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17<h1>Build and Analyze: running the analyzer within Xcode</h1>
18
19<table style="margin-top:0px" width="100%" border="0" cellpadding="0px" cellspacing="0">
20<tr><td>
21
22<h3>What is it?</h3>
23<p><i>Build and Analyze</i> is an Xcode feature (introduced in Xcode 3.2) that
24allows users to run the Clang Static Analyzer <a
25href="http://developer.apple.com/mac/library/featuredarticles/StaticAnalysis/index.html">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">
37<center>
Ted Kremenek631bde52010-02-19 18:12:09 +000038 <a href="images/analyzer_xcode.png"><img src="images/analyzer_xcode.png" width="620px" border=0></a>
Ted Kremenek0f399962010-02-19 08:14:02 +000039<br><b>Viewing static analyzer results in Xcode</b></center>
40</td></tr></table>
41
Ted Kremenek0f399962010-02-19 08:14:02 +000042<h3>Key features:</h3>
43<ul>
44 <li><b>Integrated workflow:</b> Results are integrated within Xcode. There is
45 no experience of using a separate tool, and activating the analyzer requires a
46 single keystroke or mouse click.</li>
47 <li><b>Transparency:</b> Works effortlessly with Xcode projects (including iPhone projects).
48 <li><b>Cons:</b> Doesn't work well with non-Xcode projects. For those,
Ted Kremenek4d9d49a2010-02-19 17:33:30 +000049 consider using <a href="/scan-build.html"><b>scan-build</b></a>.
Ted Kremenek0f399962010-02-19 08:14:02 +000050</ul>
Ted Kremenek4d9d49a2010-02-19 17:33:30 +000051
Ted Kremenek0f399962010-02-19 08:14:02 +000052
53<h2>Getting Started</h2>
54
55<p>Xcode 3.2 is available as a free download from Apple, with <a
56href="http://developer.apple.com/mac/library/featuredarticles/StaticAnalysis/index.html">instructions available</a>
57for using <i>Build and Analyze</i>.</p>
58
59<h2>Using open source analyzer builds with <i>Build and Analyze</i></h2>
60
61<p>By default, Xcode uses the version of <tt>clang</tt> that came bundled with
62it to provide the results for <i>Build and Analyze</i>. It is possible to change
63Xcode's behavior to use an alternate version of <tt>clang</tt> for this purpose
64while continuing to use the <tt>clang</tt> that came with Xcode for compiling
65projects.</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 <i>Build and Analyze</i>:</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
97(in <tt>/Developer</tt>) to point it to use the version of <tt>clang</tt> you
98specify for static analysis. 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>Examples</h4>
106
Ted Kremenek8c0b9642010-02-19 08:24:37 +0000107<p><b>Example 1</b>: Telling Xcode to use checker-235 for <i>Build and Analyze</i>:</p>
Ted Kremenek0f399962010-02-19 08:14:02 +0000108
109<pre class="code_example">
110$ pwd
111/tmp
112$ tar xjf checker-235.tar.bz2
113$ checker-235/set-xcode-analyzer --use-checker-build=/tmp/checker-235
114</pre>
115
Ted Kremenek8c0b9642010-02-19 08:24:37 +0000116<p>Note that you typically won't install an analyzer build in <tt>/tmp</tt>, but
117the point of this example is that <tt>set-xcode-analyzer</tt> just wants a full
118path to an untarred analyzer build.</p>
119
120<p><b>Example 2</b>: Telling Xcode to use a very specific version of <tt>clang</tt>:</p>
Ted Kremenek0f399962010-02-19 08:14:02 +0000121
122<pre class="code_example">
123$ set-xcode-analyzer --use-checker-build=~/mycrazyclangbuild/bin/clang
124</pre>
125
Ted Kremenek8c0b9642010-02-19 08:24:37 +0000126<p><b>Example 3</b>: Resetting Xcode to its default behavior:</p>
Ted Kremenek0f399962010-02-19 08:14:02 +0000127
128<pre class="code_example">
Ted Kremenek1a202b42010-02-28 05:14:08 +0000129$ set-xcode-analyzer --use-xcode-clang
Ted Kremenek0f399962010-02-19 08:14:02 +0000130</pre>
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