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Bug 81914

Summary:	Man page reader needed
Product:	[Tools] Linux Tools	Reporter:	Johan Walles <johan.walles>
Component:	Project	Assignee:	Alexander Kurtakov <akurtakov>
Status:	CLOSED FIXED	QA Contact:
Severity:	enhancement
Priority:	P3	CC:	akurtakov, angvoz.dev, jamesblackburn+eclipse, linux.distros-inbox, overholt, root
Version:	unspecified	Keywords:	helpwanted
Target Milestone:	0.5
Hardware:	PC
OS:	Linux
Whiteboard:

Description Johan Walles

2004-12-26 16:57:38 EST

When I program C in Emacs, I usually look up glibc functions on man pages.

In the CDT, I'm unable to find any man page reader, so I have to resort to
having a shell open where I can do "man signal" (or whatever function I'm
interested in).  This takes some of the "I" out of "IDE".

I'd love for the CDT to provide a man page reader.  More specifically, I want to
be able to do two things:

1. Put the cursor on a function name and press F1 (or whatever).  The man page
for the function in question should be displayed.

2. Hover the mouse over a function name.  Some suitable subset of the man page
should appear in a tool tip.  A suitable subset could be the NAME section (like
what "apropos" displays), the function signature from the SYNOPSIS section and
possibly the RETURN VALUE section.

Comment 1 Erik Ekman

2007-06-20 07:31:24 EDT

This is still needed in 4.0.
This is not only for pc/linux, but for all unices.

Comment 2 Andrew Overholt

2009-10-29 15:35:54 EDT

I think this may fit better with the Linux Tools project.  If the CDT is so inclined, feel free to move it to our bucket:  Technology -> Linux Tools -> Project.  I'm not saying we have anything, but it's something that would probably be of interest to our communities.

Comment 3 Alexander Kurtakov

2009-10-30 04:12:36 EDT

I would like to see such plugin providing a generic widget for viewing man page  content and a service for retrieving man content so it can be used in hovers. 
It will really enhance the shelled plugin experience. Note that we currently have smth similar but it just uses pregenerated resources with man2html for a limited set of commands.

Comment 4 James Blackburn

2009-10-30 04:57:41 EDT

(In reply to comment #2)
> I think this may fit better with the Linux Tools project. 

Thanks Andrew, you guys have been doing a good job with all sorts of *nix integrations.  I agree that this isn't really something that should be categorized in cdt.core -- and it would fit nicely with the functionality Linux Tools already provides: http://www.eclipse.org/linuxtools/

That said, if this were to be implemented we would likely want linux users to pick it up -- perhaps there should be tighter integration between Linux Tools and CDT in the Linux EPP builds?

Comment 5 Alexander Kurtakov

2009-10-30 06:08:38 EDT

(In reply to comment #4)
> 
> That said, if this were to be implemented we would likely want linux users to
> pick it up -- perhaps there should be tighter integration between Linux Tools
> and CDT in the Linux EPP builds?

We (Linux Tools) have some features that would enhance EPP builds immediately e.g.
http://www.eclipse.org/linuxtools/projectPages/libhover/ and http://www.eclipse.org/linuxtools/projectPages/autotools/ . 
If there is something we should do to ease their integration in EPP builds please tell us.

Comment 6 Alexander Kurtakov

2009-12-03 09:02:46 EST

A very simple start is available at http://dev.eclipse.org/svnroot/technology/org.eclipse.linuxtools/man/trunk/ . It contains a ready to use view (see https://shelled.svn.sourceforge.net/svnroot/shelled/trunk/net.sourceforge.shelled.ui/src/net/sourceforge/shelled/ui/ShowManHandler.java ) and an html converter (still rough https://shelled.svn.sourceforge.net/svnroot/shelled/trunk/net.sourceforge.shelled.ui/src/net/sourceforge/shelled/ui/selection/ShellDocumentationProvider.java). 
Documentation, tests and etc. are welcome. Help and ideas are also welcome. It's functionality is planned to be the same as the javadoc view so no standalone usage is possible for now.

Comment 7 Alexander Kurtakov

2010-01-26 06:48:18 EST

Shelled which uses manpage plugin is released which proves it usable. 
Closing.