Notepad++ VDF Language Plugins

This page needs to include the {{Software page}} template.
Please follow the instructions in the documentation on the template's page for steps on how to properly add this template.

QC highlighting.

Response rules highlighting.

Notepad++ is a free source code editor that supports custom text highlighting. Highlighting rules are available for many Valve languages. This editor is useful for editing scripts and programming.

Support

• file formats and files
  • VDF (.vdf)
  • KeyValues2 (No default extension due to very large potential filesize)
  • Response rules (.talker)
  • Soundscripts (.soundscript)
  • Materials (.vmt)
  • Actbusy (.vdf)
  • Soundscapes (.soundscape)
  • QC (.qc, .qci)
  • SMD (.smd, .vta)
  • Weapon script (No appropriate extension)
  • FGD (.fgd)
  • VBSP (.vbsp)

Limitations

Warning: detects languages based on file extensions, but in several cases the established one is simply .txt.

Note:v6.8.4 (released on 16 Oct 2015) implemented the auto-detect language feature (at least for a subset of languages)

Fix: Rename the files in these cases: so long as the correct name is in the manifests, it doesn't matter what your soundscripts, response rules scripts, or soundscapes are called.

Installation Highlighting rules

To install them:

1. Download the languages on GitHub here
2. Extract the XML files to %appdata%/Notepad++/userdefinelangs/

%appdata% should automatically resolve to a full path.

Filenames

You can see the custom extensions which had been set up for this purpose in the list above. If you want to set a language manually in Notepad++, use the Language menu.

Compiling QC model scripts

You can compile QCs directly from Notepad++ with the NppExec plugin. Install it either from Plugins > Plugin Manager or by downloading directly from SourceForge.

With NppExec installed, press F6 and enter the following command. Change the path to studiomdl to match your system and your target engine branch:

"C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\alien swarm\bin\studiomdl.exe" -nop4 -r "$(FULL_CURRENT_PATH)"

Press OK to compile.

Tip:Use Ctrl+F6 to execute the previous command again.

See also

• Highlighting and Compiling QCs with ConTEXT

External links

• Extended version of the QC language with support for Dark Mode themes
• Legacy Version
• Gmod Lua Highlighter plugin
• Improved/Extended vmt syntax highlighter for Notepad++

References

1. Official Download Mirror