FiveTech Support Forums

Hello friends,
Many Clipper or Xbase++ developers eventually face the challenge:
How can I transfer my familiar, compact programming style into the world of PHP, HTML, and JavaScript – without getting lost in boilerplate?

The Harbourino Style offers a structured way to do just that:
It combines the clarity of Clipper syntax with the flexibility of modern web technologies.

Full comparison with practical examples (including code output):
Harbourino Style – Full HTML Article
https://winhotel-sandbox.com/harbourino/clippervsphphtmljs_harbourinoenglisch.html

Best regards,
Otto

**Another Advantage of the Harbourino Style**

It’s perfectly normal that in most editors you can only choose **one document – one language** for syntax highlighting.
Most IDEs/editors expect a file to be clearly assigned to a single language.

With the **Harbourino style**, however, you use a **mixed-language modular approach**:

* One block containing only **Harbour/FIVEWIN**
* One block containing only **PHP**
* One block containing only **JavaScript**
* A **patcher** combines these blocks at runtime or during the build process

In Harbourino, blocks are stored **without a file extension**.
In the editor, you simply set once which highlighting pattern you want to use (e.g. Harbour, PHP, JavaScript).

This allows each block to be worked on with the correct syntax highlighting and code completion. The final merged output doesn’t need to look perfect in the editor – what matters is the optimal editing of the individual building blocks.

**Why editors are limited here**
There are “mixed language” features (e.g. HTML with `<script>` blocks → JavaScript highlighting), but:

* Detection works only for a few standard cases (HTML/CSS/JS, PHP/HTML)
* The Harbourino style is custom while the editor doesn’t automatically know where the language changes

**By design:**

1. Keep each block in its **own file**, without an extension in storage
2. In the editor, set the highlighting pattern you want to use once (e.g. Harbour, PHP, JavaScript)
3. Let a patcher or build system combine the files into the final project

💡 This is exactly one of the advantages of this style:
You can always work in the correct highlighting mode without having to manage one large, mixed-language file.