"grep" database

[Hilbert]

Hello,

I've heard of a software on linux that creates a recursive database of
text files and then provides an interface for grep-like queries. I'd
like to use it to find procedures/variables in a large code base.

Any suggestions appreciated.

Thanks,
Hilbert

[Adam Monsen]

ctags indexes procedures/variables in source code, perhaps it would
help: http://ctags.sf.net/

--
Adam Monsen
http://adammonsen.com/

[Hilbert]

thanks!

[Mike Meyer]

"Hilbert" <li***@panka.com> writes:

I've heard of a software on linux that creates a recursive database of
text files and then provides an interface for grep-like queries. I'd
like to use it to find procedures/variables in a large code base.

Any suggestions appreciated.

The great granddaddy of them all is WAIS, but it uses a client-server
model instead of grep-like queries. It has since been standardized as
z39.50. The one most like what you want is probably glimpse, which
includes a command-line tool called "agrep" for searching the
database. Swish and HARVEST also come to mind as tools in that model.

You're most likely to find these tools being used as or bundled as
part of web site search engines. They all support "structured" text
files, meaning they parse them to assign tags to parts of the content,
and let you use those tags

How big is your data set? I gave up trying to find one that would
properly index 2+ gig of text files - the index data structures kept
running into some form of memory limit. I finally gave up and used
the file system layout to handle part of the search, doing finds on
re's for the name - and a custom tool to look for further structure
inside the files.

If you're going to be dealing with large data sets, I'd like to know
if you find something that works well for you.

<mike
--
Mike Meyer <mw*@mired.org> http://www.mired.org/home/mwm/
Independent WWW/Perforce/FreeBSD/Unix consultant, email for more information.

[gene tani]

maybe look Gonzui, LXR, some of the other tools listed here

http://www.gnu.org/software/global/links.html

Hilbert wrote:

Hello,

I've heard of a software on linux that creates a recursive database of
text files and then provides an interface for grep-like queries. I'd
like to use it to find procedures/variables in a large code base.

Any suggestions appreciated.

Thanks,
Hilbert

[Ara.T.Howard]

On Fri, 9 Sep 2005, Hilbert wrote:

Hello,

I've heard of a software on linux that creates a recursive database of
text files and then provides an interface for grep-like queries. I'd
like to use it to find procedures/variables in a large code base.

Any suggestions appreciated.

Thanks,
Hilbert

google 'glimpse'.

hth.

-a
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