AdaControl 1.6r8

AdaControl is a free (GMGPL) tool that detects the use of various kinds of constructs in Ada programs. AdaControls first goal is to control proper usage of style or programming rules, but it can also be used as a powerful tool to search for use (or non-use) of various forms of programming styles or design patterns. Searched elements range from very simple, like the occurrence of certaine entities, declarations, or statements, to very sophisticated, like verifying that certain programming patterns are being obeyed..
Which elements or constructs are searched is defined by a set of rules; the following table gives a short summary of rules currently checked by AdaControl. The number in parentheses after the rule name gives the number of subrules, if any. Considering all possible rules and subrules, this makes 216 tests that can be performed currently by AdaControl!
- Abnormal_Function_Return Controls a design pattern that ensures that a function always returns a result .
- Allocators Controls ocurrences of allocators, either all of them, or those targeting specified types.
- Array_Declarations (x2) Controls several metrics in array declarations.
- Barrier_Expressions Controls elements allowed in the expression of protected entries barriers
- Case_Statement (x4) Controls several metrics in case statements.
- Control_Characters Controls occurrences of control characters (like tabs) in the source.
- Declarations (x75) Controls occurrences of certain Ada declarations.
- Default_Parameter Controls subprogram calls and generic instantiations that use (or not) the default value for a given parameter.
- Directly_Accessed_Globals Controls a design pattern that ensures that all global variables are accessed only through dedicated subprograms.
- Entities Controls occurrences of any Ada entity.
- Entity_Inside_Exception Controls occurrences of entities inside exception handlers.
- Exception_Propagation (x4) Controls that certain subprograms (or tasks) cannot propagate exceptions, or that no elaboration can propagate exceptions.
- Expressions (x9) Controls usage of certain forms of expressions
- Global_References Controls unsynchronized accesses to global variables.
- Header_Comments (x2) Controls the presence of comments at the start of each module.
- If_For_Case Controls if statements that could be replaced by case statements.
- Instantiations Controls generic instantiations, either all of them, or those that use specified entities.
- Insufficient_Parameters Controls the use of positional parameters in calls where the value does not provide sufficient information.
- Local_Hiding Controls occurrences of local identifiers that hide an identical outer one.
- Local_Instantiation Controls instantiations in local scopes.
- Max_Blank_Lines Controls the occurrence of more than a specified number of consecutive empty lines.
- Max_Call_Depth Controls the maximum depth of subprogram calls.
- Max_Line_Length Controls maximal length of source lines.
- Max_Nesting Controls scopes nested more deeply than a given limit.
- Max_Parameters (x6) Controls the maximum numbers of parameters in callable entities (procedures, functions and entries)
- Max_Statement_Nesting (x5) Controls composite statements nested more deeply than a given limit.
- Movable_Accept_Statements Controls statements that could be moved outside an accept statement.
- Naming_Convention Controls the form of allowed (or forbidden) names in declarations.
- No_Safe_Initialization Controls a design pattern that ensures that any variable is initialized before being used.
- Non_Static (x3) Controls non static expressions in index or discriminant constraints, or in instantiations.
- Not_Elaboration_Calls Controls subprogram calls performed from places outside package elaboration code.
- Other_Dependencies Controls semantic dependencies to other units than those indicated
- Parameter_Aliasing Controls subprograms and entry calls where a variable is provided to more than one [in] out parameter.
- Potentially_Blocking_Operations Controls the use of potentially blocking operations from within protected operations.
- Pragmas Controls the use of specific pragmas.
- Real_Operators Controls occurrences of = or /= operators on real types.
- Reduceable_Scope Controls declarations that could be move to more deeply nested scopes.
- Representation_Clauses Controls occurrences of representation clauses.
- Return_Type Controls the use of certain kinds of types as return types of functions.
- Side_Effect_Parameters Controls subprogram calls and generic instantiations that call functions with side effect, thus creating a dependance to the order of evaluation.
- Silent_Exceptions Controls exception handlers that do not reraise exceptions nor call indicated subprograms.
- Simplifiable_Expressions (x4) Controls occurrences of various forms of expressions that could be simplified.
- Special_Comments Controls the presence of certain string patterns in comments.
- Statements (x42) Controls occurrences of Ada statements.
- Style (x12) Controls various forms of constructs generally recommended in style rules.
- Terminating_Tasks Controls a design pattern that ensures that tasks never terminate.
- Uncheckable (x3) Controls constructs that are not statically checkable by other rules
- Unnecessary_Use_Clause Controls use clauses on packages, where no element of the package is referred to within the scope of the use clause.
- Unsafe_Paired_Calls Controls a design pattern that ensures that certain calls are allways paired (like P/V procedures).
- Unsafe_Unchecked_Conversion Controls instantiations of Unchecked_Conversion between types of different or unspecified sizes.
- Usage (x5) Controls usage of objects under certain conditions (in package specifications, read, written modified...).
- Use_Clauses Controls occurrences of use clauses, except for indicated packages.
- With_Clauses (x3) Controls proper usage of with clauses.
Enhancements:
- This release adds rules to check that header comments match a given pattern.
- It has indication of possible false positives and false negatives due to non-statically analyzable constructs.
- There is a fine definition of constructs allowed in entry barriers (including the one of the Ravenscar profile).
- There is better integration into GPS, and much more.