Syntax highlighting in search dialog

[joshdoe]

This is somewhat related to #7230, but is worthy of a separate ticket in terms of scope and discussion.

As the number of Special targets (search operators) increases, the likelihood of someone inadvertently using one increases, especially for beginning users. I suggest that we somehow visually distinguish these keywords from normal keywords, perhaps by using a bold font or underlining. Later I'll attach an example screenshot.

[joshdoe]

For reference, here are some Java syntax highlighting libraries:

• ​RSyntaxTextArea - LGPL-licensed library currently maintained (last updated 2012/01/15)
  • Interesting and related ​AutoComplete library for auto-completion
• ​jEdit Syntax - MIT-licensed library not currently maintained (last updated 2003/11/22)

I'm not necessarily advoctating we use these libraries (though autocomplete would be very cool), but perhaps they'll at least offer inspiration.

[antsyau@…]

I found a useful package ​https://github.com/codelibs/jhighlight. It can output highlighted text as XHTML and therefore could be placed in html editor panes, but I haven't read exact codes and am not sure if this will work.

[stoecker]

As the SearchCompiler can parse the search data itself, using an external library to do a syntax highlighting seems wasted effort. The internal functions should be able enough to deliver the required information (and probably in much better quality, as it must be identical to the final results).

So if implemented it should rely on what we already have.