#10989: :ctags and :etags command can receive haskell source files as a parameter -------------------------------------+------------------------------------- Reporter: hugomg | Owner: Type: feature | Status: new request | Priority: normal | Milestone: Component: GHCi | Version: 7.10.2 Keywords: | Operating System: Unknown/Multiple Architecture: | Type of failure: Documentation Unknown/Multiple | bug Test Case: | Blocked By: Blocking: | Related Tickets: Differential Rev(s): | Wiki Page: -------------------------------------+------------------------------------- A friend of mine accidentally lost a bunch of uncomited code because he passed the name of his source file to ghci's ctags command {{{ :ctags hisstuff.hs }}} He tought that the ctags parameter was the name of the file to create the ctags from. Instead, that parameter is actually for the name of the file to write the tags to. His Haskell source file was instantly overwritten by the tag info. The source of this confusion is that the the documentation from the `:help` command just says it takes a "file" parameter, without explicitly mentioning that its the name of the *output* file. {{{ :ctags[!] [<file>] create tags file for Vi (default: "tags") (!: use regex instead of line number) :etags [<file>] create tags file for Emacs (default: "TAGS") }}} I think it would be safer to use a more precise name here instead of `<file>`. Something like `<output>` or `<outputFile>`. It might also be a good idea to forbid the ctags and etags commands from overwriting existing "hs" and "lhs" source files. If a user types `:ctags something.hs` then its almost certainly a mistake with potentially destructive consequences. -- Ticket URL: http://ghc.haskell.org/trac/ghc/ticket/10989 GHC http://www.haskell.org/ghc/ The Glasgow Haskell Compiler