Kate Modes & Filetypes

Modes allow the user to override the default configuration for documents of specified mimetypes or file extensions. When the editor loads a document and the mimetype or file extensions match for one of the defined filetypes, KatePart will read the configuration from the mode and apply the modelines defined. If more filetypes match, the one with the highest priority will be used.

To create a filetype, go into the settings dialog available in Kate via Settings > Configure Kate > Open/Save > Modes/Filetypes, then press the New button and fill in the properties. To remove an existing filetype, select it from the dropdown list and press the Delete button. To edit an existing mode, select it from the dropdown list.

Some Available Properties

• Name
  This is a user friendly name that will be displayed in the menu Tools > Mode.
• Section
  A submenu of Tools > Mode in which to place this filetype. If the section does not already exist, it will automatically be created.
• Variables
  This is where the actual configuration goes. Variables set here will overwrite the default configuration values. Be aware that this line must begin with kate: and end with a semicolon. For a full list of available variables refer to modelines.
• File Extensions
  A semicolon separated list of filename globs used to determine if a document matches this filetype.
• Mimetypes
  A semicolon separated list of mime types used to determine if a document matches this filetype.
• Priority
  If a document matches several filetypes, the one with the highest priority will be chosen.

Example

As an example we will create a new mode configuration for C++ and Java files. It should use the C Style indenter and indent with 4 spaces (no tabs). The configuration could look like this:

Name: C++ and Java settings
Section: Sources
Variables: kate: space-indent on; indent-width 4; mixed-indent off; indent-mode cstyle;
File Extensions: *.cpp;*.java
Mimetypes: text/x-c++hdr;text/x-c++src;text/x-java
Priority: 10