RSyntaxTextArea
RSyntaxTextArea is a customizable, syntax highlighting text component for Java Swing applications. Out of
the box, it supports syntax highlighting for 50+ programming languages, code folding, search and replace,
and has add-on libraries for code completion and spell checking. Syntax highlighting for additional languages
can be added via tools such as JFlex.
RSyntaxTextArea is available under a BSD 3-Clause license.
For more information, visit http://bobbylight.github.io/RSyntaxTextArea/.
Available in the Maven Central repository (com.fifesoft:rsyntaxtextarea:XXX
).
SNAPSHOT builds of the in-development, unreleased version are hosted on Sonatype.
Please see the wiki
for an overview of features and a deep-dive into the code!
Building
RSyntaxTextArea uses Gradle to build. To compile, run
all unit tests, and create the jar, run:
./gradlew build --warning-mode all
RSTA 3.0 and newer requires Java 8 to compile and run. If you need
Java 6 compatibility, you'll need to use a 2.6.x version.
Demos
There are several simple demo applications in the
RSyntaxTextAreaDemo
submodule. To run the "main" one, which
shows off syntax highlighting and code folding for several
languages as well as several common configuration options,
run:
./gradlew RSyntaxTextAreaDemo:run
Example Usage
RSyntaxTextArea is simply a subclass of JTextComponent, so it can be dropped into any Swing application with ease.
import javax.swing.*;
import java.awt.BorderLayout;
import org.fife.ui.rtextarea.*;
import org.fife.ui.rsyntaxtextarea.*;
public class TextEditorDemo extends JFrame {
public TextEditorDemo() {
JPanel cp = new JPanel(new BorderLayout());
RSyntaxTextArea textArea = new RSyntaxTextArea(20, 60);
textArea.setSyntaxEditingStyle(SyntaxConstants.SYNTAX_STYLE_JAVA);
textArea.setCodeFoldingEnabled(true);
RTextScrollPane sp = new RTextScrollPane(textArea);
cp.add(sp);
setContentPane(cp);
setTitle("Text Editor Demo");
setDefaultCloseOperation(EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
pack();
setLocationRelativeTo(null);
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
SwingUtilities.invokeLater(() -> new TextEditorDemo().setVisible(true));
}
}
Sister Projects
RSyntaxTextArea provides syntax highlighting, code folding, and many other features out-of-the-box, but when building a code editor you often want to go further. Below is a list of small add-on libraries that add more complex functionality:
- AutoComplete - Adds code completion to RSyntaxTextArea (or any other JTextComponent).
- RSTALanguageSupport - Code completion for RSTA for the following languages: Java, JavaScript, HTML, PHP, JSP, Perl, C, Unix Shell. Built on both RSTA and AutoComplete.
- SpellChecker - Adds squiggle-underline spell checking to RSyntaxTextArea.
- RSTAUI - Common dialogs needed by text editing applications: Find, Replace, Go to Line, File Properties.
Getting Help