Skip to content

Tutorial

To understand the power of Numbat, we will register the different symbols contained in file.py.

file.py 
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
"Example of Python file we would like to index"
class MyType:

    my_member = True

    def my_method(self):
        return self.my_member

Database Manipulation

First we are going to create a SourcetrailDB database. It could be done using either open or create, depending on if you want to open an already existing db or create one. In this tutorial we will create a new one or clear the old one with the same name using the following code.

1
2
3
4
from numbat import SourcetrailDB
from pathlib import Path

db = SourcetrailDB.open(Path('my_database'), clear=True)

After having added all the symbols, do not forget to commit your work and then close the DB.

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
from numbat import SourcetrailDB
from pathlib import Path

db = SourcetrailDB.open(Path('my_database'), clear=True)
# do some stuff
db.commit()
db.close()

It will create two files: a Sourcetrail DB file (.srctrldb) and project file (.srctrlprj). You can open the second one with your local Sourcetrail to explore your data.

Add Symbols

We could add a lot of different symbols as described in the full API reference but in anycase, they all have the same signature:

record_XX(
    name="",
    prefix="",
    postfix="",
    delimiter=NameHierarchy.NAME_DELIMITER_CXX,
    parent_id=None,
    is_indexed=True,
)
  • name: symbol name.
  • prefix: what to put before the name like void *.
  • postfix: what to put after the name like ().
  • delimiter: the delimiter between a parent and its child, by default it is ::. The authorized delimiters are: /, ::, . or @.
  • parent_id: if your symbol is a child of another symbol.
  • is_indexed: if your symbol exists in your input data or if it should exist but was not there (it will show as a grey shadow).

If we complete our script, we will need to add the class My Type, the field my_member and the method my_method.

 1
 2
 3
 4
 5
 6
 7
 8
 9
10
11
12
13
from numbat import SourcetrailDB
from pathlib import Path

db = SourcetrailDB.open(Path('my_database'), clear=True)

# Add symbols
class_id = db.record_class(prefix="class", name="MyType",
                           postfix="():")
field_id = db.record_field(name="my_member", parent_id=class_id)
meth_id = db.record_method(name="my_method", parent_id=class_id)

db.commit()
db.close()

When we open the current database with Sourcetrail after running this script, we obtain the following view:

Sourcetrail view after symbol additions

Sourcetrail view after adding symbols.

Relationships

It is possible to add links between the different symbols after they have been created with the commands record_ref_XX. These relationships could be of several types. Here, in file.py, we can see that my_method is using the field my_member, so we could add an USAGE relation.

 1
 2
 3
 4
 5
 6
 7
 8
 9
10
11
12
13
14
15
from numbat import SourcetrailDB
from pathlib import Path

db = SourcetrailDB.open(Path('my_database'), clear=True)

# Add symbols
class_id = db.record_class(prefix="class", name="MyType",
                           postfix="():")
field_id = db.record_field(name="my_member", parent_id=class_id)
meth_id = db.record_method(name="my_method", parent_id=class_id)
# Add relationships
db.record_ref_usage(meth_id, field_id)

db.commit()
db.close()

Sourcetrail view after relationship additions

Usage link between a method and field member of the same class.

Record Associated Files

Optionally, you can record inside Sourcetrail database a file corresponding to your graph data.

 1
 2
 3
 4
 5
 6
 7
 8
 9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
from numbat import SourcetrailDB
from pathlib import Path

db = SourcetrailDB.open(Path('my_database'), clear=True)

# Record file
file_id = db.record_file(Path('file.py'))
db.record_file_language(file_id, 'python')
# Add symbols
class_id = db.record_class(prefix="class", name="MyType",
                           postfix="():")
field_id = db.record_field(name="my_member", parent_id=class_id)
meth_id = db.record_method(name="my_method", parent_id=class_id)
# Add relationships
db.record_ref_usage(meth_id, field_id)

db.commit()
db.close()

As you have inserted the source code and the symbols, you should create links between them to indicate to Sourcetrail where each symbol is located in the code, and if it is the case, its scope. For that, you could respectively use the record_symbol_location and record_symbol_scope_location methods.

 1
 2
 3
 4
 5
 6
 7
 8
 9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
from numbat import SourcetrailDB
from pathlib import Path

db = SourcetrailDB.open(Path('my_database'), clear=True)

# Record file
file_id = db.record_file(Path('file.py'))
db.record_file_language(file_id, 'python')
# Add symbols
class_id = db.record_class(prefix="class", name="MyType",
                           postfix="():")
db.record_symbol_location(class_id, file_id, 2, 7, 2, 12)
db.record_symbol_scope_location(class_id, file_id, 2, 1, 7, 1)
field_id = db.record_field(name="my_member", parent_id=class_id)
db.record_symbol_location(field_id, file_id, 4, 5, 4, 13)
meth_id = db.record_method(name="my_method", parent_id=class_id)
db.record_symbol_location(meth_id, file_id, 6, 9, 6, 17)
db.record_symbol_scope_location(meth_id, file_id, 6, 1, 7, 1)
# Add relationships
db.record_ref_usage(meth_id, field_id)

db.commit()
db.close()

Sourcetrail view after symbol location additions

Symbols are located into the source code.

Access specifiers

To record an access specifier (public, private, etc...) for a class attribute, the record_[public|private|etc...]_access can be used.

 1
 2
 3
 4
 5
 6
 7
 8
 9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
from numbat import SourcetrailDB
from pathlib import Path

db = SourcetrailDB.open(Path('my_database'), clear=True) 

# Record file
file_id = db.record_file(Path('file.py'))
db.record_file_language(file_id, 'python')
# Add symbols
class_id = db.record_class(prefix="class", name="MyType",
                           postfix="():")
db.record_symbol_location(class_id, file_id, 2, 7, 2, 12)
db.record_symbol_scope_location(class_id, file_id, 2, 1, 7, 1)
field_id = db.record_field(name="my_member", parent_id=class_id)
db.record_symbol_location(field_id, file_id, 4, 5, 4, 13)
meth_id = db.record_method(name="my_method", parent_id=class_id)
db.record_symbol_location(meth_id, file_id, 6, 9, 6, 17)
db.record_symbol_scope_location(meth_id, file_id, 6, 1, 7, 1)
# Add relationships
db.record_ref_usage(meth_id, field_id)
# Add access specifiers
db.record_public_access(meth_id)
db.record_private_access(field_id)

db.commit()
db.close()

Access specifiers in Sourcetrail

Public and private access specifiers