The changes made to the file /usr/share/kde4/apps/katepart/syntax/bash.xml are not loaded when restarting kate. I also tried downloading the most recent syntax (Settings -> Kate config -> Open/Save -> File types -> Download syntax-highlighting files) and copy the bash.xml to the new folder created (~/.local/share/katepart5/syntax) but still does not load the change made to the file. Environment: Ubuntu 16.04 Kate 15.12.3 Using: KDE Frameworks 5.18.0 Qt 5.5.1 (built against 5.5.1) The xcb windowing system Reproducible: Always Steps to Reproduce: 1. Open syntax file /usr/share/kde4/apps/katepart/syntax/bash.xml with sudo access 2. Edit the language / general / keywords as follow: weakDeliminator="^%_-" additionalDeliminator="`$#" 3. Restart kate and open a bash script 4. Double click on a string starting with "$" or on text surrounded by square or curly braces Actual Results: The special characters are not considered as delimiter; they are also highlighted Expected Results: The special characters should not be highlighted This is working fine with the same syntax file on my Ubuntu 14.04 workstation
If you change the content, you need to increment the version number in the header of the file. The correct place for local changes is (like you quoted) ~/.local/share/katepart5/syntax but even there, only files with version > the version of the shipped files is used!
Good to know. Not using kate anymore. Feel free to close the ticket. Thanks