Product : Smart links to names

"Smart"Links to Name Declarations

In order to provide its error-checking facilities, SpotCheck must keep track of which declaration each name use resolves to. This information is available to the user as well. For any name reference that is currently "linked" (bound to a unique declaration), the user can select the name and "go to declaration". Names that are not linked have an error nearby.

For example, consider the following project.

name link ref screen shot

When the user performs "Go To Declaration" with the current selection of "field1", the browser and code view will jump to the declaration of "field1" within class "publicClass".

name link decl screen shot

The user can quickly return to the previous location with the "Go Back" command. Note that neither "field2" nor "field3" would allow the "Go To Declaration", the former because it is not declared, and the latter because "obj2" is not declared.

SpotCheck's links are "smart" in that they always reflect the current state of the project: links are automatically (and transparently) created or destroyed as the user adds, removes, or changes name declarations, name references, import statements, "extends" and "implements"clauses, etc.