SYNOPSIS
etags [-aCDGImRVh] [-i file] [-l language]
[-o tagfile] [-r regexp]
[--append] [--no-defines] [--no-globals] [--include=file]
[--ignore-indentation] [--language=language] [--members]
[--output=tagfile] [--regex=regexp] [--no-regex]
[--ignore-case-regex=regexp] [--help] [--version] file ...
gnuctags [-aCdgImRVh] [-BtTuvwx] [-l language]
[-o tagfile] [-r regexp]
[--append] [--backward-search] [--cxref] [--defines]
[--forward-search] [--globals] [--ignore-indentation]
[--language=language] [--members] [--output=tagfile]
[--regex=regexp] [--ignore-case-regex=regexp] [--typedefs]
[--typedefs-and-c++] [--update] [--no-warn] [--help]
[--version] file ...
DESCRIPTION
The etags program is used to create a tag table file, in a
format understood by emacs(1); the gnuctags program is
used to create a similar table in a format understood by
vi(1). Both forms of the program understand the syntax of
C, Objective C, C++, Java, Fortran, Ada, Cobol, Erlang,
LaTeX, Emacs Lisp/Common Lisp, makefiles, Pascal, Perl,
Postscript, Python, Prolog, Scheme and most assembler-like
syntaxes. Both forms read the files specified on the com
mand line, and write a tag table (defaults: TAGS for
etags, tags for gnuctags) in the current working directo
ry. Files specified with relative file names will be
recorded in the tag table with file names relative to the
directory where the tag table resides. Files specified
with absolute file names will be recorded with absolute
file names. The programs recognize the language used in
an input file based on its file name and contents. The
--language switch can be used to force parsing of the file
names following the switch according to the given lan
guage, overriding guesses based on filename extensions.
OPTIONS
Some options make sense only for the vi style tag files
produced by gnuctags; etags does not recognize them. The
programs accept unambiguous abbreviations for long option
names.
-a, --append
Append to existing tag file. (For vi-format tag
files, see also --update.)
-B, --backward-search
Tag files written in the format expected by vi con
tain regular expression search instructions; the -B
option writes them using the delimiter `?', to
-D, --no-defines
Do not create tag entries for C preprocessor con
stant definitions and enum constants. This may
make the tags file much smaller if many header
files are tagged. This is the default behavior for
gnuctags.
-g, --globals
Create tag entries for global variables in C, C++,
Objective C, Java, and Perl. This is the default
behavior for etags.
-G, --no-globals
Do not tag global variables. Typically this re
duces the file size by one fourth. This is the de
fault behavior for gnuctags.
-i file, --include=file
Include a note in the tag file indicating that,
when searching for a tag, one should also consult
the tags file file after checking the current file.
This options is only accepted by etags.
-I, --ignore-indentation
Don't rely on indentation as much as we normally
do. Currently, this means not to assume that a
closing brace in the first column is the final
brace of a function or structure definition in C
and C++.
-l language, --language=language
Parse the following files according to the given
language. More than one such options may be inter
mixed with filenames. Use --help to get a list of
the available languages and their default filename
extensions. The `auto' language can be used to re
store automatic detection of language based on the
file name. The `none' language may be used to dis
able language parsing altogether; only regexp
matching is done in this case (see the --regex op
tion).
-m, --members
Create tag entries for variables that are members
of structure-like constructs in C++, Objective C,
Java.
-M, --no-members
Do not tag member variables. This is the default
behavior.
--packages-only
freely intermixed with filenames and the -R option.
The regexps are cumulative, i.e. each option will
add to the previous ones. The regexps are of the
form:
/tagregexp[/nameregexp]/
where tagregexp is used to match the lines that
must be tagged. It should not match useless char
acters. If the match is such that more characters
than needed are unavoidably matched by tagregexp,
it may be useful to add a nameregexp, to narrow
down the tag scope. gnuctags ignores regexps with
out a nameregexp. The syntax of regexps is the
same as in emacs.
Here are some examples. All the regexps are quoted
to protect them from shell interpretation.
Tag the DEFVAR macros in the emacs source files:
--regex='/[ \t]*DEFVAR_[A-Z_ \t(]+"\([^"]+\)"'
Tag VHDL files (this example is a single long line,
broken here for formatting reasons):
--language=none --regex='/[ \t]*\(ARCHITECTURE\|\
CONFIGURATION\) +[^ ]* +OF/' --regex='/[ \t]*\
\(ATTRIBUTE\|ENTITY\|FUNCTION\|PACKAGE\( BODY\)?\
\|PROCEDURE\|PROCESS\|TYPE\)[ \t]+\([^ \t(]+\)/\3/'
Tag TCL files (this last example shows the usage of
a tagregexp):
--lang=none --regex='/proc[ \t]+\([^ \t]+\)/\1/'
A regexp can be preceded by {lang}, thus restrict
ing it to match lines of files of the specified
language. Use etags --help to obtain a list of the
recognised languages. This feature is particularly
useful inside regex files. A regex file contains
one regex per line. Empty lines, and those lines
beginning with space or tab are ignored. Lines be
ginning with @ are references to regex files whose
name follows the @ sign. Other lines are consid
ered regular expressions like those following
--regex.
For example, the command
etags --regex=@regex.file *.c
reads the regexes contained in the file regex.file.
-R, --no-regex
Don't do any more regexp matching on the following
files. May be freely intermixed with filenames and
the --regex option.
-t, --typedefs
isting entries for the given files and then rewrit
ing the new entries at the end of the tags file.
It is often faster to simply rebuild the entire tag
file than to use this. Only gnuctags accepts this
option.
-v, --vgrind
Instead of generating a tag file, write index (in
vgrind format) to standard output. Only gnuctags
accepts this option.
-w, --no-warn
Suppress warning messages about duplicate entries.
The etags program does not check for duplicate en
tries, so this option is not allowed with it.
-x, --cxref
Instead of generating a tag file, write a cross
reference (in cxref format) to standard output.
Only gnuctags accepts this option.
-h, -H, --help
Print usage information.
-V, --version
Print the current version of the program (same as
the version of the emacs etags is shipped with).
SEE ALSO
`emacs' entry in info; GNU Emacs Manual, Richard Stallman.
ctags(1), cxref(1), emacs(1), gctags(1), vgrind(1), vi(1).
COPYING
Copyright (c) 1999, 2001 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim
copies of this document provided the copyright notice and
this permission notice are preserved on all copies.
Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified ver
sions of this document under the conditions for verbatim
copying, provided that the entire resulting derived work
is distributed under the terms of a permission notice
identical to this one.
Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations
of this document into another language, under the above
conditions for modified versions, except that this permis
sion notice may be stated in a translation approved by the
Free Software Foundation.
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