GNU GLOBAL

GNU GLOBAL is a reliable and efficient source code tagging system that operates in a similar way across different environments like various editors and viewers such as emacs, less, bash, vim, web browser, and many others. With its powerful search capabilities, it can effectively locate specified objects in source files and move to them easily. It is particularly useful when dealing with complex and sizable projects containing multiple subdirectories, many #ifdef, and many main() functions.

Unlike other tagging systems like ctags or etags, GNU GLOBAL is unique in its ability to work independently of any particular editor, thereby making it adaptable to various editors as well as command line interfaces (CLI). It is compatible with UNIX(POSIX) based operating systems like GNU and BSD. As part of the GNU project, it is a free and open-source program, and can be freely copied, modified, and redistributed under GNU GPL.

Some of the key features of GNU GLOBAL include support for popular programming languages such as C, C++, Yacc, Java, and PHP4, ability to locate object definitions and references, ability to handle duplicate objects, ability to treat a source tree containing subdirectories as a logical scope, support for external search engines, ability to generate hypertext of source code, and much more.

GNU GLOBAL is also commercially available software based on the BOKIN model. It has a compact format that helps to save disk space while ensuring optimal performance. It allows for incremental updating of tag files and can be customized using gtags.conf. It can also generate a completion list for completing the input method.

If you plan to create a new editor with a tag facility, then GNU GLOBAL is an excellent choice for a tagging system that you can use. Its wide range of features and compatibility with various editors make it an essential tool for any software developer.