Feature Location

[asterix5]

Hello everyone.
Can somebody provide me a good way of implementing feature location in programs.

Let's say that I am developing a simple Java GUI application. I want to find the corresponding code when I point out with the mouse to one of the objects in the GUI, ex there is a Save button, and I want to get the code where the button does something.

I would appreciate if somebody knows any implementation of a tool that does this. Thank you for your consideration.

[pbrockway2]

ex there is a Save button, and I want to get the code where the button does something.

There is, in general, no way of knowing.

// in some class
JButton saveBut = new JButton("Save");
public JButton getBut() {return saveBut;}

// in some other class *not even written yet*
someClass.getBut().addActionListener(foo);

What the save button actually does will depend on the details of foo's actionPerformed() method. As mentioned this other class may not have been written yet, or its source may not be available. In addition there may be many such event handlers so that "the code where the button does something" is not straight forward.

Some IDEs offer a feature like this, but they do it by constraining the code to fit a predetermined - "do not edit below this line" - pattern.

[asterix5]

Probably the example with the button was not a good one.
Let's say that there is a label that displays some text and by pointing to the label I want to find the code that writes a text to that label.

[pbrockway2]

It's the same deal: the label exposes a setText() method, and that method can be called from anywhere that has a reference to the label.

[Junky]

Using an IDE you can click on the variable name and everywhere in your code that variable will be highlighted. Is this what you want? It might not be a standard feature, it may be something you have to "turn on".