how do i get vi to show colors if i'm writting in java, c++, etc???


mandrake 9.2 kde 3.1

If you are running vi: you cannot use colors. I guess your vi is linked to vim. If you are not sure, start vi without any files ($ vi <enter>), it should give you info about vim.

If you have vim, check the following dir:
/usr/share/vim/vim61/colors (the 61 could be different)
Especially the README.txt file.

You can also start vi and in command mode type:

:help color

Hope this helps.

how do i get vim to do that then...maybe i was confused about the difference between them

Edit /etc/vim/vimrc and uncomment the syntax on for system wide or for your own use create a ~/.vimrc and put syntax on in the file.

These two files areread when vi starts:

/etc/vimrc
and
~/.vimrc

The first one can be used for global settings, the second is user specific.

Something like this could do what you want (colorized highlighting based on file you are editing):

" Vim syntax support file
so /usr/share/vim/vim61/syntax/syntax.vim

" Is gui running
if &t_Co > 2 || has("gui_running")
syntax on
set hlsearch
endif

" Determine terminal type
let term=$TERM

if term != "linux"
" Set colors for none linux (console) term
hi Comment ctermfg=DarkBlue guifg=Blue
hi Statement ctermfg=DarkRed guifg=Brown
hi Identifier ctermfg=Blue guifg=DarkCyan
hi PreProc ctermfg=Magenta guifg=Purple
hi Constant ctermfg=Black guifg=Magenta
hi Special ctermfg=DarkMagenta guifg=SlateBlue
hi Type ctermfg=DarkCyan guifg=SeaGreen
hi Ignore ctermfg=Gray guifg=bg
endif


This will set highlighting and syntax support, which will probably enough in your case.

I did not like the default colors in my (x)term, which has a light background, so I set some of them according to my likings. Again, you might not need this, it's there to give you an idea and to 'play with'.

Check to see if the syntax support file points to the correct directory.

With : help <command> you can get some more info about the above commands.

good info..thanks..ive been searching on how to customize syntax highlighting.

Worked for me as well. Thanks, druuna.