RE: Best way to get hang of an elisp file?

[Drew Adams]

> I have a rather large elisp file, and I'd like to skim through it.
> I want to know more or less /what/ functions, variables etc. there
> are and what they /do/ instead of how they are implemented
...
> But I don't want to limit myself to Emacs when reading the file

I don't have an answer for use outside Emacs.  But this can help in
Emacs:

In Icicle minor mode, `C-=' is by default `icicle-imenu'.  It is a
multi-command that uses Imenu definition-recognizing regexps.  It
lets you navigate among definitions (of functions, vars, macros, etc.,
depending on the language).  You can use pattern matching, sorting,
and cycling.

But you can also ask for information about any definitions by
hitting one of the help keys during completion: `C-M-RET' (help on
the current definition), `C-M-down' (cycle to the next definition
and show its help), `C-M-mouse-2' (help on the definition clicked
in buffer *Completions*), etc.

The help for a given definition is shown in buffer *Help*.  In the
case of Emacs things it is just what you would see using `C-h f',
`C-h v', `decribe-face', etc.: help on the particular Emacs-Lisp
object.

So you have three levels of information (3 lists) for such objects:
(1) their names, (2) their descriptions (help), and (3) their
definitions.

[There are also Icicles imenu commands for particular kinds of
things, e.g., `icicle-imenu-command', `icicle-imenu-user-option',
etc.  There are also "full" versions of each of these commands.
The full versions use the whole definitions (e.g. whole defuns)
as search contexts - you can either navigate among them, as usual,
or search them and navigate among specific search hits.]

* http://www.emacswiki.org/Icicles_-_Search_Commands%2c_Overview

* http://www.emacswiki.org/Icicles_-_Other_Search_Commands#IciclesImenu