Live Test
The Language Designer Live Test pane allows you to try various aspects of your language out before performing any code generation.
Click the Live Test button in the ribbon to open the Live Test pane.
Features and Limitations
The Live Test can show syntax highlighting for a language that has a dynamic lexer and classification types defined. It does not yet work with other lexer types.
Status Bar Information
Assuming a supported lexer type is available (see above), as the caret moves through text, the status bar indicates the current lexical state and token keys. An asterisk (*) appears next to the token key if the caret is at the start of a token.
The right side of the status bar indicates the current line, column, and character positions of the caret.
Updating the Live Test
You can build the language project to update the language used in the Live Test pane. Most changes made to the other configuration panes will not be picked up in Live Test until a project build occurs.
Tip
If the DefaultStyle or DarkStyle of a classification type is modified after the live test is loaded, those changes should be applied in real time. Dock the Live Test and Classification Types tool windows side-by-side to easily preview how different styles affect the sample text.