*taglist.txt* Plugin for browsing source code
Author: Yegappan Lakshmanan (yegappan AT yahoo DOT com)
For Vim version 6.0 and above
Last change: 2007 May 24
1. Overview |taglist-intro|
2. Taglist on the internet |taglist-internet|
3. Requirements |taglist-requirements|
4. Installation |taglist-install|
5. Usage |taglist-using|
6. Options |taglist-options|
7. Commands |taglist-commands|
8. Global functions |taglist-functions|
9. Extending |taglist-extend|
10. FAQ |taglist-faq|
11. License |taglist-license|
12. Todo |taglist-todo|
==============================================================================
*taglist-intro*
1. Overview~
The "Tag List" plugin is a source code browser plugin for Vim. This plugin
allows you to efficiently browse through source code files for different
programming languages. The "Tag List" plugin provides the following features:
* Displays the tags (functions, classes, structures, variables, etc.)
defined in a file in a vertically or horizontally split Vim window.
* In GUI Vim, optionally displays the tags in the Tags drop-down menu and
in the popup menu.
* Automatically updates the taglist window as you switch between
files/buffers. As you open new files, the tags defined in the new files
are added to the existing file list and the tags defined in all the
files are displayed grouped by the filename.
* When a tag name is selected from the taglist window, positions the
cursor at the definition of the tag in the source file.
* Automatically highlights the current tag name.
* Groups the tags by their type and displays them in a foldable tree.
* Can display the prototype and scope of a tag.
* Can optionally display the tag prototype instead of the tag name in the
taglist window.
* The tag list can be sorted either by name or by chronological order.
* Supports the following language files: Assembly, ASP, Awk, Beta, C,
C++, C#, Cobol, Eiffel, Erlang, Fortran, HTML, Java, Javascript, Lisp,
Lua, Make, Pascal, Perl, PHP, Python, Rexx, Ruby, Scheme, Shell, Slang,
SML, Sql, TCL, Verilog, Vim and Yacc.
* Can be easily extended to support new languages. Support for
existing languages can be modified easily.
* Provides functions to display the current tag name in the Vim status
line or the window title bar.
* The list of tags and files in the taglist can be saved and
restored across Vim sessions.
* Provides commands to get the name and prototype of the current tag.
* Runs in both console/terminal and GUI versions of Vim.
* Works with the winmanager plugin. Using the winmanager plugin, you
can use Vim plugins like the file explorer, buffer explorer and the
taglist plugin at the same time like an IDE.
* Can be used in both Unix and MS-Windows systems.
==============================================================================
*taglist-internet*
2. Taglist on the internet~
The home page of the taglist plugin is at:
>
http://vim-taglist.sourceforge.net/
<
You can subscribe to the taglist mailing list to post your questions or
suggestions for improvement or to send bug reports. Visit the following page
for subscribing to the mailing list:
>
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/taglist
<
==============================================================================
*taglist-requirements*
3. Requirements~
The taglist plugin requires the following:
* Vim version 6.0 and above
* Exuberant ctags 5.0 and above
The taglist plugin will work on all the platforms where the exuberant ctags
utility and Vim are supported (this includes MS-Windows and Unix based
systems).
The taglist plugin relies on the exuberant ctags utility to dynamically
generate the tag listing. The exuberant ctags utility must be installed in
your system to use this plugin. The exuberant ctags utility is shipped with
most of the Linux distributions. You can download the exuberant ctags utility
from
>
http://ctags.sourceforge.net
<
The taglist plugin doesn't use or create a tags file and there is no need to
create a tags file to use this plugin. The taglist plugin will not work with
the GNU ctags or the Unix ctags utility.
This plugin relies on the Vim "filetype" detection mechanism to determine the
type of the current file. You have to turn on the Vim filetype detection by
adding the following line to your .vimrc file:
>
filetype on
<
The taglist plugin will not work if you run Vim in the restricted mode (using
the -Z command-line argument).
The taglist plugin uses the Vim system() function to invoke the exuberant
ctags utility. If Vim is compiled without the system() function then you
cannot use the taglist plugin. Some of the Linux distributions (Suse) compile
Vim without the system() function for security reasons.
==============================================================================
*taglist-install*
4. Installation~
1. Download the taglist.zip file and unzip the files to the $HOME/.vim or the
$HOME/vimfiles or the $VIM/vimfiles directory. After this step, you should
have the following two files (the directory structure should be preserved):
plugin/taglist.vim - main taglist plugin file
doc/taglist.txt - documentation (help) file
Refer to the |add-plugin|and |'runtimepath'| Vim help pages for more
details about installing Vim plugins.
2. Change to the $HOME/.vim/doc or $HOME/vimfiles/doc or $VIM/vimfiles/doc
directory, start Vim and run the ":helptags ." command to process the
taglist help file. Without this step, you cannot jump to the taglist help
topics.
3. If the exuberant ctags utility is not present in one of the directories in
the PATH environment variable, then set the 'Tlist_Ctags_Cmd' variable to
point to the location of the exuberant ctags utility (not to the directory)
in the .vimrc file.
4. If you are running a terminal/console version of Vim and the terminal
doesn't support changing the window width then set the
'Tlist_Inc_Winwidth' variable to 0 in the .vimrc file.
5. Restart Vim.
6. You can now use the ":TlistToggle" command to open/close the taglist
window. You can use the ":help taglist" command to get more information
about using the taglist plugin.
To uninstall the taglist plugin, remove the plugin/taglist.vim and
doc/taglist.txt files from the $HOME/.vim or $HOME/vimfiles directory.
==============================================================================
*taglist-using*
5. Usage~
The taglist plugin can be used in several different ways.
1. You can keep the taglist window open during the entire editing session. On
opening the taglist window, the tags defined in all the files in the Vim
buffer list will be displayed in the taglist window. As you edit files, the
tags defined in them will be added to the taglist window. You can select a
tag from the taglist window and jump to it. The current tag will be
highlighted in the taglist window. You can close the taglist window when
you no longer need the window.
2. You can configure the taglist plugin to process the tags defined in all the
edited files always. In this configuration, even if the taglist window is
closed and the taglist menu is not displayed, the taglist plugin will
processes the tags defined in newly edited files. You can then open the
taglist window only when you need to select a tag and then automatically
close the taglist window after selecting the tag.
3. You can configure the taglist plugin to display only the tags defined in
the current file in the taglist window. By default, the taglist plugin
displays the tags defined in all the files in the Vim buffer list. As you
switch between files, the taglist window will be refreshed to display only
the tags defined in the current file.
4. In GUI Vim, you can use the Tags pull-dow
