This is a personal blog post to document the steps necessary for ABAP syntax highlighting in Notepad++, my text editor of choice.
Although the steps are present on internet, this post may be helpful for some people.
Below steps are for Notepad++ version 6.5.1.
These steps are required because ABAP syntax (technical term is UDL - User Defined Languages) is not bundled in Notepad++, and hence ABAP syntax needs to be imported as a user defined language.
Adding ABAP syntax to Notepad++
- Download Notepad++ from Notepad++ Download page
- Download the ABAP syntax file from sourceforge userDefinedLang ABAP.zip
- Unzip the zip file to get ABAP.xml file.
- Open Notepad++, go to Menu > Language > Define your language, and click on Import button.
- Choose ABAP.xml file, you should get popup 'Import successful'.
- These steps would make Notepad++ capable of syntax highlighting.
How to test whether ABAP syntax is working
There are 2 ways to test the feature.
- Put abap code in text file with extension .abap, and open it in Notepad++.
- Write some code in Notepad++, go to Menu > Language > ABAP
In case ABAP is not visible is Menu > Language, it means ABAP syntax is not yet imported. Try importing the UDL file again.
In future, I may update this blog with modified UDL file that makes syntax similar to SAP GUI New ABAP Editor.
Update: Modified UDL content can be found in ABAP Syntax Highlighting in Notepad++ Part 2
I may also try out something like this in jEdit text editor.
Update: I tried jEdit and findings can be read in this comment ABAP in jEdit - comment
