Basic Usage

Basic Usage#

This guide shows you how to get started with CodeIndex for basic code analysis tasks. The complete working example is available at examples/basic_usage.py.

Overview#

The basic usage example demonstrates the core functionality of CodeIndex:

  1. Creating a Sample C Repository - Sets up a temporary project with a main.c file containing function declarations, definitions, and calls

  2. Setting Up CodeIndexer - Configures the indexer with a C processor and CrossRefIndex for cross-referencing capabilities

  3. Indexing and Querying - Processes the project and demonstrates various query methods for finding definitions and references

  4. Persisting Data - Saves index data to both JSON and SQLite formats

  5. Loading and Verification - Loads saved data and verifies functionality

Key Features Demonstrated#

Project Setup#

The example creates a sample C project with functions that have both declarations and definitions, allowing demonstration of:

  • Function definition detection

  • Function reference tracking

  • Cross-referencing between declarations and calls

Indexer Configuration#

Shows how to set up CodeIndexer with:

  • CProcessor: Language processor for C code parsing using tree-sitter

  • CrossRefIndex: Advanced index implementation for better cross-referencing

  • Relative paths: Configuration to store file paths relative to project root

Query Capabilities#

Demonstrates multiple ways to query the indexed data:

  • find_definitions(): Find all definition locations for a function name

  • find_references(): Find all reference/call locations for a function name

  • get_function_info(): Get comprehensive information including both definitions and references

  • QueryByName: Advanced exact name queries with type filtering

  • QueryByNameRegex: Pattern-based searching using regular expressions

Persistence Options#

Shows how to save and load index data using different strategies:

  • JSON Format: Human-readable format using SingleJsonFilePersistStrategy

  • SQLite Format: Database format using SqlitePersistStrategy

  • Load Verification: Creating new indexer instances and loading saved data

Running the Example#

To run the complete example:

cd /path/to/CodeIndex
python examples/basic_usage.py

Next Steps#

After running this example, you can:

  • Modify the C code to add more functions and see how indexing changes

  • Try different query patterns and regex searches

  • Experiment with other language processors (Python, C++)

  • Explore the generated JSON and SQLite files to understand the data format

  • Integrate similar functionality into your own projects

For more advanced usage patterns, see the other examples in the examples/ directory.

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