Dynamic InputField with syntax highlighting?

Question

I'm trying to create a notebook where a user can enter a Mathematica expression, and its syntax is analyzed (number of tokens, compressed size, etc.).

Trying this answer,

CellPrint@TextCell[
  Row[{"This is an inline cell with automatic syntax highlighting: ", 
    ExpressionCell[Dynamic@input, "Notebook", "Input", 
     CellFrame -> True]}], "Text"]
Dynamic@input

the Dynamic doesn't update input. If I make an InputField inside the ExpressionCell the syntax highlighting doesn't apply, even if I change the BaseStyle. How can I get both dynamic behavior and syntax highlighting?

Answer 1

Here is what you can do:

x = ToBoxes@Defer@Plot[x, {x, 0, 1}];

InputField[Dynamic[x], Boxes, 
 BaseStyle -> {"Notebook", "Input", ShowCodeAssist -> True, ShowSyntaxStyles -> True}
]

Dynamic@x
Dynamic@MakeExpression[StripBoxes[x], StandardForm]