[AUCTeX-devel] Support for expl3

[Sean Allred]

Hello all,

Forgive me if this is the wrong place to bring this up — this is my first time 
posting to this list.

I searched the list through gmane, but it would seem that expl3 hasn’t even 
been mentioned. Is there any planned support for expl3 syntax? I’ve tried to 
modify some things myself, but I don’t have a firm-enough grasp on 
emacs-specific lisp to say that I know what I’m doing.

- The syntax table would need a modification to include `:` and `_` as part of 
a csname/symbol
- There should be some fontification for csnames that match expl3 patterns (as 
described in `texdoc expl3`§3`The naming scheme`). I’ve provided examples below 
just as examples of how the symbols could be broken down. For KEY-VALUE, I’m 
not sure how it can be made context-sensitive to within `keys_define:nn`, but 
there it is if it’s possible.
  - KEY-VALUE :: https://regex101.com/r/aO0tC8/1 :: 
/\s*([a-z\-]+)\s+(\.[a-z_]+):([nNpTFwcVvxof]*)\s+=/g
  - VARIABLES :: https://regex101.com/r/jW6hN7/1 :: 
/(\\[cgl]__?)([a-z][a-z_]+)(_[A-Za-z]+)/g
  - FUNCTION :: https://regex101.com/r/sL8tY9/1 :: 
/(\\(?:__)?[a-z]+_)([a-z_]+)(:[nNpTFwcVvxof]*)/g

I know that this would make expl3 development easier for me, and I’m sure 
others would appreciate the ability. expl3 syntax is currently (or at least 
will be?) an official part of LaTeX: AUCTeX should have some support for it.

If I can be of any help, please let me know. I’d very much like this to get 
pushed through.

All the best,
Sean