custom C highlighting / syntax coloring

[Chris Pickett <chris.pickett@mail.mcgill.ca>]

Hi,

I like how CC Mode (for a .c or .h file) automatically recognizes words 
ending in '_t' as being types and highlights them and the corresponding 
declarations.  However, I am working on a large project with several 
other types.  I need help customizing emacs to recognize these other 
patterns as types.  I find it makes understanding the source, which I 
did not write, a lot easier.

There are two classes:

1) most of the project-specific types start with '_svmt_' and so I would 
like to recognize all of those, and have emacs color them.

2) several specific words such are also types, such as 'jboolean', 
'jint', 'jfloat', 'jobject', 'JNIEnv'.  There's probably about 20 or 
so.  These are static and unlikely to change as the project changes ... 
they are defined by the Java Native Interface specification.

I managed to append '_t' to all words starting with '_svmt_', but the 
other developers don't like that solution.  It also doesn't solve the 
problem for the second class of types.

I looked at the CC Mode source, and I suppose I could define a whole 
bunch more primitive types (solving problem number two), but I don't 
know how to set that in my .emacs file.

Finally, although this isn't really needed, it would be neat if the 
highlighting worked only in certain directories.  Maybe my .emacs file 
could be modified to check for the presence of another highlighting file 
in whatever directory emacs is currently in, and if found change the C 
sub-mode (?) of CC Mode to recognize my extra types.

Oh ... I'm using emacs 21.2.1, on 'woody' debian gnu/linux.

Thanks very much,
Chris Pickett

P.S.  Please include my email address in the reply as I have not 
subscribed to this list.

P.P.S.  I looked through the list archives and did about 1-2 hours of 
searching / reading on Google, but still could not find anyone who had 
tried to do this.