can't pre-process the macro but it works with Exuberant Ctags 5.8

[mtozjh]

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The name of the parser: c/c++

The command line you used to run ctags:

$ ctags --languages=C,C++,FORTRAN --recurse=no -n --fields=+iaSklnezs

The content of input file:

/* THIS IS AN EXAMPLE */

void FTNC(etmif_set_argv)(double *value, int *i)
{
  ETMIF_argv[*i] = *value;

  return;
}

The tags output you are not satisfied with:

FTNC /u/yanchen/.FAST_9995.src.c 6562;" kind:f line:6562 language:C typeref:typename:void signature:(etmif_set_argv) end:6666

The tags output you expect:

etmif_set_argv  /u/yanchen/.FAST_9995.src.c 6562;"  kind:f  line:6562   language:C  typeref:typename:void   signature:(double *value, int *i)   end:6666
...

The version of ctags:

$ ctags --version

Universal Ctags 0.0.0, Copyright (C) 2015 Universal Ctags Team
Universal Ctags is derived from Exuberant Ctags.
Exuberant Ctags 5.8, Copyright (C) 1996-2009 Darren Hiebert
  Compiled: Dec  2 2019, 05:44:39
  URL: https://ctags.io/
  Optional compiled features: +wildcards, +regex, +iconv, +option-directory, +packcc

How do you get ctags binary:

(
Building it locally, via GITHUB latest version
)

[masatake]

C parser is completely rewritten in u-ctags. Please, use -D option as shown below.

$ cat /tmp/foo.c
void FTNC(etmif_set_argv)(double *value, int *i)
{
  ETMIF_argv[*i] = *value;

  return;
}
$ ./ctags -o - -D'FTNC(n)=n' /tmp/foo.c
etmif_set_argv  /tmp/foo.c  /^void FTNC(etmif_set_argv)(double *value, int *i)$/;"  f   language:C  typeref:typename:void

[mtozjh]

Thanks for the quick response. I know this workaround. Actually I am looking for the behavior like Exuberant Ctas 5.8. Since there are thousands of C/CPP files, it is heavy burden for user to work around all MACRO like this.

will you deliver an enhancement?

[masatake]

will you deliver an enhancement?

Yes, but I will take more than 1 year to implement it.

ctags itself knows the definitions of macro.

$ cat /tmp/foo.h
#define FTNC(f) f
$./ctags -o - --fields-C++=+'{macrodef}' /tmp/foo.h
FTNC    /tmp/foo.h  /^#define FTNC(/;"  d   language:C++    macrodef:f

So ctags can prepare the arugments for -D option by itself.

I had a prototype and it worked.

However, what I have to do is written in https://github.com/universal-ctags/ctags/issues/1038 .

[mtozjh]

Look forward to that release.

BTY, this is really a great tool.

[masatake]

We added so many features, so I cannot remember them timely.

If it is acceptable to run ctags twice, you don't have to specify -D option manually.

$ cat /tmp/foo.h
#define FTNC(f) f
#define BODY(x) { return (x); }
#define R(B) int B
R(FTNC(func)(FTCN(int i))BODY(x))
$ ./ctags -o /tmp/foo.ctags --fields-C++=+'{macrodef}' --fields=+S -x --_xformat="-D%{name}%{signature}=%{C++.macrodef}" /tmp/foo.h
$ ./ctags -o - --options=/tmp/foo.ctags  /tmp/foo.h
BODY    /tmp/foo.h  /^#define BODY(/;"  d   language:C++
FTNC    /tmp/foo.h  /^#define FTNC(/;"  d   language:C++
R   /tmp/foo.h  /^#define R(/;" d   language:C++
func    /tmp/foo.h  /^R(FTNC(func)(FTCN(int i))BODY(x))$/;" f   language:C++    typeref:typename:int

@pragmaware, you may be interested in this output. I'm surprised at this works well.

[masatake]

./ctags -o - --languages=+OldC --language-force=OldC ...

runs old C parser inherited from Exuberant Ctags. (But we will not fix the bug for it even if we got a bug report.)

[masatake]

See https://github.com/universal-ctags/ctags/pull/2427. If a macro is defined in the same input file and ifdefs are not used aggressively, macros can be expanded automatically.