Overview

jsctags is a [ctags] 1-compatible code indexing solution for JavaScript. Its interface and output are essentially identical to [Exuberant Ctags] 2, but, instead of simply parsing the JavaScript, jsctags uses a simple form of abstract interpretation to determine which symbols are exported. This allows jsctags to achieve much better results than Exuberant Ctags. Popular libraries such as jQuery and CommonJS modules can now be meaningfully indexed.

You can use jsctags to create tags files that are usable in many editors, from Vim to TextMate (via the [CodeBrowser] 3 plugin). jsctags is slated to become a key component of the [Bespin] 4 IDE, where it will be used to provide code completion.

jsctags is written entirely in JavaScript, using CommonJS modules, the [node.js] 5 framework, and the [Narcissus] 6 engine.

License

jsctags is tri-licensed under the Mozilla Public License 1.1, the GNU General Public License 2.0, and the GNU Lesser General Public License 2.1.

Requirements

• node.js
• make

Building

To install:

• make install

To uninstall:

• make uninstall

To play with Narcissus’ parser:

• make serve
• Navigate to [http://localhost:8080/html/parser.html] parser.

Usage

Simply go to your project root and invoke jsctags lib (replacing lib with the directory in which your JavaScript source files are stored). The tags file will be placed in the current directory.

For more options, try jsctags -h.

Directory structure

The directory structure mostly follows the CommonJS packaging scheme:

• bin/: tools runnable from node.js (should be directly executable in Unix)
• html/: in-browser demo files
• js/: support files for the HTML demos
• lib/: CommonJS-compliant library files
• lib/ctags/: the core jsctags code
• narcissus/: the Narcissus engine
• test/: test cases for the indexer