codeIssues

Identify code issues in files

Since R2022b. Recommended over checkcode.

Description

The codeIssues object stores issues found by the MATLAB^® Code Analyzer. The issues found in one or more specified files or folders can be sorted and filtered, either programmatically on the command line or interactively in the Code Analyzer app.

In R2023a: Certain issues can be fixed using the fix function.

In R2023b: Content of a codeIssues object can be exported using export.

Creation

Syntax

issues = codeIssues

issues = codeIssues(names)

issues = codeIssues(names,Name=Value)

Description

issues = codeIssues identifies code issues for the current folder and returns a codeIssues object.

issues = codeIssues(names) analyzes the files or folders specified by names. The files to analyze must be valid MATLAB code or app files (*.m, *.mlx, or *.mlapp).

issues = codeIssues(names,Name=Value) changes the files used in analysis based on one or more name-value arguments. For example, issues = codeIssues(names,IncludeSubfolders=false) excludes subfolders of names from analysis.

Input Arguments

names — File or folder names

string scalar | character vector

File or folder names, specified as a string scalar or character vector containing an absolute or relative MATLAB path.

Example: "myFile.m"

Name-Value Arguments

Specify optional pairs of arguments as Name1=Value1,...,NameN=ValueN, where Name is the argument name and Value is the corresponding value. Name-value arguments must appear after other arguments, but the order of the pairs does not matter.

Example: issues = codeIssues("myFile.m",CodeAnalyzerConfiguration="factory")

CodeAnalyzerConfiguration — Configuration file

"active" (default) | "factory" | filename

Configuration file, specified as "active", "factory", or a filename.

• "active" — Use the current active configuration settings.

• "factory" — Use the default configuration settings.

• filename — Use the settings in the specified custom configuration file. For more information on custom Code Analyzer configuration files, see Configure Code Analyzer.

This argument sets the CodeAnalyzerConfiguration property

IncludeSubfolders — Whether to include subfolders in analysis

true (default) | false

Whether to include subfolders in analysis, specified as a numeric or logical 1 (true) or 0 (false).

Properties

Date — Date of the analysis

datetime object

This property is read-only.

Date of the analysis, returned as a datetime object.

Release — MATLAB version used for analysis

string scalar

This property is read-only.

MATLAB version used for analysis, returned as a string scalar.

Files — List of analyzed files

string array

This property is read-only.

List of analyzed files, returned as a string array where each element corresponds to a file that was analyzed.

CodeAnalyzerConfiguration — Configuration file used

"active" (default) | "factory" | name of custom configuration file

Configuration file, specified as "active", "factory", or a filename.

• "active" — Use the current active configuration settings.

• "factory" — Use the default configuration settings.

• "filename" — Use the settings in the specified custom configuration file.

This property is set by the CodeAnalyzerConfiguration name-value argument.

Issues — Table of code issues found

table

Table of the code issues found, specified as a n-by-9 table where each row corresponds to an instance of a found code issue. Issues contains these columns:

Column Name	Column Purpose
Location	Name of analyzed file, which also functions as a hyperlink to the location of the issue within the file
Severity	Severity of issue, returned as info, warning, or error
Fixability	Whether the issue can be fixed automatically or must be fixed manually, returned as auto or manual.
Description	MATLAB Code Analyzer message for the issue
CheckID	Check identifier used to find this code issue
LineStart	Line in the code where issue begins
LineEnd	Line in the code where issue ends
ColumnStart	Column in the code where issue begins
ColumnEnd	Column in the code where issue ends
FullFilename	Full path to file

SuppressedIssues — Table of the suppressed code issues found

table

Table of the suppressed code issues found, specified as a n-by-10 table where each row corresponds to an instance of a found code issue. Issues contains these columns:

Column Name	Column Purpose
Location	Name of analyzed file
Severity	Severity of issue, returned as info, warning, or error
Fixability	Whether the issue can be fixed automatically or must be fixed manually, returned as auto or manual.
Description	The MATLAB Code Analyzer message for the issue
Suppression	How this issue is being suppressed
CheckID	Check identifier used to find this code issue
LineStart	Line in the code where issue begins
LineEnd	Line in the code where issue ends
ColumnStart	Column in the code where issue begins
ColumnEnd	Column in the code where issue ends
FullFilename	Full path to file

Object Functions

fix	Fix code issues
export	Write code issues to file

Examples

Analyze Code Issues

Identify code issues within the file test.m by using codeIssues.

issues = codeIssues("test.m")

issues = 

  codeIssues with properties:

                         Date: 18-Oct-2022 14:18:54
                      Release: "R2023a"
                        Files: "C:\MyCode\test.m"
    CodeAnalyzerConfiguration: "active"
                       Issues: [3×10 table]
             SuppressedIssues: [0×11 table]


    Issues table preview

    Location    Severity    Fixability                                            Description                                             CheckID    LineStart    LineEnd    ColumnStart    ColumnEnd       FullFilename   
    ________    ________    __________    ____________________________________________________________________________________________    _______    _________    _______    ___________    _________    __________________

    "test.m"      info        manual      "Variable appears to change size on every loop iteration. Consider preallocating for speed."    AGROW          3           3            1             3        "C:\MyCode\test.m"
    "test.m"      info        auto        "Add a semicolon after the statement to hide the output (in a script)."                         NOPTS          6           6            3             3        "C:\MyCode\test.m"
    "test.m"      info        auto        "string('...') is not recommended. Use "..." instead."                                          STRQUOT        8           8            1            13        "C:\MyCode\test.m"

Tips

• Use jsonencode to generate a JSON format string of the codeIssues object.

Version History

Introduced in R2022b

R2023b: Fix code issues from the command line

Fix certain code issues directly from the command line using the fix function on codeIssues objects.

R2023b: Export issues identified in code

Use export to write issues found by codeIssues to a file. Exported files are SARIF format by default, but you can as SonarQube or MATLAB encoded JSON formats.