Having variables appear aqua in user defined function

Question

In many of the inbuilt mathematica function, variables appear aqua like in:

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However, when creating your own function, variables no longer have that green coloring and are instead colored like an undefined variable

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Is there any way to define functions so that variables used in arguments like in the manner above can get the aqua syntax coloring?

you can set this via the preferences panel, the options inspector or a stylesheet. All of these methods have been discussed on this site. — Mike Honeychurch, Jul 15 '14 at 23:53
@MikeHoneychurch That has to due with changing the syntax highlight coloring itself. I am asking how to get variables used in arguments of user-defined functions to exhibit that syntax coloring. — 1110101001, Jul 16 '14 at 00:08

score 3 · Accepted Answer · answered Jul 16 '14 at 00:13

3

You can use SyntaxInformation. In this case,

SyntaxInformation[Lim] = {"ArgumentsPattern" -> {_, _, OptionsPattern[]}, 
   "LocalVariables" -> {"Limit", {2}}}

does what you want.

answered Jul 16 '14 at 00:13

acl

I also have another function ImplicitPlot[p_, q_, r_] := ContourPlot[p, q, r] and I tried doing something similar: SyntaxInformation[ImplicitPlot] := {"ArgumentsPattern" -> {_, _, _, OptionsPattern[]}, "LocalVariables" -> {"Plot", {2, 3}}} but it's not working for this one... any idea why? – 1110101001 Jul 16 '14 at 01:01
1

I'll take a look in a few hours if nobody else does so by then. Away from mathematica right now. – acl Jul 16 '14 at 01:02
Do SyntaxInformation[implicitPlot] ={"ArgumentsPattern" -> {_, _, _, OptionsPattern[]}, "LocalVariables" -> {"Plot", {2, 3}}} and does work. Make sure you use Set (=) and not SetDelayed := ! I searched for an explanation of the difference and found this which, to my surprise, I wrote myself. – acl Jul 16 '14 at 09:58

1 Answers1