vim-better-sml

A complete interactive development environment for Standard ML

vim-better-sml makes working with Standard ML in Vim delightful. Compared the SML support built-in to Vim, vim-better-sml has better syntax highlighting, better indenting, and better interop with external plugins. It also has features that set it apart, like go to definition, get type of idenifier, a built-in REPL, and more.

Here's a quick screencast to show off some of it's best features:

The main features are:

• Built-in REPL (requires SML/NJ)

  Launch and control an SML/NJ REPL process from Vim. Use it to reload a file, rebuild your with CM.make, and more. Supports creating a new REPL with either Neovim terminal buffers or Vimux tmux panes. When using terminal buffers, the output is syntax highlighted!

• Type lookup (requires MLton)

  Reveal the type of any variable under your cursor, even those in the Basis Library. This works using MLton's support for def-use files, which are indices of type information about your project.

• Jump to Definition (requires MLton)

  Reveal the type of any variable under your cursor, even those in the Basis Library. This works using MLton's support for def-use files, which are indices of type information about your project.

• Automatic Setup

  MLton's def-use files are built in the background for you and kept up to date. You just worry about editing--if something needs to be built, we'll handle building it.

• Expansive syntax highlighting

  Corrects syntax highlighting in *.sml files, and adds optional concealing (for example, 'a becomes α, and fn becomes λ.).

  Adds syntax highlighting support for many SML-related files types, including *.sig, *.fun, *.cm, *.mlb, *.lex, *.grm, and *.smackspec files.

There are also a whole host of other features to round off sharp edges in Vim's default SML filetype support, including tweaks to how indentation works and setting the 'iskeyword' and 'commentstring' settings. The best part is that it's always improving!

Install

1. Install this plugin using your preferred plugin manager. For example, to install using vim-plug:

   Plug 'jez/vim-better-sml'

   If you're unfamiliar using Vim plugins, check out Vim as an IDE which will get you up to speed.

2. Check if you're missing any dependencies:

   vim +SMLCheckHealth

3. Follow the instructions in the output you see. If you see that all health checks are OK, you're all set!

4. Otherwise, you might need to install or upgrade some tools on your system. In total, vim-better-sml depends on:

   • For the embedded REPL:
     • Neovim, or Vimux with tmux
     • SML/NJ (brew install smlnj)
   • For language-aware features like type information and go to def:
     • MLton (brew install mlton)
     • (optional) Neovim or Vim 8 for automatically rebuilding indices
   • For showing errors alongside your code:
     • ALE
     • (in fact, vim-better-sml is not required for ALE to show SML errors)

Quickstart

• To guide you through the setup process:
  • :SMLCheckHealth

• To ask for the type of a variable:
  • :SMLTypeQuery
• To jump to a definition:
  • :SMLJumpToDef

• To open a REPL for the current project:
  • :SMLReplStart
• To load (or reload) the current file or CM project:
  • :SMLReplBuild
• To open the current structure into the REPL top-level:
  • :SMLReplOpen
• To clear the screen on the REPL:
  • :SMLReplClear
• To set the print depth to 100 (or custom <depth>):
  • :SMLReplPrintDepth [<depth>]

Configuration

Complete usage and configuration can be found in the help:

:help vim-better-sml.

This plugin sets up no keybindings by default. We suggest that you add these settings to your vimrc, but feel free to change them:

augroup vimbettersml
  au!

  " ----- Keybindings -----

  au FileType sml nnoremap <silent> <buffer> <leader>t :SMLTypeQuery<CR>
  au FileType sml nnoremap <silent> <buffer> gd :SMLJumpToDef<CR>

  " open the REPL terminal buffer
  au FileType sml nnoremap <silent> <buffer> <leader>is :SMLReplStart<CR>
  " close the REPL (mnemonic: k -> kill)
  au FileType sml nnoremap <silent> <buffer> <leader>ik :SMLReplStop<CR>
  " build the project (using CM if possible)
  au FileType sml nnoremap <silent> <buffer> <leader>ib :SMLReplBuild<CR>
  " for opening a structure, not a file
  au FileType sml nnoremap <silent> <buffer> <leader>io :SMLReplOpen<CR>
  " use the current file into the REPL (even if using CM)
  au FileType sml nnoremap <silent> <buffer> <leader>iu :SMLReplUse<CR>
  " clear the REPL screen
  au FileType sml nnoremap <silent> <buffer> <leader>ic :SMLReplClear<CR>
  " set the print depth to 100
  au FileType sml nnoremap <silent> <buffer> <leader>ip :SMLReplPrintDepth<CR>

  " ----- Other settings -----

  " Uncomment to try out conceal characters
  "au FileType sml setlocal conceallevel=2

  " Uncomment to try out same-width conceal characters
  "let g:sml_greek_tyvar_show_tick = 1
augroup END

Future Features

None of these are currently in progress. If you're interested in seeing these worked on, let me know!

• Support Vim 8 terminal buffer for the REPL
• Make an ALE unused variable linter using def-use information
• Highlight all uses for a definition
  • Can probably do this with a quickfix window (think: vim-grepper)
• Refactoring tool
  • Rename variable under cursor, and all uses of that variable
• Support sending a visual selection to the REPL
• Refactor most functionality into a standalone language server executable
  • type of ident / go-to-def / etc.
• Make it easier to get started porting CM to MLBasis
• Generate a tags file from the def-use files

License