Source code parsing and symbol information

SNiFF+ parsing technology
SNiFF+ uses its own parsers for parsing C/C++, Java, Fortran, CORBA IDL, Tcl and Python source code. No compilation is necessary in order to extract symbol information. The parser is highly configurable and can optionally preprocess the source code.
The SNiFF+ parsers are independent operating system processes that send a stream of information about the symbols defined and declared in the source code to SNiFF+'s Symbol Table. The symbol information is kept persistent on disk, so that parsing is done only once for each file or again after a change. When you modify a source file and save it, the file is immediately reparsed, and its symbol information is sent to the Symbol Table. All browsing tools are also updated.
You can edit project files outside of SNiFF+ and still browse the latest symbols. SNiFF+ knows when a project file has been modified externally and reparses it the next time you access the file.
Preprocessing C/C++ source code
By default, SNiFF+ does not preprocess source code. However you can preprocess source code by doing the following:

- In the Project Editor, double-click on your project in the Project Tree to open the Project Attributes dialog.
- In the Project Attributes dialog, select the Parser node.
- In the Parser view, select the Preprocess Source Code before Parsing checkbox.
- Press OK.

You can configure preprocessing in the Parser configuration file. For more information, see Parser configuration file.