pmd/docs/pages/next_major_development.md
2023-02-17 16:24:03 +01:00

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PMD 7.0.0 development pmd_next_major_development.html changelog, release notes, deprecation, api changes

We're excited to bring you the next major version of PMD! Here is a summary of what is planned for PMD 7.

To give us feedback or to suggest a new feature, drop us a line in our Gitter room!

Summary

We decided it's time to have a modernized logo and get rid of the gun. This allows to include the logo in anywhere without offense.

The current tasks are listed here: Integrate new PMD logo #1931

The new logo is available from the Logo Project Page.

API

The API of PMD has been growing over the years and needs to be cleaned up. The goal is, to have a clear separation between a well-defined API and the implementation, which is internal. This should help us in future development. This however entails some incompatibilities and deprecations, see also the sections New API support guidelines and [Planned API removals](#planned-api-removals] below.

Full Antlr Support

PMD 6 only supports JavaCC based grammars, but with Antlr parsers can be generated as well. PMD 7 adds full support for grammars written in Antlr, which allows to leverage existing grammars.

The current tasks are listed here: Support for ANTLR based grammars with Swift as an example language #2499

Documentation

We have quite some ideas how we want to improve the documentation. The goal is, that the documentation is up to date and nearly complete. One big task is, how the built-in rules are presented, so that users can easier see, what exactly is available and decide, which rules are useful for the project at hand.

The current tasks are listed here: Documentations improvements tracker #1139

XPath

PMD 6 supports XPath 1.0 via the Jaxen library. This library is old and unmaintained creating some problems (one of which is duplicated classes in the package org.w3c.dom which is a Java API actually). Therefore XPath 1.0 support will be dropped and we upgrade our XPath 2.0 implementation with Saxon moving on to Saxon HE. This will eventually add support in PMD for XPath 3.1.

The current tasks are listed here: XPath Improvements for PMD 7 #2523

Java

Like the main PMD API, the Java AST has been growing over time and the grammar doesn't support all edge cases (e.g. annotation are not supported everywhere). The goal is to simplify the AST by reducing unnecessary nodes and abstractions and fix the parsing issues. This helps in the end to provide a better type resolution implementation, but changing the AST is a breaking API change.

Some first results of the Java AST changes are for now documented in the Wiki: Java clean changes.

{% jdoc_nspace :jast java::lang.java.ast %}

  • {% jdoc jast::ASTType %} and {% jdoc jast::ASTReferenceType %} have been turned into interfaces, implemented by {% jdoc jast::ASTPrimitiveType %}, {% jdoc jast::ASTClassOrInterfaceType %}, and the new node {% jdoc jast::ASTArrayType %}. This reduces the depth of the relevant subtrees, and allows to explore them more easily and consistently.

  • {% jdoc jast::ASTClassOrInterfaceType %} appears to be left recursive now. TODO document that when we're done discussing the semantic rewrite phase.

  • Migrating:

    • There is currently no way to match abstract types (or interfaces) with XPath, so Type and ReferenceType name tests won't match anything anymore.
    • Type/ReferenceType/ClassOrInterfaceType -> ClassOrInterfaceType
    • Type/PrimitiveType -> PrimitiveType.
    • Type/ReferenceType[@ArrayDepth>1]/ClassOrInterfaceType -> ArrayType/ClassOrInterfaceType.
    • Type/ReferenceType/PrimitiveType -> ArrayType/PrimitiveType.
    • Note that in most cases you should check the type of a variable with e.g. VariableDeclaratorId[pmd-java:typeIs("java.lang.String[]")] because it considers the additional dimensions on declarations like String foo[];. The Java equivalent is TypeHelper.isA(id, String[].class);

Expression grammar changes

  • {% jdoc jast::ASTExpression %} and {% jdoc jast::ASTPrimaryExpression %} have been turned into interfaces. These added no information to the AST and increased its depth unnecessarily. All expressions implement the first interface. Both of those nodes can no more be found in ASTs.

  • Migrating:

    • Basically, Expression/X or Expression/PrimaryExpression/X, just becomes X
    • There is currently no way to match abstract or interface types with XPath, so Expression or PrimaryExpression name tests won't match anything anymore. However, the axis step *[@Expression=true()] matches any expression.
  • {% jdoc jast::ASTLiteral %} has been turned into an interface. The fact that {% jdoc jast::ASTNullLiteral %} and {% jdoc jast::ASTBooleanLiteral %} were nested within it but other literals types were all directly represented by it was inconsistent, and ultimately that level of nesting was unnecessary.

    • {% jdoc jast::ASTNumericLiteral %}, {% jdoc jast::ASTCharLiteral %}, {% jdoc jast::ASTStringLiteral %}, and {% jdoc jast::ASTClassLiteral %} are new nodes that implement that interface.
    • ASTLiteral implements {% jdoc jast::ASTPrimaryExpression %}
  • Migrating:

    • Remove all /Literal/ segments from your XPath expressions
    • If you tested several types of literals, you can e.g. do it like /*[self::StringLiteral or self::CharLiteral]/
    • As is usual, use the designer to explore the new AST structure
  • The nodes {% jdoc_old jast::ASTPrimaryPrefix %} and {% jdoc_old jast::ASTPrimarySuffix %} are removed from the grammar. Subtrees for primary expressions appear to be left-recursive now. For example,

new Foo().bar.foo(1)

used to be parsed as

Expression
+ PrimaryExpression
  + PrimaryPrefix
    + AllocationExpression
      + ClassOrInterfaceType[@Image="Foo"]
  + PrimarySuffix
    + Arguments
  + PrimarySuffix
    + Name[@Image="bar.foo"]
  + PrimarySuffix
    + Arguments
      + ArgumentsList
        + Expression
          + PrimaryExpression
            + Literal[@ValueAsInt=1]

It's now parsed as

MethodCall[@MethodName="foo"]
+ FieldAccess[@FieldName="bar"]
  + ConstructorCall
    + ClassOrInterfaceType[@TypeImage="Foo"]
    + ArgumentsList
+ ArgumentsList
  + NumericLiteral[@ValueAsInt=1]

Instead of being flat, the subexpressions are now nested within one another. The nesting follows the naturally recursive structure of expressions:

new Foo().bar.foo(1)
---------            ConstructorCall
-------------        FieldAccess
-------------------- MethodCall

This makes the AST more regular and easier to navigate. Each node contains the other nodes that are relevant to it (e.g. arguments) instead of them being spread out over several siblings. The API of all nodes has been enriched with high-level accessors to query the AST in a semantic way, without bothering with the placement details.

The amount of changes in the grammar that this change entails is enormous, but hopefully firing up the designer to inspect the new structure should give you the information you need quickly.

TODO write a summary of changes in the javadoc of the package, will be more accessible.

Note: this doesn't affect binary expressions like {% jdoc jast::ASTAdditiveExpression %}. E.g. a+b+c is not parsed as

AdditiveExpression
+ AdditiveExpression
  + (a)
  + (b)
+ (c)  

It's still

AdditiveExpression
+ (a)
+ (b)
+ (c)  

which is easier to navigate, especially from XPath.

Miscellaneous

There are also some small improvements, refactoring and internal tasks that are planned for PMD 7.

The current tasks are listed here: PMD 7 Miscellaneous Tasks #2524

New API support guidelines

What's new

Until now, all released public members and types were implicitly considered part of PMD's public API, including inheritance-specific members (protected members, abstract methods). We have maintained those APIs with the goal to preserve full binary compatibility between minor releases, only breaking those APIs infrequently, for major releases.

In order to allow PMD to move forward at a faster pace, this implicit contract will be invalidated with PMD 7.0.0. We now introduce more fine-grained distinctions between the type of compatibility support we guarantee for our libraries, and ways to make them explicit to clients of PMD.

.internal packages and @InternalApi annotation

Internal API is meant for use only by the main PMD codebase. Internal types and methods may be modified in any way, or even removed, at any time.

Any API in a package that contains an .internal segment is considered internal. The @InternalApi annotation will be used for APIs that have to live outside of these packages, e.g. methods of a public type that shouldn't be used outside of PMD (again, these can be removed anytime).

@ReservedSubclassing

Types marked with the @ReservedSubclassing annotation are only meant to be subclassed by classes within PMD. As such, we may add new abstract methods, or remove protected methods, at any time. All published public members remain supported. The annotation is not inherited, which means a reserved interface doesn't prevent its implementors to be subclassed.

@Experimental

APIs marked with the @Experimental annotation at the class or method level are subject to change. They can be modified in any way, or even removed, at any time. You should not use or rely on them in any production code. They are purely to allow broad testing and feedback.

@Deprecated

APIs marked with the @Deprecated annotation at the class or method level will remain supported until the next major release but it is recommended to stop using them.

The transition

All currently supported APIs will remain so until 7.0.0. All APIs that are to be moved to .internal packages or hidden will be tagged @InternalApi before that major release, and the breaking API changes will be performed in 7.0.0.

Planned API removals

List of currently deprecated APIs

{% include warning.html content="This list is not exhaustive. The ultimate reference is whether an API is tagged as @Deprecated or not in the latest minor release. During the development of 7.0.0, we may decide to remove some APIs that were not tagged as deprecated, though we'll try to avoid it." %}

6.54.0

PMD CLI
  • PMD now supports a new --relativize-paths-with flag (or short -z), which replaces --short-names. It serves the same purpose: Shortening the pathnames in the reports. However, with the new flag it's possible to explicitly define one or more pathnames that should be used as the base when creating relative paths. The old flag --short-names is deprecated.
Deprecated APIs
For removal
  • {% jdoc !!apex::lang.apex.ast.ApexRootNode#getApexVersion() %} has been deprecated for removal. The version returned is always Version.CURRENT, as the apex compiler integration doesn't use additional information which Apex version actually is used. Therefore, this method can't be used to determine the Apex version of the project that is being analyzed.

  • {% jdoc !!core::cpd.CPDConfiguration#setEncoding(java.lang.String) %} and {% jdoc !!core::cpd.CPDConfiguration#getEncoding() %}. Use the methods {% jdoc core::AbstractConfiguration#getSourceEncoding() %} and {% jdoc core::AbstractConfiguration#setSourceEncoding(java.lang.String) %} instead. Both are available for CPDConfiguration which extends AbstractConfiguration.

  • {% jdoc test::cli.BaseCLITest %} and {% jdoc test::cli.BaseCPDCLITest %} have been deprecated for removal without replacement. CLI tests should be done in pmd-core only (and in PMD7 in pmd-cli). Individual language modules shouldn't need to test the CLI integration logic again. Instead, the individual language modules should test their functionality as unit tests.

  • {% jdoc core::cpd.CPDConfiguration.LanguageConverter %}

  • {% jdoc !!core::lang.document.FileCollector#addZipFile(java.nio.file.Path) %} has been deprecated. It is replaced by {% jdoc !!core::lang.document.FileCollector#addZipFileWithContent(java.nio.file.Path) %} which directly adds the content of the zip file for analysis.

  • {% jdoc !!core::PMDConfiguration#setReportShortNames(boolean) %} and {% jdoc !!core::PMDConfiguration#isReportShortNames() %} have been deprecated for removal. Use {% jdoc !!core::PMDConfiguration#addRelativizeRoot(java.nio.file.Path) %} instead.

Internal APIs
  • {% jdoc core::renderers.CSVWriter %}
  • Some fields in {% jdoc test::ant.AbstractAntTestHelper %}
Experimental APIs
  • CPDReport has a new method which limited mutation of a given report:
    • {%jdoc core::cpd.CPDReport#filterMatches(net.sourceforge.pmd.util.Predicate) %} creates a new CPD report with some matches removed with a given predicate based filter.

6.53.0

Deprecated APIs
For removal

These classes / APIs have been deprecated and will be removed with PMD 7.0.0.

  • {% jdoc java::lang.java.rule.design.ExcessiveLengthRule %} (Java)

6.52.0

PMD CLI
  • PMD now supports a new --use-version flag, which receives a language-version pair (such as java-8 or apex-54). This supersedes the usage of -language / -l and -version / -v, allowing for multiple versions to be set in a single run. PMD 7 will completely remove support for -language and -version in favor of this new flag.

  • Support for -V is being deprecated in favor of --verbose in preparation for PMD 7. In PMD 7, -v will enable verbose mode and -V will show the PMD version for consistency with most Unix/Linux tools.

  • Support for -min is being deprecated in favor of --minimum-priority for consistency with most Unix/Linux tools, where -min would be equivalent to -m -i -n.

CPD CLI
  • CPD now supports using -d or --dir as an alias to --files, in favor of consistency with PMD. PMD 7 will remove support for --files in favor of these new flags.
Linux run.sh parameters
  • Using run.sh cpdgui will now warn about it being deprecated. Use run.sh cpd-gui instead.

  • The old designer (run.sh designerold) is completely deprecated and will be removed in PMD 7. Switch to the new JavaFX designer: run.sh designer.

  • The old visual AST viewer (run.sh bgastviewer) is completely deprecated and will be removed in PMD 7. Switch to the new JavaFX designer: run.sh designer for a visual tool, or use run.sh ast-dump for a text-based alternative.

Deprecated API
  • The following core APIs have been marked as deprecated for removal in PMD 7:

    • {% jdoc core::PMD %} and {% jdoc core::PMD.StatusCode %} - PMD 7 will ship with a revamped CLI split from pmd-core. To programmatically launch analysis you can use {% jdoc core::PmdAnalysis %}.
    • {% jdoc !!core::PMDConfiguration#getAllInputPaths() %} - It is now superseded by {% jdoc !!core::PMDConfiguration#getInputPathList() %}
    • {% jdoc !!core::PMDConfiguration#setInputPaths(List) %} - It is now superseded by {% jdoc !!core::PMDConfiguration#setInputPathList(List) %}
    • {% jdoc !!core::PMDConfiguration#addInputPath(String) %} - It is now superseded by {% jdoc !!core::PMDConfiguration#addInputPath(Path) %}
    • {% jdoc !!core::PMDConfiguration#getInputFilePath() %} - It is now superseded by {% jdoc !!core::PMDConfiguration#getInputFile() %}
    • {% jdoc !!core::PMDConfiguration#getIgnoreFilePath() %} - It is now superseded by {% jdoc !!core::PMDConfiguration#getIgnoreFile() %}
    • {% jdoc !!core::PMDConfiguration#setInputFilePath(String) %} - It is now superseded by {% jdoc !!core::PMDConfiguration#setInputFilePath(Path) %}
    • {% jdoc !!core::PMDConfiguration#setIgnoreFilePath(String) %} - It is now superseded by {% jdoc !!core::PMDConfiguration#setIgnoreFilePath(Path) %}
    • {% jdoc !!core::PMDConfiguration#getInputUri() %} - It is now superseded by {% jdoc !!core::PMDConfiguration#getUri() %}
    • {% jdoc !!core::PMDConfiguration#setInputUri(String) %} - It is now superseded by {% jdoc !!core::PMDConfiguration#setInputUri(URI) %}
    • {% jdoc !!core::PMDConfiguration#getReportFile() %} - It is now superseded by {% jdoc !!core::PMDConfiguration#getReportFilePath() %}
    • {% jdoc !!core::PMDConfiguration#setReportFile(String) %} - It is now superseded by {% jdoc !!core::PMDConfiguration#setReportFile(Path) %}
    • {% jdoc !!core::PMDConfiguration#isStressTest() %} and {% jdoc !!core::PMDConfiguration#setStressTest(boolean) %} - Will be removed with no replacement.
    • {% jdoc !!core::PMDConfiguration#isBenchmark() %} and {% jdoc !!core::PMDConfiguration#setBenchmark(boolean) %} - Will be removed with no replacement, the CLI will still support it.
    • {% jdoc core::cpd.CPD %} and {% jdoc core::cpd.CPD.StatusCode %} - PMD 7 will ship with a revamped CLI split from pmd-core. An alterative to programatically launch CPD analysis will be added in due time.
  • In order to reduce the dependency on Apex Jorje classes, the method {% jdoc !!visualforce::lang.vf.DataType#fromBasicType(apex.jorje.semantic.symbol.type.BasicType) %} has been deprecated. The equivalent method {% jdoc visualforce::lang.vf.DataType#fromTypeName(java.lang.String) %} should be used instead.

6.51.0

No changes.

6.50.0

CPD CLI
  • CPD now supports the --ignore-literal-sequences argument when analyzing Lua code.

6.49.0

Deprecated API
  • In order to reduce the dependency on Apex Jorje classes, the following methods have been deprecated. These methods all leaked internal Jorje enums. These enums have been replaced now by enums the PMD's AST package.

    • {% jdoc !!apex::lang.apex.ast.ASTAssignmentExpression#getOperator() %}
    • {% jdoc !!apex::lang.apex.ast.ASTBinaryExpression#getOperator() %}
    • {% jdoc !!apex::lang.apex.ast.ASTBooleanExpression#getOperator() %}
    • {% jdoc !!apex::lang.apex.ast.ASTPostfixExpression#getOperator() %}
    • {% jdoc !!apex::lang.apex.ast.ASTPrefixExpression#getOperator() %}

    All these classes have now a new getOp() method. Existing code should be refactored to use this method instead. It returns the new enums, like {% jdoc apex::lang.apex.ast.AssignmentOperator %}, and avoids the dependency to Jorje.

6.48.0

CPD CLI
  • CPD has a new CLI option --debug. This option has the same behavior as in PMD. It enables more verbose logging output.
Rule Test Framework
  • The module "pmd-test", which contains support classes to write rule tests, now requires Java 8. If you depend on this module for testing your own custom rules, you'll need to make sure to use at least Java 8.
  • The new module "pmd-test-schema" contains now the XSD schema and the code to parse the rule test XML files. The schema has been extracted in order to easily share it with other tools like the Rule Designer or IDE plugins.
  • Test schema changes:
    • The attribute isRegressionTest of test-code is deprecated. The new attribute disabled should be used instead for defining whether a rule test should be skipped or not.
    • The attributes reinitializeRule and useAuxClasspath of test-code are deprecated and assumed true. They will not be replaced.
    • The new attribute focused of test-code allows disabling all tests except the focused one temporarily.
  • More information about the rule test framework can be found in the documentation: Testing your rules
Deprecated API
  • The experimental Java AST class {% jdoc java::lang.java.ast.ASTGuardedPattern %} has been deprecated and will be removed. It was introduced for Java 17 and Java 18 Preview as part of pattern matching for switch, but it is no longer supported with Java 19 Preview.
  • The interface {% jdoc core::cpd.renderer.CPDRenderer %} is deprecated. For custom CPD renderers the new interface {% jdoc core::cpd.renderer.CPDReportRenderer %} should be used.
  • The class {% jdoc test::testframework.TestDescriptor %} is deprecated, replaced with {% jdoc test-schema::test.schema.RuleTestDescriptor %}.
  • Many methods of {% jdoc test::testframework.RuleTst %} have been deprecated as internal API.
Experimental APIs
  • To support the Java preview language features "Pattern Matching for Switch" and "Record Patterns", the following AST nodes have been introduced as experimental:
    • {% jdoc java::lang.java.ast.ASTSwitchGuard %}
    • {% jdoc java::lang.java.ast.ASTRecordPattern %}
    • {% jdoc java::lang.java.ast.ASTComponentPatternList %}
Internal API

Those APIs are not intended to be used by clients, and will be hidden or removed with PMD 7.0.0. You can identify them with the @InternalApi annotation. You'll also get a deprecation warning.

  • {%jdoc !!core::cpd.CPDConfiguration#setRenderer(net.sourceforge.pmd.cpd.Renderer) %}
  • {%jdoc !!core::cpd.CPDConfiguration#setCPDRenderer(net.sourceforge.pmd.cpd.renderer.CPDRenderer) %}
  • {%jdoc !!core::cpd.CPDConfiguration#getRenderer() %}
  • {%jdoc !!core::cpd.CPDConfiguration#getCPDRenderer() %}
  • {%jdoc !!core::cpd.CPDConfiguration#getRendererFromString(java.lang.String,java.lang.String) %}
  • {%jdoc !!core::cpd.CPDConfiguration#getCPDRendererFromString(java.lang.String,java.lang.String) %}
  • {%jdoc core::cpd.renderer.CPDRendererAdapter %}

6.47.0

No changes.

6.46.0

Deprecated ruleset references

Ruleset references with the following formats are now deprecated and will produce a warning when used on the CLI or in a ruleset XML file:

  • <lang-name>-<ruleset-name>, eg java-basic, which resolves to rulesets/java/basic.xml
  • the internal release number, eg 600, which resolves to rulesets/releases/600.xml

Use the explicit forms of these references to be compatible with PMD 7.

Deprecated API
  • {% jdoc core::RuleSetReferenceId#toString() %} is now deprecated. The format of this method will remain the same until PMD 7. The deprecation is intended to steer users away from relying on this format, as it may be changed in PMD 7.
  • {% jdoc core::PMDConfiguration#getInputPaths() %} and {% jdoc core::PMDConfiguration#setInputPaths(java.lang.String) %} are now deprecated. A new set of methods have been added, which use lists and do not rely on comma splitting.
Internal API

Those APIs are not intended to be used by clients, and will be hidden or removed with PMD 7.0.0. You can identify them with the @InternalApi annotation. You'll also get a deprecation warning.

  • {% jdoc core::cpd.CPDCommandLineInterface %} has been internalized. In order to execute CPD either {% jdoc !!core::cpd.CPD#run(java.lang.String...) %} or {% jdoc !!core::cpd.CPD#main(java.lang.String[]) %} should be used.
  • Several members of {% jdoc test::cli.BaseCPDCLITest %} have been deprecated with replacements.
  • The methods {% jdoc !!core::ant.Formatter#start(java.lang.String) %}, {% jdoc !!core::ant.Formatter#end(net.sourceforge.pmd.Report) %}, {% jdoc !!core::ant.Formatter#getRenderer() %}, and {% jdoc !!core::ant.Formatter#isNoOutputSupplied() %} have been internalized.

6.45.0

Experimental APIs
  • Report has two new methods which allow limited mutations of a given report:
    • {% jdoc !!core::Report#filterViolations(net.sourceforge.pmd.util.Predicate) %} creates a new report with some violations removed with a given predicate based filter.
    • {% jdoc !!core::Report#union(net.sourceforge.pmd.Report) %} can combine two reports into a single new Report.
  • {% jdoc !!core::util.Predicate %} will be replaced in PMD7 with the standard Predicate interface from java8.
  • The module pmd-html is entirely experimental right now. Anything in the package net.sourceforge.pmd.lang.html should be used cautiously.

6.44.0

Deprecated API
  • Several members of {% jdoc core::PMD %} have been newly deprecated, including:

    • PMD#EOL: use System#lineSeparator()
    • PMD#SUPPRESS_MARKER: use {% jdoc core::PMDConfiguration#DEFAULT_SUPPRESS_MARKER %}
    • PMD#processFiles: use the new programmatic API
    • PMD#getApplicableFiles: is internal
  • {% jdoc !!core::PMDConfiguration#prependClasspath(java.lang.String) %} is deprecated in favour of {% jdoc core::PMDConfiguration#prependAuxClasspath(java.lang.String) %}.

  • {% jdoc !!core::PMDConfiguration#setRuleSets(java.lang.String) %} and {% jdoc core::PMDConfiguration#getRuleSets() %} are deprecated. Use instead {% jdoc core::PMDConfiguration#setRuleSets(java.util.List) %}, {% jdoc core::PMDConfiguration#addRuleSet(java.lang.String) %}, and {% jdoc core::PMDConfiguration#getRuleSetPaths() %}.

  • Several members of {% jdoc test::cli.BaseCLITest %} have been deprecated with replacements.

  • Several members of {% jdoc core::cli.PMDCommandLineInterface %} have been explicitly deprecated. The whole class however was deprecated long ago already with 6.30.0. It is internal API and should not be used.

  • In modelica, the rule classes {% jdoc modelica::lang.modelica.rule.AmbiguousResolutionRule %} and {% jdoc modelica::lang.modelica.rule.ConnectUsingNonConnector %} have been deprecated, since they didn't comply to the usual rule class naming conventions yet. The replacements are in the subpackage bestpractices.

Experimental APIs
  • Together with the new programmatic API the interface {% jdoc core::lang.document.TextFile %} has been added as experimental. It intends to replace {% jdoc core::util.datasource.DataSource %} and {% jdoc core::cpd.SourceCode %} in the long term.

    This interface will change in PMD 7 to support read/write operations and other things. You don't need to use it in PMD 6, as {% jdoc core::lang.document.FileCollector %} decouples you from this. A file collector is available through {% jdoc !!core::PmdAnalysis#files() %}.

6.43.0

Deprecated API

Some API deprecations were performed in core PMD classes, to improve compatibility with PMD 7.

  • {% jdoc core::Report %}: the constructor and other construction methods like addViolation or createReport
  • {% jdoc core::RuleContext %}: all constructors, getters and setters. A new set of stable methods, matching those in PMD 7, was added to replace the addViolation overloads of {% jdoc core::lang.rule.AbstractRule %}. In PMD 7, RuleContext will be the API to report violations, and it can already be used as such in PMD 6.
  • The field {% jdoc core::PMD#configuration %} is unused and will be removed.
Internal API

Those APIs are not intended to be used by clients, and will be hidden or removed with PMD 7.0.0. You can identify them with the @InternalApi annotation. You'll also get a deprecation warning.

  • {% jdoc core::RuleSet %}: methods that serve to apply rules, including apply, start, end, removeDysfunctionalRules
  • {% jdoc !!core::renderers.AbstractAccumulatingRenderer#renderFileReport(Report) %} is internal API and should not be overridden in own renderers.
Changed API

It is now forbidden to report a violation:

  • With a null node
  • With a null message
  • With a null set of format arguments (prefer a zero-length array)

Note that the message is set from the XML rule declaration, so this is only relevant if you instantiate rules manually.

{% jdoc core::RuleContext %} now requires setting the current rule before calling {% jdoc core::Rule#apply(java.util.List, core::RuleContext) %}. This is done automatically by RuleSet#apply and such. Creating and configuring a RuleContext manually is strongly advised against, as the lifecycle of RuleContext will change drastically in PMD 7.

6.42.0

No changes.

6.41.0

Command Line Interface

The command line options for PMD and CPD now use GNU-syle long options format. E.g. instead of -rulesets the preferred usage is now --rulesets. Alternatively one can still use the short option -R. Some options also have been renamed to a more consistent casing pattern at the same time (--fail-on-violation instead of -failOnViolation). The old single-dash options are still supported but are deprecated and will be removed with PMD 7. This change makes the command line interface more consistent within PMD and also less surprising compared to other cli tools.

The changes in detail for PMD:

old option new option
-rulesets --rulesets (or -R)
-uri --uri
-dir --dir (or -d)
-filelist --file-list
-ignorelist --ignore-list
-format --format (or -f)
-debug --debug
-verbose --verbose
-help --help
-encoding --encoding
-threads --threads
-benchmark --benchmark
-stress --stress
-shortnames --short-names
-showsuppressed --show-suppressed
-suppressmarker --suppress-marker
-minimumpriority --minimum-priority
-property --property
-reportfile --report-file
-force-language --force-language
-auxclasspath --aux-classpath
-failOnViolation --fail-on-violation
--failOnViolation --fail-on-violation
-norulesetcompatibility --no-ruleset-compatibility
-cache --cache
-no-cache --no-cache

The changes in detail for CPD:

old option new option
--failOnViolation --fail-on-violation
-failOnViolation --fail-on-violation
--filelist --file-list

6.40.0

Experimental APIs
  • The interface {% jdoc apex::lang.apex.ast.ASTCommentContainer %} has been added to the Apex AST. It provides a way to check whether a node contains at least one comment. Currently this is only implemented for {% jdoc apex::lang.apex.ast.ASTCatchBlockStatement %} and used by the rule {% rule apex/errorprone/EmptyCatchBlock %}. This information is also available via XPath attribute @ContainsComment.

6.39.0

No changes.

6.38.0

No changes.

6.37.0

PMD CLI
  • PMD has a new CLI option -force-language. With that a language can be forced to be used for all input files, irrespective of filenames. When using this option, the automatic language selection by extension is disabled and all files are tried to be parsed with the given language. Parsing errors are ignored and unparsable files are skipped.

    This option allows to use the xml language for files, that don't use xml as extension. See also the examples on PMD CLI reference.

Experimental APIs
  • The AST types and APIs around Sealed Classes are not experimental anymore:
    • {% jdoc !!java::lang.java.ast.ASTClassOrInterfaceDeclaration#isSealed() %}, {% jdoc !!java::lang.java.ast.ASTClassOrInterfaceDeclaration#isNonSealed() %}, {% jdoc !!java::lang.java.ast.ASTClassOrInterfaceDeclaration#getPermittedSubclasses() %}
    • {% jdoc java::lang.java.ast.ASTPermitsList %}
Internal API

Those APIs are not intended to be used by clients, and will be hidden or removed with PMD 7.0.0. You can identify them with the @InternalApi annotation. You'll also get a deprecation warning.

  • The inner class {% jdoc !!core::cpd.TokenEntry.State %} is considered to be internal API. It will probably be moved away with PMD 7.

6.36.0

No changes.

6.35.0

Deprecated API
  • {% jdoc !!core::PMD#doPMD(net.sourceforge.pmd.PMDConfiguration) %} is deprecated. Use {% jdoc !!core::PMD#runPMD(net.sourceforge.pmd.PMDConfiguration) %} instead.
  • {% jdoc !!core::PMD#run(java.lang.String[]) %} is deprecated. Use {% jdoc !!core::PMD#runPMD(java.lang.String...) %} instead.
  • {% jdoc core::ThreadSafeReportListener %} and the methods to use them in {% jdoc core::Report %} ({% jdoc core::Report#addListener(net.sourceforge.pmd.ThreadSafeReportListener) %}, {% jdoc core::Report#getListeners() %}, {% jdoc core::Report#addListeners(java.util.List) %}) are deprecated. This functionality will be replaced by another TBD mechanism in PMD 7.

6.34.0

No changes.

6.33.0

No changes.

6.32.0

Experimental APIs
  • The experimental class ASTTypeTestPattern has been renamed to {% jdoc java::lang.java.ast.ASTTypePattern %} in order to align the naming to the JLS.
  • The experimental class ASTRecordConstructorDeclaration has been renamed to {% jdoc java::lang.java.ast.ASTCompactConstructorDeclaration %} in order to align the naming to the JLS.
  • The AST types and APIs around Pattern Matching and Records are not experimental anymore:
    • {% jdoc !!java::lang.java.ast.ASTVariableDeclaratorId#isPatternBinding() %}
    • {% jdoc java::lang.java.ast.ASTPattern %}
    • {% jdoc java::lang.java.ast.ASTTypePattern %}
    • {% jdoc java::lang.java.ast.ASTRecordDeclaration %}
    • {% jdoc java::lang.java.ast.ASTRecordComponentList %}
    • {% jdoc java::lang.java.ast.ASTRecordComponent %}
    • {% jdoc java::lang.java.ast.ASTRecordBody %}
    • {% jdoc java::lang.java.ast.ASTCompactConstructorDeclaration %}
Internal API

Those APIs are not intended to be used by clients, and will be hidden or removed with PMD 7.0.0. You can identify them with the @InternalApi annotation. You'll also get a deprecation warning.

  • The protected or public member of the Java rule {% jdoc java::lang.java.rule.bestpractices.AvoidUsingHardCodedIPRule %} are deprecated and considered to be internal API. They will be removed with PMD 7.

6.31.0

Deprecated API
  • {% jdoc xml::lang.xml.rule.AbstractDomXmlRule %}
  • {% jdoc xml::lang.wsdl.rule.AbstractWsdlRule %}
  • A few methods of {% jdoc xml::lang.xml.rule.AbstractXmlRule %}
Experimental APIs
  • The method {% jdoc !!core::lang.ast.GenericToken#getKind() %} has been added as experimental. This unifies the token interface for both JavaCC and Antlr. The already existing method {% jdoc !!core::cpd.token.AntlrToken#getKind() %} is therefore experimental as well. The returned constant depends on the actual language and might change whenever the grammar of the language is changed.

6.30.0

Deprecated API
Around RuleSet parsing
  • {% jdoc core::RuleSetFactory %} and {% jdoc core::RulesetsFactoryUtils %} have been deprecated in favor of {% jdoc core::RuleSetLoader %}. This is easier to configure, and more maintainable than the multiple overloads of RulesetsFactoryUtils.
  • Some static creation methods have been added to {% jdoc core::RuleSet %} for simple cases, eg {% jdoc core::RuleSet#forSingleRule(core::Rule) %}. These replace some counterparts in {% jdoc core::RuleSetFactory %}
  • Since {% jdoc core::RuleSets %} is also deprecated, many APIs that require a RuleSets instance now are deprecated, and have a counterpart that expects a List<RuleSet>.
  • {% jdoc core::RuleSetReferenceId %}, {% jdoc core::RuleSetReference %}, {% jdoc core::RuleSetFactoryCompatibility %} are deprecated. They are most likely not relevant outside of the implementation of pmd-core.
Around the PMD class

Many classes around PMD's entry point ({% jdoc core::PMD %}) have been deprecated as internal, including:

  • The contents of the packages {% jdoc_package core::cli %}, {% jdoc_package core::processor %}
  • {% jdoc core::SourceCodeProcessor %}
  • The constructors of {% jdoc core::PMD %} (the class will be made a utility class)
Miscellaneous
  • {% jdoc !!java::lang.java.ast.ASTPackageDeclaration#getPackageNameImage() %}, {% jdoc !!java::lang.java.ast.ASTTypeParameter#getParameterName() %} and the corresponding XPath attributes. In both cases they're replaced with a new method getName, the attribute is @Name.
  • {% jdoc !!java::lang.java.ast.ASTClassOrInterfaceBody#isAnonymousInnerClass() %}, and {% jdoc !!java::lang.java.ast.ASTClassOrInterfaceBody#isEnumChild() %}, refs #905
Internal API

Those APIs are not intended to be used by clients, and will be hidden or removed with PMD 7.0.0. You can identify them with the @InternalApi annotation. You'll also get a deprecation warning.

  • {% jdoc !!javascript::lang.ecmascript.Ecmascript3Handler %}
  • {% jdoc !!javascript::lang.ecmascript.Ecmascript3Parser %}
  • {% jdoc !!javascript::lang.ecmascript.ast.EcmascriptParser#parserOptions %}
  • {% jdoc !!javascript::lang.ecmascript.ast.EcmascriptParser#getSuppressMap() %}
  • {% jdoc !!core::lang.rule.ParametricRuleViolation %}
  • {% jdoc !!core::lang.ParserOptions#suppressMarker %}
  • {% jdoc !!modelica::lang.modelica.rule.ModelicaRuleViolationFactory %}

6.29.0

No changes.

6.28.0

Deprecated API
For removal
  • {% jdoc !!core::RuleViolationComparator %}. Use {% jdoc !!core::RuleViolation#DEFAULT_COMPARATOR %} instead.
  • {% jdoc !!core::cpd.AbstractTokenizer %}. Use {% jdoc !!core::cpd.AnyTokenizer %} instead.
  • {% jdoc !!fortran::cpd.FortranTokenizer %}. Was replaced by an {% jdoc core::cpd.AnyTokenizer %}. Use {% jdoc !!fortran::cpd.FortranLanguage#getTokenizer() %} anyway.
  • {% jdoc !!perl::cpd.PerlTokenizer %}. Was replaced by an {% jdoc core::cpd.AnyTokenizer %}. Use {% jdoc !!perl::cpd.PerlLanguage#getTokenizer() %} anyway.
  • {% jdoc !!ruby::cpd.RubyTokenizer %}. Was replaced by an {% jdoc core::cpd.AnyTokenizer %}. Use {% jdoc !!ruby::cpd.RubyLanguage#getTokenizer() %} anyway.
  • {% jdoc !!core::lang.rule.RuleReference#getOverriddenLanguage() %} and {% jdoc !!core::lang.rule.RuleReference#setLanguage(net.sourceforge.pmd.lang.Language) %}
  • Antlr4 generated lexers:
    • {% jdoc !!cs::lang.cs.antlr4.CSharpLexer %} will be moved to package net.sourceforge.pmd.lang.cs.ast with PMD 7.
    • {% jdoc !!dart::lang.dart.antlr4.Dart2Lexer %} will be renamed to DartLexer and moved to package net.sourceforge.pmd.lang.dart.ast with PMD 7. All other classes in the old package will be removed.
    • {% jdoc !!go::lang.go.antlr4.GolangLexer %} will be moved to package net.sourceforge.pmd.lang.go.ast with PMD 7. All other classes in the old package will be removed.
    • {% jdoc !!kotlin::lang.kotlin.antlr4.Kotlin %} will be renamed to KotlinLexer and moved to package net.sourceforge.pmd.lang.kotlin.ast with PMD 7.
    • {% jdoc !!lua::lang.lua.antlr4.LuaLexer %} will be moved to package net.sourceforge.pmd.lang.lua.ast with PMD 7. All other classes in the old package will be removed.

6.27.0

  • XML rule definition in rulesets: In PMD 7, the language attribute will be required on all rule elements that declare a new rule. Some base rule classes set the language implicitly in their constructor, and so this is not required in all cases for the rule to work. But this behavior will be discontinued in PMD 7, so missing language attributes are now reported as a forward compatibility warning.
Deprecated API
For removal
  • {% jdoc !!core::Rule#getParserOptions() %}

  • {% jdoc !!core::lang.Parser#getParserOptions() %}

  • {% jdoc core::lang.AbstractParser %}

  • {% jdoc !!core::RuleContext#removeAttribute(java.lang.String) %}

  • {% jdoc !!core::RuleContext#getAttribute(java.lang.String) %}

  • {% jdoc !!core::RuleContext#setAttribute(java.lang.String, java.lang.Object) %}

  • {% jdoc apex::lang.apex.ApexParserOptions %}

  • {% jdoc !!java::lang.java.ast.ASTThrowStatement#getFirstClassOrInterfaceTypeImage() %}

  • {% jdoc javascript::lang.ecmascript.EcmascriptParserOptions %}

  • {% jdoc javascript::lang.ecmascript.rule.EcmascriptXPathRule %}

  • {% jdoc xml::lang.xml.XmlParserOptions %}

  • {% jdoc xml::lang.xml.rule.XmlXPathRule %}

  • Properties of {% jdoc xml::lang.xml.rule.AbstractXmlRule %}

  • {% jdoc !!core::Report.ReadableDuration %}

  • Many methods of {% jdoc !!core::Report %}. They are replaced by accessors that produce a List. For example, {% jdoc !a!core::Report#iterator() %} (and implementing Iterable) and {% jdoc !a!core::Report#isEmpty() %} are both replaced by {% jdoc !a!core::Report#getViolations() %}.

  • The dataflow codebase is deprecated for removal in PMD 7. This includes all code in the following packages, and their subpackages:

    • {% jdoc_package plsql::lang.plsql.dfa %}
    • {% jdoc_package java::lang.java.dfa %}
    • {% jdoc_package core::lang.dfa %}
    • and the class {% jdoc plsql::lang.plsql.PLSQLDataFlowHandler %}
  • {% jdoc visualforce::lang.vf.VfSimpleCharStream %}

  • {% jdoc jsp::lang.jsp.ast.ASTJspDeclarations %}

  • {% jdoc jsp::lang.jsp.ast.ASTJspDocument %}

  • {% jdoc !!scala::lang.scala.ast.ScalaParserVisitorAdapter#zero() %}

  • {% jdoc !!scala::lang.scala.ast.ScalaParserVisitorAdapter#combine(Object, Object) %}

  • {% jdoc apex::lang.apex.ast.ApexParserVisitorReducedAdapter %}

  • {% jdoc java::lang.java.ast.JavaParserVisitorReducedAdapter %}

  • {% jdoc java::lang.java.typeresolution.TypeHelper %} is deprecated in favor of {% jdoc java::lang.java.types.TypeTestUtil %}, which has the same functionality, but a slightly changed API.

  • Many of the classes in {% jdoc_package java::lang.java.symboltable %} are deprecated as internal API.

6.26.0

Deprecated API
For removal
  • {% jdoc core::lang.rule.RuleChainVisitor %} and all implementations in language modules
  • {% jdoc core::lang.rule.AbstractRuleChainVisitor %}
  • {% jdoc !!core::lang.Language#getRuleChainVisitorClass() %}
  • {% jdoc !!core::lang.BaseLanguageModule#(java.lang.String,java.lang.String,java.lang.String,java.lang.Class,java.lang.String...) %}
  • {% jdoc core::lang.rule.ImportWrapper %}

6.25.0

  • The maven module net.sourceforge.pmd:pmd-scala is deprecated. Use net.sourceforge.pmd:pmd-scala_2.13 or net.sourceforge.pmd:pmd-scala_2.12 instead.

  • Rule implementation classes are internal API and should not be used by clients directly. The rules should only be referenced via their entry in the corresponding category ruleset (e.g. <rule ref="category/java/bestpractices.xml/AbstractClassWithoutAbstractMethod" />).

    While we definitely won't move or rename the rule classes in PMD 6.x, we might consider changes in PMD 7.0.0 and onwards.

Deprecated APIs
Internal API

Those APIs are not intended to be used by clients, and will be hidden or removed with PMD 7.0.0. You can identify them with the @InternalApi annotation. You'll also get a deprecation warning.

  • {% jdoc java::lang.java.rule.AbstractIgnoredAnnotationRule %} (Java)
  • {% jdoc java::lang.java.rule.AbstractInefficientZeroCheck %} (Java)
  • {% jdoc java::lang.java.rule.AbstractJUnitRule %} (Java)
  • {% jdoc java::lang.java.rule.AbstractJavaMetricsRule %} (Java)
  • {% jdoc java::lang.java.rule.AbstractLombokAwareRule %} (Java)
  • {% jdoc java::lang.java.rule.AbstractPoorMethodCall %} (Java)
  • {% jdoc java::lang.java.rule.bestpractices.AbstractSunSecureRule %} (Java)
  • {% jdoc java::lang.java.rule.design.AbstractNcssCountRule %} (Java)
  • {% jdoc java::lang.java.rule.documentation.AbstractCommentRule %} (Java)
  • {% jdoc java::lang.java.rule.performance.AbstractOptimizationRule %} (Java)
  • {% jdoc java::lang.java.rule.regex.RegexHelper %} (Java)
  • {% jdoc apex::lang.apex.rule.AbstractApexUnitTestRule %} (Apex)
  • {% jdoc apex::lang.apex.rule.design.AbstractNcssCountRule %} (Apex)
  • {% jdoc plsql::lang.plsql.rule.design.AbstractNcssCountRule %} (PLSQL)
  • {% jdoc apex::lang.apex.ApexParser %}
  • {% jdoc apex::lang.apex.ApexHandler %}
  • {% jdoc core::RuleChain %}
  • {% jdoc core::RuleSets %}
  • {% jdoc !!core::RulesetsFactoryUtils#getRuleSets(java.lang.String, net.sourceforge.pmd.RuleSetFactory) %}
For removal
  • {% jdoc !!core::cpd.TokenEntry#TokenEntry(java.lang.String, java.lang.String, int) %}
  • {% jdoc test::testframework.AbstractTokenizerTest %}. Use CpdTextComparisonTest in module pmd-lang-test instead. For details see Testing your implementation in the developer documentation.
  • {% jdoc !!apex::lang.apex.ast.ASTAnnotation#suppresses(core::Rule) %} (Apex)
  • {% jdoc apex::lang.apex.rule.ApexXPathRule %} (Apex)
  • {% jdoc java::lang.java.rule.SymbolTableTestRule %} (Java)
  • {% jdoc !!java::lang.java.rule.performance.InefficientStringBufferingRule#isInStringBufferOperation(net.sourceforge.pmd.lang.ast.Node, int, java.lang.String) %}

6.24.0

Deprecated APIs
  • {% jdoc !ca!core::lang.BaseLanguageModule#addVersion(String, LanguageVersionHandler, boolean) %}
  • Some members of {% jdoc core::lang.ast.TokenMgrError %}, in particular, a new constructor is available that should be preferred to the old ones
  • {% jdoc core::lang.antlr.AntlrTokenManager.ANTLRSyntaxError %}
Experimental APIs

Note: Experimental APIs are identified with the annotation {% jdoc core::annotation.Experimental %}, see its javadoc for details

  • The experimental methods in {% jdoc !ca!core::lang.BaseLanguageModule %} have been replaced by a definitive API.

6.23.0

Deprecated APIs
Internal API

Those APIs are not intended to be used by clients, and will be hidden or removed with PMD 7.0.0. You can identify them with the @InternalApi annotation. You'll also get a deprecation warning.

  • {% jdoc core::lang.rule.xpath.AbstractXPathRuleQuery %}
  • {% jdoc core::lang.rule.xpath.JaxenXPathRuleQuery %}
  • {% jdoc core::lang.rule.xpath.SaxonXPathRuleQuery %}
  • {% jdoc core::lang.rule.xpath.XPathRuleQuery %}
In ASTs

As part of the changes we'd like to do to AST classes for 7.0.0, we would like to hide some methods and constructors that rule writers should not have access to. The following usages are now deprecated in the Apex, Javascript, PL/SQL, Scala and Visualforce ASTs:

  • Manual instantiation of nodes. Constructors of node classes are deprecated and marked {% jdoc core::annotation.InternalApi %}. Nodes should only be obtained from the parser, which for rules, means that they never need to instantiate node themselves. Those constructors will be made package private with 7.0.0.
  • Subclassing of abstract node classes, or usage of their type. The base classes are internal API and will be hidden in version 7.0.0. You should not couple your code to them.
    • In the meantime you should use interfaces like {% jdoc visualforce::lang.vf.ast.VfNode %} or {% jdoc core::lang.ast.Node %}, or the other published interfaces in this package, to refer to nodes generically.
    • Concrete node classes will be made final with 7.0.0.
  • Setters found in any node class or interface. Rules should consider the AST immutable. We will make those setters package private with 7.0.0.
  • The implementation classes of {% jdoc core::lang.Parser %} (eg {% jdoc visualforce::lang.vf.VfParser %}) are deprecated and should not be used directly. Use {% jdoc !!core::lang.LanguageVersionHandler#getParser(ParserOptions) %} instead.
  • The implementation classes of {% jdoc core::lang.TokenManager %} (eg {% jdoc visualforce::lang.vf.VfTokenManager %}) are deprecated and should not be used outside of our implementation. This also affects CPD-only modules.

These deprecations are added to the following language modules in this release. Please look at the package documentation to find out the full list of deprecations.

  • Apex: {% jdoc_package apex::lang.apex.ast %}
  • Javascript: {% jdoc_package javascript::lang.ecmascript.ast %}
  • PL/SQL: {% jdoc_package plsql::lang.plsql.ast %}
  • Scala: {% jdoc_package scala::lang.scala.ast %}
  • Visualforce: {% jdoc_package visualforce::lang.vf.ast %}

These deprecations have already been rolled out in a previous version for the following languages:

  • Java: {% jdoc_package java::lang.java.ast %}
  • Java Server Pages: {% jdoc_package jsp::lang.jsp.ast %}
  • Velocity Template Language: {% jdoc_package vm::lang.vm.ast %}

Outside of these packages, these changes also concern the following TokenManager implementations, and their corresponding Parser if it exists (in the same package):

  • {% jdoc cpp::lang.cpp.CppTokenManager %}
  • {% jdoc java::lang.java.JavaTokenManager %}
  • {% jdoc javascript::lang.ecmascript5.Ecmascript5TokenManager %}
  • {% jdoc jsp::lang.jsp.JspTokenManager %}
  • {% jdoc matlab::lang.matlab.MatlabTokenManager %}
  • {% jdoc modelica::lang.modelica.ModelicaTokenManager %}
  • {% jdoc objectivec::lang.objectivec.ObjectiveCTokenManager %}
  • {% jdoc plsql::lang.plsql.PLSQLTokenManager %}
  • {% jdoc python::lang.python.PythonTokenManager %}
  • {% jdoc visualforce::lang.vf.VfTokenManager %}
  • {% jdoc vm::lang.vm.VmTokenManager %}

In the Java AST the following attributes are deprecated and will issue a warning when used in XPath rules:

  • {% jdoc !!java::lang.java.ast.ASTAdditiveExpression#getImage() %} - use getOperator() instead
  • {% jdoc !!java::lang.java.ast.ASTVariableDeclaratorId#getImage() %} - use getName() instead
  • {% jdoc !!java::lang.java.ast.ASTVariableDeclaratorId#getVariableName() %} - use getName() instead
For removal
  • {% jdoc !!core::lang.Parser#getTokenManager(java.lang.String,java.io.Reader) %}
  • {% jdoc !!core::lang.TokenManager#setFileName(java.lang.String) %}
  • {% jdoc !!core::lang.ast.AbstractTokenManager#setFileName(java.lang.String) %}
  • {% jdoc !!core::lang.ast.AbstractTokenManager#getFileName(java.lang.String) %}
  • {% jdoc !!core::cpd.token.AntlrToken#getType() %} - use getKind() instead.
  • {% jdoc core::lang.rule.ImmutableLanguage %}
  • {% jdoc core::lang.rule.MockRule %}
  • {% jdoc !!core::lang.ast.Node#getFirstParentOfAnyType(java.lang.Class[]) %}
  • {% jdoc !!core::lang.ast.Node#getAsDocument() %}
  • {% jdoc !!core::lang.ast.AbstractNode#hasDescendantOfAnyType(java.lang.Class[]) %}
  • {% jdoc !!java::lang.java.ast.ASTRecordDeclaration#getComponentList() %}
  • Multiple fields, constructors and methods in {% jdoc core::lang.rule.XPathRule %}. See javadoc for details.

6.22.0

Deprecated APIs
Internal API

Those APIs are not intended to be used by clients, and will be hidden or removed with PMD 7.0.0. You can identify them with the @InternalApi annotation. You'll also get a deprecation warning.

  • {% jdoc java::lang.java.JavaLanguageHandler %}

  • {% jdoc java::lang.java.JavaLanguageParser %}

  • {% jdoc java::lang.java.JavaDataFlowHandler %}

  • Implementations of {% jdoc core::lang.rule.RuleViolationFactory %} in each language module, eg {% jdoc java::lang.java.rule.JavaRuleViolationFactory %}. See javadoc of {% jdoc core::lang.rule.RuleViolationFactory %}.

  • Implementations of {% jdoc core::RuleViolation %} in each language module, eg {% jdoc java::lang.java.rule.JavaRuleViolation %}. See javadoc of {% jdoc core::RuleViolation %}.

  • {% jdoc core::rules.RuleFactory %}

  • {% jdoc core::rules.RuleBuilder %}

  • Constructors of {% jdoc core::RuleSetFactory %}, use factory methods from {% jdoc core::RulesetsFactoryUtils %} instead

  • {% jdoc core::RulesetsFactoryUtils#getRulesetFactory(core::PMDConfiguration, core::util.ResourceLoader) %}

  • {% jdoc apex::lang.apex.ast.AbstractApexNode %}

  • {% jdoc apex::lang.apex.ast.AbstractApexNodeBase %}, and the related visit methods on {% jdoc apex::lang.apex.ast.ApexParserVisitor %} and its implementations. Use {% jdoc apex::lang.apex.ast.ApexNode %} instead, now considers comments too.

For removal
  • pmd-core
    • {% jdoc core::lang.dfa.DFAGraphRule %} and its implementations
    • {% jdoc core::lang.dfa.DFAGraphMethod %}
    • Many methods on the {% jdoc core::lang.ast.Node %} interface and {% jdoc core::lang.ast.AbstractNode %} base class. See their javadoc for details.
    • {% jdoc !!core::lang.ast.Node#isFindBoundary() %} is deprecated for XPath queries.
    • Many APIs of {% jdoc_package core::lang.metrics %}, though most of them were internal and probably not used directly outside of PMD. Use {% jdoc core::lang.metrics.MetricsUtil %} as a replacement for the language-specific façades too.
    • {% jdoc core::lang.ast.QualifiableNode %}, {% jdoc core::lang.ast.QualifiedName %}
  • pmd-java
    • {% jdoc java::lang.java.AbstractJavaParser %}
    • {% jdoc java::lang.java.AbstractJavaHandler %}
    • ASTAnyTypeDeclaration.TypeKind
    • {% jdoc !!java::lang.java.ast.ASTAnyTypeDeclaration#getKind() %}
    • {% jdoc java::lang.java.ast.JavaQualifiedName %}
    • {% jdoc !!java::lang.java.ast.ASTCatchStatement#getBlock() %}
    • {% jdoc !!java::lang.java.ast.ASTCompilationUnit#declarationsAreInDefaultPackage() %}
    • {% jdoc java::lang.java.ast.JavaQualifiableNode %}
      • {% jdoc !!java::lang.java.ast.ASTAnyTypeDeclaration#getQualifiedName() %}
      • {% jdoc !!java::lang.java.ast.ASTMethodOrConstructorDeclaration#getQualifiedName() %}
      • {% jdoc !!java::lang.java.ast.ASTLambdaExpression#getQualifiedName() %}
    • {% jdoc_package java::lang.java.qname %} and its contents
    • {% jdoc java::lang.java.ast.MethodLikeNode %}
      • Its methods will also be removed from its implementations, {% jdoc java::lang.java.ast.ASTMethodOrConstructorDeclaration %}, {% jdoc java::lang.java.ast.ASTLambdaExpression %}.
    • {% jdoc !!java::lang.java.ast.ASTAnyTypeDeclaration#getImage() %} will be removed. Please use getSimpleName() instead. This affects {% jdoc !!java::lang.java.ast.ASTAnnotationTypeDeclaration#getImage() %}, {% jdoc !!java::lang.java.ast.ASTClassOrInterfaceDeclaration#getImage() %}, and {% jdoc !!java::lang.java.ast.ASTEnumDeclaration#getImage() %}.
    • Several methods of {% jdoc java::lang.java.ast.ASTTryStatement %}, replacements with other names have been added. This includes the XPath attribute @Finally, replace it with a test for child::FinallyStatement.
    • Several methods named getGuardExpressionNode are replaced with getCondition. This affects the following nodes: WhileStatement, DoStatement, ForStatement, IfStatement, AssertStatement, ConditionalExpression.
    • {% jdoc java::lang.java.ast.ASTYieldStatement %} will not implement {% jdoc java::lang.java.ast.TypeNode %} anymore come 7.0.0. Test the type of the expression nested within it.
    • {% jdoc java::lang.java.metrics.JavaMetrics %}, {% jdoc java::lang.java.metrics.JavaMetricsComputer %}
    • {% jdoc !!java::lang.java.ast.ASTArguments#getArgumentCount() %}. Use {% jdoc java::lang.java.ast.ASTArguments#size() %} instead.
    • {% jdoc !!java::lang.java.ast.ASTFormalParameters#getParameterCount() %}. Use {% jdoc java::lang.java.ast.ASTFormalParameters#size() %} instead.
  • pmd-apex
    • {% jdoc apex::lang.apex.metrics.ApexMetrics %}, {% jdoc apex::lang.apex.metrics.ApexMetricsComputer %}
In ASTs (JSP)

As part of the changes we'd like to do to AST classes for 7.0.0, we would like to hide some methods and constructors that rule writers should not have access to. The following usages are now deprecated in the JSP AST (with other languages to come):

  • Manual instantiation of nodes. Constructors of node classes are deprecated and marked {% jdoc core::annotation.InternalApi %}. Nodes should only be obtained from the parser, which for rules, means that they never need to instantiate node themselves. Those constructors will be made package private with 7.0.0.
  • Subclassing of abstract node classes, or usage of their type. The base classes are internal API and will be hidden in version 7.0.0. You should not couple your code to them.
    • In the meantime you should use interfaces like {% jdoc jsp::lang.jsp.ast.JspNode %} or {% jdoc core::lang.ast.Node %}, or the other published interfaces in this package, to refer to nodes generically.
    • Concrete node classes will be made final with 7.0.0.
  • Setters found in any node class or interface. Rules should consider the AST immutable. We will make those setters package private with 7.0.0.
  • The class {% jdoc jsp::lang.jsp.JspParser %} is deprecated and should not be used directly. Use {% jdoc !!core::lang.LanguageVersionHandler#getParser(ParserOptions) %} instead.

Please look at {% jdoc_package jsp::lang.jsp.ast %} to find out the full list of deprecations.

In ASTs (Velocity)

As part of the changes we'd like to do to AST classes for 7.0.0, we would like to hide some methods and constructors that rule writers should not have access to. The following usages are now deprecated in the VM AST (with other languages to come):

  • Manual instantiation of nodes. Constructors of node classes are deprecated and marked {% jdoc core::annotation.InternalApi %}. Nodes should only be obtained from the parser, which for rules, means that they never need to instantiate node themselves. Those constructors will be made package private with 7.0.0.
  • Subclassing of abstract node classes, or usage of their type. The base classes are internal API and will be hidden in version 7.0.0. You should not couple your code to them.
    • In the meantime you should use interfaces like {% jdoc vm::lang.vm.ast.VmNode %} or {% jdoc core::lang.ast.Node %}, or the other published interfaces in this package, to refer to nodes generically.
    • Concrete node classes will be made final with 7.0.0.
  • Setters found in any node class or interface. Rules should consider the AST immutable. We will make those setters package private with 7.0.0.
  • The package {% jdoc_package vm::lang.vm.directive %} as well as the classes {% jdoc vm::lang.vm.util.DirectiveMapper %} and {% jdoc vm::lang.vm.util.LogUtil %} are deprecated for removal. They were only used internally during parsing.
  • The class {% jdoc vm::lang.vm.VmParser %} is deprecated and should not be used directly. Use {% jdoc !!core::lang.LanguageVersionHandler#getParser(ParserOptions) %} instead.

Please look at {% jdoc_package vm::lang.vm.ast %} to find out the full list of deprecations.

PLSQL AST

The production and node ASTCursorBody was unnecessary, not used and has been removed. Cursors have been already parsed as ASTCursorSpecification.

6.21.0

Deprecated APIs
Internal API

Those APIs are not intended to be used by clients, and will be hidden or removed with PMD 7.0.0. You can identify them with the @InternalApi annotation. You'll also get a deprecation warning.

  • {% jdoc java::lang.java.JavaLanguageHandler %}

  • {% jdoc java::lang.java.JavaLanguageParser %}

  • {% jdoc java::lang.java.JavaDataFlowHandler %}

  • Implementations of {% jdoc core::lang.rule.RuleViolationFactory %} in each language module, eg {% jdoc java::lang.java.rule.JavaRuleViolationFactory %}. See javadoc of {% jdoc core::lang.rule.RuleViolationFactory %}.

  • Implementations of {% jdoc core::RuleViolation %} in each language module, eg {% jdoc java::lang.java.rule.JavaRuleViolation %}. See javadoc of {% jdoc core::RuleViolation %}.

  • {% jdoc core::rules.RuleFactory %}

  • {% jdoc core::rules.RuleBuilder %}

  • Constructors of {% jdoc core::RuleSetFactory %}, use factory methods from {% jdoc core::RulesetsFactoryUtils %} instead

  • {% jdoc core::RulesetsFactoryUtils#getRulesetFactory(core::PMDConfiguration, core::util.ResourceLoader) %}

  • {% jdoc apex::lang.apex.ast.AbstractApexNode %}

  • {% jdoc apex::lang.apex.ast.AbstractApexNodeBase %}, and the related visit methods on {% jdoc apex::lang.apex.ast.ApexParserVisitor %} and its implementations. Use {% jdoc apex::lang.apex.ast.ApexNode %} instead, now considers comments too.

  • {% jdoc core::lang.ast.CharStream %}, {% jdoc core::lang.ast.JavaCharStream %}, {% jdoc core::lang.ast.SimpleCharStream %}: these are APIs used by our JavaCC implementations and that will be moved/refactored for PMD 7.0.0. They should not be used, extended or implemented directly.

  • All classes generated by JavaCC, eg {% jdoc java::lang.java.ast.JJTJavaParserState %}. This includes token classes, which will be replaced with a single implementation, and subclasses of {% jdoc core::lang.ast.ParseException %}, whose usages will be replaced by just that superclass.

For removal
  • pmd-core
    • Many methods on the {% jdoc core::lang.ast.Node %} interface and {% jdoc core::lang.ast.AbstractNode %} base class. See their javadoc for details.
    • {% jdoc !!core::lang.ast.Node#isFindBoundary() %} is deprecated for XPath queries.
  • pmd-java
    • {% jdoc java::lang.java.AbstractJavaParser %}
    • {% jdoc java::lang.java.AbstractJavaHandler %}
    • ASTAnyTypeDeclaration.TypeKind
    • {% jdoc !!java::lang.java.ast.ASTAnyTypeDeclaration#getKind() %}
    • {% jdoc java::lang.java.ast.JavaQualifiedName %}
    • {% jdoc !!java::lang.java.ast.ASTCatchStatement#getBlock() %}
    • {% jdoc !!java::lang.java.ast.ASTCompilationUnit#declarationsAreInDefaultPackage() %}
    • {% jdoc java::lang.java.ast.JavaQualifiableNode %}
      • {% jdoc !!java::lang.java.ast.ASTAnyTypeDeclaration#getQualifiedName() %}
      • {% jdoc !!java::lang.java.ast.ASTMethodOrConstructorDeclaration#getQualifiedName() %}
      • {% jdoc !!java::lang.java.ast.ASTLambdaExpression#getQualifiedName() %}
    • {% jdoc_package java::lang.java.qname %} and its contents
    • {% jdoc java::lang.java.ast.MethodLikeNode %}
      • Its methods will also be removed from its implementations, {% jdoc java::lang.java.ast.ASTMethodOrConstructorDeclaration %}, {% jdoc java::lang.java.ast.ASTLambdaExpression %}.
    • {% jdoc !!java::lang.java.ast.ASTAnyTypeDeclaration#getImage() %} will be removed. Please use getSimpleName() instead. This affects {% jdoc !!java::lang.java.ast.ASTAnnotationTypeDeclaration#getImage() %}, {% jdoc !!java::lang.java.ast.ASTClassOrInterfaceDeclaration#getImage() %}, and {% jdoc !!java::lang.java.ast.ASTEnumDeclaration#getImage() %}.
    • Several methods of {% jdoc java::lang.java.ast.ASTTryStatement %}, replacements with other names have been added. This includes the XPath attribute @Finally, replace it with a test for child::FinallyStatement.
    • Several methods named getGuardExpressionNode are replaced with getCondition. This affects the following nodes: WhileStatement, DoStatement, ForStatement, IfStatement, AssertStatement, ConditionalExpression.
    • {% jdoc java::lang.java.ast.ASTYieldStatement %} will not implement {% jdoc java::lang.java.ast.TypeNode %} anymore come 7.0.0. Test the type of the expression nested within it.

6.20.0

No changes.

6.19.0

Deprecated APIs
For removal
  • pmd-core
    • All the package {% jdoc_package core::dcd %} and its subpackages. See {% jdoc core::dcd.DCD %}.
    • In {% jdoc core::lang.LanguageRegistry %}:
      • {% jdoc core::lang.LanguageRegistry#commaSeparatedTerseNamesForLanguageVersion(List) %}
      • {% jdoc core::lang.LanguageRegistry#commaSeparatedTerseNamesForLanguage(List) %}
      • {% jdoc core::lang.LanguageRegistry#findAllVersions() %}
      • {% jdoc core::lang.LanguageRegistry#findLanguageVersionByTerseName(String) %}
      • {% jdoc core::lang.LanguageRegistry#getInstance() %}
    • {% jdoc !!core::RuleSet#getExcludePatterns() %}. Use the new method {% jdoc core::RuleSet#getFileExclusions() %} instead.
    • {% jdoc !!core::RuleSet#getIncludePatterns() %}. Use the new method {% jdoc core::RuleSet#getFileInclusions() %} instead.
    • {% jdoc !!core::lang.Parser#canParse() %}
    • {% jdoc !!core::lang.Parser#getSuppressMap() %}
    • {% jdoc !!core::rules.RuleBuilder#RuleBuilder(String,String,String) %}. Use the new constructor with the correct ResourceLoader instead.
    • {% jdoc !!core::rules.RuleFactory#RuleFactory() %}. Use the new constructor with the correct ResourceLoader instead.
  • pmd-java
    • {% jdoc java::lang.java.ast.CanSuppressWarnings %} and its implementations
    • {% jdoc java::lang.java.rule.AbstractJavaRule#isSuppressed(Node) %}
    • {% jdoc java::lang.java.rule.AbstractJavaRule#getDeclaringType(Node) %}.
    • {% jdoc java::lang.java.rule.JavaRuleViolation#isSupressed(Node,Rule) %}
    • {% jdoc java::lang.java.ast.ASTMethodDeclarator %}
    • {% jdoc java::lang.java.ast.ASTMethodDeclaration#getMethodName() %}
    • {% jdoc java::lang.java.ast.ASTMethodDeclaration#getBlock() %}
    • {% jdoc java::lang.java.ast.ASTConstructorDeclaration#getParameterCount() %}
  • pmd-apex
    • {% jdoc apex::lang.apex.ast.CanSuppressWarnings %} and its implementations
    • {% jdoc apex::lang.apex.rule.ApexRuleViolation#isSupressed(Node,Rule) %}
Internal APIs
  • pmd-core
    • All the package {% jdoc_package core::util %} and its subpackages, except {% jdoc_package core::util.datasource %} and {% jdoc_package core::util.database %}.
    • {% jdoc core::cpd.GridBagHelper %}
    • {% jdoc core::renderers.ColumnDescriptor %}

6.18.0

Changes to Renderer
  • Each renderer has now a new method {% jdoc !!core::renderers.Renderer#setUseShortNames(List) %} which is used for implementing the "shortnames" CLI option. The method is automatically called by PMD, if this CLI option is in use. When rendering filenames to the report, the new helper method {% jdoc !!core::renderers.AbstractRenderer#determineFileName(String) %} should be used. This will change the filename to a short name, if the CLI option "shortnames" is used.

    Not adjusting custom renderers will make them render always the full file names and not honoring the CLI option "shortnames".

Deprecated APIs
For removal
  • The methods {% jdoc java::lang.java.ast.ASTImportDeclaration#getImportedNameNode() %} and {% jdoc java::lang.java.ast.ASTImportDeclaration#getPackage() %} have been deprecated and will be removed with PMD 7.0.0.
  • The method {% jdoc !!core::RuleContext#setSourceCodeFilename(String) %} has been deprecated and will be removed. The already existing method {% jdoc !!core::RuleContext#setSourceCodeFile(File) %} should be used instead. The method {% jdoc !!core::RuleContext#getSourceCodeFilename() %} still exists and returns just the filename without the full path.
  • The method {% jdoc !!core::processor.AbstractPMDProcessor#filenameFrom(DataSource) %} has been deprecated. It was used to determine a "short name" of the file being analyzed, so that the report can use short names. However, this logic has been moved to the renderers.
  • The method {% jdoc !!core::Report#metrics() %} and {% jdoc core::Report::hasMetrics() %} have been deprecated. They were leftovers from a previous deprecation round targeting {% jdoc core::lang.rule.stat.StatisticalRule %}.
Internal APIs

Those APIs are not intended to be used by clients, and will be hidden or removed with PMD 7.0.0. You can identify them with the @InternalApi annotation. You'll also get a deprecation warning.

  • pmd-core
    • {% jdoc_package core::cache %}
  • pmd-java
    • {% jdoc_package java::lang.java.typeresolution %}: Everything, including subpackages, except {% jdoc java::lang.java.typeresolution.TypeHelper %} and {% jdoc java::lang.java.typeresolution.typedefinition.JavaTypeDefinition %}.
    • {% jdoc !c!java::lang.java.ast.ASTCompilationUnit#getClassTypeResolver() %}

6.17.0

No changes.

6.16.0

Deprecated APIs

Reminder: Please don't use members marked with the annotation {% jdoc core::annotation.InternalApi %}, as they will likely be removed, hidden, or otherwise intentionally broken with 7.0.0.

In ASTs

As part of the changes we'd like to do to AST classes for 7.0.0, we would like to hide some methods and constructors that rule writers should not have access to. The following usages are now deprecated in the Java AST (with other languages to come):

  • Manual instantiation of nodes. Constructors of node classes are deprecated and marked {% jdoc core::annotation.InternalApi %}. Nodes should only be obtained from the parser, which for rules, means that never need to instantiate node themselves. Those constructors will be made package private with 7.0.0.
  • Subclassing of abstract node classes, or usage of their type. Version 7.0.0 will bring a new set of abstractions that will be public API, but the base classes are and will stay internal. You should not couple your code to them.
    • In the meantime you should use interfaces like {% jdoc java::lang.java.ast.JavaNode %} or {% jdoc core::lang.ast.Node %}, or the other published interfaces in this package, to refer to nodes generically.
    • Concrete node classes will be made final with 7.0.0.
  • Setters found in any node class or interface. Rules should consider the AST immutable. We will make those setters package private with 7.0.0.

Please look at {% jdoc_package java::lang.java.ast %} to find out the full list of deprecations.

6.15.0

Deprecated APIs
For removal
  • The DumpFacades in all languages, that could be used to transform a AST into a textual representation, will be removed with PMD 7. The rule designer is a better way to inspect nodes.
    • {% jdoc !q!apex::lang.apex.ast.DumpFacade %}
    • {% jdoc !q!java::lang.java.ast.DumpFacade %}
    • {% jdoc !q!javascript::lang.ecmascript.ast.DumpFacade %}
    • {% jdoc !q!jsp::lang.jsp.ast.DumpFacade %}
    • {% jdoc !q!plsql::lang.plsql.ast.DumpFacade %}
    • {% jdoc !q!visualforce::lang.vf.ast.DumpFacade %}
    • {% jdoc !q!vm::lang.vm.ast.AbstractVmNode#dump(String, boolean, Writer) %}
    • {% jdoc !q!xml::lang.xml.ast.DumpFacade %}
  • The method {% jdoc !c!core::lang.LanguageVersionHandler#getDumpFacade(Writer, String, boolean) %} will be removed as well. It is deprecated, along with all its implementations in the subclasses of {% jdoc core::lang.LanguageVersionHandler %}.

6.14.0

No changes.

6.13.0

Command Line Interface

The start scripts run.sh, pmd.bat and cpd.bat support the new environment variable PMD_JAVA_OPTS. This can be used to set arbitrary JVM options for running PMD, such as memory settings (e.g. PMD_JAVA_OPTS=-Xmx512m) or enable preview language features (e.g. PMD_JAVA_OPTS=--enable-preview).

The previously available variables such as OPTS or HEAPSIZE are deprecated and will be removed with PMD 7.0.0.

Deprecated API
  • {% jdoc core::renderers.CodeClimateRule %} is deprecated in 7.0.0 because it was unused for 2 years and created an unwanted dependency. Properties "cc_categories", "cc_remediation_points_multiplier", "cc_block_highlighting" will also be removed. See #1702 for more.

  • The Apex ruleset rulesets/apex/ruleset.xml has been deprecated and will be removed in 7.0.0. Please use the new quickstart ruleset rulesets/apex/quickstart.xml instead.

6.12.0

No changes.

6.11.0

  • {% jdoc core::lang.rule.stat.StatisticalRule %} and the related helper classes and base rule classes are deprecated for removal in 7.0.0. This includes all of {% jdoc_package core::stat %} and {% jdoc_package core::lang.rule.stat %}, and also {% jdoc java::lang.java.rule.AbstractStatisticalJavaRule %}, {% jdoc apex::lang.apex.rule.AbstractStatisticalApexRule %} and the like. The methods {% jdoc !c!core::Report#addMetric(core::stat.Metric) %} and {% jdoc core::ThreadSafeReportListener#metricAdded(core::stat.Metric) %} will also be removed.
  • {% jdoc core::properties.PropertySource#setProperty(core::properties.MultiValuePropertyDescriptor, Object[]) %} is deprecated, because {% jdoc core::properties.MultiValuePropertyDescriptor %} is deprecated as well

6.10.0

Properties framework

{% jdoc_nspace :props core::properties %} {% jdoc_nspace :PDr props::PropertyDescriptor %} {% jdoc_nspace :PF props::PropertyFactory %}

The properties framework is about to get a lifting, and for that reason, we need to deprecate a lot of APIs to remove them in 7.0.0. The proposed changes to the API are described on the wiki

Changes to how you define properties
  • Construction of property descriptors has been possible through builders since 6.0.0. The 7.0.0 API will only allow construction through builders. The builder hierarchy, currently found in the package {% jdoc_package props::builders %}, is being replaced by the simpler {% jdoc props::PropertyBuilder %}. Their APIs enjoy a high degree of source compatibility.

  • Concrete property classes like {% jdoc props::IntegerProperty %} and {% jdoc props::StringMultiProperty %} will gradually all be deprecated until 7.0.0. Their usages should be replaced by direct usage of the {% jdoc props::PropertyDescriptor %} interface, e.g. PropertyDescriptor<Integer> or PropertyDescriptor<List<String>>.

  • Instead of spreading properties across countless classes, the utility class {% jdoc :PF %} will become from 7.0.0 on the only provider for property descriptor builders. Each current property type will be replaced by a corresponding method on PropertyFactory:

    • {% jdoc props::IntegerProperty %} is replaced by {% jdoc !c!:PF#intProperty(java.lang.String) %}

      • {% jdoc props::IntegerMultiProperty %} is replaced by {% jdoc !c!:PF#intListProperty(java.lang.String) %}
    • {% jdoc props::FloatProperty %} and {% jdoc props::DoubleProperty %} are both replaced by {% jdoc !c!:PF#doubleProperty(java.lang.String) %}. Having a separate property for floats wasn't that useful.

      • Similarly, {% jdoc props::FloatMultiProperty %} and {% jdoc props::DoubleMultiProperty %} are replaced by {% jdoc !c!:PF#doubleListProperty(java.lang.String) %}.
    • {% jdoc props::StringProperty %} is replaced by {% jdoc !c!:PF#stringProperty(java.lang.String) %}

      • {% jdoc props::StringMultiProperty %} is replaced by {% jdoc !c!:PF#stringListProperty(java.lang.String) %}
    • {% jdoc props::RegexProperty %} is replaced by {% jdoc !c!:PF#regexProperty(java.lang.String) %}

    • {% jdoc props::EnumeratedProperty %} is replaced by {% jdoc !c!:PF#enumProperty(java.lang.String,java.util.Map) %}

      • {% jdoc props::EnumeratedProperty %} is replaced by {% jdoc !c!:PF#enumListProperty(java.lang.String,java.util.Map) %}
    • {% jdoc props::BooleanProperty %} is replaced by {% jdoc !c!:PF#booleanProperty(java.lang.String) %}

      • Its multi-valued counterpart, {% jdoc props::BooleanMultiProperty %}, is not replaced, because it doesn't have a use case.
    • {% jdoc props::CharacterProperty %} is replaced by {% jdoc !c!:PF#charProperty(java.lang.String) %}

      • {% jdoc props::CharacterMultiProperty %} is replaced by {% jdoc !c!:PF#charListProperty(java.lang.String) %}
    • {% jdoc props::LongProperty %} is replaced by {% jdoc !c!:PF#longIntProperty(java.lang.String) %}

      • {% jdoc props::LongMultiProperty %} is replaced by {% jdoc !c!:PF#longIntListProperty(java.lang.String) %}
    • {% jdoc props::MethodProperty %}, {% jdoc props::FileProperty %}, {% jdoc props::TypeProperty %} and their multi-valued counterparts are discontinued for lack of a use-case, and have no planned replacement in 7.0.0 for now.

Here's an example:

// Before 7.0.0, these are equivalent:
IntegerProperty myProperty = new IntegerProperty("score", "Top score value", 1, 100, 40, 3.0f);
IntegerProperty myProperty = IntegerProperty.named("score").desc("Top score value").range(1, 100).defaultValue(40).uiOrder(3.0f);

// They both map to the following in 7.0.0
PropertyDescriptor<Integer> myProperty = PropertyFactory.intProperty("score").desc("Top score value").require(inRange(1, 100)).defaultValue(40);

You're highly encouraged to migrate to using this new API as soon as possible, to ease your migration to 7.0.0.

Architectural simplifications
  • {% jdoc props::EnumeratedPropertyDescriptor %}, {% jdoc props::NumericPropertyDescriptor %}, {% jdoc props::PackagedPropertyDescriptor %}, and the related builders (in {% jdoc_package props::builders %}) will be removed. These specialized interfaces allowed additional constraints to be enforced on the value of a property, but made the property class hierarchy very large and impractical to maintain. Their functionality will be mapped uniformly to {% jdoc props::constraints.PropertyConstraint %}s, which will allow virtually any constraint to be defined, and improve documentation and error reporting. The related methods {% jdoc !c!props::PropertyTypeId#isPropertyNumeric() %} and {% jdoc !c!props::PropertyTypeId#isPropertyPackaged() %} are also deprecated.

  • {% jdoc props::MultiValuePropertyDescriptor %} and {% jdoc props::SingleValuePropertyDescriptor %} are deprecated. 7.0.0 will introduce a new XML syntax which will remove the need for such a divide between single- and multi-valued properties. The method {% jdoc !c!:PDr#isMultiValue() %} will be removed accordingly.

Changes to the PropertyDescriptor interface
  • {% jdoc :PDr#preferredRowCount() %} is deprecated with no intended replacement. It was never implemented, and does not belong in this interface. The methods {% jdoc :PDr#uiOrder() %} and compareTo(PropertyDescriptor) are deprecated for the same reason. These methods mix presentation logic with business logic and are not necessary for PropertyDescriptors to work. PropertyDescriptor will not extend Comparable<PropertyDescriptor> anymore come 7.0.0.
  • The method {% jdoc :PDr#propertyErrorFor(core::Rule) %} is deprecated and will be removed with no intended replacement. It's really just a shortcut for prop.errorFor(rule.getProperty(prop)).
  • T {% jdoc !a!:PDr#valueFrom(java.lang.String) %} and String {% jdoc :PDr#asDelimitedString(java.lang.Object) %}(T) are deprecated and will be removed. These were used to serialize and deserialize properties to/from a string, but 7.0.0 will introduce a more flexible XML syntax which will make them obsolete.
  • {% jdoc :PDr#isMultiValue() %} and {% jdoc :PDr#type() %} are deprecated and won't be replaced. The new XML syntax will remove the need for a divide between multi- and single-value properties, and will allow arbitrary types to be represented. Since arbitrary types may be represented, type will become obsolete as it can't represent generic types, which will nevertheless be representable with the XML syntax. It was only used for documentation, but a new way to document these properties exhaustively will be added with 7.0.0.
  • {% jdoc :PDr#errorFor(java.lang.Object) %} is deprecated as its return type will be changed to Optional<String> with the shift to Java 8.
Deprecated APIs

{% jdoc_nspace :xpath core::lang.ast.xpath %} {% jdoc_nspace :jast java::lang.java.ast %} {% jdoc_nspace :rule core::Rule %} {% jdoc_nspace :lvh core::lang.LanguageVersionHandler %} {% jdoc_nspace :rset core::RuleSet %} {% jdoc_nspace :rsets core::RuleSets %}

For internalization
  • The implementation of the adapters for the XPath engines Saxon and Jaxen (package {% jdoc_package :xpath %}) are now deprecated. They'll be moved to an internal package come 7.0.0. Only {% jdoc xpath::Attribute %} remains public API.

  • The classes {% jdoc props::PropertyDescriptorField %}, {% jdoc props::builders.PropertyDescriptorBuilderConversionWrapper %}, and the methods {% jdoc !c!:PDr#attributeValuesById %}, {% jdoc !c!:PDr#isDefinedExternally() %} and {% jdoc !c!props::PropertyTypeId#getFactory() %}. These were used to read and write properties to and from XML, but were not intended as public API.

  • The class {% jdoc props::ValueParserConstants %} and the interface {% jdoc props::ValueParser %}.

  • All classes from {% jdoc_package java::lang.java.metrics.impl.visitors %} are now considered internal API. They're deprecated and will be moved into an internal package with 7.0.0. To implement your own metrics visitors, {% jdoc jast::JavaParserVisitorAdapter %} should be directly subclassed.

  • {% jdoc !ac!:lvh#getDataFlowHandler() %}, {% jdoc !ac!:lvh#getDFAGraphRule() %}

  • {% jdoc core::lang.VisitorStarter %}

For removal
  • All classes from {% jdoc_package props::modules %} will be removed.

  • The interface {% jdoc jast::Dimensionable %} has been deprecated. It gets in the way of a grammar change for 7.0.0 and won't be needed anymore (see #997).

  • Several methods from {% jdoc jast::ASTLocalVariableDeclaration %} and {% jdoc jast::ASTFieldDeclaration %} have also been deprecated:

    • {% jdoc jast::ASTFieldDeclaration %} won't be a {% jdoc jast::TypeNode %} come 7.0.0, so {% jdoc jast::ASTFieldDeclaration#getType() %} and {% jdoc jast::ASTFieldDeclaration#getTypeDefinition() %} are deprecated.

    • The method getVariableName on those two nodes will be removed, too.

    All these are deprecated because those nodes may declare several variables at once, possibly with different types (and obviously with different names). They both implement Iterator<{% jdoc jast::ASTVariableDeclaratorId %}> though, so you should iterate on each declared variable. See #910.

  • Visitor decorators are now deprecated and will be removed in PMD 7.0.0. They were originally a way to write composable visitors, used in the metrics framework, but they didn't prove cost-effective.

    • In {% jdoc_package :jast %}: {% jdoc jast::JavaParserDecoratedVisitor %}, {% jdoc jast::JavaParserControllessVisitor %}, {% jdoc jast::JavaParserControllessVisitorAdapter %}, and {% jdoc jast::JavaParserVisitorDecorator %} are deprecated with no intended replacement.
  • The LanguageModules of several languages, that only support CPD execution, have been deprecated. These languages are not fully supported by PMD, so having a language module does not make sense. The functionality of CPD is not affected by this change. The following classes have been deprecated and will be removed with PMD 7.0.0:

    • {% jdoc cpp::lang.cpp.CppHandler %}
    • {% jdoc cpp::lang.cpp.CppLanguageModule %}
    • {% jdoc cpp::lang.cpp.CppParser %}
    • {% jdoc cs::lang.cs.CsLanguageModule %}
    • {% jdoc fortran::lang.fortran.FortranLanguageModule %}
    • {% jdoc groovy::lang.groovy.GroovyLanguageModule %}
    • {% jdoc matlab::lang.matlab.MatlabHandler %}
    • {% jdoc matlab::lang.matlab.MatlabLanguageModule %}
    • {% jdoc matlab::lang.matlab.MatlabParser %}
    • {% jdoc objectivec::lang.objectivec.ObjectiveCHandler %}
    • {% jdoc objectivec::lang.objectivec.ObjectiveCLanguageModule %}
    • {% jdoc objectivec::lang.objectivec.ObjectiveCParser %}
    • {% jdoc php::lang.php.PhpLanguageModule %}
    • {% jdoc python::lang.python.PythonHandler %}
    • {% jdoc python::lang.python.PythonLanguageModule %}
    • {% jdoc python::lang.python.PythonParser %}
    • {% jdoc ruby::lang.ruby.RubyLanguageModule %}
    • {% jdoc scala::lang.scala.ScalaLanguageModule %}
    • {% jdoc swift::lang.swift.SwiftLanguageModule %}
  • Optional AST processing stages like symbol table, type resolution or data-flow analysis will be reified in 7.0.0 to factorise common logic and make them extensible. Further explanations about this change can be found on #1426. Consequently, the following APIs are deprecated for removal:

    • In {% jdoc :rule %}: {% jdoc !a!:rule#isDfa() %}, {% jdoc !a!:rule#isTypeResolution() %}, {% jdoc !a!:rule#isMultifile() %} and their respective setters.
    • In {% jdoc :rset %}: {% jdoc !a!:rset#usesDFA(core::lang.Language) %}, {% jdoc !a!:rset#usesTypeResolution(core::lang.Language) %}, {% jdoc !a!:rset#usesMultifile(core::lang.Language) %}
    • In {% jdoc :rsets %}: {% jdoc !a!:rsets#usesDFA(core::lang.Language) %}, {% jdoc !a!:rsets#usesTypeResolution(core::lang.Language) %}, {% jdoc !a!:rsets#usesMultifile(core::lang.Language) %}
    • In {% jdoc :lvh %}: {% jdoc !a!:lvh#getDataFlowFacade() %}, {% jdoc !a!:lvh#getSymbolFacade() %}, {% jdoc !a!:lvh#getSymbolFacade(java.lang.ClassLoader) %}, {% jdoc !a!:lvh#getTypeResolutionFacade(java.lang.ClassLoader) %}, {% jdoc !a!:lvh#getQualifiedNameResolutionFacade(java.lang.ClassLoader) %}

6.9.0

No changes.

6.8.0

  • A couple of methods and fields in net.sourceforge.pmd.properties.AbstractPropertySource have been deprecated, as they are replaced by already existing functionality or expose internal implementation details: propertyDescriptors, propertyValuesByDescriptor, copyPropertyDescriptors(), copyPropertyValues(), ignoredProperties(), usesDefaultValues(), useDefaultValueFor().

  • Some methods in net.sourceforge.pmd.properties.PropertySource have been deprecated as well: usesDefaultValues(), useDefaultValueFor(), ignoredProperties().

  • The class net.sourceforge.pmd.lang.rule.AbstractDelegateRule has been deprecated and will be removed with PMD 7.0.0. It is internally only in use by RuleReference.

  • The default constructor of net.sourceforge.pmd.lang.rule.RuleReference has been deprecated and will be removed with PMD 7.0.0. RuleReferences should only be created by providing a Rule and a RuleSetReference. Furthermore the following methods are deprecated: setRuleReference(), hasOverriddenProperty(), usesDefaultValues(), useDefaultValueFor().

6.7.0

  • All classes in the package net.sourceforge.pmd.lang.dfa.report have been deprecated and will be removed with PMD 7.0.0. This includes the class net.sourceforge.pmd.lang.dfa.report.ReportTree. The reason is, that this class is very specific to Java and not suitable for other languages. It has only been used for YAHTMLRenderer, which has been rewritten to work without these classes.

  • The nodes RUNSIGNEDSHIFT and RSIGNEDSHIFT are deprecated and will be removed from the AST with PMD 7.0.0. These represented the operator of ShiftExpression in two cases out of three, but they're not needed and make ShiftExpression inconsistent. The operator of a ShiftExpression is now accessible through ShiftExpression#getOperator.

6.5.0

  • The utility class net.sourceforge.pmd.lang.java.ast.CommentUtil has been deprecated and will be removed with PMD 7.0.0. Its methods have been intended to parse javadoc tags. A more useful solution will be added around the AST node FormalComment, which contains as children JavadocElement nodes, which in turn provide access to the JavadocTag.

    All comment AST nodes (FormalComment, MultiLineComment, SingleLineComment) have a new method getFilteredComment() which provide access to the comment text without the leading /* markers.

  • The method AbstractCommentRule.tagsIndicesIn() has been deprecated and will be removed with PMD 7.0.0. It is not very useful, since it doesn't extract the information in a useful way. You would still need check, which tags have been found, and with which data they might be accompanied.

6.4.0

  • The following classes in package net.sourceforge.pmd.benchmark have been deprecated: Benchmark, Benchmarker, BenchmarkReport, BenchmarkResult, RuleDuration, StringBuilderCR and TextReport. Their API is not supported anymore and is disconnected from the internals of PMD. Use the newer API based around TimeTracker instead, which can be found in the same package.
  • The class net.sourceforge.pmd.lang.java.xpath.TypeOfFunction has been deprecated. Use the newer TypeIsFunction in the same package.
  • The typeof methods in net.sourceforge.pmd.lang.java.xpath.JavaFunctions have been deprecated. Use the newer typeIs method in the same class instead..
  • The methods isA, isEither and isNeither of net.sourceforge.pmd.lang.java.typeresolution.TypeHelper. Use the new isExactlyAny and isExactlyNone methods in the same class instead.

6.2.0

  • The static method PMDParameters.transformParametersIntoConfiguration(PMDParameters) is now deprecated, for removal in 7.0.0. The new instance method PMDParameters.toConfiguration() replaces it.

  • The method ASTConstructorDeclaration.getParameters() has been deprecated in favor of the new method getFormalParameters(). This method is available for both ASTConstructorDeclaration and ASTMethodDeclaration.

6.1.0

  • The method getXPathNodeName is added to the Node interface, which removes the use of the toString of a node to get its XPath element name (see #569).

    • The default implementation provided in AbstractNode, will be removed with 7.0.0
    • With 7.0.0, the Node.toString method will not necessarily provide its XPath node name anymore.
  • The interface net.sourceforge.pmd.cpd.Renderer has been deprecated. A new interface net.sourceforge.pmd.cpd.renderer.CPDRenderer has been introduced to replace it. The main difference is that the new interface is meant to render directly to a java.io.Writer rather than to a String. This allows to greatly reduce the memory footprint of CPD, as on large projects, with many duplications, it was causing OutOfMemoryErrors (see #795).

    net.sourceforge.pmd.cpd.FileReporter has also been deprecated as part of this change, as it's no longer needed.

6.0.1

  • The constant net.sourceforge.pmd.PMD.VERSION has been deprecated and will be removed with PMD 7.0.0. Please use net.sourceforge.pmd.PMDVersion.VERSION instead.

List of currently deprecated rules

These rules will be removed with PMD 7.0.0.

  • Since 6.0.0: The Java rules NcssConstructorCount (design), NcssMethodCount (design), and NcssTypeCount (design) have been deprecated. They will be replaced by the new rule {% rule java/design/NcssCount %}.

  • Since 6.0.0: The Java rule LooseCoupling in ruleset java-typeresolution is deprecated. Use the rule with the same name from category bestpractices instead: {% rule java/bestpractices/LooseCoupling %}.

  • Since 6.0.0: The Java rule CloneMethodMustImplementCloneable in ruleset java-typeresolution is deprecated. Use the rule with the same name from category errorprone instead: {% rule java/errorprone/CloneMethodMustImplementCloneable %}.

  • Since 6.0.0: The Java rule UnusedImports in ruleset java-typeresolution is deprecated. Use the rule with the same name from category bestpractices instead: UnusedImports (bestpractices).

  • Since 6.0.0: The Java rule SignatureDeclareThrowsException in ruleset java-typeresolution is deprecated. Use the rule with the same name from category design instead: {% rule java/design/SignatureDeclareThrowsException %}.

  • Since 6.0.0: The Java rule EmptyStaticInitializer in ruleset java-empty is deprecated. Use the rule {% rule java/errorprone/EmptyInitializer %} instead, which covers both static and non-static empty initializers.

  • Since 6.0.0: The Java rules GuardDebugLogging (ruleset java-logging-jakarta-commons) and GuardLogStatementJavaUtil (ruleset java-logging-java) have been deprecated. Use the rule {% rule java/bestpractices/GuardLogStatement %} instead, which covers all cases regardless of the logging framework.

  • Since 6.2.0: The Java rules WhileLoopsMustUseBraces (codestyle), ForLoopsMustUseBraces (codestyle), IfStmtsMustUseBraces (codestyle), and IfElseStmtsMustUseBraces (codestyle) are deprecated. They will be replaced by the new rule {% rule java/codestyle/ControlStatementBraces %}.

  • Since 6.3.0: The Java rule AbstractNaming (codestyle) is deprecated in favour of {% rule java/codestyle/ClassNamingConventions %}.

  • Since 6.7.0: The Java rules VariableNamingConventions (codestyle), MIsLeadingVariableName (codestyle), SuspiciousConstantFieldName (codestyle), and AvoidPrefixingMethodParameters (codestyle) are now deprecated. They are replaced by the more general {% rule java/codestyle/FieldNamingConventions %}, {% rule java/codestyle/FormalParameterNamingConventions %}, and {% rule java/codestyle/LocalVariableNamingConventions %}.

  • Since 6.11.0: The Java rule UnsynchronizedStaticDateFormatter (multithreading) has been deprecated. The rule is replaced by the more general {% rule java/multithreading/UnsynchronizedStaticFormatter %}.

  • Since 6.15.0: The Apex rule VariableNamingConventions (codestyle) has been deprecated. The rule is replaced by the more general rules {% rule apex/codestyle/FieldNamingConventions %}, {% rule apex/codestyle/FormalParameterNamingConventions %}, {% rule apex/codestyle/LocalVariableNamingConventions %}, and {% rule apex/codestyle/PropertyNamingConventions %}.

  • Since 6.15.0: The Java rule LoggerIsNotStaticFinal (errorprone) has been deprecated. The rule is replaced by {% rule java/errorprone/ProperLogger %}.

  • Since 6.16.0: The Java rule AvoidFinalLocalVariable (codestyle) has been deprecated. The rule is controversial and also contradicts other existing rules such as {% rule java/codestyle/LocalVariableCouldBeFinal %}. If the goal is to avoid defining constants in a scope smaller than the class, then the rule {% rule java/errorprone/AvoidDuplicateLiterals %} should be used instead.

  • Since 6.19.0: The Java rule InvalidSlf4jMessageFormat (errorprone) has been renamed to {% rule java/errorprone/InvalidLogMessageFormat %}.

  • Since 6.24.0: The two Java rules PositionLiteralsFirstInComparisons (bestpractices) and PositionLiteralsFirstInCaseInsensitiveComparisons (bestpractices) have been deprecated in favor of the new rule {% rule java/bestpractices/LiteralsFirstInComparisons %}.

  • Since 6.27.0: The Java rule DataflowAnomalyAnalysis (errorprone) is deprecated in favour of {% rule java/bestpractices/UnusedAssignment %}, which was introduced in PMD 6.26.0.

  • Since 6.29.0: The Apex rules {% rule apex/performance/AvoidDmlStatementsInLoops %}, {% rule apex/performance/AvoidSoqlInLoops %}, and {% rule apex/performance/AvoidSoslInLoops %} are deprecated in favor of the new rule {% rule apex/performance/OperationWithLimitsInLoop %}.

  • Since 6.29.0: The Java rule DoNotCallSystemExit (errorprone) has been renamed to {% rule/java/errorprone/DoNotTerminateVM %}.

  • Since 6.31:0: The Java rule AvoidUsingShortType (performance) is deprecated for removal without replacement.

  • Since 6.31.0: The Java rule SimplifyStartsWith (performance) is deprecated for removal without replacement.

  • Since 6.34.0: The Java rules UnusedImports (bestpractices), DuplicateImports (codestyle), DontImportJavaLang (codestyle), and ImportFromSamePackage (errorprone) are deprecated. These rules are replaced by {% rule java/codestyle/UnnecessaryImport %}.

  • Since 6.35.0: The Java rule DefaultPackage (codestyle) has been deprecated in favor of {% rule java/codestyle/CommentDefaultAccessModifier %}.

  • Since 6.35.0: The Java rule CloneThrowsCloneNotSupportedException (errorprone) has been deprecated without replacement.

  • Since 6.36.0: The Java rule BadComparison (errorprone) has been renamed to {% rule java/errorprone/ComparisonWithNaN %}.

  • Since 6.37.0: The following Java rules are deprecated and removed from the quickstart ruleset, as the new rule {% rule java/bestpractices/SimplifiableTestAssertion %} merges their functionality:

    • UseAssertEqualsInsteadOfAssertTrue (bestpractices)
    • UseAssertNullInsteadOfAssertTrue (bestpractices)
    • UseAssertSameInsteadOfAssertTrue (bestpractices)
    • UseAssertTrueInsteadOfAssertEquals (bestpractices)
    • SimplifyBooleanAssertion (design)
  • Since 6.37.0: The Java rule ReturnEmptyArrayRatherThanNull (errorprone) is deprecated and removed from the quickstart ruleset, as the new rule {% rule java/errorprone/ReturnEmptyCollectionRatherThanNull %} supersedes it.

  • Since 6.37.0: The following Java rules are deprecated and removed from the quickstart ruleset, as the new rule {% rule java/bestpractices/PrimitiveWrapperInstantiation %} merges their functionality:

    • BooleanInstantiation (performance)
    • ByteInstantiation (performance)
    • IntegerInstantiation (performance)
    • LongInstantiation (performance)
    • ShortInstantiation (performance)
  • Since 6.37.0: The Java rule UnnecessaryWrapperObjectCreation (performance) is deprecated with no planned replacement before PMD 7. In its current state, the rule is not useful as it finds only contrived cases of creating a primitive wrapper and unboxing it explicitly in the same expression. In PMD 7 this and more cases will be covered by a new rule {% rule java/codestyle/UnnecessaryBoxing %}.

  • Since 6.37.0: The Java rule MissingBreakInSwitch (errorprone) has been renamed to {% rule java/errorprone/ImplicitSwitchFallThrough %}.

  • Since 6.46.0: The following Java rules are deprecated and removed from the quickstart ruleset, as the new rule {% rule java/codestyle/EmptyControlStatement %} merges their functionality:

    • {% rule java/errorprone/EmptyFinallyBlock %}
    • {% rule java/errorprone/EmptyIfStmt %}
    • {% rule java/errorprone/EmptyInitializer %}
    • {% rule java/errorprone/EmptyStatementBlock %}
    • {% rule java/errorprone/EmptySwitchStatements %}
    • {% rule java/errorprone/EmptySynchronizedBlock %}
    • {% rule java/errorprone/EmptyTryBlock %}
    • {% rule java/errorprone/EmptyWhileStmt %}
  • Since 6.52.0: The Java rule {% rule java/errorprone/BeanMembersShouldSerialize %} has been renamed to {% rule java/errorprone/NonSerializableClass %}.

  • Since 6.53.0: The Java rules {% rule java/design/ExcessiveClassLength %} and {% rule java/design/ExcessiveMethodLength %} have been deprecated. The rule {% rule java/design/NcssCount %} can be used instead.

  • Since 6.53.0: The Java rule {% rule java/errorprone/EmptyStatementNotInLoop %} is deprecated. Use the rule {% rule java/codestyle/UnnecessarySemicolon %} instead.