From: darren@fly.HiWAAY.net (Darren Hiebert)
Newsgroups: comp.editors
Subject: Exuberant Ctags-1.5 released
Date: 9 Oct 1996 11:10:47 -0500
Message-ID: <53giq7$o7l@fly.HiWAAY.net>

Announcing: Exuberant Ctags 1.5
Author    : Darren Hiebert

Announcement
============
This is to announce an update of my new, better ctags utility. It has been
very enthusiatically received because of the greater reliability and
functionality it provides.

You can find it at:

  http://fly.hiwaay.net/~darren/ctags.html                (Official Web site)
  ftp://sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/Incoming/ctags-1.5.tar.gz        (for now)
  ftp://sunsite.unc.edu:/pub/Linux/devel/lang/c/ctags-1.5.tar.gz (once moved)
  ftp://ftp.halcyon.com/local/gvr/ctags-1.5.tar.gz


Changes since version 1.4:
==========================
 o  Added the ability to specify keywords to ignore on the command line.
    **Note: the syntax of the -I option has changed.

 o  Added ability to generate tags for objects inside C++ extern blocks
    ('extern "C" {...}' construct).

 o  Allowed function definitions to be recognized inside brace-enclosed
    ("{}") blocks, since theses are allowed inside classes and extern blocks.

 o  Added -N option to provide opposite effect of -n. The search patterns
    for macro definitions are optimized to work even when portions of the
    definition line beyond the macro name are changed.

 o  Fixed problem that resulted in no tag generated for files containing a
    function-like macro, such as 'MODULE_ID("$Id")', even when ignoring the
    keyword. This also corrected a problem that caused tags to be missed for
    initialized function pointer definitions.

 o  Redirected error output to stdout for MSDOS version.

 o  Various portability changes.


What is ctags?
==============
Ctags generates an index (or "tag") file of C language objects found in a
set of file that allows these items to be quickly and easily located by a
text editor or other utility. A "tag" signifies a C language object for
which an index entry is available (or, alternatively, the index entry
created for that object).

Alternatively, ctags can generate a cross reference file which lists, in
human readable form, information about the various objects found in a set
of C language files.

Tag index files are supported by the vi(1) editor and its derivatives
(such as vim, elvis, stevie, xvi, and others) through the use of the ":ta"
command, which locates the object associated with a name appearing in a
source file and jumps to the file and line which defines the name.


What makes this ctags desirable?
================================
1.  It can find *all* types of C language tags, including all of the
    following:

            macro definitions
            enumerated values (values inside enum{...})
            function and method definitions
            enum/struct/union tags
            external function prototypes (optional)
            typedefs
            variable declarations

2.  It is far less easily fooled by code containing #if preprocessor
    conditional constructs, using a conditional path selection algorithm
    to resolve complicated choices, and a fall-back algorithm when this one
    fails.

3.  Can also be used to print out a list of selected objects found in source
    files.

4.  May be compiled for UNIX, MSDOS, WindowsNT, Windows95, OS/2 and the Amiga.
    Some pre-compiled binaries are available on the web site.

I wrote this because of my disappointment with the other ctags utilities that
are available. However, it does have a couple of minor limitations (you be the
judge):

1)  Support for C++ is limited.
2)  Supports only C; not Lisp, shell scripts, or anything else you might
    think of.


LSM Entry:
==========
Begin3
Title:          Exuberant Ctags
Version:        1.5
Entered-date:   08OCT96
Description:    A better ctags which generates tags for all possible tag
		types: macro definitions, enumerated values (values inside
		enum{...}), function and method definitions, enum/struct/union
		tags, external function prototypes (optional), typedefs, and 
		variable declarations. It is far less easily fooled by code
		containing #if preprocessor conditional constructs, using a
		conditional path selection algorithm to resolve complicated
		choices, and a fall-back algorithm when this one fails. Can
		also be used to print out a list of selected objects found in
		source files.
Keywords:       ctags, tags, exuberant, C, C++, tool, utility, index
Author:         darren@sirsi.com (Darren Hiebert)
		darren@hiwaay.net (Darren Hiebert)
Primary-site:   sunsite.unc.edu /pub/Linux/devel/lang/c
		32kB ctags-1.5.tar.gz
Alternate-site: ftp.halcyon.com /local/gvr
		32kB ctags-1.5.tar.gz
Original-site:  http://fly.hiwaay.net/~darren
		32kB archives/ctags-1.5.tar.gz
Platforms:      UNIX, MSDOS, WindowsNT, Windows95, OS/2, Amiga
Copying-policy: Public domain
End

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Darren Hiebert <darren@sirsi.com>             SIRSI Corporation
http://fly.hiwaay.net/~darren                 Huntsville, AL  (205) 922-9820

                 "I'd give my right arm to be ambidextrous"
----------------------------------------------------------------------------