Highlighting of method names in the definition

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created 2004 · complexity basic · author Olivier Teuliere · version 6.0

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When editing big cpp files, it can be very convenient to highlight the method name (the part after "::") in a method definition.

I use the following function in my vimrc:

" Add highlighting for function definition in C++
function! EnhanceCppSyntax()
  syn match cppFuncDef "::\~\?\zs\h\w*\ze([^)]*\()\s*\(const\)\?\)\?$"
  hi def link cppFuncDef Special
endfunction

I have another line to call this function automatically when editing a C++ file:

autocmd Syntax cpp call EnhanceCppSyntax()

This doesn't work in all cases (for instance, it doesn't highlight constructors using an initialization list on the same line) but it shouldn't highlight function calls (such as MyClass::MyStaticMethod( int foo ); )

See also

• Jump between methods in C++

Comments

To further facilitate adding user-defined extensions to existing syntax files, you can use a ".vim/after/syntax/" directory. See :help mysyntaxfile-add.

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