Last week I wrote about using Notepad++ for working with SQL Commands and formulas. I loved the numbered lines and the way it finds matching parens. But I missed the green comments and blue functions. Notepad++ has about 80 languages that it can format correctly but Crystal formula syntax wasn’t one of them. So I decided to see if I could create a custom language for Notepad++ that would format Crystal formulas the way they appear in the formula editor.

After several hours of experiments I have something that I like. It will format a Crystal formula with functions in blue and comments in green. I even added the literals in red like you see in SQL. And you still get numbered lines and the ability to find matching parens and brackets. I even added the ability to fold (temporarily hide) sections between a pair of parens.

So, if you are using Notepad++ and would like to try my Crystal language you can right-click on the link below and save the xml file onto your hard drive. If you just click the link normally your browser will likely open the XML in a new window.

CrystalReports Language UDL for Notepadd++

Then to deploy the file in Notepad++:
1) From the Notepad++ menu go to [Language > Define your language ]
2) At the top of the window click “Import” and open the CrystalReports.xml file you downloaded.
3) Close and Reopen NotePad++

Then when you click “Language” from the Notepad++ menu you should see Crystal Reports at the bottom of the list.  When you select Crystal Reports, the current window should display Crystal formulas in the correct format.  If you get any strange behavior, please let me know.