[unix-history] / usr / share / man / cat1 / lint.0

LINT(1)                     UNIX Reference Manual		       LINT(1)

N\bNA\bAM\bME\bE
     l\bli\bin\bnt\bt - a C program verifier

S\bSY\bYN\bNO\bOP\bPS\bSI\bIS\bS
     l\bli\bin\bnt\bt [-\b-a\bab\bbc\bch\bhn\bnp\bpu\buv\bvx\bx] _\bf_\bi_\bl_\be ...

D\bDE\bES\bSC\bCR\bRI\bIP\bPT\bTI\bIO\bON\bN
     L\bLi\bin\bnt\bt attempts to detect features of the C program _\bf_\bi_\bl_\be_\bs which are likely
     to be bugs, or non-portable, or wasteful.	It also checks the type usage
     of the program more strictly than the compilers.  Among the things which
     are currently found are unreachable statements, loops not entered at the
     top, automatic variables declared and not used, and logical expressions
     whose value is constant.  Moreover, the usage of functions is checked to
     find functions which return values in some places and not in others,
     functions called with varying numbers of arguments, and functions whose
     values are not used.

     By default, it is assumed that all the _\bf_\bi_\bl_\be_\bs are to be loaded together;
     they are checked for mutual compatibility.  Function definitions for cer-
     tain libraries are available to l\bli\bin\bnt\bt; these libraries are referred to by
     a conventional name, such as `-lm', in the style of ld(1).  Arguments
     ending in ._\bl_\bn are also treated as library files.  To create lint li-
     braries, use the -\b-C\bC option:

	   lint -Cfoo files . . .

     where _\bf_\bi_\bl_\be_\bs are the C sources of library _\bf_\bo_\bo.  The result is a file
     _\bl_\bl_\bi_\bb-_\bl_\bf_\bo_\bo ._\bl_\bn in the correct library format suitable for linting programs
     using _\bf_\bo_\bo.

     Any number of the options in the following list may be used.  The -\b-D\bD -\b-U\bU
     and -\b-I\bI options of cc(1) are also recognized as separate arguments.

     -\b-p\bp        Attempt to check portability to the _\bI_\bB_\bM and _\bG_\bC_\bO_\bS dialects of C.

     -\b-h\bh        Apply a number of heuristic tests to attempt to intuit bugs,
	       improve style, and reduce waste.

     -\b-b\bb        Report _\bb_\br_\be_\ba_\bk statements that cannot be reached.	(This is not
	       the default because, unfortunately, most lex(1) and many
	       yacc(1) outputs produce dozens of such comments.)

     -\b-v\bv        Suppress complaints about unused arguments in functions.

     -\b-x\bx        Report variables referred to by extern declarations, but never
	       used.

     -\b-a\ba        Report assignments of long values to int variables.

     -\b-c\bc        Complain about casts which have questionable portability.

     -\b-u\bu        Do not complain about functions and variables used and not de-
	       fined, or defined and not used (this is suitable for running
	       l\bli\bin\bnt\bt on a subset of files out of a larger program).

     -\b-n\bn        Do not check compatibility against the standard library.

     -\b-z\bz        Do not complain about structures that are never defined (e.g.
	       using a structure pointer without knowing its contents.).

     Exit(2) and other functions which do not return are not understood; this
     causes various lies.


     Certain conventional comments in the C source will change the behavior of
     l\bli\bin\bnt\bt:

     /*NOTREACHED*/
	   at appropriate points stops comments about unreachable code.

     /*VARARGS n */
	   suppresses the usual checking for variable numbers of arguments in
	   the following function declaration.	The data types of the first _\bn
	   arguments are checked; a missing _\bn is taken to be 0.

     /*NOSTRICT*/
	   shuts off strict type checking in the next expression.

     /*ARGSUSED*/
	   turns on the -\b-v\bv option for the next function.

     /*LINTLIBRARY*/
	   at the beginning of a file shuts off complaints about unused func-
	   tions in this file.

A\bAU\bUT\bTH\bHO\bOR\bR
     S.C. Johnson.  Lint library construction implemented by Edward Wang.

F\bFI\bIL\bLE\bES\bS
     /_\bu_\bs_\br/_\bl_\bi_\bb_\bd_\ba_\bt_\ba/_\bl_\bi_\bn_\bt/_\bl_\bl_\bi_\bb-_\bl_\bc._\bl_\bn     declarations for standard functions
     /_\bu_\bs_\br/_\bl_\bi_\bb_\bd_\ba_\bt_\ba/_\bl_\bi_\bn_\bt/_\bl_\bl_\bi_\bb-_\bl_\bc	      human readable version of above
     /_\bu_\bs_\br/_\bl_\bi_\bb/_\bl_\bi_\bn_\bt_\bd_\ba_\bt_\ba/_\bl_\bl_\bi_\bb-_\bp_\bo_\br_\bt._\bl_\bn   declarations for portable functions
     /_\bu_\bs_\br/_\bl_\bi_\bb/_\bl_\bi_\bn_\bt_\bd_\ba_\bt_\ba/_\bl_\bl_\bi_\bb-_\bp_\bo_\br_\bt      human readable . . .
     _\bl_\bl_\bi_\bb-_\bl*._\bl_\bn                       library created with -\b-C\bC


S\bSE\bEE\bE A\bAL\bLS\bSO\bO
     cc(1)
     S. C. Johnson, _\bL_\bi_\bn_\bt, a C Program Checker

H\bHI\bIS\bST\bTO\bOR\bRY\bY
     L\bLi\bin\bnt\bt appeared in Version 7 AT&T Unix.

B\bBU\bUG\bGS\bS
     There are some things you just can't get lint to shut up about.

     /*NOSTRICT*/ is not implemented in the current version (alas).
Commit	Line	Data
61212793 C	1	LINT(1) UNIX Reference Manual LINT(1)
	2
	3	N\bNA\bAM\bME\bE
	4	l\bli\bin\bnt\bt - a C program verifier
	5
	6	S\bSY\bYN\bNO\bOP\bPS\bSI\bIS\bS
	7	l\bli\bin\bnt\bt [-\b-a\bab\bbc\bch\bhn\bnp\bpu\buv\bvx\bx] _\bf_\bi_\bl_\be ...
	8
	9	D\bDE\bES\bSC\bCR\bRI\bIP\bPT\bTI\bIO\bON\bN
	10	L\bLi\bin\bnt\bt attempts to detect features of the C program _\bf_\bi_\bl_\be_\bs which are likely
	11	to be bugs, or non-portable, or wasteful. It also checks the type usage
	12	of the program more strictly than the compilers. Among the things which
	13	are currently found are unreachable statements, loops not entered at the
	14	top, automatic variables declared and not used, and logical expressions
	15	whose value is constant. Moreover, the usage of functions is checked to
	16	find functions which return values in some places and not in others,
	17	functions called with varying numbers of arguments, and functions whose
	18	values are not used.
	19
	20	By default, it is assumed that all the _\bf_\bi_\bl_\be_\bs are to be loaded together;
	21	they are checked for mutual compatibility. Function definitions for cer-
	22	tain libraries are available to l\bli\bin\bnt\bt; these libraries are referred to by
	23	a conventional name, such as `-lm', in the style of ld(1). Arguments
	24	ending in ._\bl_\bn are also treated as library files. To create lint li-
	25	braries, use the -\b-C\bC option:
	26
	27	lint -Cfoo files . . .
	28
	29	where _\bf_\bi_\bl_\be_\bs are the C sources of library _\bf_\bo_\bo. The result is a file
	30	_\bl_\bl_\bi_\bb-_\bl_\bf_\bo_\bo ._\bl_\bn in the correct library format suitable for linting programs
	31	using _\bf_\bo_\bo.
	32
	33	Any number of the options in the following list may be used. The -\b-D\bD -\b-U\bU
	34	and -\b-I\bI options of cc(1) are also recognized as separate arguments.
	35
	36	-\b-p\bp Attempt to check portability to the _\bI_\bB_\bM and _\bG_\bC_\bO_\bS dialects of C.
	37
	38	-\b-h\bh Apply a number of heuristic tests to attempt to intuit bugs,
	39	improve style, and reduce waste.
	40
	41	-\b-b\bb Report _\bb_\br_\be_\ba_\bk statements that cannot be reached. (This is not
	42	the default because, unfortunately, most lex(1) and many
	43	yacc(1) outputs produce dozens of such comments.)
	44
	45	-\b-v\bv Suppress complaints about unused arguments in functions.
	46
	47	-\b-x\bx Report variables referred to by extern declarations, but never
	48	used.
	49
	50	-\b-a\ba Report assignments of long values to int variables.
	51
	52	-\b-c\bc Complain about casts which have questionable portability.
	53
	54	-\b-u\bu Do not complain about functions and variables used and not de-
	55	fined, or defined and not used (this is suitable for running
	56	l\bli\bin\bnt\bt on a subset of files out of a larger program).
	57
	58	-\b-n\bn Do not check compatibility against the standard library.
	59
	60	-\b-z\bz Do not complain about structures that are never defined (e.g.
	61	using a structure pointer without knowing its contents.).
	62
	63	Exit(2) and other functions which do not return are not understood; this
	64	causes various lies.
65
66
67	Certain conventional comments in the C source will change the behavior of
68	l\bli\bin\bnt\bt:
69
70	/NOTREACHED/
71	at appropriate points stops comments about unreachable code.
72
73	/VARARGS n /
74	suppresses the usual checking for variable numbers of arguments in
75	the following function declaration. The data types of the first _\bn
76	arguments are checked; a missing _\bn is taken to be 0.
77
78	/NOSTRICT/
79	shuts off strict type checking in the next expression.
80
81	/ARGSUSED/
82	turns on the -\b-v\bv option for the next function.
83
84	/LINTLIBRARY/
85	at the beginning of a file shuts off complaints about unused func-
86	tions in this file.
87
88	A\bAU\bUT\bTH\bHO\bOR\bR
89	S.C. Johnson. Lint library construction implemented by Edward Wang.
90
91	F\bFI\bIL\bLE\bES\bS
92	/_\bu_\bs_\br/_\bl_\bi_\bb_\bd_\ba_\bt_\ba/_\bl_\bi_\bn_\bt/_\bl_\bl_\bi_\bb-_\bl_\bc._\bl_\bn declarations for standard functions
93	/_\bu_\bs_\br/_\bl_\bi_\bb_\bd_\ba_\bt_\ba/_\bl_\bi_\bn_\bt/_\bl_\bl_\bi_\bb-_\bl_\bc human readable version of above
94	/_\bu_\bs_\br/_\bl_\bi_\bb/_\bl_\bi_\bn_\bt_\bd_\ba_\bt_\ba/_\bl_\bl_\bi_\bb-_\bp_\bo_\br_\bt._\bl_\bn declarations for portable functions
95	/_\bu_\bs_\br/_\bl_\bi_\bb/_\bl_\bi_\bn_\bt_\bd_\ba_\bt_\ba/_\bl_\bl_\bi_\bb-_\bp_\bo_\br_\bt human readable . . .
96	_\bl_\bl_\bi_\bb-_\bl*._\bl_\bn library created with -\b-C\bC
97
98
99	S\bSE\bEE\bE A\bAL\bLS\bSO\bO
100	cc(1)
101	S. C. Johnson, _\bL_\bi_\bn_\bt, a C Program Checker
102
103	H\bHI\bIS\bST\bTO\bOR\bRY\bY
104	L\bLi\bin\bnt\bt appeared in Version 7 AT&T Unix.
105
106	B\bBU\bUG\bGS\bS
107	There are some things you just can't get lint to shut up about.
108
109	/NOSTRICT/ is not implemented in the current version (alas).