Proposed tip Please edit this page to improve it, or add your comments below (do not use the discussion page).
I recently found myself in want of a favicon. Not wanting to mess around with typical WYSIWYG editors, I wrote a Bash script that generated a PPM file based on a data matrix corresponding to the individual pixels of the eventual favicon. By applying syntax highlightning to the data matrix, I effectively had a WYSIWYG display of the eventual image within Vim.
The true favicon was a five color, 32x32 matrix, mixing the Swedish and German flags (that I indeed did some extensive editing on, trying a number of variations). The below gives a simplified version using a 7x5 Swedish flag with two colors.
Bash (output to be directed into a .ppm file):
#!/bin/bash -u
# basic colors from rgb.txt
k = '0 0 0'
b = '0 0 139'
g = '0 100 0'
c = '0 139 139'
r = '139 0 0'
m = '139 0 139'
y = '165 42 42'
w = '211 211 211'
K = '169 169 169'
B = '0 0 255'
G = '0 255 0'
C = '0 255 255'
R = '255 0 0'
M = '255 0 255'
Y = '255 255 0'
W = '255 255 255'
function outputLine() {
for color in $*
do
eval echo "\$$color"
done
}
# PNM header
# P1=PBM (B&W) P2=PGM (greyscale) P3=PMM (full-color) P4-P6=binary P7=PNM (any)
echo 'P3'
# with / height
echo '7 5'
# color depth
echo '255'
# The below is the colored matrix. (Could be in a separate file.)
outputLine B B Y B B B B
outputLine B B Y B B B B
outputLine Y Y Y Y Y Y Y
outputLine B B Y B B B B
outputLine B B Y B B B B
Syntax highlighting to apply to the Vim buffer to make the matrix appear in solid colors:
if version < 600
syntax clear
elseif exists(b:current_syntax)
finish
endif
syn region ppmOutputline
\ matchgroup=ppmKeyword
\ keepend
\ start=/^\s*outputline\>/
\ end=/$/
\ contains=ppmBlack,ppmDarkblue,ppmDarkgreen,ppmDarkcyan,ppmDarkred,ppmDarkmagenta,
\ppmBrown,ppmLightgrey,ppmDarkgrey,ppmBlue,ppmGreen,ppmCyan,ppmRed,ppmMagenta,
\ppmYellow,ppmWhite
syn match ppmBlack /\C k/ contained
syn match ppmDarkblue /\C b/ contained
syn match ppmDarkgreen /\C g/ contained
syn match ppmDarkcyan /\C c/ contained
syn match ppmDarkred /\C r/ contained
syn match ppmDarkmagenta /\C m/ contained
syn match ppmBrown /\C y/ contained
syn match ppmLightgrey /\C w/ contained
syn match ppmDarkgrey /\C K/ contained
syn match ppmBlue /\C B/ contained
syn match ppmGreen /\C G/ contained
syn match ppmRed /\C R/ contained
syn match ppmMagenta /\C M/ contained
syn match ppmYellow /\C Y/ contained
syn match ppmWhite /\C W/ contained
hi ppmBlack ctermbg=Black ctermfg=LightGrey guibg=black guifg=white
hi ppmDarkblue ctermbg=DarkBlue ctermfg=LightGrey guibg=darkblue guifg=white
hi ppmDarkGreen ctermbg=DarkGreen ctermfg=LightGrey guibg=darkgreen guifg=white
hi ppmDarkCyan ctermbg=DarkCyan ctermfg=LightGrey guibg=darkcyan guifg=white
hi ppmDarkRed ctermbg=DarkRed ctermfg=LightGrey guibg=darkred guifg=white
hi ppmDarkMagenta ctermbg=DarkMagenta ctermfg=LightGrey guibg=darkmagenta guifg=white
hi ppmBrown ctermbg=Brown ctermfg=LightGrey guibg=brown guifg=white
hi ppmLightgrey ctermbg=LightGrey ctermfg=Black guibg=lightgrey guifg=black
hi ppmDarkgrey ctermbg=DarkGrey ctermfg=White guibg=darkgrey guifg=white
hi ppmBlue ctermbg=Blue ctermfg=White guibg=blue guifg=white
hi ppmCyan ctermbg=Cyan ctermfg=DarkGrey guibg=cyan guifg=white
hi ppmRed ctermbg=Red ctermfg=White guibg=red guifg=black
hi ppmMagenta ctermbg=Magenta ctermfg=White guibg=magenta guifg=black
hi ppmYellow ctermbg=Yellow ctermfg=DarkGrey guibg=yellow guifg=black
hi ppmWhite ctermbg=White ctermfg=DarkGrey guibg=white guifg=black
hi def link ppmKeyword Keyword
A much larger write-up with the full examples and some screen-shots is available. (I hope that the size justifies the external link.) The above should suffice to reproduce everything, however.
Comments
TODO:
- Include "sh" syntax for lines other than "outputline"
- Foreground: same as bg (for solid colors) or distinct from bg (to facilitate editing)?