[ESS] ESS and Syntax-tables and SPSS

[Stephen Eglen]

hi will,

 > Is there a ESS mode for SPSS under consideration?
Not that I know of ...

 > Where can i find information on how to write an ESS mode, e.g. for SPSS?
 > How much time does one need to get a simple mode, e.g. with syntax 
 > highlighting and batch mode integration if one has some basic lisp 
 > programming experience?

just to get basic font highlighting should be straightforward -- batch
mode integration is probably trickier.  You might want to start by
looking at essl-sas.el, if SAS is the closest mode that ESS has to
SPSS, or you could start from scratch.

 > How do I define a syntax-table as a basis for font-locking?
 > (E.g. the SAS-syntax-table variable looks sort of cryptic containing 
 > lots "nil" values and "4#" and stuff like that)

The source code (e.g. essl-sas.el) would be the best starting point.

Stephen