reading other people's code

[MJL]

I am working with an open source piece of software that is
overwhelming me and I was hoping to get some advice.

It is in some areas simple and others nearly impossible. There are
many includes and functions scattered among many files in many
directories. While the code itself is not to hard to follow, there is
virtually no commenting or documentation.

I am working on a Windows XP machine, but I am comfortable and have
access to a Unix machine also (my web host via SSH).

Are there any recommended methods or tools for figuring this stuff
out?

Thanks for any advice. The software, by the way, is OpenEMR, which
can be found easily through Google.

[Daniel Tryba]

MJL wrote:

It is in some areas simple and others nearly impossible. There are
many includes and functions scattered among many files in many
directories. While the code itself is not to hard to follow, there is
virtually no commenting or documentation.

Are there any recommended methods or tools for figuring this stuff
out?

Never tried it on PHP, but ctags and vim are a useful combo for many
languages. ctags to build indexes of the code and vim... just the best
editor ever :)

[Chung Leong]

"MJL" <ma**@affordablemedicalsoftware.com> wrote in message
news:29**************************@posting.google.c om...

I am working with an open source piece of software that is
overwhelming me and I was hoping to get some advice.

It is in some areas simple and others nearly impossible. There are
many includes and functions scattered among many files in many
directories. While the code itself is not to hard to follow, there is
virtually no commenting or documentation.

I am working on a Windows XP machine, but I am comfortable and have
access to a Unix machine also (my web host via SSH).

Are there any recommended methods or tools for figuring this stuff
out?

Thanks for any advice. The software, by the way, is OpenEMR, which
can be found easily through Google.

You can attach something like print_r(get_include_files()) to the bottom of
a page to get a list of files included. Would give you some inkling of
what's going on.

[steve]

"MJL" wrote:

I am working with an open source piece of software that is
overwhelming me and I was hoping to get some advice.

It is in some areas simple and others nearly impossible. There are
many includes and functions scattered among many files in many
directories. While the code itself is not to hard to follow, there is virtually no commenting or documentation.

I am working on a Windows XP machine, but I am comfortable and have
access to a Unix machine also (my web host via SSH).

Are there any recommended methods or tools for figuring this stuff
out?

Thanks for any advice. The software, by the way, is OpenEMR, which
can be found easily through Google.

I have worked my way thru some serious code. The best approach IMO is
use a php debugger that can single-step the code. You will soon
figure out what is going on. There are a number of threads on the
subject of php debugger or php IDE. If you need them, let me know,
and I will post them.

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