ctags:tldr:3e170

ctags: Generate tags for a single file, and output them to a file named "tags" in the current directory, overwriting the file if it exists.

ctags

$ ctags ${filename}

try on your machine

The command you provided is using the ctags program with a command-line argument ${filename}.

ctags is a command-line tool used for generating "tags" files, which are used by text editors or IDEs to provide features like code navigation, code completion, and documentation lookup. These tags files contain information about the structure and symbols in source code files.

In the command ctags ${filename}, ${filename} is a placeholder for the actual name of the file you want to generate tags for. You would replace ${filename} with the name of the file you want to process.

For example, if you have a file named mycode.cpp, the command would be ctags mycode.cpp. This would run the ctags program and generate a tags file specifically for the mycode.cpp file. The resulting tags file can then be used by text editors or IDEs to provide tag-based features.

It's worth noting that ctags supports multiple programming languages, and its functionality can vary depending on the specific language being processed.

This explanation was created by an AI. In most cases those are correct. But please always be careful and never run a command you are not sure if it is safe.

back to the ctags tool