define two syntax regions with same pattern

Question

I try to extend the cmake syntax highlighting by our in-house cmake functions. For this I drafted a file to be saved in ~/.vim/after/syntax/cmake.vim, such that one extends the default cmake syntax highlighting, as suggested in this stackoverflow post.

What I am struggeling with is that we use INCLUDE_DIRS as keyword, whereas standard cmake uses INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES, and I want the syntax highlighting to point out to a developer that they used the wrong convention for the function at hand. (Yes, I could also try to push towards fixing our inhouse style, but the general problem of what-are-possible-keywords-here would remain).

The standard cmake syntax file I'm testing against is here

So, I want

add_library( # this is a standard cmake function
          ....
          INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES somepath # highlight the first word here, it's spelled right
          INCLUDE_DIRS  otherpath      # don't highlight this, it's spelled wrong
 )

fancy_wrapper( # this is from the inhouse modules
           ...
           INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES   somepath   # don't highlight
           INCLUDE_DIRS otherpath)          # highlight
)

My understanding was that I can use in my extension the following:

if exists("b:current_syntax")
  if b:current_syntax != "cmake"
    finish
  endif
endif
let s:keepcpo= &cpo
set cpo&vim

syn region OurArgs start="(" end=")" contains=OurArguments

syn case match

syn keyword OurArguments contained
        \ INCLUDE_DIRS

syn case ignore

syn keyword cmakeOurs
            \ fancy_wrapper
            \ nextgroup=OurArgs

hi def link cmakeOurs Function
hi def link OurArguments ModeMsg

let &cpo = s:keepcpo
unlet s:keepcpo

my understanding is that fancy_wrapper now gets recognised as an inhouse function and the next group will be a OurArgs region instead of the normal cmakeArguments. And for the normal add_library the official cmake style should kick in (copy and pasting their code):

syn keyword cmakeCommand
...
        \ add_library
...
        \ nextgroup=cmakeArguments

Such that the parentheses thereafter are a cmakeArguments region and INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES gets recognized therein.

However, what I observe is that INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES never gets highlighted and INCLUDE_DIRS always gets highlighted. Using the debugging hints here) I see that the region after add_library is recognized as OurArgs (last definition taking precedence, afaiu. instead of - what i had hoped - the nextgroup deciding what happens).

So my question is:

• How can I highlight different sets of keywords within parentheses regions, that all look the same in start= and end=? Is that not what nextgroup is good for?
• Ideally (depending how the answer on the first turns out), can I still do that without modifying kitware's cmake.vim file?

Answer 1

Superficially, all that is missing is the contained attribute for the OurArgs definition. Without it, that may match anywhere, not just after cmakeOurs via the nextgroup=. Very often, when you explicitly ask for parsing to continue with nextgroup, you want that syntax to be contained, to avoid accidental matches elsewhere.

syn region OurArgs start="(" end=")" contains=OurArguments contained

Unfortunately, it's not that easy with the cmake syntax. Looking at the "competing" cmakeArguments region, it has this definition:

syn region cmakeArguments start="(" end=")"
\ contains=ALLBUT,cmakeCommand,cmakeCommandConditional,cmakeCommandRepeat,
\ cmakeCommandDeprecated,cmakeArguments,cmakeTodo

The problem is the ALLBUT, which indirectly again introduces OurArgs and OurArguments into the regular cmake block, which causes the matching that you don't want there.

Now, if syntax/cmake.vim were written with extension in mind, it would include an (empty) :help :syn-cluster in that contains clause, allowing you to add your groups to the exclusion list. As it does not, you need to override the original definition, like this:

syn clear cmakeArguments
syn region cmakeArguments start="(" end=")"
\ contains=ALLBUT,cmakeCommand,cmakeCommandConditional,cmakeCommandRepeat,
\ cmakeCommandDeprecated,cmakeArguments,cmakeTodo,OurArgs,OurArguments

With that, the coloring will only apply to the fancy_wrapper block.

PS: The OurArgs and OurArguments are not very expressive (hopefully just because you've obfuscated them for us), and should also start with the cmake prefix like the original syntax items.