run-ctags (Rust UNiversal ctags)

Cargo is used by run-ctags to list all files on which your Rust project depends. Once all dependent paths are discovered, the results are piped to universal-ctags to build a tags file.

This crate is intended for use with Vim or Emacs in combination with universal-ctags.

Installation

Please follow the installation instructions for universal-ctags.

After universal-ctags has been installed, install run-ctags.

Install run-ctags

cargo install run-ctags

Usage

Once universal-ctags is installed, use the following command to enumerate all root directories and then pipe the results to ctags. From there, ctags will recursively search through all files and folders, starting from the root directory, and create a file named ctags in your project's folder.

From the root directory of your Rust project, run the following command:

build the tags file

run-ctags | ctags -R -L -

This command pipes all of your project dependencies to ctags which then in turn builds an index for your project saved in a file named tags. If you now open Vim in your project's root directory, you can use ctags to jump in and out of different definitions.

Below are a few helpful commands to run from within Vim after the tags file has been created. Place the cursor over a piece of code and press Ctrl+] to jump to the definition.

commands

Ctrl+] - Jump to the definition.
Ctrl+T - Jump back from the definition.
Ctrl+W Ctrl+] - Open the definition in a horizontal split.

Note, Vim can only find the tags file if you start Vim in the project root. However, the following command can be added to .vimrc which allows Vim to open the tags file from any subdirectory:

.vimrc

set tags=./tags;/