Azure Bicep User Defined Language (UDL) for Notepad++

This repository provides a User Defined Language (UDL) definition for Notepad++ to enable syntax highlighting for Azure Bicep files (.bicep).

What is Bicep?

Bicep is a Domain Specific Language (DSL) for deploying and managing Azure resources. It provides declarative syntax and simplifies the authoring experience compared to raw ARM templates.

Why use this UDL?

While VS Code with the official Bicep extension offers the best Bicep development experience, this UDL allows you to have basic syntax highlighting in Notepad++ if you prefer a lightweight editor or have specific reasons for using it.

Installation and Usage

1. Download the Bicep-UDL.xml file: You can either clone this repository or directly download the src/Bicep-UDL.xml file.

2. Open Notepad++: Launch the application.

3. Open User Defined Language Dialog: Go to Language > Define your language....

4. Import the UDL: Click the Import... button in the "User Defined Language" dialog.

5. Select the XML file: Choose the downloaded Bicep-UDL.xml file.

6. Close the Dialog: Close the "User Defined Language" dialog.

7. Open a Bicep file: Open a .bicep file. The syntax highlighting should now be applied.

Features

This UDL provides highlighting for:

• Keywords: metadata, targetScope, resource, module, param, var, output, for, in, if, existing, import, as, type, with, using, extends, func, assert, extension, and, or, not
• Literals: true, false, null
• Operators: =, +, -, *, /, %, &, |, ^, !, ~, <, >, <=, >=, ==, !=, ??, :, ?, in
• Numbers: Integer and decimal numbers.
• Strings: Single-quoted strings with basic escape sequence support.
• Comments: Single-line (//) and multi-line (/* ... */) comments.
• Brackets and Parentheses: {}, [], ()
• Directives: # prefixed directives

Work in Progress and Limitations

This UDL is a work in progress. Notepad++'s UDL system has limitations compared to the more advanced textmate grammars or Language Server Protocol (LSP) used in VS Code. Therefore, this UDL has the following limitations:

• Complex String Interpolation: The more complex string interpolation (${...}) and verbatim strings (''') are not fully supported. Basic string highlighting is provided, but nested expressions within strings might not be highlighted correctly.
• Advanced Regex: The original Bicep grammar uses complex regular expressions that are difficult or impossible to fully replicate in Notepad++ UDLs.
• No Semantic Analysis: This UDL only provides syntax highlighting based on lexical analysis. It does not provide semantic features like code completion, validation, or go-to-definition.

Contributions are welcome! If you find any issues or have improvements, please feel free to open a pull request or submit an issue.

Future Improvements (Potential)

• Improved string highlighting.
• More complete operator support.
• Better handling of edge cases.

Alternatives

For the best Bicep development experience, it is highly recommended to use:

• VS Code with the official Bicep extension: This provides full language support, including syntax highlighting, code completion, validation, and more.

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License.