• Home
  • Line#
  • Scopes#
  • Navigate#
  • Raw
  • Download
1<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01//EN"
2          "http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/strict.dtd">
3<html>
4<head>
5  <title>Running the analyzer within Xcode</title>
6  <link type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" href="content.css">
7  <link type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" href="menu.css">
8  <script type="text/javascript" src="scripts/menu.js"></script>
9</head>
10<body>
11
12<div id="page">
13<!--#include virtual="menu.html.incl"-->
14<div id="content">
15
16<h1>Running the analyzer within Xcode</h1>
17
18<table style="margin-top:0px" width="100%" border="0" cellpadding="0px" cellspacing="0">
19<tr><td>
20
21<h3>What is it?</h3>
22
23<p>Since Xcode 3.2, users have been able to run the Clang Static Analyzer
24<a
25href="https://developer.apple.com/library/ios/recipes/xcode_help-source_editor/chapters/Analyze.html#//apple_ref/doc/uid/TP40009975-CH4-SW1">directly
26within Xcode</a>.</p>
27
28<p>It integrates directly with the Xcode build system and
29presents analysis results directly within Xcode's editor.</p>
30
31<h3>Can I use the open source analyzer builds with Xcode?</h3>
32
33<p><b>Yes</b>. Instructions are included below.</p>
34
35</td>
36<td style="padding-left:10px; text-align:center">
37  <a href="images/analyzer_xcode.png"><img src="images/analyzer_xcode.png" width="620px" alt="analyzer in xcode"></a>
38<br><b>Viewing static analyzer results in Xcode</b>
39</td></tr></table>
40
41<h3>Key features:</h3>
42<ul>
43  <li><b>Integrated workflow:</b> Results are integrated within Xcode. There is
44  no experience of using a separate tool, and activating the analyzer requires a
45  single keystroke or mouse click.</li>
46  <li><b>Transparency:</b> Works effortlessly with Xcode projects (including iPhone projects).
47  <li><b>Cons:</b> Doesn't work well with non-Xcode projects. For those,
48  consider using <a href="scan-build.html"><b>scan-build</b></a>.
49</ul>
50
51
52<h2>Getting Started</h2>
53
54<p>Xcode is available as a free download from Apple on the <a
55href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/xcode/id497799835?mt=12">Mac
56App Store</a>, with <a
57href="https://developer.apple.com/library/ios/recipes/xcode_help-source_editor/chapters/Analyze.html#//apple_ref/doc/uid/TP40009975-CH4-SW1">instructions
58available</a> for using the analyzer.</p>
59
60<h2>Using open source analyzer builds with Xcode</h2>
61
62<p>By default, Xcode uses the version of <tt>clang</tt> that came bundled with
63it to analyze your code. It is possible to change Xcode's behavior to use an
64alternate version of <tt>clang</tt> for this purpose while continuing to use
65the <tt>clang</tt> that came with Xcode for compiling projects.</p>
66
67<h3>Why try open source builds?</h3>
68
69<p>The advantage of using open source analyzer builds (provided on this website)
70is that they are often newer than the analyzer provided with Xcode, and thus can
71contain bug fixes, new checks, or simply better analysis.</p>
72
73<p>On the other hand, new checks can be experimental, with results of variable
74quality. Users are encouraged to <a href="filing_bugs.html">file bug reports</a>
75(for any version of the analyzer) where they encounter false positives or other
76issues.</p>
77
78<h3>set-xcode-analyzer</h3>
79
80<p>Starting with analyzer build checker-234, analyzer builds contain a command
81line utility called <tt>set-xcode-analyzer</tt> that allows users to change what
82copy of <tt>clang</tt> that Xcode uses for analysis:</p>
83
84<pre class="code_example">
85$ <b>set-xcode-analyzer -h</b>
86Usage: set-xcode-analyzer [options]
87
88Options:
89  -h, --help            show this help message and exit
90  --use-checker-build=PATH
91                        Use the Clang located at the provided absolute path,
92                        e.g. /Users/foo/checker-1
93  --use-xcode-clang     Use the Clang bundled with Xcode
94</pre>
95
96<p>Operationally, <b>set-xcode-analyzer</b> edits Xcode's configuration files
97to point it to use the version of <tt>clang</tt> you specify for static
98analysis. Within this model it provides you two basic modes:</p>
99
100<ul>
101  <li><b>--use-xcode-clang</b>: Switch Xcode (back) to using the <tt>clang</tt> that came bundled with it for static analysis.</li>
102  <li><b>--use-checker-build</b>: Switch Xcode to using the <tt>clang</tt> provided by the specified analyzer build.</li>
103</ul>
104
105<h4>Things to keep in mind</h4>
106
107<ul>
108  <li>You should quit Xcode prior to running <tt>set-xcode-analyzer</tt>.</li>    <li>You will need to run <tt>set-xcode-analyzer</tt> under
109<b><tt>sudo</tt></b> in order to have write privileges to modify the Xcode
110configuration files.</li>
111</ul>
112
113<h4>Examples</h4>
114
115<p><b>Example 1</b>: Telling Xcode to use checker-235:</p>
116
117<pre class="code_example">
118$ pwd
119/tmp
120$ tar xjf checker-235.tar.bz2
121$ sudo checker-235/set-xcode-analyzer --use-checker-build=/tmp/checker-235
122</pre>
123
124<p>Note that you typically won't install an analyzer build in <tt>/tmp</tt>, but
125the point of this example is that <tt>set-xcode-analyzer</tt> just wants a full
126path to an untarred analyzer build.</p>
127
128<p><b>Example 2</b>: Telling Xcode to use a very specific version of <tt>clang</tt>:</p>
129
130<pre class="code_example">
131$ sudo set-xcode-analyzer --use-checker-build=~/mycrazyclangbuild/bin/clang
132</pre>
133
134<p><b>Example 3</b>: Resetting Xcode to its default behavior:</p>
135
136<pre class="code_example">
137$ sudo set-xcode-analyzer --use-xcode-clang
138</pre>
139
140</div>
141</div>
142</body>
143</html>
144
145