cscope like functionality for C++ (using vim)

Question

Is there any utility or plugin which provides cscope like functionality for C++. I am looking for

• all references to a symbol
• global definitions
• functions called by a function
• functions calling a function
• files including a file

Timmerman

Answer 1

Vim can interface directly with cscope out of the box. Type :h cscope. This requires cscope functionality to be enabled when Vim is compiled and for cscope to be installed on your computer.

There is a Vim + cscope tutorial on the cscope web page.

Cortez

is there any other tool which can provide similar functionality – Timmerman

I have found a program called Silent Bob (silentbob.sourceforge.net), but have not tried it. It claims to support C++, perl and Python. – Cortez

Answer 2

There are some tools listed in the thread, https://www.reddit.com/r/emacs/comments/1qktcb/cscope_like_functionality_that_correctly_handles/:

• Clang ctags https://github.com/drothlis/clang-ctags (uses clang to parse, supports C/C++) - seems to generate plain classic "TAGS" file (go to definition only, "level 1" of Exuberant Ctags) for Emacs and Vi
• Clang tags https://github.com/ffevotte/clang-tags (uses clang to parse, supports C/C++; needs server running to use) - works with JSON Compilation Database, supports both go to definition (clang-tag find-def) / go to usage (clang-tag grep). vim-clang-tags can be used to list all usages (:ClangTagsGrep command); there is emacs plugin too
• Rtags https://github.com/Andersbakken/rtags (named for Roberto Raggi who wrote c++ parser and assured to switch to clang parsing; C/C++ with limited ObjC/ObjC++; server-based with ./bin/rdm daemon) - has "follow-symbol" and "find-references". Intergates with emacs - "rtags.el"; there are two projects for Vim: https://github.com/lyuts/vim-rtags (rich support of rtags) and https://github.com/shaneharper/vim-rtags (only 2 commands) both with "Find references" and "find definition" functions
• bear https://github.com/rizsotto/Bear (not based on clang, can generate "JSON compilation database" for cmake and non-cmake projects). No any cross-reference functionality?

Some other links

• https://ruben2020.github.io/codequery/ "CodeQuery is a project that attempts to combine the features available from both cscope and ctags, provide faster database access compared to cscope (because it uses sqlite) and provides a nice GUI tool as well.", has own gui and vim plugin https://github.com/devjoe/vim-codequery; can't generate cscope database, but its own "CodeQuery sqlite3 db" is converted from cscope.out, generated by pycscope for python; starscope for Ruby, Go and Javascript; original cscope for C and limited C++; can also use TAGS.
• https://github.com/cquery-project/cquery "cquery is a highly-scalable, low-latency language server for C/C++/Objective-C. It is tested and designed for large code bases like Chromium. cquery provides accurate and fast semantic analysis without interrupting workflow." ... finding definition/references, with clang, C/C++; very quick work, fast updates and eats a lot of RAM. Has vim support: https://github.com/cquery-project/cquery/wiki/Vim
• https://www.gnu.org/software/global/ GNU Global is sometimes recommended as cscope replacement. It has "locate not only definitions but also references" and supports " 6 languages by built-in parser. (definition and reference): C, C++, Yacc, Java, PHP4 and assembly." And Vim integration: https://www.gnu.org/software/global/globaldoc_toc.html#Vim-editor

And there are some fast (indexed) greps like Russ Cox’ codesearch tools (It works with regex too - https://github.com/google/codesearch; example is https://codesearch.debian.net/about) or any other indexed grep...

And there are cross ref tools (GUI and web-servers) like LXR and other... https://github.com/oracle/opengrok/wiki/Comparison-with-Similar-Tools

Trousseau

Thanks, rtags works perfectly. It is far superior to ctags+cscope, which is almost unusable in C++. – Handmedown

Answer 3

Try YouCompleteMe.

It's got code completion, go-to-definition and refactoring not just for C & C++, but for Rust, Go, Java, C# and more.

Make sure to install it with support for clangd as described here.

Fatso