gnatinspect(1) Query cross-references on source code

SYNOPSIS

gnatinspect -Pproject [switches]

DESCRIPTION

The reference source of information about gnatinspect, the GNATColl manual, should be available in various formats under the /usr/share/doc/libgnatcoll-doc directory. Else, please install the libgnatcoll-doc package.

When manipulating source code, programmers needs to know where the various symbols are defined, where they are used, and so on. Computing this information is tricky, especially for languages that support overloading of subprograms. By definition, a compiler understands the program and where each part comes from. Some compilers like GNAT and gcc can then generate extra output files (.ali and .gli respectively) which contain this information.

The GNATCOLL.Xref Ada library can aggregate all those files into a single sqlite database, answering queries such as: Give me the declaration for this entity, List all places where this entity is used, Show all subprograms that could be called in practice at this dispatching call, What files does this file depend on, Show me the call graph for this application... Instead of a direct access to the sqlite database, gnatinspect displays an interactive prompt that lets you perform various queries.

gnatinspect --help will display the list of commands and their syntax.