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Alexander Liberov edited this page Oct 30, 2026 · 1 revision

query --text --near

Restrict a text search to the code around one symbol. query --text finds every message, caption or comment containing a phrase; --near <QName> keeps only the hits that sit inside routines within N call-graph hops of a seed symbol.

The question it was built for

This error message is raised in forty places. Which of them are near the routine I am changing?

drag-lint query --text "invalid value" --near Foo.Unit1.TSaver.Save --hops 2 --db <file.sqlite>

Running it from the CLI

drag-lint query --text "<phrase>" --near <QName> [--hops 1..3] [--hops-uses] [--near-boost] [--db ...] [--json]
flag meaning
--near <QName> the seed symbol; a qualified name (Unit.Routine, Unit.Type.Method). An unknown seed, or a bare name that answers to several different qualified names, exits 2
--hops N 1 to 3, default 2. --hops 4 exits 2 with "3 hops max; use impact --depth for wider"
--hops-uses unit-uses edges join the neighbourhood: every routine of a unit that uses, or is used by, a unit within N hops of the seed's unit counts at that hop. The seed's own unit is NOT pulled in
--near-boost do not filter: keep every hit, neighbourhood rows first (nearest hop first), the rest after

A hop is one resolved call edge, followed in both directions (callers and callees). A hit counts for the routine that contains it; each printed row carries hop=N (--json: "hop", null for a boosted row outside the neighbourhood).

Reaching it in the IDE

No IDE surface -- this is a CLI-only feature.

What it needs

An index IS required (drag-lint resolve-dbs --project <X.dproj>), and the call edges must be resolved: a symbol whose calls were never resolved has no neighbours. The seed must be indexed in one of the scanned databases.

Pitfalls

  • The default restricts. A hit in a routine outside the neighbourhood is dropped, not demoted; use --near-boost to keep it.
  • The neighbourhood is keyed by qualified name, so overloads of one routine share the smallest hop of any overload.
  • --limit applies after the filter; the unfiltered fetch is capped at 100000 rows.
  • Hits outside any routine body (DFM text, unit-level constants) have no owning routine and are excluded unless --near-boost is given.
  • Measured on a 181 MB index (30,374 call edges), the neighbourhood query takes 2 / 11 / 29 ms for 1 / 2 / 3 call hops, and 34 / 201 / 126 ms with --hops-uses.

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