Why cscope don't search definitions in header files?

Question

I use the following command to generate my cscope database:

tmpfile=$(mktemp)
find dir1/ dir2/ dir3/ -type f -regex ".*\.\([chlysS]\(xx\|pp\)*\|cc\|hh\|inl\|inc\|ld\)$" -print > $tmpfile
cscope -q -b -U -i $tmpfile -f cscope.out

Into vim, a :cs f g myfunction only leads me to the definition in C file, and nether in header file.

Answer 1

Make sure you got the terminology right. In C, usually the function definitions are put in C files, whereas declarations go into header files.

The cscope command f g (find definition) should correctly take you to the function definition. In the case where you actually have definitions in a header file (for example inline functions) the find definition command takes you there as well. If this is not the case, you should file a bug report to the cscope team.

Cscope unfortunately does not provide functionality for showing only a declaration. You could use the find symbol command (f s) but this might show a lot of results if the function is called from many places in your code.

You can use ctags which usually lets you choose from the declaration or definition. I usually use a mix of cscope and ctags within my projects because neither of them provides all the functionality i want.