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I am working on trying to get some custom pmd rules onto our SONAR server so they will show up in our nightly tests. I have an xml file with a bunch of custom rules like so:

    <rule class="net.sourceforge.pmd.rules.XPathRule" dfa="false" externalInfoUrl="" message="System.out.print is used" name="MyOrganisation_SystemPrintln" typeResolution="true">
      <description>System.(out|err).print is used, consider using a logger.</description>
      <priority>5</priority>
      <properties>
         <property name="xpath">
            <value><![CDATA[

//Name[
    starts-with(@Image, 'System.out.print')
    or
    starts-with(@Image, 'System.err.print')
    ]

             ]]></value>
         </property>
      </properties>
      <example><![CDATA[

class Foo{
    Logger log = Logger.getLogger(Foo.class.getName());
    public void testA () {
        System.out.println("Entering test");
        // Better use this
        log.fine("Entering test");
    }
}

     ]]></example>

When I go to the Quality profiles page and make a new profile, giving it the xml file I get a bunch of errors like this:

PMD XPath rule 'MyOrganisation_SystemPrintln' can't be imported automatically. The rule must be created manually through the SonarQube web interface.

Which seems clear enough, however when I try and create a new rule by copying the generic xpath rule that is there already and changing it there is nowhere to put the "example" part. (There is only Name, message, xpathQuery and Description) I was wondering if I am missing something that might be the cause of this, and how I can get these rules onto the sonar server?

Thanks very much.

Edit: The PMD version is 1.3, as is the java plugin

Edit2: Another example of a rule:

<rule class="net.sourceforge.pmd.rules.UnusedPrivateFieldRule" dfa="false" externalInfoUrl="" message="Avoid unused private fields such as ''{0}''" name="MyOrganisation_UnusedPrivateField" typeResolution="true">
      <description>Detects when a private field is declared and/or assigned a value, but not used.</description>
      <priority>5</priority>
      <example><![CDATA[

public class Something {
  private static int FOO = 2; // Unused
  private int i = 5; // Unused
  private int j = 6;
  public int addOne() {
    return j++;
  }
}

    ]]></example>
   </rule>
kevinh
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1 Answers1

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Indeed, there is no possibility in the SonarQube custom rules to declare examples like on the PMD custom rules, you will have to put the examples in the description, e.g using blockquote elements.

Mithfindel
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  • Hi Mithfindel, Thanks for the answer. I was working under the assumption that the examples in the xml file were required for the rule to function, are you saying that they are just a human-readable example and not a functional part of the code? – kevinh Jul 02 '14 at 15:59
  • Also just as a follow up question, if it is the case that they have no real function, do you have any idea why the examples are not already inside the description tag in the xml file? I know there is two ways of declaring rules, I was wondering if the rules were something to do with the java way of declaring them as opposed to the xpath way. Thanks. – kevinh Jul 03 '14 at 08:21
  • Most probably, this is done like this by PMD so that 1. the description is not polluted by examples and 2. tools, such as IDEs, display the examples in a meaningful way (separated from the rule's description). Anyway, this is indeed a human readable code snippet. – Mithfindel Jul 03 '14 at 09:34
  • Oh ok that makes sense now. That's brilliant, thanks so much for your help! :) – kevinh Jul 03 '14 at 10:47
  • Hi @Mithfindel, sorry to bring this up again, I was just looking through the xml file and I discovered that there are some rules in a format that is not xpath, for example the one above in my edit. When I try to upload this rule I get the error _A PMD rule without 'ref' attribute can't be imported._ like [this](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/10997231/why-a-pmd-rule-without-ref-attribute-cant-be-imported-see-null) question. I was just wondering if you would have any idea why that might be the case? Thanks very much. – kevinh Jul 03 '14 at 16:20