etags

Emacs tag file generator

TLDR

Generate TAGS file

$ etags [*.c] [*.h]

Append to existing TAGS

$ etags -a [newfile.c]

Output to specific file

$ etags -o [MYTAGS] [*.c]

Include files from file list

$ etags - < [filelist.txt]

Process specific language

$ etags --language=[c++] [*.cpp]

Recursive directory processing

$ find . -name "*.py" | etags -

etags generates tag files for Emacs. Tags enable jumping to function definitions, variable declarations, and other symbols across source files.The tool parses source files and creates a TAGS file containing symbol locations. Emacs uses this for code navigation with M-. (find-tag) and related commands.

PARAMETERS

-a, --append

Append to existing TAGS file.

-o file

Output to specified file.

-l lang, --language= lang

Force language for following files.

-I, --include= file

Include another tags file.

-r regex, --regex= regex

Tag lines matching regex.

Read file names from stdin.

--help

Display help.

SUPPORTED LANGUAGES

C, C++, Java, Python, Perl, Ruby, Lisp, Scheme, Fortran, Pascal, PHP, Lua, Erlang, and many more.

INSTALL

sudo dnf install emacs

sudo pacman -S emacs

sudo apk add emacs

sudo zypper install emacs

brew install emacs

nix profile install nixpkgs#emacs

CAVEATS

Different from ctags (Vim tags). TAGS file can grow large. Needs regeneration after code changes. Some languages have limited support.

HISTORY

etags has been part of GNU Emacs since its early versions. It provides the Emacs counterpart to ctags. The tool has evolved to support many programming languages while maintaining compatibility with Emacs tag navigation.