semind(1)

💖 semind(1) — Semantic Indexer for C 💖

okay bestie, sit down, hydrate, and let me tell you about semind — it's the C semantic indexer from the General Commands Manual, and it's literally about to change your whole grep-until-you-cry lifestyle. 🦋

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✨ NAME ✨

semind — Semantic Indexer for C. that's it, that's the name, short and iconic. 👑

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🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

semind [options]
semind [options] add [command options] [--] [compiler options] [files...]
semind [options] rm [command options] pattern
semind [options] search [command options] [pattern]
semind [options] search [command options] (-e|-l) filename:linenr:column

look at her go. five whole ways to run her. pick your fighter. 💅

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🫶 DESCRIPTION 🫶

so semind is the simple to use cscope-like tool built on top of sparse/dissect. bestie it's giving cscope but with ✨lore✨.

here's the tea though — unlike cscope, it runs after the pre-processor, which means it can't index the code that got filtered out by ifdef's 😭 (rip those branches, gone but not forgotten). but on the other hand?? otoh?? it actually understands how a symbol is used, and it can track the usage of struct members. not me being obsessed with a struct member tracker fr fr. 🔥

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🎀 SUBCOMMANDS 🎀

• add — generates or updates the semantic index file. she builds, she maintains, she slays. 💖
• rm — removes files from the index by pattern. the pattern is a glob(7) wildcard pattern. bye bestie 👋
• search — queries information about a symbol by pattern. the pattern is a glob(7) wildcard pattern. this is the main character moment honestly. 🔍

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💜 COMMON OPTIONS 💜

these work no matter which subcommand you're on. universal queen behavior. 👑

• -D, --database=FILE — specify the database file (default: ./semind.sqlite). yes she defaults to dropping a whole sqlite file right in your cwd, she's confident like that. 💅
• -v, --verbose — show information about what is being done. she'll narrate her own life. we love a transparent icon. 🗣️
• -h, --help — show this text and exit. classic, timeless, never not useful.

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🌈 ADD OPTIONS 🌈

extra goodies for the add subcommand only.

• --include-local-syms — include into the index local symbols. yes, the little local ones too. bring everybody to the party. 🎉

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🦋 SEARCH OPTIONS 🦋

the search subcommand's own little toolkit. 💅

• -f, --format=STRING — specify an output format. Default: (%m) %f\t%l\t%c\t%C\t%s (see FORMAT below). you can absolutely customize this, go off. ✨
• -p, --path=PATTERN — search symbols only in specified directories. narrow that search down, stay focused bestie. 🎯
• -m, --mode=MODE — search only the specified type of access (see MODE below). read? write? both? you decide. 😌
• -k, --kind=KIND — specify a kind of symbol (see KIND below). functions? members? strict? pick one. 💖
• -e, --explain — Show what happens in the specified file position; 👀
• -l, --location — Show usage of symbols from a specific file position; 📍
• -v, --verbose — show information about what is being done; (yes she's here too, she gets around) 🗣️
• -h, --help — show this text and exit. always here for you. 🫶

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⭐ FORMAT ⭐

these are the little placeholders you can drop into your --format string. mix and match, make it cute. ✨

• %m — access mode in human readable form (see MODE below). 💅
• %f — file name. 📁
• %l — line number. 🔢
• %c — column number. 📐
• %C — the name of the function in which the symbol occurs. 🧠
• %n — symbol name. 🏷️
• %s — source code line. heads up bestie: the indexer does not save source code lines — they're read from the file during the search. so if the file's gone, that line's gone. no cap. 😭

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🍓 KIND 🍓

the --kind values, short and sweet:

• f — function
• s — strict
• m — struct member

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🧚 MODE 🧚

okay so MODE gets dumped as a 3-letter string. and the letters mean:

• the first letter denotes the address of part
• the 2nd — access by value
• the 3rd — access by pointer

and then there's a special value, 'def', which means a symbol definition. periodt. ✨

the actual mode letters:

• r — read
• w — write
• m — read and write

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💀 SEE ALSO 💀

• sparse(1) — her origin story, go read it. 🫶

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👑 HOMEPAGE 👑

https://sparse.docs.kernel.org — go touch grass (the documentation kind). 🌱

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💌 MAILING LIST 💌

linux-sparse@vger.kernel.org — slide into the inbox, they don't bite. 🐛

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ok that's the whole page bestie, every flag, every letter, every default, all of it. go index something and feel powerful. 💅✨

and that's a wrap on the semind(1) page from the General Commands Manual — you've reached the end, mwah, bye bye, go forth and search. 🎀🦋💖