ctags(1)
NAME
ctags - create a tags file for use with ex and vi
SYNOPSIS
/usr/bin/ctags [-aBFtuvwx] [-f tagsfile] file...
/usr/xpg4/bin/ctags [-aBFuvwx] [-f tagsfile] file...
DESCRIPTION
The ctags utility makes a tags file for ex(1) from the
specified C, C++, Pascal, FORTRAN, yacc(1), and lex(1)
sources. A tags file gives the locations of specified
objects (in this case functions and typedefs) in a group of
files. Each line of the tags file contains the object name,
the file in which it is defined, and an address specifica-
tion for the object definition. Functions are searched with
a pattern, typedefs with a line number. Specifiers are given
in separate fields on the line, separated by <SPACE> or
<TAB> characters. Using the tags file, ex can quickly find
these objects' definitions.
Normally, ctags places the tag descriptions in a file
called tags; this may be overridden with the -f option.
Files with names ending in .c or .h are assumed to be
either C or C++ source files and are searched for C/C++
routine and macro definitions. Files with names ending in
.cc, .C, or .cxx, are assumed to be C++ source files. Files
with names ending in .y are assumed to be yacc source
files. Files with names ending in .l are assumed to be lex
files. Others are first examined to see if they contain any
Pascal or FORTRAN routine definitions; if not, they are pro-
cessed again looking for C definitions.
The tag main is treated specially in C or C++ programs. The
tag formed is created by prepending M to file, with a trail-
ing .c , .cc .C, or .cxx removed, if any, and leading path
name components also removed. This makes use of ctags
practical in directories with more than one program.
OPTIONS
The precedence of the options that pertain to printing is
-x, -v, then the remaining options. The following options
are supported:
-a Appends output to an existing tags file.
-B Uses backward searching patterns (?...?).
-f tagsfile
Places the tag descriptions in a file called tagsfile
instead of tags.
-F Uses forward searching patterns (/.../) (default).
-t Creates tags for typedefs. /usr/xpg4/bin/ctags creates
tags for typedefs by default.
-u Updates the specified files in tags, that is, all
references to them are deleted, and the new values are
appended to the file. Beware: this option is imple-
mented in a way that is rather slow; it is usually
faster to simply rebuild the tags file.
-v Produces on the standard output an index listing the
function name, file name, and page number (assuming 64
line pages). Since the output will be sorted into lex-
icographic order, it may be desired to run the output
through sort -f.
-w Suppresses warning diagnostics.
-x Produces a list of object names, the line number and
file name on which each is defined, as well as the
text of that line and prints this on the standard out-
put. This is a simple index which can be printed out
as an off-line readable function index.
OPERANDS
The following file operands are supported:
file.c
Files with basenames ending with the .c suffix are
treated as C-language source code.
file.h
Files with basenames ending with the .h suffix are
treated as C-language source code.
file.f
Files with basenames ending with the .f suffix are
treated as FORTRAN-language source code.
USAGE
The -v option is mainly used with vgrind which will be part
of the optional BSD Compatibility Package.
EXAMPLES
Example 1: Producing entries in alphabetical order
Using ctags with the -v option produces entries in an order
which may not always be appropriate for vgrind. To produce
results in alphabetical order, you may want to run the out-
put through sort -f.
example% ctags -v filename.c filename.h | sort -f > index
example% vgrind -x index
Example 2: Building a tags file
To build a tags file for C sources in a directory hierarchy
rooted at sourcedir, first create an empty tags file, and
then run find(1)
example% cd sourcedir ; rm -f tags ; touch tags
example% find . \( -name SCCS -prune -name \\
'*.c' -o -name '*.h' \) -exec ctags -u {} \;
Notice that spaces must be entered exactly as shown.
ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES
See environ(5) for descriptions of the following environment
variables that affect the execution of ctags: LANG, LC_ALL,
LC_COLLATE, LC_CTYPE, LC_MESSAGES, and NLSPATH.
EXIT STATUS
The following exit values are returned:
0 Successful completion.
>0 An error occurred.
FILES
tags output tags file
ATTRIBUTES
See attributes(5) for descriptions of the following attri-
butes:
/usr/bin/ctags
____________________________________________________________
| ATTRIBUTE TYPE | ATTRIBUTE VALUE |
|_____________________________|_____________________________|
| Availability | SUNWtoo |
|_____________________________|_____________________________|
/usr/xpg4/bin/ctags
____________________________________________________________
| ATTRIBUTE TYPE | ATTRIBUTE VALUE |
|_____________________________|_____________________________|
| Availability | SUNWxcu4 |
|_____________________________|_____________________________|
| Interface Stability | Standard |
|_____________________________|_____________________________|
SEE ALSO
ex(1), lex(1), vgrind(1), vi(1), yacc(1), attributes(5),
environ(5), standards(5)
NOTES
Recognition of functions, subroutines, and procedures for
FORTRAN and Pascal is done in a very simpleminded way. No
attempt is made to deal with block structure; if you have
two Pascal procedures in different blocks with the same
name, you lose.
The method of deciding whether to look for C or Pascal and
FORTRAN functions is a hack.
The ctags utility does not know about #ifdefs.
The ctags utility should know about Pascal types. Relies on
the input being well formed to detect typedefs. Use of -tx
shows only the last line of typedefs.
Man(1) output converted with
man2html