[plt-scheme] Emacs tags for MzScheme modules

--- Eli Barzilay <eli at barzilay.org> wrote:
> On Nov  2, Bill Clementson wrote:
> > > > Or am I going about this the wrong way? Are
> there
> > > > other means that people use to locate scheme
> > > > definitions that don't require the use of tag
> > > files?
> > > 
> > > Uh, grep -r?
> > 
> > Yes, but this will probably find also internal
> > definitions ;-)
> 
> True, but if both methods are bad, I'd go with the
> one that is simpler
> to implement.

The grep approach may be simpler to implement but the
find/etags one is simpler to use - once you create a
TAG file, you can jump directly to a definition by
pressing M-. on a symbol. If you use grep, you can
bind it to a key but you have the overhead of
searching through multiple source files and multiple
directories to find the definition.

However, I don't want to get into a discussion about
whether grep is good or not. I guess I am just amazed
that these are the only options that people use when
trying to find scheme definitions. The concept of tag
files (and even dynamic tagging) is not a new concept
and Scheme and Emacs have both been around for quite a
while. Surely someone is using tag files with
MzScheme? If so, then they must have come up with some
mechanism for dealing with MzScheme modules. 

Alternatively, is there some standard way to
"interrogate" MzScheme from Emacs (or DrScheme) to
find out where a scheme definition is? You sent me a
link to some code from Swindle that might be suitable
as the basis for creating something along these lines
and I appreciate that; however, hasn't anyone done
something like this in the past? It would seem to be a
common requirement.

Please understand that I'm not trying to be critical
or disparage the advice that you and Robert Findler
have given - I'm just trying to come up with an
approach for reading scheme source code and would like
to understand how experienced scheme programmers
navigate through large scheme projects.

--
Bill Clementson

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