supporting every possible filetype may
not be possible, so I want to get an idea of what to prioritize.  I
will keep all these "compiled" languages in mind.  As you point out,
uses of eruby with Perl and Lua are corner cases at best, and not
worth worrying about so much.

To all, thanks for the feedback.  I'm going to sit on this a while and
think things over.  Right now, I'm thinking something vaguely like the
following:

An eruby syntax file which highlights the non-Ruby parts as plain text.
This file can be :source'd and combined with other filetypes in a
relatively straightforward manner.

An rhtml syntax file that combines the eruby syntax file and html
syntax file.  This would serve both as an example of how to combine
filetypes and also fulfill the most common (according to me) need of
using html with eruby.

I still haven't decided about ftplugins and indent plugins.  Ideally
they could parallel the syntax files with combining but I haven't
looked into how feasible that is.

Cheers,
Tim
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[Hugh Sasse]

On Tue, 20 Mar 2007, Tim Pope wrote:

> On Tue, Mar 13, 2007 at 10:08:38AM +0000, Hugh Sasse wrote:
> > On Mon, 12 Mar 2007, Tim Pope wrote:
> > > Perhaps we should start by making a list of common filetypes combined
> > > with eruby, so we can see what the common cases are.  So far I have
> > >
> > > HTML
> > > YAML - used with ERB in Rails
> > > C - as mentioned by Hugh Sasse
> >   Java -- See Code Generation In Action, mentioned before.
> >
> >   There is a school of thought that programmers consider
> >   [0, 1, Many] as the numbers that are important.  Thus I suggest
> >   C + Java  implies C#, C++, ... and any language which doesn't have
> >   it's own templater available.  Things like Perl and Lua may not
> >   need ERB...  Which doesn't mean someone won't use it anyway.
>
> I certainly agree, glad you're still keeping idealistic.  But when it

Idealistic?  :-)  I'm being cynical -- trying to think of ways
people will break it before it exists :-)

> comes down to implementation supporting every possible filetype may

No, but allowing people to do their own support is another matter.
Leaving things open, and the idea of plugins...

> not be possible, so I want to get an idea of what to prioritize.  I
> will keep all these "compiled" languages in mind.  As you point out,
> uses of eruby with Perl and Lua are corner cases at best, and not
> worth worrying about so much.
>
> To all, thanks for the feedback.  I'm going to sit on this a while and
> think things over.  Right now, I'm thinking something vaguely like the
> following:
>
> An eruby syntax file which highlights the non-Ruby parts as plain text.
> This file can be :source'd and combined with other filetypes in a
> relatively straightforward manner.

With you so far...
>
> An rhtml syntax file that combines the eruby syntax file and html
> syntax file.  This would serve both as an example of how to combine
> filetypes and also fulfill the most common (according to me) need of
> using html with eruby.

Yes, agree with this too...
>
> I still haven't decided about ftplugins and indent plugins.  Ideally
> they could parallel the syntax files with combining but I haven't
> looked into how feasible that is.

Maybe we need an enhancement request, but it would be nice if there
were a way to pass "the other text" that we now treat as plain, to
the 'filetype detect' system of Vim, like we'd pass stuff to a block
in Ruby.  No, I don't know how to do that at present.
>
> Cheers,
> Tim
        Hugh
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