The
Cross-Reference Browser
shows you where elements in your program are used or accessed. It can
find every call of a function, or tell you everything a particular
function calls. It creates tree diagrams that show essential relationships
within the project's symbol database, such as
the function-call hierarchy tree. You can
traverse up and down the hierarchy tree, as well as expand or restrict the tree.
You can select items in the hierarchy and display
their
Refers-to
and
Referred-by
relationships; these relationships are based on the "point-of-view"
of the selected symbol.
A
Refers-to
relationship is one where the selected symbol is used in the context of
another symbol, which is in turn
Referred-by
the selected symbol.
Source-Navigator creates
the cross-reference database in the
background, which enables you to work in other views. During this process,
the Cross-Reference tool button is disabled (grayed-out). After the database
is built, the
Cross-Reference
tool can be opened.
Although you can always start
the
Cross-Reference Browser
from the
Windows
menu by selecting
New View ->
Xref, you may want to start the
Cross-Reference Browser
so that it focuses on a specific symbol. To do this, select a symbol in the
Symbol Browser
or
Editor, and then click the
Cross-Reference
tool button or choose the
Xref
tab.
The selected symbol becomes the root symbol in the
Symbol Accelerator
text box at the top left of the
Cross-Reference Browser
window. The references that
Refer-to
the root symbol are indicated by connecting lines and those that are
Referred-by
are indicated by connecting arrows. You can traverse the
hierarchy tree by selecting references and clicking
the right-pointing hand tool (Refers-to) and left-pointing
one (Referred-by) as shown
in Cross-Reference Browser Window.
Cross-Reference Browser Window
The
Remove Subnodes
button allows you to remove displayed subnodes from the hierarchy tree view.
To set the number of subnode levels to display, enter a positive integer in the
Levels
text entry box.
Double-clicking a symbol in the
Cross-Reference Browser
window starts the
Editor, with the specific symbol in context in the source file. The cross-reference information is stored in the database and is kept current by the
Editor.
Cross-Reference Filter
Click the
Filter
icon to bring up the
Filter
dialog. The symbols displayed by the
Cross-Reference Browser
are included based on these settings.
Cross-Reference Filter
All
Sets all non-Access selections.
None
Clears all non-Access selections.
Cross-Reference Browser Details
Holding down the right mouse button on a symbol in the
Cross-Reference Browser
brings up a popup menu that allows you to filter the list of symbols you're working with, as well as to gather new information about the symbols you're interested in.
Cross-Reference Browser, Right Mouse Button Down
Choosing
Details By
brings up a window that shows where each symbol in the list is referenced.
Cross-Reference Browser Showing Details By Window
Clicking on the column headers allows you to sort by the selected column, either alphabetically, by line number, by class, etc. The
Pattern
text entry box in the window allows you to use a string to filter the list.
Symbols that occur multiple times are listed; when you click on a symbol and then add the
Editor
to the window (from the
Windows
menu, select
Add View ->
Editor), the
Editor
shows where that symbol is referenced.
Editor Showing Referencing of Symbol
Cross-Reference Preferences
Preference settings for the
Cross-Reference Browser
are located in the
Xref
tab of the
Preferences
dialog.
In the
Symbol Browser,
from the
File
menu,
select
Project Preferences. In the
Cross-Reference Browser, from the
Edit
menu, select
View Preferences.
Choose the
Xref
tab.
Cross-Reference Tab of the Preferences Dialog
Cross-referencing
Build Cross-Reference database
Select this if you would like Source-Navigator to build the cross-reference databases for your project. This is on by default.
Generate references to local
variables
Select this if you would like cross-reference information for local variables.
This is off by default.
Note
Parsing is much slower when cross-referencing local variables. Also, the database size grows considerably when generating local variable cross-references. Make sure that you have an adequate amount of disk space (approximately 10 times the space used by your source code).
Audible alert when complete
Selecting this causes a bell to ring when cross-referencing is complete.
Layout
Compare parameters
Select this to generate cross-references only when the parameter types of the
Refers-to
and
Referred-by
symbols match. Deselecting this allows symbols to be considered matches, regardless of differences in parameters.
Compare static information
Select this to generate cross-references only when both the
Refers-to
and
Referred-by
static attributes match.
Display parameter list
Select this to display parameters with the symbol in the
Cross-Reference Browser
window.
Display boxes
Select this to surround cross-reference nodes with boxes.
Display order:
Left to right
displays the cross-reference hierarchy from left to right;
Top to Bottom
displays it from top to bottom.
Display layout style:
Select
Tree
to display cross-references in tree layout; select
ISI
to display them in ISI layout.
Vertical space:
Enter the number of vertical pixels between symbols in the
Cross-Reference Browser
window.
Horizontal space:
Enter the number of horizontal pixels between symbols in the
Cross-Reference Browser
window.
