can't get syntax highlighting to work with R code in vim

Question

This is a naive (and likely dumb) question, but I can't seem to get the R syntax highlighting to work with my Linux setup.

I've downloaded a r.vim file that has improved syntax highlighting, and it works on my Windows gvim setup. Does this r.vim file need to be in the /usr/share/vim/v70/syntax directory? Right now, I have it in my home directory and trying out source ~/r.vim in the ~/.vimrc file. However, this doesn't seem to do anything. Perhaps I'm barking up the wrong tree?

Answer 1

Try adding this line to the file filetype.vim. filetype.vim is generally located in the folder ~/.vim. Create the file if it doesn't exist.

au! BufNewFile,BufRead *.R,*.Rout,*.r,*.Rhistory,*.Rt,*.Rout.save,*.Rout.fail setf r

On startup, vim links all the file extensions listed above to the filetype r, which is likely used by your syntax file. Your syntax file will not define the file extension for you typically.

See this reference for more information. For syntax highlighting, this tutorial might be helpful.

Answer 2

Is the file type getting detected?

:set ft?

That should print out something like filetype=r in your case. If it's not set, try:

:set ft=r

Still nothing? Try:

:syntax on

I place all downloaded plugins in ~/.vim/plugins/. You shouldn't have to place any plugins in the system folders.

In your .vimrc:

filetype plugin on
syntax on