Understanding Visual LISP Color Coding

AutoLISP Developer's Guide > Using the Visual LISP Environment > Developing Programs with Visual LISP > Using Console and Editor Coding Aids >

As soon as you enter text in the VLISP Console or text editor windows, VLISP attempts to determine if the entered word is a built-in AutoLISP function, a number, a string, or some other language element. VLISP assigns every type of element its own color. This helps you detect missing quotes or misspelled function names. The default color scheme is shown in the following table.

Default color coding scheme for AutoLISP code
AutoLISP language element	Color
Built-in functions and protected symbols	Blue
Strings	Magenta
Integers	Green
Real numbers	Teal
Comments	Magenta, on gray background
Parentheses	Red
Unrecognized items (for example, user variables)	Black

You can change the default colors by choosing Tools Window Attributes Configure Current from the VLISP menu. See Configure Current for more information on setting colors.

The VLISP text editor provides color coding for LISP files, DCL files, SQL files, and C++ language source files (see LISP, FAS, and Other File Types for a list of file types recognized by VLISP). VLISP uses the file name extension to determine a file's type, and then selects the color coding accordingly. You can change the color coding style associated with a file type by choosing Tools Window Attributes Syntax Coloring from the VLISP menu. All text entered in the Console window is treated as AutoLISP code.