Semantic Manual

Semantic is a suite of Emacs libraries and utilities for parsing source code. At its core is a lexical analyzer and two parser generators (bovinator and wisent) written in Emacs Lisp. Semantic provides a variety of tools for making use of the parser output, including user commands for code navigation and completion, as well as enhancements for imenu, speedbar, whichfunc, eldoc, hippie-expand, and several other parts of Emacs.

To send bug reports, or participate in discussions about semantic, use the mailing list cedet-semantic@sourceforge.net via the URL: http://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/cedet-semantic

This manual documents the Semantic library and utilities.

Copyright © 1999–2005, 2007, 2009–2022 Free Software Foundation, Inc.

Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.3 or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with no Invariant Sections, with the Front-Cover Texts being “A GNU Manual,” and with the Back-Cover Texts as in (a) below. A copy of the license is included in the section entitled “GNU Free Documentation License.”

(a) The FSF’s Back-Cover Text is: “You have the freedom to copy and modify this GNU manual.”

Table of Contents


1 Introduction

This chapter gives an overview of Semantic and its goals.

Ordinarily, Emacs uses regular expressions (and syntax tables) to analyze source code for purposes such as syntax highlighting. This approach, though simple and efficient, has its limitations: roughly speaking, it only “guesses” the meaning of each piece of source code in the context of the programming language, instead of rigorously “understanding” it.

Semantic provides a new infrastructure to analyze source code using parsers instead of regular expressions. It contains two built-in parser generators (an LL generator named Bovine and an LALR generator named Wisent, both written in Emacs Lisp), and parsers for several common programming languages. It can also make use of external parsers—programs such as GNU Global and GNU IDUtils.

Semantic provides a uniform, language-independent API for accessing the parser output. This output can be used by other Emacs Lisp programs to implement “syntax-aware” behavior. Semantic itself includes several such utilities, including user-level Emacs commands for navigating, searching, and completing source code.

The following diagram illustrates the structure of the Semantic package:

Please Note:

The words in all-capital are those that Semantic itself provides. Others are current or future languages or applications that are not distributed along with Semantic.

                                                             Applications
                                                                 and
                                                              Utilities
                                                                -------
                                                               /       \
               +---------------+    +--------+    +--------+
         C --->| C      PARSER |--->|        |    |        |
               +---------------+    |        |    |        |
               +---------------+    | COMMON |    | COMMON |<--- SPEEDBAR
      Java --->| JAVA   PARSER |--->| PARSE  |    |        |
               +---------------+    | TREE   |    | PARSE  |<--- SEMANTICDB
               +---------------+    | FORMAT |    | API    |
    Scheme --->| SCHEME PARSER |--->|        |    |        |<--- ecb
               +---------------+    |        |    |        |
               +---------------+    |        |    |        |
   Texinfo --->| TEXI.  PARSER |--->|        |    |        |
               +---------------+    |        |    |        |

                    ...                ...           ...         ...

               +---------------+    |        |    |        |
   Lang. Y --->| Y      Parser |--->|        |    |        |<--- app. ?
               +---------------+    |        |    |        |
               +---------------+    |        |    |        |<--- app. ?
   Lang. Z --->| Z      Parser |--->|        |    |        |
               +---------------+    +--------+    +--------+

1.1 Semantic Components

In this section, we provide a more detailed description of the major components of Semantic, and how they interact with one another.

The first step in parsing a source code file is to break it up into its fundamental components. This step is called lexical analysis:

        syntax table, keywords list, and options
                         |
                         |
                         v
    input file  ---->  Lexer   ----> token stream

The output of the lexical analyzer is a list of tokens that make up the file. The next step is the actual parsing, shown below:

                    parser tables
                         |
                         v
    token stream --->  Parser  ----> parse tree

The end result, the parse tree, is Semantic’s internal representation of the language grammar. Semantic provides an API for Emacs Lisp programs to access the parse tree.

Parsing large files can take several seconds or more. By default, Semantic automatically caches parse trees by saving them in your .emacs.d directory. When you revisit a previously-parsed file, the parse tree is automatically reloaded from this cache, to save time. See Semantic Database.


2 Using Semantic

You can begin using Semantic by enabling Semantic mode, a global minor mode: type M-x semantic-mode, or open the ‘Tools’ menu and click on the menu item named ‘Source Code Parsers (Semantic)’. See Semantic mode.

When Semantic mode is turned on, Emacs automatically parses each file you visit. You can then use Semantic user commands in those buffers (see Semantic mode user commands). You can also choose to enable a number of “helper” minor modes for saving tags, displaying tag information, and so forth.

To enable Semantic mode each time you start Emacs, add the line (semantic-mode 1) to your initialization file. See Init File in Emacs manual.


2.1 Semantic mode

Semantic mode is a global minor mode for Semantic as a whole. When enabled, each file you visit is automatically parsed, provided its major mode is specified in the variable semantic-new-buffer-setup-functions (the default value of this variable sets up parsing for all the parsers included with Emacs, but you may add to it if you install additional parsers).

In each parser-enabled buffer, a number of Semantic commands are available for navigating, querying, and editing source code. See Semantic mode user commands. Enabling Semantic mode also installs a ‘Development’ menu on the menu-bar, with many of these commands.

In addition, enabling Semantic mode turns on certain auxiliary global minor modes. The variable semantic-default-submodes determines which auxiliary modes are enabled; the defaults are SemanticDB mode (see Semantic Database) and Global Semantic Idle Scheduler mode (see Idle Scheduler). You can also toggle the auxiliary minor modes separately, using their mode functions (e.g., M-x semanticdb-minor-mode), or via the ‘Development’ menu. The various auxiliary minor modes are described in the following sections.

Variable: semantic-new-buffer-setup-functions

The value of this variable is an alist of functions to call for setting up Semantic parsing in the buffer. Each element has the form (mode . fn), where mode is a value of major-mode for the buffer and fn is the corresponding function for setting up the parser. fn is called, with no arguments, after the major mode is initialized (and after the mode hooks have been run).

The default value enables Semantic for all supported major modes (i.e., C, C++, Scheme, Javascript, Java, HTML, SRecode, and Make), but you can remove modes from this list if you don’t want to use Semantic with them.

Variable: semantic-default-submodes

The value of this variable is a list of symbols, specifying the auxiliary minor modes to enable when enabling Semantic mode. The valid mode symbols are:


2.1.1 Semantic mode user commands

Semantic mode provides a number of commands for navigating, querying, and editing source code in a language-aware manner. These commands generally act on tags, which are the source-code units deemed “important” by the present programming language (e.g., functions in the C programming language).

These commands may be used in any buffer that has been parsed by Semantic. Several of them prompt for a tag name using the minibuffer; here, the TAB key can be used to complete tag names. Others act on the current tag, meaning the tag at (or around) point.

C-c , j

Prompt for a tag defined in the current file, and move point to it (semantic-complete-jump-local).

C-c , J

Prompt for a tag defined in any file that Emacs has parsed, and move point to it (semantic-complete-jump).

C-c , l

Display a list of the possible completions of the current tag (semantic-analyze-possible-completions).

C-c , g

Prompt for a tag, and display a list of tags that call it (semantic-symref-symbol). This relies on the presence of an external symbol reference tool. See Symbol References.

C-c , G

Display a list of tags that call the current tag (semantic-symref). This relies on the presence of an external symbol reference tool. See Symbol References.

C-c , p

Move point to the previous tag (senator-previous-tag).

C-c , n

Move point to the next tag (senator-next-tag).

C-c , u

Move point “up” one reference (senator-go-to-up-reference). The meaning of “up” is language-dependent; in C++, for instance, this means moving to the parent of the current tag.

C-c , SPC

Display a list of possible completions for the symbol at point (semantic-complete-analyze-inline). This also activates a special set of keybindings for choosing a completion: RET accepts the current completion, M-n and M-p cycle through possible completions, TAB completes as far as possible and then cycles, and C-g or any other key aborts the completion. See Smart Completion.

C-c , C-w

Kill the current tag (senator-kill-tag). This removes the text for that tag, placing it in the kill ring. You can retrieve the text with C-y. This also places the tag in the tag ring, so that you can yank it with \C-c,\C-y, below.

C-c , M-w

Copy the current tag into the kill ring as well as the tag ring (senator-copy-tag).

C-c , C-y

Yank a tag from the tag ring (senator-yank-tag).

C-c , r

Copy the current tag into a register (senator-copy-tag-to-register). With an optional argument, kill it as well. This allows you to insert or jump to that tag with the usual register commands. See Registers in Emacs manual.

C-c , up

Transpose the current tag with the previous one (senator-transpose-tags-up).

C-c , down

Transpose the current tag with the next one (senator-transpose-tags-down).


2.2 Semantic Database

The Semantic Database (SemanticDB) caches the results of parsing source code files. This data can be saved to disk when you exit Emacs, and reloaded automatically when you subsequently revisit the same source code files. This saves time by eliminating the need to re-parse unmodified files.

SemanticDB also provides an API that programs can use to acquire information about source code tags. This information can be accessed without loading the original the source files into memory. It can also be used to create alternate “back-ends” for storing tag information in alternative on-disk formats.

By default, SemanticDB is enabled together with Semantic mode. To disable it, remove it from semantic-default-submodes (see Semantic mode). You can also enable or disable SemanticDB with M-x global-semanticdb-minor-mode.

Command: global-semanticdb-minor-mode

Toggle SemanticDB mode. When enabled, any source code parsed by Semantic is cached in a database.

SemanticDB offers a large number of customizable options, which are described in the following subsections.


2.2.1 Semanticdb Tag Storage

Each time you exit Emacs, any data cached by SemanticDB is saved in the directory .emacs.d/semanticdb/, located in your home directory. Within this directory, the cache data is written into a set of files according to a SemanticDB-specific filename convention. If the SemanticDB directory does not exist, Emacs first asks if you want to create it.

You can change the name of the SemanticDB directory by customizing the variable semanticdb-default-save-directory.

Option: semanticdb-default-save-directory

The name of the directory where SemanticDB cache files are saved. If the value is nil, SemanticDB saves its data into a single file, in the current directory, whose filename is given by semanticdb-default-file-name.

Option: semanticdb-default-file-name

The name of a cache file in which to save SemanticDB, when semanticdb-default-save-directory is nil.

You can force SemanticDB to save the data from only certain files, or suppress saving altogether, by customizing semanticdb-persistent-path:

Option: semanticdb-persistent-path

List of valid paths for SemanticDB to cache. Each element should be a directory name (a string); then the parse data from any file in that directory is saved.

As a special exception, the value of this variable can be a list containing a single symbol: never, always, or project. The symbol never disables saving anywhere; always enables saving everywhere; and project enables saving directory based on the variable semanticdb-project-predicate-functions.

The default value is (always).

Variable: semanticdb-project-predicate-functions

The value of this variable is a list of predicates for indicating that a directory belongs to a project. This list is used when the value of semanticdb-persistent-path is (project). If the list is empty, all paths are considered valid.

Project management packages, such as EDE (see EDE manual), may add their own predicates with add-hook to this variable. This allows SemanticDB to save tag caches in directories controlled by them.

Option: semanticdb-save-database-functions

Abnormal hook run after a database is saved. Each function is called with one argument, the object representing the database recently written.


2.2.2 Semanticdb Search Configuration

When another part of Semantic (or another Emacs package using Semantic) queries the SemanticDB library for a source code tag, the search need not be limited to tags defined within the current file. It can include tags defined elsewhere, such as header files referenced by the current file (e.g., via the C/C++ #include directive). While performing the search, the SemanticDB library may even automatically visit other files and parse them, if necessary.

The variable semanticdb-find-default-throttle determines how aggressively SemanticDB searches for source code tags. See SemanticDB Search Throttle.

The details of SemanticDB searches can vary from language to language. In C/C++ code, for example, SemanticDB distinguishes between project header files and system header files, based on whether the #include directive uses the "" or <> filename delimiter. SemanticDB looks for system header in the system include path (see Include Paths).


2.2.2.1 SemanticDB Search Throttle

The SemanticDB search throttle determines how aggressive SemanticDB searches are. It is controlled by the variable semanticdb-find-default-throttle. The default value of this variable aims for maximum accuracy, at the expense of search time.

Other parts of the Semantic package, particularly the different language parsers, may change the value of semanticdb-find-default-throttle. You can override its value, for a given major mode, like this:

(setq-mode-local c-mode
                 semanticdb-find-default-throttle
                 '(project unloaded system recursive))
Variable: semanticdb-find-default-throttle

The default throttle for semanticdb-find routines. The throttle controls how detailed the list of database tables is for a symbol lookup. The value is a list with the following keys:

file

The file the search is being performed from. This option is here for completeness only, and is assumed to always be on.

local

Tables from the same local directory are included. This includes files directly referenced by a file name which might be in a different directory.

project

Tables from the same local project are included If project is specified, then local is assumed.

unloaded

If a table is not in memory, load it. If it is not cached on disk either, get the source, parse it, and create the table.

system

Tables from system databases. These are specifically tables from system header files, or language equivalent.

recursive

For include based searches, includes tables referenced by included files.

omniscience

Included system databases which are omniscience, or somehow know everything. Omniscience databases are found in semanticdb-project-system-databases. The Emacs Lisp system db is an omniscience database.


2.2.2.2 SemanticDB project roots

The project setting in the SemanticDB search throttle (see SemanticDB Search Throttle) tells SemanticDB to search within the current single code project. For Semantic’s point of view, projects are determined by their top-level directories, or project roots; every subdirectory of a project root is considered part of the same project.

If you use EDE for project management, it will set the project roots automatically. See EDE manual. You can also specify them yourself.

Option: semanticdb-project-roots

The value of this variable is a list of directories (strings) that are project roots. All subdirectories of a project root are considered part of the same project. This variable can be overridden by semanticdb-project-root-functions.

Variable: semanticdb-project-root-functions

The value of this variable is a list of functions to determine a given directory’s project root. These functions are called, one at a time, with one argument (the directory name), and must return either nil, a string (the project root), or a list of strings (multiple project roots, for complex systems). The first non-nil return value, if any, is taken to be the project root, overriding semanticdb-project-roots.


2.2.2.3 Include Paths

System include paths are standard locations to find source code tags, such as the header files in /usr/include and its subdirectories on Unix-like operating systems.

You can add and remove system include paths using the following commands:

Command: semantic-add-system-include dir &optional mode

Prompts for a directory, dir, and add it as a system include path for the current major mode. When called non-interactively, the major mode can be specified with the mode argument.

Command: semantic-remove-system-include dir &optional mode

Prompt for a directory, dir, and remove it from the system include path for the current major mode (or mode).

Command: semantic-customize-system-include-path &optional mode

Customize the system include path for the current major mode (or mode).

Variable: semanticdb-implied-include-tags

Include tags implied for all files of a given mode. You can set this variable with defvar-mode-local for a particular mode so that any symbols that exist for all files for that mode are included.


2.2.2.4 Semanticdb search debugging commands

You can use M-x semanticdb-dump-all-table-summary to see the list of databases that will be searched from a given buffer. You can follow up with M-x semanticdb-find-test-translate-path to then make sure specific tables from the path are discovered correctly. Alternately, you can get a list of include files Semantic encountered, but could not find on disk using M-x semanticdb-find-adebug-lost-includes.

Command: semanticdb-dump-all-table-summary

Dump a list of all databases in Emacs memory.

Command: semanticdb-find-test-translate-path &optional arg

Call and output results of semanticdb-find-translate-path. In the displayed buffer, you can type SPC to expand items. With arg non-nil, specify a brutish translation.

Command: semanticdb-find-adebug-lost-includes

Translate the current path, then display the lost includes. Examines the variable semanticdb-find-lost-includes.

Lastly, you can test an explicit search term using this command:

Command: semantic-adebug-searchdb regex

Search the semanticdb for regex for the current buffer. Display the results as a debug list.


2.2.3 Changing Backends

If you want to use some other form of backend, you can use this variable to choose which back end class to use for your general tag storage.

The default is to save databases in flat files. Alternatively, you could write a new database backend that stores tags into a database, or other storage system.

Variable: semanticdb-new-database-class

The default type of database created for new files. This can be changed on a per file basis, so that some directories are saved using one mechanism, and some directories via a different mechanism.


2.2.4 Create System Databases

If your supported language stores the system libraries in readily available parsable source code, you can pre-generate database files for them once, which will be used over and over for tools such as summary-mode, or the analyzer.

Command: semanticdb-create-ebrowse-database dir

Create an Ebrowse database for directory dir. The database file is stored in ~/.semanticdb, or whichever directory is specified by semanticdb-default-system-save-directory.


2.3 Idle Scheduler

The Semantic Idle Scheduler is a part of Semantic that performs various operations while Emacs is waiting for user input (idle time). Its primary job is to perform buffer parsing during idle time. You can also use the Idle Scheduler to display function prototypes (see Idle Summary Mode) or symbol completions (see Idle Completions Mode).

Command: global-semantic-idle-scheduler-mode &optional arg

This command toggles Semantic Idle Scheduler mode in every Semantic-enabled buffer. This minor mode ensures that the buffer is automatically reparsed whenever Emacs is idle. If there is additional idle time, it runs jobs scheduled by other parts of Semantic, such as Semantic Idle Summary mode (see Idle Summary Mode) and Semantic Idle Completions mode (see Idle Completions Mode).

Option: semantic-idle-scheduler-idle-time

The value of this variable is the amount of idle time, in seconds, before the Semantic idle scheduler activates. The default is 1.

Option: semantic-idle-scheduler-verbose-flag

If this variable is non-nil, the idle scheduler prints verbose messages while running, which are useful for debugging.


2.3.1 Reparsing Options

When activated during idle time, the Semantic idle scheduler automatically reparses all buffers that need it. Any arriving user input cancels this, returning Emacs to its normal editing behavior.

Option: semantic-idle-scheduler-max-buffer-size

Maximum size in bytes of buffers automatically reparsed. If this value is less than or equal to 0, buffers are automatically reparsed regardless of their size.

Option: semantic-idle-scheduler-no-working-message

If non-nil, disable display of working messages while reparsing.

Option: semantic-idle-scheduler-working-in-modeline-flag

If non-nil, show working messages in the mode line. Normally, re-parsing shows messages in the minibuffer; this moves the parse message to the modeline instead.

Variable: semantic-before-idle-scheduler-reparse-hook

This normal hook is run just before the idle scheduler begins reparsing. If any hook function throws an error, the value of this variable is reset to nil. This hook is not protected from lexical errors.

Variable: semantic-after-idle-scheduler-reparse-hook

This normal hook is run after the idle scheduler finishes reparsing. If any hook throws an error, this variable is reset to nil. This hook is not protected from lexical errors.


2.3.2 Idle Working Options

In addition to reparsing buffers, the Semantic idle scheduler performs additional operations, including the following:

  • Creating the include path caches required for symbol lookup.
  • Create data type caches.
  • Saving SemanticDB caches to disk.
  • Speculatively parsing the files in the same directory as the current buffer.

Because this extra work is quite time-consuming, it is only carried out after a longer idle delay. The following features control how the idle work is performed.

Option: semantic-idle-scheduler-work-idle-time

The value of this variable is the amount of idle time, in seconds, before commencing idle work. The default is 60.

Option: semantic-idle-work-parse-neighboring-files-flag

If the value of this variable is non-nil, the Semantic idle scheduler uses idle work time to parse files in the same directory as the current buffer. This improves the accuracy of tag searches and saves time when visiting those files later, at the cost of doing a lot of parsing. The default is t.


2.3.3 Debugging Idle Time Issues

If you see an error signaled during idle time, it could be an indication of a more serious issue elsewhere. It is not enough to enable debug-on-error, because the idle scheduler inhibits the debugger. Instead, use the following commands to debug the error:

Command: semantic-debug-idle-function

Run the Semantic idle function with debugging turned on.

Command: semantic-debug-idle-work-function

Run the Semantic idle work function with debugging turned on.


2.3.4 Idle Summary Mode

Semantic Idle Summary mode is a minor mode that displays a short summary of the symbol at point, such as its function prototype, in the echo area. Its functionality is similar to what ElDoc mode provides for Emacs Lisp (see Lisp Doc in Emacs manual).

global-semantic-idle-summary-mode: &optional arg

This command toggles Semantic Idle Summary mode in all Semantic-enabled buffers. You can also toggle it via the ‘Show Tag Summaries’ menu item in the ‘Development’ menu.

When Semantic Idle Summary mode is active, a summary of the tag at point is displayed in the echo area. This display takes place during the idle time, as given by semantic-idle-scheduler-idle-time (see Idle Scheduler).

You can override the method for getting the current tag to display by setting idle-summary-current-symbol-info.

Option: semantic-idle-summary-function

The value of this variable should be a function to call to display tag information during idle time. See the variable semantic-format-tag-functions for a list of useful functions.

Variable: semantic-idle-summary-out-of-context-faces

The value of this variable is a list of font-lock faces indicating useless summary contexts. These are generally faces used to highlight comments or strings. Semantic Idle Summary mode does not display its usual summary if the text at point has one of these faces.


2.3.5 Idle Completions Mode

Semantic Idle Completions mode is a minor mode for performing code completions during idle time. The completions are displayed inline, with keybindings that allow you to cycle through different alternatives.

Semantic Idle Completions mode performs completion based on the Semantic Analyzer (see Analyzer).

global-semantic-idle-completions-mode: &optional arg

This command toggles Semantic Idle Completions mode in every Semantic-enabled buffer. You can also toggle it via the ‘Show Tag Completions’ menu item in the ‘Development’ menu.

If the tag at point has at least one completion, Semantic Idle Completions mode displays that completion inline—i.e., as part of the buffer text (you can change the display method by customizing semantic-complete-inline-analyzer-idle-displayer-class, as described below). The completed part is highlighted, to indicate that it is not yet properly inserted into the buffer. The echo area shows the completion, and whether there are other possible completions, like this:

besselj [1 of 6 matches]

While the completion is being displayed, the following keybindings take effect:

RET
C-m

Accept the current completion (semantic-complete-inline-done), placing it in the buffer and moving point to the end of the completed tag.

M-n

Select the next possible completion (semantic-complete-inline-down). The new completion is shown inline, replacing the old completion.

M-p

Select the previous possible completion (semantic-complete-inline-up).

TAB
C-i

Accept as much of the completion as possible. If no additional completion can be accepted without ambiguity, select the next possible completion (semantic-complete-inline-TAB).

C-g

Quit without completing (semantic-complete-inline-quit).

You can also exit inline completion by issuing any other Emacs command. The completion text then disappears from the buffer.

Command: semantic-complete-analyze-inline-idle

This is the command for performing inline code completion. It is called by Semantic Idle Completions mode during idle time, but you can also call it yourself. It returns immediately, leaving the buffer in a state for inline completion.

Option: semantic-complete-inline-analyzer-idle-displayer-class

The value of this variable determines how semantic-complete-analyze-inline-idle shows its completions. Possible values include:

semantic-displayer-ghost

Display completions “inline” with the buffer text, as described above. This is the default value.

semantic-displayer-tooltip

Display completions in a tooltip.

semantic-displayer-traditional

Display completions in a separate window.


2.4 Analyzer

The Semantic Analyzer is a library for performing context analysis on source code. It provides user commands for displaying, completing, and navigating through source code.


2.4.1 Smart Completion

The Semantic Analyzer can be used to perform code completion in a manner that takes the local context into account. (In addition to the user commands in this section, Semantic Idle Completions mode also uses the Semantic Analyzer. See Idle Completions Mode.)

Command: semantic-analyze-possible-completions context

This is the most basic command for Semantic Analyzer-based completion. Called interactively, it displays a list of the possible completions for the symbol at point.

When called from a Lisp program, semantic-analyze-possible-completions does not display a completions list. The argument context should be either a buffer position, or a context object. The return value is a list of Semantic tag objects that complete the symbol for context, based on the following criteria:

  • Elements currently in scope.
  • Constants currently in scope.
  • Elements matching the context’s :prefix.
  • Type of the completion matching the type of the context.

Most of the other commands documented in this section call semantic-analyze-possible-completions internally.

Command: semantic-complete-analyze-inline

This command is bound to C-c , SPC when Semantic mode is enabled (see Semantic mode user commands). It displays a list of possible completions for the symbol at point, and activates a special set of keybindings for choosing a completion.

You can type RET to accept the current completion, M-n and M-p to cycle through the possible completions, TAB to complete as far as possible and then cycle through completions, and either C-g or any other key to abort the completion.

This command is similar to the completion performed by Semantic Idle Completions mode. The main difference is that it is called explicitly, whereas Semantic Idle Completions mode completes during idle time (see Idle Completions Mode).

Option: semantic-complete-inline-analyzer-idle-displayer-class

The value of this variable determines how semantic-complete-analyze-inline shows its completions. Possible values include:

semantic-displayer-traditional

Display completions in a separate window. This is the default value.

semantic-displayer-ghost

Display completions “inline” with the buffer text, similar to the default behavior of Semantic Idle Completions mode (see Idle Completions Mode).

semantic-displayer-tooltip

Display completions in a tooltip.

In addition to semantic-complete-analyze-inline, you can use the simpler command semantic-ia-complete-symbol point. This behaves like the usual M-TAB (complete-symbol) command (see Symbol Completion in Emacs manual), except it uses the Semantic Analyzer.

Command: semantic-ia-complete-symbol point

Complete the current symbol at point.


2.4.2 Smart Summary

You can use the following commands to obtain information about the code at point:

Command: semantic-ia-show-summary pos

Display a summary for the symbol at pos. Called interactively, pos defaults to point.

Command: semantic-ia-show-doc pos

Display the code-level documentation for the symbol at pos. Called interactively, pos defaults to point.

Command: semantic-ia-describe-class typename

Prompt for the name of a data type, typename, and display its components. For instance, if the type in question is a class, this displays the methods and member variables.

You can also use Semantic Idle Summary mode to show information about the current symbol in the echo area during idle time. See Idle Summary Mode.


2.4.3 Smart Jump

The Semantic Analyzer can be used to jump directly to the definition for a code symbol.

Command: semantic-ia-fast-jump pos

Jump to the definition for the symbol at pos. Called interactively, pos defaults to point.

Function: semantic-ia-fast-mouse-jump event

Jump to the definition for the symbol at the position of the mouse event event. This command is meant to be bound to a mouse command, like this:

(global-set-key '[(S-mouse-1)] semantic-ia-fast-mouse-jump)

These commands are often more accurate than the xref-find-definitions command (see Looking Up Identifiers in Emacs manual), because the Semantic Analyzer is context-sensitive.

You can also use C-c , j (semantic-complete-jump-local) and C-c , J (semantic-complete-jump) to navigate tags. See Semantic mode user commands. Those commands do not make use of the Semantic Analyzer.


2.4.4 Debugging the Semantic Analyzer

If the Semantic Analyzer does not analyze your code properly, you can take steps to identify and solve the problem. This section was written with C/C++ in mind, but should be relevant for any typed language.

2.4.4.1 Step 1: Check the context

To check the current context, type M-x semantic-analyze-current-context.

Command: semantic-analyze-current-context pos

Analyze the context at pos. This function is used by most of the other Semantic Analyzer commands to obtain the context of the code at a given buffer position. The return value is an EIEIO object describing the context at pos (see EIEIO manual).

When called interactively, this displays a *Semantic Context Analysis* buffer containing a summary of the context at point.

The Prefix section of the *Semantic Context Analysis* buffer lists the tags based on the text at point. If it shows only a simple string, the Semantic was unable to identify what the data type was.

The first item in the list of the prefix is the first lookup failure in the chain, and that is the item to focus debugging effort on. For example:

Context Type: #<semantic-analyze-context context>
Bounds: (182 . 185)
Prefix: Foo* bar
        int bbb (const char* y)
Prefix Types: class Foo {}
--------
-> Local Vars: int argc
               char** argv

In this example you can see that the prefix has two fully found tags. In the following example, the symbol “bbb” is incomplete, and could not be found:

Context Type: #<semantic-analyze-context context>
Bounds: (182 . 184)
Prefix: Foo* bar
        "bb"
Prefix Classes: 'function
                'variable
Prefix Types: class Foo {}
--------
-> Local Vars: int argc
               char** argv

2.4.4.2 Step 2 : Check your include path

Once you know the missing symbol, check your include path. The header or include file containing the needed definition may not be in the list of headers Semantic is searching through. To get a basic list, you can use M-x semanticdb-find-test-translate-path. See Semanticdb search debugging commands.

If items should be loaded but aren’t, or if you see some tables that have no tags in them, then you may have an incorrectly-set search throttle (see SemanticDB Search Throttle). For example,

*#<semanticdb-table main.cpp (4 tags DIRTY)>
*#<semanticdb-table foo.hh (0 tags DIRTY)>

Here, Semantic found foo.hh, but there are 0 tags. This may be because you had set the throttle to avoid reading and parsing files that Emacs has not visited. To fix this, visit the file and let Semantic parse it.

For C++, check also that the ‘#include’ statements for your project-level files use quotes, not angle brackets; angle brackets are for system files.

2.4.4.3 Step 3: Check the local scope

If your data type is somehow abbreviated based on scope, such as from a using statement, you should make sure that the symbol you want is in the local scope. Examine the scope with M-x semantic-calculate-scope. The scope structure is displayed in ADEBUG mode, so use SPC to expand different elements and looking for your symbol.

If your symbol should be in the scope, but you cannot find it, then you may have found a language support bug in the local-variable parser, or using statement parser.

Calling M-x bovinate should force a reset on the scope in case there is merely some bad state.

 ] Name: Cache
 ] Class: #'semantic-scope-cache
 ] :table #<semanticdb-table testsubclass.cpp (13 tags DIRTY)>
 ] tag createMoose : class moose
 ] scopetypes 'nil
 ] parents #<TAG LIST: 1 entries>
 ] scope #<TAG LIST: 22 entries>
 ] fullscope #<TAG LIST: 23 entries>
 ] localvar #<TAG LIST: 6 entries>

In the above sample output, the tag slot specifies where within you source this scope is relevant. Parents should contain any in scope parents, such as the class a method belongs to. Localvar should contain your local variables. Scope should contain datatypes in scope due to a using statement or the like.

2.4.4.4 Step 4: Check the typecache

For complex typed languages like C++, Semantic creates a typecache, or an optimized search table with all the various data types in it. Elements in the typecache do not obey local scope. It only contains fully qualified names. You can examine the typecache with M-x semanticdb-typecache-dump.

If your data types are not in the typecache, there may be some parsing error or other bug. Calling M-x bovinate should force a reset on the typecache in case there is merely some bad state.

]#<semanticdb-typecache /home/zappo/cedet/semantic/tests/testsubclass.cpp>
   ] Name: /home/zappo/cedet/semantic/tests/testsubclass.cpp
   ] Class: #'semanticdb-typecache
   ] filestream 'nil
   ] includestream #<TAG LIST: 84 entries>
   ] stream 'nil
   ] dependants 'nil

In the above example, the output of M-x semanticdb-typecache-dump was expanded one level. The filestream slot should contain datatypes in the current file. The includestream should contain all the datatypes in all included header files.

The dependants slot will specify other files that depend on this one.

2.4.4.5 Step 5: Check the parser

Go to the location where your unfound tag should be. You can call M-x bovinate, and see a dump of the raw tag structure. To see a navigable tree, use M-x semantic-adebug-bovinate instead. You can then look to make sure your tag has been properly parsed.

If it has not, then you may have found a parser bug. To get a feel how Semantic treats your file, type M-x global-semantic-show-unmatched-syntax-mode. This causes any syntax it cannot parse to be underlined in red.

If your type is not parsable, it could be for a couple of reasons:

  1. If there is a MACRO keyword used in the definition of the type, you may need to update the semantic-lex-c-preprocessor-symbol-map to account for it.
  2. Or perhaps the parser needs to be fixed.

2.5 Speedbar

You can integrate Semantic with the Speedbar. See Speedbar in Emacs manual. To do this, add the following line to your init file:

(with-eval-after-load 'speedbar (require 'semantic/sb))

Or, alternatively:

(require 'semantic/sb)

Once installed, the Speedbar will use Semantic to find and display tags. Tags from Semantic are displayed with more details than ordinary Speedbar tags, such as function arguments and return type.

In addition, you can use the Speedbar to show the output of the Semantic Analyzer (see Analyzer). To do this, go to the ‘Display’ menu item on the Speedbar menu and select ‘Analyze’; or type M-x semantic-speedbar-analysis.

Command: semantic-speedbar-analysis

Start the Speedbar in Semantic Analysis mode.

In Semantic Analysis mode, the Speedbar displays information about the local context, such as the current function, local arguments and variables, and details on the prefix (the current symbol). Each entry has an ‘<i>’ button; clicking on this shows a summary of what Semantic knows about that variable or type. The Speedbar also displays a list of possible completions at point.


2.6 Symbol References

Semantic can interface with external symbol reference tools, such as GNU Global and GNU Idutils. These tools provide information about where different tags or symbols appear.

By default, Semantic tries to look for the best external symbol reference tool that can be used. The supported tools are GNU Global, GNU Idutils, CScope, and Grep (the fallback method). For best results, use GNU Global. However, Semantic does not manage your GNU Global tables for you; you must manage them yourself.

Variable: semantic-symref-tool

The value of this variable is a symbol that determines the external symbol reference tool to use. The default value, detect, says to look for the best available tool. Other possible values are global, idutils, cscope, and grep. Note that grep is much slower than the others.

The commands to display symbol references are C-c , g (semantic-symref-symbol and C-c , G (semantic-symref). These keybindings are available whenever Semantic mode is enabled (see Semantic mode user commands).

Command: semantic-symref-symbol sym

This command (normally bound to C-c , g) prompts for a symbol name, and uses an external reference tool to find references to that tag.

Command: semantic-symref

This command (normally bound to C-c , G) uses an external reference tool to find references to the current tag.

Both semantic-symref-symbol and semantic-symref display a list of symbol references in a separate buffer. The entries are organized by file, and by function name. Typing RET on the ‘[+]’ next to each function name “expands” that entry, listing all references to the target symbol occurring within that function. Typing RET on a reference line jumps to that reference.


2.7 MRU Bookmarks mode

Semantic MRU Bookmarks mode is a minor mode that keeps track of the tags you have edited, allowing you to quickly return to them later (MRU stands for “Most Recently Used”).

Command: global-semantic-mru-bookmark-mode &optional arg

Toggle Semantic MRU Bookmarks mode globally. The minor mode can be turned on only if the current buffer was set up for parsing. With argument arg, turn the minor mode if arg is positive, and off otherwise.

Semantic MRU Bookmarks mode takes note of each tag you edit. Afterwards, you can type C-x B (semantic-mrub-switch-tags) to return to a tag. This command prompts for a tag name, completing with the names of edited tags; at the prompt, you can use M-p and M-n to cycle through tags in order of last modification time.


2.8 Sticky Function mode

Semantic Sticky Function minor mode displays a header line that shows the declaration line of the function or tag on the topmost line in the text area. This allows you to keep that declaration line in view at all times, even if it is scrolls off the “top” of the screen.

In addition, clicking mouse-1 on the header line opens a context menu that contains menu items for copying, killing, or narrowing to that tag.

Command: global-semantic-stickyfunc-mode &optional arg

Toggle Semantic Sticky Function mode in all Semantic-enabled buffers. With an optional argument arg, enable if arg is positive, and disable otherwise.

Variable: semantic-stickyfunc-sticky-classes

The value of this variable is a list of tag classes that Semantic Sticky Function mode makes “sticky”. The default is '(function type), meaning function declarations and type declarations. Other possible tag classes are variable, include, and package.


2.9 Highlight Func Mode

Semantic Highlight Function minor mode highlights the declaration line of the current function or tag (that is to say, the first line that describes the rest of the construct).

In addition, clicking mouse-3 on the highlighted declaration line opens a context menu that contains menu items for copying, killing, or narrowing to that tag.

The tag classes highlighted by Semantic Highlight Function mode are the same ones given by semantic-stickyfunc-sticky-classes. See Sticky Function mode.

Function: global-semantic-highlight-func-mode &optional arg

Toggle Semantic Highlight Function mode in all Semantic-enabled buffers. With an optional argument arg, enable if arg is positive, and disable otherwise.

Face: semantic-highlight-func-current-tag-face

This face is used to highlight declaration lines in Semantic Highlight Func mode.


2.10 Tag Decoration Mode

Semantic Tag Decoration mode “decorates” each tag based on certain arbitrary features of that tag. Decorations are specified using the variable semantic-decoration-styles.

Command: global-semantic-decoration-mode &optional arg

Toggle Semantic Tag Decoration mode in all Semantic-enabled buffers. With an optional argument arg, enable if arg is positive, and disable otherwise.

Variable: semantic-decoration-styles

The value of this variable is a list of decoration styles for Semantic Tag Decoration mode. Each element in this list should have the form (name . flag), where name is a style name (a symbol) and flag is non-nil if the style is enabled.

The following styles are available:

semantic-tag-boundary

Place an overline in front of each long tag (excluding prototypes).

semantic-decoration-on-private-members

Highlight class members that are designated as private.

semantic-decoration-on-protected-members

Highlight class members that are designated as protected.

semantic-decoration-on-includes

Highlight class members that are includes. Clicking on the highlighted include statements opens a context menu for configuring Semantic includes.

To enable or disable specific decorations, use this function:

Command: semantic-toggle-decoration-style name &optional arg

Prompt for a decoration style, name, and turn it on or off. With prefix argument arg, turn on if positive, otherwise off. Return non-nil if the decoration style is enabled.

Face: semantic-tag-boundary-face

Face for long tags in the semantic-tag-boundary decoration style.

Face: semantic-decoration-on-private-members-face

Face for privately-scoped tags in the semantic-decoration-on-private-members decoration style.

Face: semantic-decoration-on-protected-members-face

Face for protected tags in the semantic-decoration-on-protected-members decoration style.

Face: semantic-decoration-on-includes

Face for includes that are not in some other state, in the semantic-decoration-on-includes decoration style.

Face: semantic-decoration-on-unknown-includes

Face for includes that cannot be found, in the semantic-decoration-on-includes decoration style.

Face: semantic-decoration-on-unparsed-includes

Face for includes that have not yet been parsed, in the semantic-decoration-on-includes decoration style.

2.10.1 Creating New Decoration Modes

You can create new types of decorations using the following function:

Function: define-semantic-decoration-style name doc &rest flags

Define a new decoration style with name. doc is a documentation string describing the decoration style name. It is appended to auto-generated doc strings. An optional list of flags can also be specified. Flags are: :enabled <value> - specify the default enabled value for name.

This defines two new overload functions respectively called NAME-p and NAME-highlight, for which you must provide a default implementation in respectively the functions NAME-p-default and NAME-highlight-default. Those functions are passed a tag. NAME-p must return non-nil to indicate that the tag should be decorated by NAME-highlight.

To put primary decorations on a tag NAME-highlight, use functions like semantic-set-tag-face, semantic-set-tag-intangible, etc., found in the semantic-decorate library.

To add other kind of decorations on a tag, NAME-highlight must use semantic-decorate-tag, and other functions of the semantic decoration api found in this library.


3 Semantic Internals

This chapter provides an overview of the internals of Semantic. This information is usually not needed by application developers or grammar developers; it is useful mostly for the hackers who would like to learn more about how Semantic works.


3.1 Parser code

Semantic parsing code is spread across a range of files.

semantic.el

The core infrastructure sets up buffers for parsing, and has all the core parsing routines. Most parsing routines are overloadable, so the actual implementation may be somewhere else.

semantic/edit.el

Incremental reparse based on user edits.

semantic/grammar.el
semantic-grammar.wy

Parser for the different grammar languages, and a major mode for editing grammars in Emacs.

semantic/lex.el

Infrastructure for implementing lexical analyzers. Provides macros for creating individual analyzers for specific features, and a way to combine them together.

semantic/lex-spp.el

Infrastructure for a lexical symbolic preprocessor. This was written to implement the C preprocessor, but could be used for other lexical preprocessors.

semantic/grammar.el
semantic/bovine/grammar.el

The “bovine” grammar. This is the first grammar mode written for Semantic and is useful for creating simple parsers.

semantic/wisent.el
semantic/wisent/wisent.el
semantic/wisent/grammar.el

A port of bison to Emacs. This infrastructure lets you create LALR based parsers for Semantic.

semantic/debug.el

Infrastructure for debugging grammars.

semantic/util.el

Various utilities for manipulating tags, such as describing the tag under point, adding labels, and the all important semantic-something-to-tag-table.


3.2 Tag handling

A tag represents an individual item found in a buffer, such as a function or variable. Tag handling is handled in several source files.

semantic/tag.el

Basic tag creation, queries, cloning, binding, and unbinding.

semantic/tag-write.el

Write a tag or tag list to a stream. These routines are used by semanticdb-file.el when saving a list of tags.

semantic/tag-file.el

Files associated with tags. Goto-tag, file for include, and file for a prototype.

semantic/tag-ls.el

Language dependent features of a tag, such as parent calculation, slot protection, and other states like abstract, virtual, static, and leaf.

semantic/dep.el

Include file handling. Contains the include path concepts, and routines for looking up file names in the include path.

semantic/format.el

Convert a tag into a nicely formatted and colored string. Use semantic-test-all-format-tag-functions to test different output options.

semantic/find.el

Find tags matching different conditions in a tag table. These routines are used by semanticdb-find.el once the database has been converted into a simpler tag table.

semantic/sort.el

Sorting lists of tags in different ways. Includes sorting a plain list of tags forward or backward. Includes binning tags based on attributes (bucketize), and tag adoption for multiple references to the same thing.

semantic/doc.el

Capture documentation comments from near a tag.


3.3 Semanticdb Internals

Semanticdb complexity is certainly an issue. It is a rather hairy problem to try and solve.

semantic/db.el

Defines a database and a table base class. You can instantiate these classes, and use them, but they are not persistent.

This file also provides support for semanticdb-minor-mode, which automatically associates files with tables in databases so that tags are saved while a buffer is not in memory.

The database and tables both also provide applicable cache information, and cache flushing system. The semanticdb search routines use caches to save data structures that are complex to calculate.

Lastly, it provides the concept of project root. It is a system by which a file can be associated with the root of a project, so if you have a tree of directories and source files, it can find the root, and allow a tag-search to span all available databases in that directory hierarchy.

semantic/db-file.el

Provides a subclass of the basic table so that it can be saved to disk. Implements all the code needed to unbind/rebind tags to a buffer and writing them to a file.

semantic/db-el.el

Implements a special kind of system database that uses Emacs internals to perform queries.

semantic/db-ebrowse.el

Implements a system database that uses Ebrowse to parse files into a table that can be queried for tag names. Successful tag hits during a find causes Semantic to pick up and parse the reference files to get the full details.

semantic/db-find.el

Infrastructure for searching groups Semantic databases, and dealing with the search results format.

semantic/db-ref.el

Tracks crossreferences. Cross references are needed when buffer is reparsed, and must alert other tables that any dependent caches may need to be flushed. References are in the form of include files.


3.4 Analyzer Internals

The Semantic analyzer is a complex engine which has been broken down across several modules. When the Semantic analyzer fails, start with semantic-analyze-debug-assist, then dive into some of these files.

semantic/analyze.el

The core analyzer for defining the current context. The current context is an object that contains references to aspects of the local context including the current prefix, and a tag list defining what the prefix means.

semantic/analyze/complete.el

Provides semantic-analyze-possible-completions.

semantic/analyze/debug.el

The analyzer debugger. Useful when attempting to get everything configured.

semantic/analyze/fcn.el

Various support functions needed by the analyzer.

semantic/ctxt.el

Local context parser. Contains overloadable functions used to move around through different scopes, get local variables, and collect the current prefix used when doing completion.

semantic/scope.el

Calculate scope for a location in a buffer. The scope includes local variables, and tag lists in scope for various reasons, such as C++ using statements.

semantic/db-typecache.el

The typecache is part of semanticdb, but is used primarily by the analyzer to look up datatypes and complex names. The typecache is bound across source files and builds a master lookup table for data type names.

semantic/ia.el

Interactive Analyzer functions. Simple routines that do completion or lookups based on the results from the Analyzer. These routines are meant as examples for application writers, but are quite useful as they are.

semantic/ia-sb.el

Speedbar support for the analyzer, displaying context info, and completion lists.


3.5 Tools

These files contain various tools for users.

semantic/idle.el

Idle scheduler for Semantic. Manages reparsing buffers after edits, and large work tasks in idle time. Includes modes for showing summary help and pop-up completion.

semantic/senator.el

The Semantic navigator. Provides many ways to move through a buffer based on the active tag table.

semantic/decorate.el

A minor mode for decorating tags based on details from the parser. Includes overlines for functions, or coloring class fields based on protection.

semantic/decorate/include.el

A decoration mode for include files, which assists users in setting up parsing for their includes.

semantic/complete.el

Advanced completion prompts for reading tag names in the minibuffer, or inline in a buffer.

semantic/imenu.el

Imenu support for using Semantic tags in imenu.

semantic/mru-bookmark.el

Automatic bookmarking based on tags. Jump to locations you’ve been before based on tag name.

semantic/sb.el

Support for Semantic tag usage in Speedbar.

semantic/util-modes.el

A bunch of small minor-modes that exposes aspects of the semantic parser state. Includes semantic-stickyfunc-mode.

semantic/chart.el

Draw some charts from stats generated from parsing.


Appendix A Glossary

BNF

In semantic 1.4, a BNF file represented “Bovine Normal Form”, the grammar file used for the 1.4 parser generator. This was a play on Backus-Naur Form which proved too confusing.

bovinate

A verb representing what happens when a bovine parser parses a file.

bovine lambda

In a bovine, or LL parser, the bovine lambda is a function to execute when a specific set of match rules has succeeded in matching text from the buffer.

bovine parser

A parser using the bovine parser generator. It is an LL parser suitable for small simple languages.

context
LALR
lexer

A program which converts text into a stream of tokens by analyzing them lexically. Lexers will commonly create strings, symbols, keywords and punctuation, and strip whitespaces and comments.

LL
nonterminal

A nonterminal symbol or simply a nonterminal stands for a class of syntactically equivalent groupings. A nonterminal symbol name is used in writing grammar rules.

overloadable

Some functions are defined via define-overload. These can be overloaded via ....

parser

A program that converts tokens to tags.

tag

A tag is a representation of some entity in a language file, such as a function, variable, or include statement. In semantic, the word tag is used the same way it is used for the etags or ctags tools.

A tag is usually bound to a buffer region via overlay, or it just specifies character locations in a file.

token

A single atomic item returned from a lexer. It represents some set of characters found in a buffer.

token stream

The output of the lexer as well as the input to the parser.

wisent parser

A parser using the wisent parser generator. It is a port of bison to Emacs Lisp. It is an LALR parser suitable for complex languages.


Appendix B GNU Free Documentation License

Version 1.3, 3 November 2008
Copyright © 2000, 2001, 2002, 2007, 2008 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
https://fsf.org/

Everyone is permitted to copy and distribute verbatim copies
of this license document, but changing it is not allowed.
  1. PREAMBLE

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  5. MODIFICATIONS

    You may copy and distribute a Modified Version of the Document under the conditions of sections 2 and 3 above, provided that you release the Modified Version under precisely this License, with the Modified Version filling the role of the Document, thus licensing distribution and modification of the Modified Version to whoever possesses a copy of it. In addition, you must do these things in the Modified Version:

    1. Use in the Title Page (and on the covers, if any) a title distinct from that of the Document, and from those of previous versions (which should, if there were any, be listed in the History section of the Document). You may use the same title as a previous version if the original publisher of that version gives permission.
    2. List on the Title Page, as authors, one or more persons or entities responsible for authorship of the modifications in the Modified Version, together with at least five of the principal authors of the Document (all of its principal authors, if it has fewer than five), unless they release you from this requirement.
    3. State on the Title page the name of the publisher of the Modified Version, as the publisher.
    4. Preserve all the copyright notices of the Document.
    5. Add an appropriate copyright notice for your modifications adjacent to the other copyright notices.
    6. Include, immediately after the copyright notices, a license notice giving the public permission to use the Modified Version under the terms of this License, in the form shown in the Addendum below.
    7. Preserve in that license notice the full lists of Invariant Sections and required Cover Texts given in the Document’s license notice.
    8. Include an unaltered copy of this License.
    9. Preserve the section Entitled “History”, Preserve its Title, and add to it an item stating at least the title, year, new authors, and publisher of the Modified Version as given on the Title Page. If there is no section Entitled “History” in the Document, create one stating the title, year, authors, and publisher of the Document as given on its Title Page, then add an item describing the Modified Version as stated in the previous sentence.
    10. Preserve the network location, if any, given in the Document for public access to a Transparent copy of the Document, and likewise the network locations given in the Document for previous versions it was based on. These may be placed in the “History” section. You may omit a network location for a work that was published at least four years before the Document itself, or if the original publisher of the version it refers to gives permission.
    11. For any section Entitled “Acknowledgements” or “Dedications”, Preserve the Title of the section, and preserve in the section all the substance and tone of each of the contributor acknowledgements and/or dedications given therein.
    12. Preserve all the Invariant Sections of the Document, unaltered in their text and in their titles. Section numbers or the equivalent are not considered part of the section titles.
    13. Delete any section Entitled “Endorsements”. Such a section may not be included in the Modified Version.
    14. Do not retitle any existing section to be Entitled “Endorsements” or to conflict in title with any Invariant Section.
    15. Preserve any Warranty Disclaimers.

    If the Modified Version includes new front-matter sections or appendices that qualify as Secondary Sections and contain no material copied from the Document, you may at your option designate some or all of these sections as invariant. To do this, add their titles to the list of Invariant Sections in the Modified Version’s license notice. These titles must be distinct from any other section titles.

    You may add a section Entitled “Endorsements”, provided it contains nothing but endorsements of your Modified Version by various parties—for example, statements of peer review or that the text has been approved by an organization as the authoritative definition of a standard.

    You may add a passage of up to five words as a Front-Cover Text, and a passage of up to 25 words as a Back-Cover Text, to the end of the list of Cover Texts in the Modified Version. Only one passage of Front-Cover Text and one of Back-Cover Text may be added by (or through arrangements made by) any one entity. If the Document already includes a cover text for the same cover, previously added by you or by arrangement made by the same entity you are acting on behalf of, you may not add another; but you may replace the old one, on explicit permission from the previous publisher that added the old one.

    The author(s) and publisher(s) of the Document do not by this License give permission to use their names for publicity for or to assert or imply endorsement of any Modified Version.

  6. COMBINING DOCUMENTS

    You may combine the Document with other documents released under this License, under the terms defined in section 4 above for modified versions, provided that you include in the combination all of the Invariant Sections of all of the original documents, unmodified, and list them all as Invariant Sections of your combined work in its license notice, and that you preserve all their Warranty Disclaimers.

    The combined work need only contain one copy of this License, and multiple identical Invariant Sections may be replaced with a single copy. If there are multiple Invariant Sections with the same name but different contents, make the title of each such section unique by adding at the end of it, in parentheses, the name of the original author or publisher of that section if known, or else a unique number. Make the same adjustment to the section titles in the list of Invariant Sections in the license notice of the combined work.

    In the combination, you must combine any sections Entitled “History” in the various original documents, forming one section Entitled “History”; likewise combine any sections Entitled “Acknowledgements”, and any sections Entitled “Dedications”. You must delete all sections Entitled “Endorsements.”

  7. COLLECTIONS OF DOCUMENTS

    You may make a collection consisting of the Document and other documents released under this License, and replace the individual copies of this License in the various documents with a single copy that is included in the collection, provided that you follow the rules of this License for verbatim copying of each of the documents in all other respects.

    You may extract a single document from such a collection, and distribute it individually under this License, provided you insert a copy of this License into the extracted document, and follow this License in all other respects regarding verbatim copying of that document.

  8. AGGREGATION WITH INDEPENDENT WORKS

    A compilation of the Document or its derivatives with other separate and independent documents or works, in or on a volume of a storage or distribution medium, is called an “aggregate” if the copyright resulting from the compilation is not used to limit the legal rights of the compilation’s users beyond what the individual works permit. When the Document is included in an aggregate, this License does not apply to the other works in the aggregate which are not themselves derivative works of the Document.

    If the Cover Text requirement of section 3 is applicable to these copies of the Document, then if the Document is less than one half of the entire aggregate, the Document’s Cover Texts may be placed on covers that bracket the Document within the aggregate, or the electronic equivalent of covers if the Document is in electronic form. Otherwise they must appear on printed covers that bracket the whole aggregate.

  9. TRANSLATION

    Translation is considered a kind of modification, so you may distribute translations of the Document under the terms of section 4. Replacing Invariant Sections with translations requires special permission from their copyright holders, but you may include translations of some or all Invariant Sections in addition to the original versions of these Invariant Sections. You may include a translation of this License, and all the license notices in the Document, and any Warranty Disclaimers, provided that you also include the original English version of this License and the original versions of those notices and disclaimers. In case of a disagreement between the translation and the original version of this License or a notice or disclaimer, the original version will prevail.

    If a section in the Document is Entitled “Acknowledgements”, “Dedications”, or “History”, the requirement (section 4) to Preserve its Title (section 1) will typically require changing the actual title.

  10. TERMINATION

    You may not copy, modify, sublicense, or distribute the Document except as expressly provided under this License. Any attempt otherwise to copy, modify, sublicense, or distribute it is void, and will automatically terminate your rights under this License.

    However, if you cease all violation of this License, then your license from a particular copyright holder is reinstated (a) provisionally, unless and until the copyright holder explicitly and finally terminates your license, and (b) permanently, if the copyright holder fails to notify you of the violation by some reasonable means prior to 60 days after the cessation.

    Moreover, your license from a particular copyright holder is reinstated permanently if the copyright holder notifies you of the violation by some reasonable means, this is the first time you have received notice of violation of this License (for any work) from that copyright holder, and you cure the violation prior to 30 days after your receipt of the notice.

    Termination of your rights under this section does not terminate the licenses of parties who have received copies or rights from you under this License. If your rights have been terminated and not permanently reinstated, receipt of a copy of some or all of the same material does not give you any rights to use it.

  11. FUTURE REVISIONS OF THIS LICENSE

    The Free Software Foundation may publish new, revised versions of the GNU Free Documentation License from time to time. Such new versions will be similar in spirit to the present version, but may differ in detail to address new problems or concerns. See https://www.gnu.org/licenses/.

    Each version of the License is given a distinguishing version number. If the Document specifies that a particular numbered version of this License “or any later version” applies to it, you have the option of following the terms and conditions either of that specified version or of any later version that has been published (not as a draft) by the Free Software Foundation. If the Document does not specify a version number of this License, you may choose any version ever published (not as a draft) by the Free Software Foundation. If the Document specifies that a proxy can decide which future versions of this License can be used, that proxy’s public statement of acceptance of a version permanently authorizes you to choose that version for the Document.

  12. RELICENSING

    “Massive Multiauthor Collaboration Site” (or “MMC Site”) means any World Wide Web server that publishes copyrightable works and also provides prominent facilities for anybody to edit those works. A public wiki that anybody can edit is an example of such a server. A “Massive Multiauthor Collaboration” (or “MMC”) contained in the site means any set of copyrightable works thus published on the MMC site.

    “CC-BY-SA” means the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 license published by Creative Commons Corporation, a not-for-profit corporation with a principal place of business in San Francisco, California, as well as future copyleft versions of that license published by that same organization.

    “Incorporate” means to publish or republish a Document, in whole or in part, as part of another Document.

    An MMC is “eligible for relicensing” if it is licensed under this License, and if all works that were first published under this License somewhere other than this MMC, and subsequently incorporated in whole or in part into the MMC, (1) had no cover texts or invariant sections, and (2) were thus incorporated prior to November 1, 2008.

    The operator of an MMC Site may republish an MMC contained in the site under CC-BY-SA on the same site at any time before August 1, 2009, provided the MMC is eligible for relicensing.

ADDENDUM: How to use this License for your documents

To use this License in a document you have written, include a copy of the License in the document and put the following copyright and license notices just after the title page:

  Copyright (C)  year  your name.
  Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
  under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.3
  or any later version published by the Free Software Foundation;
  with no Invariant Sections, no Front-Cover Texts, and no Back-Cover
  Texts.  A copy of the license is included in the section entitled ``GNU
  Free Documentation License''.

If you have Invariant Sections, Front-Cover Texts and Back-Cover Texts, replace the “with…Texts.” line with this:

    with the Invariant Sections being list their titles, with
    the Front-Cover Texts being list, and with the Back-Cover Texts
    being list.

If you have Invariant Sections without Cover Texts, or some other combination of the three, merge those two alternatives to suit the situation.

If your document contains nontrivial examples of program code, we recommend releasing these examples in parallel under your choice of free software license, such as the GNU General Public License, to permit their use in free software.


Index

Jump to:   &  
A   D   G   I   S  
Index Entry  Section

&
&optional: Idle Summary Mode
&optional: Idle Completions Mode

A
Analyzer: Analyzer

D
define-semantic-decoration-style: Tag Decoration Mode

G
global-semantic-decoration-mode: Tag Decoration Mode
global-semantic-highlight-func-mode: Highlight Func Mode
global-semantic-idle-scheduler-mode: Idle Scheduler
global-semantic-mru-bookmark-mode: MRU Bookmarks
global-semantic-stickyfunc-mode: Sticky Func Mode
global-semanticdb-minor-mode: SemanticDB

I
Idle Scheduler: Idle Scheduler

S
Semantic mode: Semantic mode
semantic-add-system-include: Include paths
semantic-adebug-searchdb: Semanticdb search debugging commands
semantic-after-idle-scheduler-reparse-hook: Reparsing Options
semantic-analyze-current-context: Analyzer Debug
semantic-analyze-possible-completions: Smart Completion
semantic-before-idle-scheduler-reparse-hook: Reparsing Options
semantic-complete-analyze-inline: Smart Completion
semantic-complete-analyze-inline-idle: Idle Completions Mode
semantic-complete-inline-analyzer-idle-displayer-class: Idle Completions Mode
semantic-complete-inline-analyzer-idle-displayer-class: Smart Completion
semantic-customize-system-include-path: Include paths
semantic-debug-idle-function: Debugging Idle Time Issues
semantic-debug-idle-work-function: Debugging Idle Time Issues
semantic-decoration-mode: Tag Decoration Mode
semantic-decoration-on-includes: Tag Decoration Mode
semantic-decoration-on-private-members-face: Tag Decoration Mode
semantic-decoration-on-protected-members-face: Tag Decoration Mode
semantic-decoration-on-unknown-includes: Tag Decoration Mode
semantic-decoration-on-unparsed-includes: Tag Decoration Mode
semantic-decoration-styles: Tag Decoration Mode
semantic-default-submodes: Semantic mode
semantic-highlight-func-current-tag-face: Highlight Func Mode
semantic-highlight-func-mode: Highlight Func Mode
semantic-ia-complete-symbol: Smart Completion
semantic-ia-describe-class: Smart Summary
semantic-ia-fast-jump: Smart Jump
semantic-ia-fast-mouse-jump: Smart Jump
semantic-ia-show-doc: Smart Summary
semantic-ia-show-summary: Smart Summary
semantic-idle-scheduler-idle-time: Idle Scheduler
semantic-idle-scheduler-max-buffer-size: Reparsing Options
semantic-idle-scheduler-no-working-message: Reparsing Options
semantic-idle-scheduler-verbose-flag: Idle Scheduler
semantic-idle-scheduler-work-idle-time: Idle Working Options
semantic-idle-scheduler-working-in-modeline-flag: Reparsing Options
semantic-idle-summary-function: Idle Summary Mode
semantic-idle-summary-out-of-context-faces: Idle Summary Mode
semantic-idle-work-parse-neighboring-files-flag: Idle Working Options
semantic-mru-bookmark-mode: MRU Bookmarks
semantic-new-buffer-setup-functions: Semantic mode
semantic-remove-system-include: Include paths
semantic-speedbar-analysis: Speedbar
semantic-stickyfunc-sticky-classes: Sticky Func Mode
semantic-symref: SymRef
semantic-symref-symbol: SymRef
semantic-symref-tool: SymRef
semantic-tag-boundary-face: Tag Decoration Mode
semantic-toggle-decoration-style: Tag Decoration Mode
SemanticDB: SemanticDB
semanticdb-create-ebrowse-database: Create System Databases
semanticdb-default-file-name: Semanticdb Tag Storage
semanticdb-default-save-directory: Semanticdb Tag Storage
semanticdb-dump-all-table-summary: Semanticdb search debugging commands
semanticdb-find-adebug-lost-includes: Semanticdb search debugging commands
semanticdb-find-default-throttle: Search Throttle
semanticdb-find-test-translate-path: Semanticdb search debugging commands
semanticdb-implied-include-tags: Include paths
semanticdb-new-database-class: Changing Backends
semanticdb-persistent-path: Semanticdb Tag Storage
semanticdb-project-predicate-functions: Semanticdb Tag Storage
semanticdb-project-root-functions: Semanticdb Roots
semanticdb-project-roots: Semanticdb Roots
semanticdb-save-database-functions: Semanticdb Tag Storage
speedbar: Speedbar
symref: SymRef