Add an option to exclude certain kinds of `ctags`

[andreyfedoseev]

This is a feature request.

Currently, ctags generates all kinds of tags for Python code: class, function, class member, variable, import, file, etc.

When doing "Go To Symbol in Workspace" I'm only interested in definitions, such as class and function definitions and class members.

Allowing to specify what kinds of tags should be generated by ctags would increase the relevancy of the "Go To Symbol in Workspace" output, and also reduce the size of tags file drasticly.

The proposed solution is to add an option allowing to specify the included/excluded kinds of tags. This option will be passed to the --Python-kinds argument of the ctags executable.

[DonJayamanne]

I view feature as a nice to have, but not necessary. Hence I'll leave this as an enhancement hoping someone will submit a PR.
Of course, if we have a large number of votes on this issue then we'll look into this ourselves.

[andreyfedoseev]

I can try and work on the PR myself if you agree with the proposed solution.

Are the ctags used for anything else besides the "Go to Symbol in Workspace" feature? If we limit the kinds of generated tags, will it cause any negative effects on other features like "Go to Declaration"?

[DonJayamanne]

Sorry, I forgot one minor yet important details.
We're deprecating the use of ctags in the extension (#197)
So the plan would be to first fix #197, then look into this requirement.

[andreyfedoseev]

@DonJayamanne

I just found that it's possible to specify default ctags options using configuration files in either home directory or project directory.

I'm using universal-ctags already, so I created a file ~/.ctags.d/python.ctags with the following content:

--Python-kinds=-i-v

This resolved the issue for me. Given that it's possible configure ctags without any need to change the VSCode extension I step back from this and suggest closing the issue.

As for #197, it seems that all that needs to be done there is updating the documentation to install universal-ctags instead of regular ctags.

[DonJayamanne]

As for #197, it seems that all that needs to be done there is updating the documentation to install universal-ctags instead of regular ctags.

Thanks, unfortunately I haven't tested this to confirm it.