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`ctags`

Generate tags files (POSIX)

Syntax:

ctags options files...

Options:

-a: Append to the tags file, instead of overwriting it.
-B: Use ?regexp? instead of /regexp/.
-Dword: Ignore word. This is handy for parameter macro names.
-e: Include extern tags.
-F: Use /regexp/ (the default).
-h: Add hints to help elvis distinguish between overloaded tags.
-i: Include inline definitions.
-l: ("el") Add a ln line number hint (implies -h).
-N: Use line numbers instead of /regexp/.
-p: Write parsing information to stdout (for debugging ctags).
-r: Write a refs file, in addition to tags.
-s: Include static tags.
-t: Include typedefs.
-v: Include variable declarations.
-x: Write a cross-reference table to stdout instead of to the tags file.
files: The pathnames of the files that are to be scanned for tags.

Description:

The ctags utility generates a file called tags from a group of C source files.

Each C source file is scanned for #define statements and function definitions. The name of the macro or function becomes the name of a tag. For each tag, a line is added to the tags file, which contains:

the name of the tag
a tab character
the name of the file containing the tag
a tab character
a way to find the particular line within the file

If you don't specify any options, ctags uses -l -i -s -t -v.

The elvis, less, more, and vi utilities can use entries in the tags file to locate and display a definition.

Examples:

Generate tags for all the C source and header files in the current directory:

ctags *.[ch]

Contributing author:

Steve Kirkendall; ctags is part of the elvis suite.