Use syntax highlighting for cat .gitignore

Question

Is it possible to get syntax highlighting for .gitignore files when using cat?

Update:

Tried sudo apt-get install python-pygments as suggested by @rovo but when using comments in the .gitignore it stops working.

Sample .gitignore (does not work):

# JetBrains IDEs
.idea

Sample .gitignore (works):

.idea

What you mean by color coding ? syntax highlighting? – pLumo Apr 05 '19 at 13:22 — pLumo, Apr 05 '19 at 13:22
yes, updated the question – Alexander Zeitler Apr 05 '19 at 13:24 — Alexander Zeitler, Apr 05 '19 at 13:24
https://github.com/rkitover/vimpager – Ravexina Apr 05 '19 at 13:32 — Ravexina, Apr 05 '19 at 13:32

score 2 · Answer 1 · edited Apr 06 '19 at 22:41

2

Use pygmentize, e. g. by defining aliases like dog or pig!

Add this lines to ~/.bash_aliases (or perhaps ~/.bashrc):

alias dog='pygmentize -g'
alias pig='pygmentize -g -O style=colorful,linenos=1'

Afterwards restart your terminal or run source ~/.bashrc.

You might need to install python-pygments package:

sudo apt-get install python-pygments

Then you can run dog .gitgnore or pig .gitgnore

pygmentize - highlights the input file
Pygments is a generic syntax highlighter for general use in all kinds of software such as forum systems, wikis or other applications that need to prettify source code.

edited Apr 06 '19 at 22:41

Murphy

1,677

answered Apr 05 '19 at 13:24

pLumo

26,947

It is still black/white - is it possible it doesn't work with zsh? – Alexander Zeitler Apr 05 '19 at 13:34
Doesn't work on bash either ... I suggest you using vimcat: https://www.vim.org/scripts/script.php?script_id=4325 or the github link I posted on your question ;) – Ravexina Apr 05 '19 at 13:36
as the name .bashrc says, it's for bash, so yes. Use .zshrc instead – pLumo Apr 05 '19 at 13:36
@Ravexina ?! works well for me ... – pLumo Apr 05 '19 at 13:36
Works well with any file except .gitgnore ... :/ Don't know why! – Ravexina Apr 05 '19 at 13:37
you may want to use ~/.bash_aliases to put the aliases. It's a pre-defined location used by default .bashrc on ubuntu. dog and pig work fine for me. @RoVo good name finding – solsTiCe Apr 05 '19 at 14:03
You should try a different formatter, depending of the capability of your terminal like -f terminal256 for 256 colors or -f terminal16m for true colors – solsTiCe Apr 05 '19 at 14:26
It works until the .gitignore file contains comments like this # some comment – Alexander Zeitler Apr 06 '19 at 15:36

Use syntax highlighting for cat .gitignore

Update:

1 Answers1