Vim ctag windows

There is a problem with using ctags. The source code of any file can be changed at any time. Autotag plugin can be used to solve this issue. This plugin keeps tags file up to date. But, you have to use vim with python to use this plugin. If you want to navigate any source code efficiently to search any part of the code then this tutorial will help to learn the use ctags to do that task.

About the author Fahmida Yesmin I am a trainer of web programming courses. I like to write article or tutorial on various IT topics. Ctags is a very useful tool to navigate any source code of the programming language. Identifiers, methods, classes, etc. Each tag is stored in each line. Ctags is supported by many programming languages. You can install ctags using a package manager. Ctags will walk through the directory recursively, tagging all source files it encounters.

This can be a pain in the ass to run regularly, so you might like to bind it to a vim keyboard shortcut so you can run it every so often, or add some git hooks to run ctags every time you check out, commit, or fetch with git. Take this bit of Ruby code, for example:. By default vim will jump to the first result, but a number of commands can be used to sort through the list of tags:. Very useful when you need to jump around a project in a hurry.

The ctag command also allows you to move to the previous tag of the same type in the tag list. Use the following command to move the cursor to the previous tag of the same type:. You can also move to the last and the first tag of the same type of tag searched in the list. To move to the last tag of the same type as the searched tag, enter the following command:.

To select a particular tag from a list of tags after opening the source code file, use the following command:. Ctags are useful for source code navigation within a file. Using the tags file, you can search the appropriate tag in the source code file. Keep in mind that if you change the source code file, then every time you make these changes, you will need to integrate and configure ctags with the changes.

This is because the ctags file does not automatically update with the source code file. To resolve this problem, you can use some useful auto plugins that keep your source code and tags file up to date.

Karim Buzdar holds a degree in telecommunication engineering and holds several sysadmin certifications. As an IT engineer and technical author, he writes for various web sites. He blogs at LinuxWays.