Source Code Highlighting in Outlook Express's Mail Source Editor

If you have ever programmed anything — in Java, in Lisp, in Python or in HTML — you know how useful source code highlighting can be. If you have ever gotten used to seeing reserved words in a particular color and constants in another, you can hardly do without that.

So you'll also appreciate that Outlook Express highlights strings, tags, arguments and more in the HTML source code of a message if you edit it directly. Unfortunately, the highlighting is not perfect, and it can sometimes stumble or lag, showing the wrong colors in the wrong place at the wrong time. If you find that more confusing than helpful, you can turn source highlighting off in Outlook Express. Of course, you can turn it back on just as swiftly.

Source Code Highlighting in Outlook Express's Mail Source Editor

To turn source code highlighting on or off in Outlook Express:

• Exit Outlook Express.
• Go to your Outlook Express settings in the Windows registry.
• If no Show Source Edit Color key exists (it would be displayed in the right pane while the left pane displays ...\Outlook Express\5.0 as open):
  • Select Edit | New | DWord from the menu.
  • Type "Show Source Edit Color.
  • Hit Enter.
• Double-click the Show Source Edit Color key.
• Type
  • "0" to disable and
  • "1" to enable
  source code highlighting.
• Click OK.

ATI Hydravision May Break Outlook Express HTML Source Code Coloring

If you find the source editor in your Outlook Express does not respond to the registry changes above and never shows any colors, ATI Hydravision may be the culprit. Apparently, it can interfere with the HTML source editor's ability to colorize code.

To fix this issue, try upgrading to a newer version of Hydravision, if available, or disable or uninstall it.