8.2.2 Step 2: Invoke the cscope Program

By default, cscope builds a symbol cross-reference table for all the C, lex, and yacc source files in the current directory, and for any included header files in the current directory or the standard place. So, if all the source files for the program to be browsed are in the current directory, and if its header files are there or in the standard place, invoke cscope without arguments:

% cscope

To browse through selected source files, invoke cscope with the names of those files as arguments:

% cscope file1.c file2.c file3.h

For other ways to invoke cscope, see 8.2.5 Command-Line Options.

cscope builds the symbol cross-reference table the first time it is used on the source files for the program to be browsed. By default, the table is stored in the file cscope.out in the current directory. On a subsequent invocation, cscope rebuilds the cross-reference only if a source file has been modified or the list of source files is different. When the cross-reference is rebuilt, the data for the unchanged files is copied from the old cross-reference, which makes rebuilding faster than the initial build, and reduces startup time for subsequent invocations.