SUNNYVALE, Calif. — Cygnus Solutions, a leader in open source software, today announced the release of Source-Navigator version 4.5, an advanced source code
comprehension tool for software developers to understand, re-engineer, and migrate complex code faster. Cygnus, which recently announced a merger agreement with Red Hat, Inc., offers Source-Navigator 4.5 in two versions. The Developer version supports smaller projects (up to 250,000 lines of code), and the Enterprise version
includes unlimited line support as well as support for cross-platform development on Windows, Solaris, HP-UX, and major Linux distributions.

“Understanding unfamiliar or complex source code, including open source projects like Apache, Emacs, GIMP and the Linux kernel, is a constant challenge for developers and organizations faced with today's rapid development cycles,” said Tom Barton, senior vice president, Cygnus. “With Source-Navigator, developers and organizations can focus on delivering high-quality products and services instead of spending time comprehending their source code.”

“Working in cross-platform development environments, I require source code tools that work seamlessly between platforms,” said Lee Jones, software manager, Protogene. “The user interface in Cygnus Source-Navigator supports cross-platform development, enabling me to use a single tool to analyze, edit and re-engineer existing and new software.”

Key Features and Benefits

• Multi-language parsers — allow developers to parse project source code written in C, C++, tcl, (incr tcl), FORTRAN, COBOL or Assembly programs to build a database of symbol information, and query the project database through a series of graphical browsers;
  
• Multiple platform support (Enterprise Edition) — allows faster code comprehension among project teams by providing a consistent user interface across Red Hat Linux, Caldera Linux, SuSE Linux, Windows, Solaris or HP-UX;
  
• Visual interface — enables faster comprehension of large, complex projects with an easy-to-use GUI that allows the user to visualize code structures in a variety of ways (including class structure, cross-reference, and include relationships);
  
• IDE compatible — saves time and money by enabling users to use Source-Navigator as a standalone or in conjunction with their existing development environments;
  
• Interfaces to leading version control systems — makes code changes more efficient by using existing source code management systems, such as RCS, CVS, SCCS and ClearCase.

Source-Navigator includes a project editor and database, a powerful set of integrated browsers, advanced project search tools and a user's guide. By extracting information from the source code of existing C, C++, Java, Tcl, (incr tcl), FORTRAN, Cobol, and Assembly programs, Source-Navigator builds project databases that visually represent internal program structures and relationships between program components. Using Source-Navigator's powerful integrated browsers, developers can view and query their source code visually, from a large-scale overview to a microscopic view.

 
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