FAQ

Is Ripscope a drop-in replacement for cscope?

Ripscope supports editor-driven, read-only C navigation through cscope’s query fields, -L/-l row and session protocol, common options (-b, -R, -k, -I, -i, -d, -C, -P) and selection rules (cscope.files, -R, -I). Its own query contexts and bounded Corrections can change answers. It has no terminal UI, does not change source text and uses its own index format. Read Differences from cscope and limitations before changing an existing setup.

Can I point my existing cscope setup at Ripscope?

Vim’s cscopeprg can run Ripscope directly; the Vim page has a ready configuration. For Emacs and Neovim, use the included packages, which search through xref and the quickfix list. Scripts that run cscope -Rbqk can run ripscope -Rbqk; the index is ripscope.db unless -f names another.

My query returned nothing. Is that “no matches” or an error?

No matches exits with status 0 and no output, as does a pattern that cannot be used (with the reason on standard error). An error exits with status 1 and prints a ripscope: message on standard error. In sessions, --json distinguishes an empty result from an error frame, and Vim with --vim-errors reports E259 versus E609.

Do I need to rebuild the index after editing?

No. Save the source, then search. A -L query brings the index up to date first, and a session does so before the first query after a change, analysing only changed files. Plain -d keeps manual control with r or an index build, and --auto-refresh overrides an editor’s -d. See Sessions.

What if the index is damaged?

ripscope --verify checks it; ripscope -bu with the options you build the index with rebuilds it from the sources. See Checking and repairing.

Can several editors use one index at once?

Yes. Any number of sessions and queries can read one index, and each query reads a complete revision. One process updates it at a time: index builds wait for each other, and a query or session that finds another process updating answers from the last published revision, with a note (while another process builds an index afresh, there is none yet, and a query says so).

Does Ripscope support C++?

No. C++ and Java come much later, if at all.

Is Ripscope faster than cscope?

The search benchmarks compare Ripscope with cscope and its indexed search on Linux and Windows. They include timings for definitions, callers, text, patterns and the other navigation queries.

Does Ripscope send data anywhere?

No. The ripscope executable reads your source files and writes the index. It never uses the network. Only installing does: the install scripts, and the editor integrations’ install command, download a release.