Comment Styles¶

The plugin needs to know how to wrap the license text in the appropriate comment syntax for each file type. This is controlled by comment style mappings — a mapping from file extension to a named comment style.

Default Mappings¶

The following extensions are recognized out of the box:

Extension(s)	Comment Style	Example
`.java`, `.groovy`, `.kt`, `.scala`, `.js`, `.gradle`, `.kts`	`SLASHSTAR_STYLE`	`/* ... */`
`.css`, `.cs`, `.as`, `.aj`, `.c`, `.h`, `.cpp`, `.scss`	`JAVADOC_STYLE`	`/** ... */`
`.xml`, `.html`, `.htm`, `.xhtml`, `.pom`, `.xsd`, `.xsl`, `.wsdl`, `.kml`, `.tld`, `.dtd`, `.jspx`	`XML_STYLE`	`<!-- ... -->`
`.properties`, `.sh`, `.py`, `.rb`, `.pl`, `.yml`, `.yaml`, `.Dockerfile`, `.editorconfig`	`SCRIPT_STYLE`	`# ...`
`.ts`	`TRIPLESLASH_STYLE`	`/// ...`
`.sql`, `.adb`, `.ads`, `.e`	`DOUBLEDASHES_STYLE`	`-- ...`
`.jsp`	`DYNASCRIPT_STYLE`	`<%-- ... --%>`
`.bat`, `.cmd`	`BATCH`	`@REM ...`
`.txt`	`TEXT`	`==== ... ====`
`.lua`	`LUA`	`--[[ ... ]]`
`.php`	`PHP`	`/* ... */` (after `<?php`)
`.asp`	`ASP`	`<% ' ... %>`
`.ftl`	`FTL`	`<#-- ... -->`
`.vm`	`SHARPSTAR_STYLE`	`#* ... *#`
`.haml`, `.scaml`	`HAML_STYLE`	`-# ...`
`.pas`	`BRACESSTAR_STYLE`	`{* ... *}`
`.bas`, `.vba`	`APOSTROPHE_STYLE`	`' ...`
`.asm`	`SEMICOLON_STYLE`	`; ...`
`.f`	`EXCLAMATION_STYLE`	`! ...`
`.tex`, `.cls`, `.sty`	`PERCENT_STYLE`	`% ...`
`.erl`, `.hrl`	`PERCENT3_STYLE`	`%%% ...`
`.el`	`EXCLAMATION3_STYLE`	`!!! ...`
`.apt`	`DOUBLETILDE_STYLE`	`~~ ...`
`.adoc`	`ASCIIDOC_STYLE`	`//// // ... ////`
`.proto`	`DOUBLESLASH_STYLE`	`// ...`
`.clj`, `.cljs`	`SEMICOLON_STYLE`	`; ...`
`.mv`	`MVEL_STYLE`	`@comment{ ... }`
`.mustache`	`MUSTACHE_STYLE`	`{{! ... }}`

All Comment Styles Reference¶

Style Name	First Line	Before Each Line	End Line	Description
`SLASHSTAR_STYLE`	`/*`	`*`	`*/`	JavaScript/Java block comment
`JAVADOC_STYLE`	`/**`	`*`	`*/`	Javadoc-style comment
`JAVAPKG_STYLE`	(after package) `/*-`	`*`	`*/`	Javadoc, skips first `package` line
`XML_STYLE`	`<!--`		`-->`	XML/HTML comment
`XML_PER_LINE`	—	`<!--`	— (suffix `-->`)	One XML comment per line
`SCRIPT_STYLE`	`#`	`#`	`#`	Shell/Python/Ruby/YAML
`HAML_STYLE`	`-#`	`-#`	`-#`	Haml/Scaml
`DOUBLESLASH_STYLE`	`//`	`//`	`//`	Double-slash (e.g., Protobuf)
`SINGLE_LINE_DOUBLESLASH_STYLE`	—	`//`	—	Single-line double-slash
`TRIPLESLASH_STYLE`	`///`	`///`	`///`	TypeScript triple-slash
`DOUBLEDASHES_STYLE`	`--`	`--`	`--`	SQL/Ada
`BRACESSTAR_STYLE`	`{*`	`*`	`*}`	Delphi/Pascal
`SHARPSTAR_STYLE`	`#*`	`*`	`*#`	Velocity
`DOUBLETILDE_STYLE`	`~~`	`~~`	`~~`	APT/Doxia
`DYNASCRIPT_STYLE`	`<%--`		`--%>`	JSP
`DYNASCRIPT3_STYLE`	`<!---`		`--->`	ColdFusion
`PERCENT_STYLE`	—	`%`	—	TeX/LaTeX
`PERCENT3_STYLE`	`%%%`	`%%%`	`%%%`	Erlang
`EXCLAMATION_STYLE`	`!`	`!`	`!`	Fortran
`EXCLAMATION3_STYLE`	`!!!`	`!!!`	`!!!`	Lisp/Emacs
`SEMICOLON_STYLE`	`;`	`;`	`;`	Assembler/Clojure
`APOSTROPHE_STYLE`	`'`	`'`	`'`	VisualBasic
`BATCH`	`@REM`	`@REM`	`@REM`	Windows batch
`TEXT`	`====`		`====`	Plain text
`LUA`	`--[[`		`]]`	Lua
`ASP`	`<%`	`'`	`%>`	ASP
`PHP`	`/*`	`*`	`*/`	PHP (inserted after `<?php`)
`FTL`	`<#--`		`-->`	FreeMarker
`FTL_ALT`	`[#--`		`--]`	FreeMarker (alternative syntax)
`ASCIIDOC_STYLE`	`////`	`//`	`////`	AsciiDoc
`MVEL_STYLE`	`@comment{`		`}`	MVEL
`MUSTACHE_STYLE`	`{{!`		`}}`	Mustache

Custom Mappings¶

Map an Extension to an Existing Style¶

<configuration>
  <mapping>
    <jwc>XML_STYLE</jwc>
    <application>XML_STYLE</application>
    <vm>SHARPSTAR_STYLE</vm>
  </mapping>
</configuration>

The tag name is the file extension; the value is the style name (case-insensitive).

Compound Extensions¶

Compound extensions like apt.vm are supported. The order in the <mapping> section matters — earlier entries take precedence:

<mapping>
  <!-- Check apt.vm before vm -->
  <apt.vm>DOUBLETILDE_STYLE</apt.vm>
  <vm>SHARPSTAR_STYLE</vm>
</mapping>

Java Packages Style¶

When source files contain a package declaration, the license header should come after it. Use JAVAPKG_STYLE:

<mapping>
  <java>JAVAPKG_STYLE</java>
</mapping>

This produces:

package com.example;
/*-
 * Copyright (C) 2024 Acme Corp
 * ...
 */

Disable Default Mappings¶

To use only your custom mappings and ignore all built-in defaults:

<configuration>
  <useDefaultMapping>false</useDefaultMapping>
  <mapping>
    <java>SLASHSTAR_STYLE</java>
    <xml>XML_STYLE</xml>
  </mapping>
</configuration>