Nested Linux kernel structure viewer

Question

I am studying the Linux kernel learning curve and trying to figure out the information stored in a nested structure specifically to fix a problem with the ALSA driver.

Therefore, I spend a lot of time tracing the source code through structures that have pointers to other structures, which, in turn, have pointers to other structures ... by then my head became so full that I start to track the big picture !

Can someone point me to a tool or website (according to the high-level Linux cross-link http://lxr.linux.no/ ) that will allow me, ideally graphically, to expand down through the nested source code structure?

We are currently developing for Embedded PowerPC in Eclipse CDT version 4.0, but we will not mind switching tool chains.

Yours faithfully

Kermitg

Answer 1

This may sound old, but I found that tracing through data structures with pencil and paper helps you better develop code better than tools that automatically do this. So, my recommendation is that you draw them yourself so that you do not have to keep all this in mind. Once you do this, your learning curve will become much less steep.

Just copy / paste my comment so that this question has at least 1 answer.

Answer 2

Or, alternatively, you can use something like Doxygen to create diagrams for you. It is worth noting that many DocBooks get their structures directly from annotated code.

Answer 3

I am currently using Kdevelop4 (svn version) to go through the Linux kernel. The navigation capabilities are great, but it takes a long time to analyze it (just give it the directories you need, omitting all the drivers that you are not interested in, for example) and still a little short.

As soon as stability improves, and the analyzer can cache previously processed data, I think this will be the most convenient way to go through the kernel.