Linux in a Nutshell, Fourth Edition

Name

etags

Synopsis

                  etags [options] files
               

Create a list of function and macro names defined in a programming source file. etags generates tags for use by emacs. (ctags produces an equivalent tags file for use with vi.) More than one file may be specified. etags understands many programming languages, including C, C++, FORTRAN, Java, Perl, Python, flex, yacc, and bison. The output list (named TAGS by default) contains lines of the form:

                  name     file     context

where name is the function or macro name, file is the source file in which name is defined, and context is a search pattern that shows the line of code containing name. After the list of tags is created, you can invoke Emacs on any file and type:

M-x visit-tags-table

You will be prompted for the name of the tag table; the default is TAGS. To switch to the source file associated with the name listed in tagsfile, type:

M-x find-tag

You will be prompted for the tag you would like Emacs to search for.

Options

-a, --append

Append tag output to existing list of tags.

-d, --defines

Include tag entries for C preprocessor definitions.

-i file, --include= file

Add a note to the tags file that file should be consulted in addition to the normal input file.

-l language, --language= language

Consider the files that follow this option to be written in language. Use the -h option for a list of languages and their default filename extensions.

-o file, --output= file

Write to file.

-r regexp, --regex= regexp

Include a tag for each line that matches regexp ...