Vim syntax file not being applied

Question

I have added a scala syntax file from https://github.com/derekwyatt/vim-scala/blob/master/syntax/scala.vim as ~/.vim/syntax/scala.vim to an ubuntu system

$ ll ~/.vim/syntax/scala.vim
-rw-rw-r-- 1 steve steve 11202 Dec 11 07:48 /home/steve/.vim/syntax/scala.vim

But vim MyFile.scala is still vanilla white - no syntax applied. Any hints here?

@romainl Please expand on your comment - *what* whole thing? — WestCoastProjects, Dec 11 '16 at 17:29
It is about html but should help for scala as well: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/3853028/how-to-force-vim-to-syntax-highlight-a-file-as-html — Zaboj Campula, Dec 11 '16 at 17:55
[The whole plugin](https://github.com/derekwyatt/vim-scala) of course. — romainl, Dec 11 '16 at 18:37
@romainl The OP stated the objective is only for the *syntax* handler: not an entirely new plugin. — WestCoastProjects, Dec 11 '16 at 20:30
You need other parts of that plugin for that syntax script to do anything, **therefore** you must install *the whole thing*. — romainl, Dec 11 '16 at 20:38
@romainl ah I see.. I don't want that. Have opted instead for https://github.com/jergason/scala.vim which fits better with my simpler use case. — WestCoastProjects, Dec 11 '16 at 20:55

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered Dec 12 '16 at 02:12

You'll need to tell Vim to apply this syntax file for Scala files.

ftdetect/scala.vim contains the logic for detecting whether this file is a Scale file, and will set the filetype accordingly. This will also set the syntax setting. If you add this file, things should work.

In addition to that, you'll almost certainly also want:

ftplugin/scala.vim – this sets various settings that make sense for Scala development.
indent/scala.vim – contains the logic for indenting.

These four files account for the bulk of the plugin, so you might as well get the entire thing. If you want to downsize things, then removing some files is usually easier than cherry-picking files until it works.

Concluding note is very sensible. Wanted to avoid going the plugin-way but I ended up losing an hour until I had it all figured out — Mehdi LAMRANI, Dec 25 '19 at 16:31

Vim syntax file not being applied

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