Definition searching involves taking a name for a function (or a macro, variable, editor command, and so on), and finding the actual definition of that function. This is particularly useful in large systems, where code may exist in a large number of source files.
Function definitions are found by using information provided either by LispWorks source recording or by a Tags file. If source records or Tags information have not been made available to LispWorks, then the following commands do not work. To make the information available to LispWorks, set the variable
dspec:*active-finders*
appropriately. See the
LispWorks User Guide and Reference Manual
for details.
Source records are created if the variable
*record-source-files*
is true when definitions are compiled, evaluated or loaded. See the
LispWorks User Guide and Reference Manual
for details.
Tag information is set up by the editor itself, and can be saved to a file for future use. For each file in a defined system, the tag file contains a relevant file name entry, followed by names and positions of each defining form in that file. Before tag searching can take place, there must exist a buffer containing the required tag information. You can specify a previously saved tag file as the current tag buffer, or you can create a new one using Create Tags Buffer. GNU Emacs tag files are fully compatible with LispWorks editor tag files.
After a command such as
Alt+.
(Find Source), if there are multiple definitions repeated use of
Alt+,
(Continue Tags Search) finds them in turn. If you then wish to revisit a particular definition, try the commands Go Back and Select Go Back.
Argument:
name
Key sequence:
Alt+.
name
Tries to find the source code for name . The symbol under the current point is offered as a default value for name . A prefix argument automatically causes this default value to be used.
If the source code for
name
is found, the file in which it is contained is displayed in a buffer. When there is more than one definition for
name
,
Find Source
finds the first definition, and
Alt+,
(Continue Tags Search) finds subsequent definitions.
Find Source
searches for definitions according to the value of
dspec:*active-finders*
. You can control which source record information is searched, and the order in which these are searched, by setting this variable appropriately. See the
LispWorks User Guide and Reference Manual
for details. There is an example setting for this variable in the configuration files supplied.
If
dspec:*active-finders*
contains the value
:tags
,
Find Source
prompts for the name of a tags file, and this is used for the current and subsequent searches.
The found source is displayed according to the value of editor:*source-found-action*. This depends on the buffer with the found definition being in Lisp mode. For information on how to ensure this for particular file types, see Automatic entry into lisp mode.
Argument:
dspec
Key sequence: None
This command is similar to
Find Source
, but takes a definition spec
dspec
instead of a name as its argument.
For example, given a generic function
foo
of one argument, with methods specializing on classes
bar
and
baz
,
Find Source for Dspec foo
will find each method definition in turn (with the continuation via
Alt+
,) whereas
Find Source for Dspec (method foo (bar))
finds only the definition of the method on
bar
.
Argument:
command
Key sequence: None
This command is similar to Find Source, but takes the name of an editor command, and tries to find its source code.
Except in the Personal Edition, you can use this command to find the definitions of the predefined editor commands. See the LispWorks User Guide and Reference Manual chapter "Customization of LispWorks" for details.
Argument:
command
Key sequence: None
This is a synonym for Find Command Definition.
Argument:
function
Key sequence: None
Shows the results of the latest source search (initiated by Find Source or Find Source for Dspec or Find Command Definition) in the Find Definitions view of the Editor. See the chapter on the Editor tool in the LispWorks IDE User Guide for more information about the Find Definitions view.
Argument:
name
Key sequence: None
List the definitions for name . The symbol under the current point is offered as a default value for name . A prefix argument automatically causes this default value to be used.
This command searches for definitions and shows the results in the Find Definitions view of the Editor tool instead of finding the first definition. It does not set up the
Alt+,
action.
See the chapter on the Editor tool in the LispWorks IDE User Guide for more information about the Find Definitions view.
Argument:
dspec
Key sequence: None
This command is similar to List Definitions, but takes a definition spec dspec instead of a name as its argument.
This command searches for definitions and shows the results in the Find Definitions view of the Editor tool instead of finding the first definition. This command does not set up the
Alt+,
action.
See the chapter on the Editor tool in the LispWorks IDE User Guide for more information about the Find Definitions view.
Argument: None
Key sequence: None
Creates a buffer containing Tag search information, for all the
.lisp
files in the current directory. If you want to use this information at a later date then save this buffer to a file (preferably a file called
TAGS
in the current directory).
The format of the information contained in this buffer is compatible with that of GNU Emacs tags files.
A prefix argument causes the user to be prompted for the name of a file containing a list of files, to be used for constructing the tags table.
Tries to find the source code for a name containing a partial or complete match a supplied string by examining the Tags information indicated by the value of
dspec:*active-finders*
.
The text under the current point is offered as a default value for the string .
If the source code for a match is found, the file in which it is contained is displayed. When there is more than one definition,
Find Tag
finds the first definition, and
Alt+,
(Continue Tags Search) finds subsequent definitions.
The found source is displayed according to the value of editor:*source-found-action*.
If there is no tags information indicated by the value of
dspec:*active-finders*
,
Find Tag
prompts for the name of a tags file. The default is a file called
TAGS
in the current directory. If there is no such file, you can create one using Create Tags Buffer. If you want to search a different directory, specify the name of a tags file in that directory.
See the chapter on the
DSPEC
package in the
LispWorks User Guide and Reference Manual
for information on how to use the
dspec:*active-finders*
variable to control how this command operates. There is an example setting for this variable in the configuration files supplied.
See also Find Source , Find Source for Dspec and Create Tags Buffer.
Exhaustively searches each file mentioned in the Tags files indicated by the value of
dspec:*active-finders*
for a supplied string
string
. Note that this does not merely search for definitions, but for any occurence of the string.
If
string
is found, it is displayed in a buffer containing the relevant file. When there is more than one definition,
Tags Search
finds the first definition, and
Alt+,
(Continue Tags Search) finds subsequent definitions.
If there is no Tags file on
dspec:*active-finders*
,
Tags Search
prompts for the name of a tags file. The default is a file called
TAGS
in the current directory. If there is no such file, you can create one using Create Tags Buffer. If you want to search a different directory, specify the name of a tags file in that directory.
Argument: None
Key sequence:
Alt+,
Searches for the next match in the current search. This command is only applicable if issued immediately after a Find Source, Find Source for Dspec, Find Command Definition, Edit Callers, Edit Callees, Find Tag or Tags Search command.
Alows you to replace occurrences of a supplied string
target
by a second supplied string
replacement
in each Tags file indicated by the value of
dspec:*active-finders*.
Each time target is found, an action must be specified from the keyboard. For details of the possible actions see Query Replace.
If there is no Tags file indicated by
dspec:*active-finders*
,
Tags Query Replace
prompts for the name of a tags file. The default is a file called
TAGS
in the current directory. If there is no such file, you can create one using Create Tags Buffer.
Prompts for a Tags file
file
and makes the source finding commands use it. This is done by modifying, if necessary, the value of
dspec:*active-finders*
.
If
file
is already in
dspec:*active-finders*
, this command does nothing.
If there are other Tags files indicated then
Visit Tags File
prompts for whether to add simply add
file
as the last element of
dspec:*active-finders*
, or to save the current value of
dspec:*active-finders*
and start a new list of active finders, setting
dspec:*active-finders*
to the new value (
:internal
file
). In this case, the previous active finders list can be restored by the command Rotate Active Finders.
If the value
:tags
appears on the list
dspec:*active-finders*
then
file
replaces this value in the list.
If there is no tags information indicated then
Visit Tags File
simply adds
file
as the last element of
dspec:*active-finders*
.
Rotates the active finders history, activating the least recent one. This modifies the value of
dspec:*active-finders*
.
The active finders history can have length greater than 1 if Visit Tags File started a new list of active finders, or if a buffer associated with a TAGS file on
dspec:*active-finders*
was killed.
Visit Other Tags File
is a synonym for
Rotate Active Finders
.