[splint.git] / doc / html / faq.html

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    <h1>Splint - Frequently Asked Questions</h1>
    <h3>Index</h3>
    <ol>
        <h4><a href="#genquest">General Questions About Splint</a></h4>
      <li><a href="#quest1">What is the difference between Splint and LCLint?</a><br />
      </li>
      <li><a href="#quest2">What is the Splint logo?<br />
      </a></li>
      <li><a href="#quest3">Can I include Splint in my software distribution?<br />
      </a></li>
      <li><a href="#quest4">Can we use your software in our company? (We are not a GNU
      organization.)<br />
      </a></li>
      <li><a href="#quest9">Which compilers does Splint support?<br />
      </a></li>
      <li><a href="#quest5">Does Splint handle C++?<br />
      </a></li>
        <h4><a href="#install">Installation</a></h4>
      </li>
      <li><a href="#quest6">I downloaded the Splint .tgz file but can't figure out how to
      extract it. There is no 'z' option on the tar on my system.<br />
      </a></li>
      <li><a href="#quest7">I want to use Splint in Windows. How do I do that?<br />
      </a></li>
      <li><a href="#quest8">I have installed Splint for Windows 2000. Where should I put
      the ".splintrc" file?<br />
      </a></li>
      <li><a href="#quest17">When I build Splint I get the following errors.... Should I
      be worried?<br />
      </a></li>
      <li><a href="#quest18">I just installed Splint on a new machine. I get a bunch of
      errors during building when the test suite is run. When I look through the results,
      it seems like Splint is not reporting any errors in the code it analyzes. What is
      going on?<br />
      </a></li>
        <h4><a href="#usage">Usage</a></h4>
      <li><a href="#quest15">I heard that we will get lot of parse errors when we run
      this tool first time. Hence we need to modify source code. Is it correct ?<br />
      </a></li>
      <li><a href="#quest16">I heard that Splint can generate some spurious errors ( not
      genuine errors). Is it correct ?<br />
      </a></li>
      <li><a href="#quest10">How does Splint handle const?<br />
      </a></li>
      <li><a href="#quest14">I develop code on an embedded system with a compiler that
      uses nonstandard key words and data types. I would like to run Splint on my code
      but these nonstandard keywords cause parse errors. What should I do?<br />
      </a></li>
      <li><a href="#quest14b">How can I get Splint to recognize directory trees and local
      source include directories?<br />
      </a></li>
      <li><a href="#quest20">I use realloc in my code. How can I get Splint in check this
      code more effectively?<br />
      </a></li>
        <h4><a href="#warnerror">Warnings and Errors</a></h4>
      <li><a href="#quest11">Why do I get a warning when multiplying different integer
      types? The C standard says this is ok. Why is this wrong?<br />
      </a></li>
      <li><a href="#quest12">The C standard says that what I'm doing is okay. Why does
      Splint give me a warning?<br />
      </a></li>
      <li><a href="#quest13">Splint complains if I ignore the return value of scanf but
      not printf?<br />
      </a></li>
      <li><a href="#quest18b">I get parse errors when I try to run Splint on code like
      #define MACROdebug(...) blahblah . Can I use variadic macros in Splint?<br />
      </a></li>
        <h4><a href="#bugs">Bugs</a></h4>
      <li><a href="#quest21">I think I've found a bug in Splint. What should I do?<br />
     </a></li>
       <li><a href="#quest22">Splint tells me that there is a bug and I should report it.
      What information should I send?<br />
      </a></li>
               <h4><a href="#adinfo">Additional Information</a></h4>
      <li><a href="#quest23">My question isn't answered here. How can I get more
      information about Splint?<br />
      </a></li>
    </ol>
    <h3>Questions and Answers</h3>
    <ol>
        <h4><a id="genquest" name="genquest">General Questions About Splint</a></h4>
      <li>
        <p><a id="quest1" name="quest1">What is the difference between Splint and
        LCLint?</a></p>
        <p>Before 2002, Splint was known as LCLint. Splint 3.0 is the successor to LCLint
        2.5.</p>
        <blockquote>
          LCLint was originally named for LCL, the Larch C Interface Language and lint, a
          well-known C program checking tool. Because our tool has diverged from LCL, and
          our focus now is on secure programming, it was renamed Splint. Splint's name
          has (at least) three interpretations: specifications lint, secure programming
          lint, and first aid for programmers. It's also easier to pronounce than
          LCLint.<br />
          <br />
        </blockquote>
      </li>
      <li>
        <p><a id="quest2" name="quest2">What is the Splint logo?</a></p>
        <blockquote>
          Thomas Jefferson's Serpentine Walls at the University of Virginia. The walls
          are one brick thick, but because of their design are both strong and aesthetic.
          Like a secure program, secure walls depend on sturdy bricks, solid
          construction, and elegant and principled design.<br />
          <br />
        </blockquote>
      </li>
      <li>
        <p><a id="quest3" name="quest3">Can I include Splint in my software
        distribution?</a></p>
        <blockquote>
          Yes. Splint is licensed under the GNU General Public License. You may
          redistribute it as you wish so long as credits and pointers to <a
          href="http://www.splint.org/">www.splint.org</a> are not changed or removed.
          Splint may be included in commercial distributions, and is included in several
          Linux and freeware CDs. If you redistribute Splint, please let us know by
          sending a message to <a
          href="mailto:splint@cs.virginia.edu">splint@cs.virginia.edu</a>.<br />
          <br />
        </blockquote>
      </li>
      <li>
        <p><a id="quest4" name="quest4">Can we use your software in our company? (We are
        not a GNU organization.)</a></p>
        <blockquote>
          Yes, splint is GPL-licensed. Anyone may use it. If you want to redistribute it,
          check the license for details or contact us.<br />
          <br />
        </blockquote>
      </li>
      <li>
        <p><a id="quest9" name="quest9">Which compilers does Splint support?</a></p>
        <blockquote>
          Splint is independent from your compiler.  It should be able to handle code written for any compiler as long as the code is C99 compliant. <br />
          <br />
        </blockquote>
      </li>
      <li>
        <p><a id="quest5" name="quest5">Does Splint handle C++?</a></p>
        <blockquote>
          No. Splint handles ISO C99 (and some gcc extensions if +gnuextensions is used).
          We don't have the resources (or the research justification) to build a C++
          front end, but if you are interested in building a C++ front end the source
          code is available, and I will certainly be willing to help.<br />
          <br />
        </blockquote>
      </li>
        <h4><a id="install" name="install">Installation</a></h4>
      <li>
        <p><a id="quest6" name="quest6">I downloaded the Splint .tgz file but can't
        figure out how to extract it. There is no 'z' option on the tar on my
        system.</a></p>
        <blockquote>
          Check to see if there is GNU tar on your system, it is usually invoked by the
          command gtar or gnutar. GNU tar supports the -z option.<br />
          <br />
           
          <p>You can also unzip the file then untar it. Do: gunzip filename.tar.gz to
          unzip then tar -xvf filename.tar</p>
        </blockquote>
      </li>
      <li>
        <p><a id="quest7" name="quest7">I want to use Splint in Windows. How do I do
        that?</a></p>
        <blockquote>
          See <a href="http://splint.org/win32.html/">http://splint.org/win32.html</a> for instructions on obtaining and installing Splint on Windows.<br />
          <br />
	</blockquote>
      </li>
      <li>
        <p><a id="quest8" name="quest8">I have installed Splint for Windows 2000. Where
        should I put the ".splintrc" file?</a></p>
        <blockquote>
          For Win32, Splint looks for splint.rc instead of .splintrc due to the DOS
          filename problems. It will look first in the current directory, then in           
          your home directory. See the Splint manual for more information.<br / >
        </blockquote>
      </li>
      <li>
        <p><a id="quest17" name="quest17">When I build Splint I get the following
        error:</a></p>
        <blockquote>
          Checking for...<br />
          <br />
           
          <p>Checking manual...</p>
          <p>cmx &gt; / Checking tests2.2...</p>
          <p>Checking tests2.4...</p>
          <p>Checking tests2.5...</p>
          <p>Checking db1...</p>
          <p>0a1,2</p>
          <p>&gt; /cmx/tools/make -e clean</p>
          <p>&gt; /cmx/tools/make -e check</p>
          <p>*** FAIL ***</p>
          <p>Checking db2...</p>
          <p>0a1,/tools/make -e clean</p>
          <p>&gt; /cmx/tools/make -e check</p>
          <p>*** FAIL ***</p>
          <p>Checking db3...</p>
        </blockquote>
        <p>Should I be worried?</p>
        <blockquote>
          Those diffs look harmless. It is likely that your make is set up slightly
          differently than ours.<br />
          <br />
        </blockquote>
      </li>
      <li>
        <p><a id="quest18" name="quest18">I just installed Splint on a new machine. I get
        a bunch of errors during building when the test suite is run. When I look through
        the results, it seems like Splint is not reporting any errors in the code it
        analyzes. What is going on?</a></p>
        <blockquote>
          One possibility is that the installation directory where the test suite is
          running is on the system path (hence, splint won't report errors if
          -sysdirerrors is set, as it is by default). Try adding +sysdirerrors to the
          command line for the test suite to see if that is the problem, or installing
          Splint in a different directory not in the system path.<br />
          <br />
        </blockquote>
      </li>
        <h4><a id="usage" name="usage">Usage</a></h4>
      <li>
        <p><a id="quest15" name="quest15">I heard that we will get lot of parse errors
        when we run this tool first time. Hence we need to modify source code. Is it
        correct ?</a></p>
        <blockquote>
        Usually not.<br />
	Parse errors usually occur in code written for compilers that use nonstandard keywords. (See the <a href="#quest14">question</a> on using Splint for code development on embedded systems.)<br />

	If you're getting parse errors make sure that the required libraries are included by using the +posixlib or +unixlib flags.  If you're using nonstandard gnu extensions the +gnuextensions flag make be helpful.<br />

       However, Splint doesn't yet support all C99 extensions so there are some legitimate C programs that will need to be modified.<br />
          <br />
        </blockquote>
      </li>
      <li>
        <p><a id="quest16" name="quest16">I heard that Splint can generate some spurious
        errors ( not genuine errors). Is it correct ?</a></p>
        <blockquote>

          Yes.  Many of the program properties that Splint checks are undecidable.  This means that any static analysis tool that can be run on real programs will either produce false positives or false negatives. Because
of this and to improve efficiency, Splint makes some simplifying assumptions.  This means
that Splint will occasionally produce spurious warnings or miss real errors.<br />

However, often spurious errors can be fixed by adding additional annotations.<br />
        </blockquote>
      </li>
      <li>
        <p><a id="quest10" name="quest10">How does Splint handle const?</a></p>
        <blockquote>
          Splint doesn't interpret const (at all). See the manual section on modifies
          checking (<a
          href="http://www.splint.org/manual/html/sec7.html">http://www.splint.org/manual/html/sec7.html</a>).<br />
          <br />
        </blockquote>
      </li>
      <li>
        <p><a id="quest14" name="quest14">I develop code on an embedded system with a
        compiler that uses nonstandard key words and data types. I would like to run
        Splint on my code but these nonstandard keywords cause parse errors. What should
        I do?</a></p>
        <blockquote>
          <p>You can often use -D to solve this problem.</p>
          <p>If you just want to ignore a keyword, you can add -Dnonstandardkeyword= to
          make the preprocessor eliminate the keyword, where nonstandardkeyword is the
          name of the keyword. Similarly, you can use -Dspecialtype=int to make a custom
          type parse as an int.</p>
        </blockquote>
      </li>
      <li>
        <p><a id="quest14b" name="quest14b">How can I get Splint to recognize directory
        trees and local source include directories? I've tried putting them in my path
        but it doesn't seem to look beyond the current directory.</a></p>
        <blockquote>
          You can use -I to set the include path like you would with a compiler.<br />
          <br />
        </blockquote>
      </li>
      <li>
        <p><a id="quest20" name="quest20">I use realloc in my code. How can I get Splint
        in check this code more effectively?</a></p>
        <blockquote>
          realloc has complicated semantics that make it difficult to use correctly. Make
          sure that you understand realloc and that you really need to use it.<br />
          <br />
           
          <p>If you decide to use realloc, we recommend that you wrapper it. The document
          Using Wrapper Functions explains how to do this. That document is included in
          the Splint documentation and is also available at:</p>
          <p><a
          href="http://www.splint.org/documentation/realloc.htm">http://www.splint.org/documentation/realloc.htm</a></p>
        </blockquote>
      </li>
        <h4><a id="warnerror" name="warnerror">Warnings and Errors</a></h4>
      <li>
        <p><a id="quest11" name="quest11">Why do I get a Warning when multiplying
        different integer types? The C standard says this is ok. Why is this
        wrong?</a></p>
        <blockquote>
          There are lots of things that the C spec allows and defines clearly, that
          Splint will provide warnings for. It's not a question of it being "wrong", it's
          a matter of it being likely to reveal a programming mistake.<br />
          <br />
        </blockquote>
      </li>
      <li>
        <p><a id="quest12" name="quest12">The C standard says that what I'm doing is
        okay. Why does Splint give me a warning?</a></p>
        <blockquote>
          See the previous question.<br />
          <br />
        </blockquote>
      </li>
      <li>
        <p><a id="quest13" name="quest13">Splint complains if I ignore the return value
        of scanf but not printf?</a></p>
        <blockquote>
          This is just a strategic decision --- we view ignoring the result of a scanf to
          be more likely to reveal a problem with the code than ignoring the result of a
          printf, even though strict programmers will want to check printf also.<br />
          <br />
           
          <blockquote>
            If you want stricter checking, use the flags +ansistrictlib, +posixstrictlib,
            +unixstrictlib to select the strict versions of these libraries.<br />
            <br />
          </blockquote>
        </blockquote>
      </li>
      <li>
        <p><a id="quest18b" name="quest18b">I get parse errors when I try to run Splint
        on code like #define MACROdebug(...) blahblah . Can I use variadic macros in
        Splint?</a></p>
        <blockquote>
          Sorry, Splint does not yet support variadic macros. We hope to fix this in a
          future release.<br />
          <br />
        </blockquote>
      </li>
        <h4><a id="bugs" name="bugs">Bugs</a></h4>
      <li>
        <p><a id="quest21" name="quest21">I think I've found a bug in Splint. What should
        I do?</a></p>
        <blockquote>
          See <a
          href="http://www.splint.org/bugs.html">http://www.splint.org/bugs.html</a> for
          a list of known bugs and instructions on reporting bugs.<br />
          <br />
        </blockquote>
      </li>
      <li>
        <p><a id="quest22" name="quest22">Splint tells me that there is a bug and I
        should report it. What information should I send?</a></p>
        <blockquote>
          Ideally we would like enough code to reproduce the problem. Small snippets of
          code which trigger the bug are the best but more code is also acceptable.<br />
          <br />
           
          <p>If we're not able to reproduce the problem, then we are unlikely to be able
          to patch Splint. However, we would still appreciate hearing about the bug and
          may be able to at least to offer you advice on working around the problem.</p>
        </blockquote>
      </li>
        <h4><a id="adinfo" name="adinfo">Additional Information</a></h4>
      <li>
        <p><a id="quest23" name="quest23">My question isn't answered here. How can I get
        more information about Splint?</a></p>
        <blockquote>
          First check the Splint manual and the mailing list archives.<br />
          <br />
           
          <p>The Splint manual is available at: <a
          href="http://www.splint.org/manual/l">http://www.splint.org/manual/</a></p>
          <p>The mailing list archives are at:</p>
          <p><a
          href="http://www.mail-archive.com/lclint-interest@virginia.edu/u">http://www.mail-archive.com/lclint-interest%40virginia.edu/</a></p>
          <p>If you're still unable to find the information to answer your question, you
          can try posting the question to the splint-discuss mailing list (see <a
          href="http://www.splint.org/lists.html">http://www.splint.org/lists.html</a>)</p>
          <p>You can also email us at splint@splint.org.</p>
        </blockquote>
      </li>
    </ol>
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e63e0a4a	1	<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN"
	2	"http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">
	3	<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
112c85fd	4	<head>
	5	<meta name="generator"
	6	content="HTML Tidy for Linux/x86 (vers 1st November 2002), see www.w3.org" />
e63e0a4a	7	<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="http://www.splint.org/splint.css"
	8	title="style1" />
	9	<title>Splint FAQ</title>
112c85fd	10	</head>
e63e0a4a	11	<body>
e63e0a4a	12	<!--#include virtual="header.html"-->
6252ab26	13	<h1>Splint - Frequently Asked Questions</h1>
e63e0a4a	14	<h3>Index</h3>
e63e0a4a	15	<ol>
7db08ed6	16	<h4><a href="#genquest">General Questions About Splint</a></h4>
7db08ed6	17	<li><a href="#quest1">What is the difference between Splint and LCLint?</a><br />
e63e0a4a	18	</li>
e63e0a4a	19	<li><a href="#quest2">What is the Splint logo?<br />
112c85fd	20	</a></li>
e63e0a4a	21	<li><a href="#quest3">Can I include Splint in my software distribution?<br />
112c85fd	22	</a></li>
e63e0a4a	23	<li><a href="#quest4">Can we use your software in our company? (We are not a GNU
e63e0a4a	24	organization.)<br />
96c3605a	25	</a></li>
7db08ed6	26	<li><a href="#quest9">Which compilers does Splint support?<br />
112c85fd	27	</a></li>
e63e0a4a	28	<li><a href="#quest5">Does Splint handle C++?<br />
112c85fd	29	</a></li>
7db08ed6	30	<h4><a href="#install">Installation</a></h4>
7db08ed6	31	</li>
e63e0a4a	32	<li><a href="#quest6">I downloaded the Splint .tgz file but can't figure out how to
e63e0a4a	33	extract it. There is no 'z' option on the tar on my system.<br />
112c85fd	34	</a></li>
2c8e2e96	35	<li><a href="#quest7">I want to use Splint in Windows. How do I do that?<br />
112c85fd	36	</a></li>
e63e0a4a	37	<li><a href="#quest8">I have installed Splint for Windows 2000. Where should I put
e63e0a4a	38	the ".splintrc" file?<br />
112c85fd	39	</a></li>
7db08ed6	40	<li><a href="#quest17">When I build Splint I get the following errors.... Should I
7db08ed6	41	be worried?<br />
112c85fd	42	</a></li>
7db08ed6	43	<li><a href="#quest18">I just installed Splint on a new machine. I get a bunch of
96c3605a	44	errors during building when the test suite is run. When I look through the results,
	45	it seems like Splint is not reporting any errors in the code it analyzes. What is
	46	going on?<br />
112c85fd	47	</a></li>
7db08ed6	48	<h4><a href="#usage">Usage</a></h4>
7db08ed6	49	<li><a href="#quest15">I heard that we will get lot of parse errors when we run
96c3605a	50	this tool first time. Hence we need to modify source code. Is it correct ?<br />
112c85fd	51	</a></li>
96c3605a	52	<li><a href="#quest16">I heard that Splint can generate some spurious errors ( not
96c3605a	53	genuine errors). Is it correct ?<br />
112c85fd	54	</a></li>
96c3605a	55	<li><a href="#quest10">How does Splint handle const?<br />
112c85fd	56	</a></li>
7db08ed6	57	<li><a href="#quest14">I develop code on an embedded system with a compiler that
e63e0a4a	58	uses nonstandard key words and data types. I would like to run Splint on my code
e63e0a4a	59	but these nonstandard keywords cause parse errors. What should I do?<br />
112c85fd	60	</a></li>
e63e0a4a	61	<li><a href="#quest14b">How can I get Splint to recognize directory trees and local
e63e0a4a	62	source include directories?<br />
112c85fd	63	</a></li>
96c3605a	64	<li><a href="#quest20">I use realloc in my code. How can I get Splint in check this
96c3605a	65	code more effectively?<br />
112c85fd	66	</a></li>
7db08ed6	67	<h4><a href="#warnerror">Warnings and Errors</a></h4>
96c3605a	68	<li><a href="#quest11">Why do I get a warning when multiplying different integer
96c3605a	69	types? The C standard says this is ok. Why is this wrong?<br />
112c85fd	70	</a></li>
96c3605a	71	<li><a href="#quest12">The C standard says that what I'm doing is okay. Why does
96c3605a	72	Splint give me a warning?<br />
112c85fd	73	</a></li>
96c3605a	74	<li><a href="#quest13">Splint complains if I ignore the return value of scanf but
96c3605a	75	not printf?<br />
112c85fd	76	</a></li>
e63e0a4a	77	<li><a href="#quest18b">I get parse errors when I try to run Splint on code like
e63e0a4a	78	#define MACROdebug(...) blahblah . Can I use variadic macros in Splint?<br />
112c85fd	79	</a></li>
7db08ed6	80	<h4><a href="#bugs">Bugs</a></h4>
e63e0a4a	81	<li><a href="#quest21">I think I've found a bug in Splint. What should I do?<br />
7db08ed6	82	</a></li>
7db08ed6	83	<li><a href="#quest22">Splint tells me that there is a bug and I should report it.
e63e0a4a	84	What information should I send?<br />
112c85fd	85	</a></li>
7db08ed6	86	<h4><a href="#adinfo">Additional Information</a></h4>
e63e0a4a	87	<li><a href="#quest23">My question isn't answered here. How can I get more
e63e0a4a	88	information about Splint?<br />
112c85fd	89	</a></li>
112c85fd	90	</ol>
112c85fd	91	<h3>Questions and Answers</h3>
112c85fd	92	<ol>
7db08ed6	93	<h4><a id="genquest" name="genquest">General Questions About Splint</a></h4>
e63e0a4a	94	<li>
	95	<p><a id="quest1" name="quest1">What is the difference between Splint and
	96	LCLint?</a></p>
	97	<p>Before 2002, Splint was known as LCLint. Splint 3.0 is the successor to LCLint
	98	2.5.</p>
	99	<blockquote>
	100	LCLint was originally named for LCL, the Larch C Interface Language and lint, a
	101	well-known C program checking tool. Because our tool has diverged from LCL, and
	102	our focus now is on secure programming, it was renamed Splint. Splint's name
	103	has (at least) three interpretations: specifications lint, secure programming
	104	lint, and first aid for programmers. It's also easier to pronounce than
	105	LCLint.<br />
	106	<br />
	107	</blockquote>
	108	</li>
	109	<li>
	110	<p><a id="quest2" name="quest2">What is the Splint logo?</a></p>
	111	<blockquote>
	112	Thomas Jefferson's Serpentine Walls at the University of Virginia. The walls
	113	are one brick thick, but because of their design are both strong and aesthetic.
	114	Like a secure program, secure walls depend on sturdy bricks, solid
	115	construction, and elegant and principled design.<br />
	116	<br />
	117	</blockquote>
	118	</li>
	119	<li>
	120	<p><a id="quest3" name="quest3">Can I include Splint in my software
	121	distribution?</a></p>
	122	<blockquote>
	123	Yes. Splint is licensed under the GNU General Public License. You may
	124	redistribute it as you wish so long as credits and pointers to <a
	125	href="http://www.splint.org/">www.splint.org</a> are not changed or removed.
	126	Splint may be included in commercial distributions, and is included in several
	127	Linux and freeware CDs. If you redistribute Splint, please let us know by
	128	sending a message to <a
	129	href="mailto:splint@cs.virginia.edu">splint@cs.virginia.edu</a>.<br />
	130	<br />
	131	</blockquote>
	132	</li>
	133	<li>
	134	<p><a id="quest4" name="quest4">Can we use your software in our company? (We are
	135	not a GNU organization.)</a></p>
	136	<blockquote>
	137	Yes, splint is GPL-licensed. Anyone may use it. If you want to redistribute it,
	138	check the license for details or contact us.<br />
	139	<br />
	140	</blockquote>
	141	</li>
7db08ed6	142	<li>
e63e0a4a	143	<p><a id="quest9" name="quest9">Which compilers does Splint support?</a></p>
e63e0a4a	144	<blockquote>
2c8e2e96	145	Splint is independent from your compiler. It should be able to handle code written for any compiler as long as the code is C99 compliant. <br />
e63e0a4a	146	<br />
	147	</blockquote>
	148	</li>
7db08ed6	149	<li>
e63e0a4a	150	<p><a id="quest5" name="quest5">Does Splint handle C++?</a></p>
	151	<blockquote>
	152	No. Splint handles ISO C99 (and some gcc extensions if +gnuextensions is used).
	153	We don't have the resources (or the research justification) to build a C++
	154	front end, but if you are interested in building a C++ front end the source
	155	code is available, and I will certainly be willing to help.<br />
	156	<br />
	157	</blockquote>
	158	</li>
7db08ed6	159	<h4><a id="install" name="install">Installation</a></h4>
e63e0a4a	160	<li>
	161	<p><a id="quest6" name="quest6">I downloaded the Splint .tgz file but can't
	162	figure out how to extract it. There is no 'z' option on the tar on my
	163	system.</a></p>
	164	<blockquote>
	165	Check to see if there is GNU tar on your system, it is usually invoked by the
	166	command gtar or gnutar. GNU tar supports the -z option.<br />
	167	<br />
	168
	169	<p>You can also unzip the file then untar it. Do: gunzip filename.tar.gz to
	170	unzip then tar -xvf filename.tar</p>
	171	</blockquote>
	172	</li>
	173	<li>
2c8e2e96	174	<p><a id="quest7" name="quest7">I want to use Splint in Windows. How do I do
e63e0a4a	175	that?</a></p>
e63e0a4a	176	<blockquote>
2c8e2e96	177	See <a href="http://splint.org/win32.html/">http://splint.org/win32.html</a> for instructions on obtaining and installing Splint on Windows.<br />
e63e0a4a	178	<br />
2c8e2e96	179	</blockquote>
e63e0a4a	180	</li>
	181	<li>
	182	<p><a id="quest8" name="quest8">I have installed Splint for Windows 2000. Where
	183	should I put the ".splintrc" file?</a></p>
	184	<blockquote>
	185	For Win32, Splint looks for splint.rc instead of .splintrc due to the DOS
2c8e2e96	186	filename problems. It will look first in the current directory, then in
2c8e2e96	187	your home directory. See the Splint manual for more information.<br / >
e63e0a4a	188	</blockquote>
e63e0a4a	189	</li>
e63e0a4a	190	<li>
96c3605a	191	<p><a id="quest17" name="quest17">When I build Splint I get the following
96c3605a	192	error:</a></p>
e63e0a4a	193	<blockquote>
96c3605a	194	Checking for...<br />
	195	<br />
	196
	197	<p>Checking manual...</p>
	198	<p>cmx > / Checking tests2.2...</p>
	199	<p>Checking tests2.4...</p>
	200	<p>Checking tests2.5...</p>
	201	<p>Checking db1...</p>
	202	<p>0a1,2</p>
	203	<p>> /cmx/tools/make -e clean</p>
	204	<p>> /cmx/tools/make -e check</p>
	205	<p>* FAIL *</p>
	206	<p>Checking db2...</p>
	207	<p>0a1,/tools/make -e clean</p>
	208	<p>> /cmx/tools/make -e check</p>
	209	<p>* FAIL *</p>
	210	<p>Checking db3...</p>
	211	</blockquote>
	212	<p>Should I be worried?</p>
	213	<blockquote>
	214	Those diffs look harmless. It is likely that your make is set up slightly
	215	differently than ours.<br />
e63e0a4a	216	<br />
	217	</blockquote>
	218	</li>
	219	<li>
96c3605a	220	<p><a id="quest18" name="quest18">I just installed Splint on a new machine. I get
	221	a bunch of errors during building when the test suite is run. When I look through
	222	the results, it seems like Splint is not reporting any errors in the code it
	223	analyzes. What is going on?</a></p>
e63e0a4a	224	<blockquote>
96c3605a	225	One possibility is that the installation directory where the test suite is
	226	running is on the system path (hence, splint won't report errors if
	227	-sysdirerrors is set, as it is by default). Try adding +sysdirerrors to the
	228	command line for the test suite to see if that is the problem, or installing
	229	Splint in a different directory not in the system path.<br />
e63e0a4a	230	<br />
	231	</blockquote>
	232	</li>
7db08ed6	233	<h4><a id="usage" name="usage">Usage</a></h4>
7db08ed6	234	<li>
96c3605a	235	<p><a id="quest15" name="quest15">I heard that we will get lot of parse errors
	236	when we run this tool first time. Hence we need to modify source code. Is it
	237	correct ?</a></p>
e63e0a4a	238	<blockquote>
2c8e2e96	239	Usually not.<br />
	240	Parse errors usually occur in code written for compilers that use nonstandard keywords. (See the <a href="#quest14">question</a> on using Splint for code development on embedded systems.)<br />
	241
	242	If you're getting parse errors make sure that the required libraries are included by using the +posixlib or +unixlib flags. If you're using nonstandard gnu extensions the +gnuextensions flag make be helpful.<br />
	243
	244	However, Splint doesn't yet support all C99 extensions so there are some legitimate C programs that will need to be modified.<br />
e63e0a4a	245	<br />
	246	</blockquote>
	247	</li>
	248	<li>
96c3605a	249	<p><a id="quest16" name="quest16">I heard that Splint can generate some spurious
96c3605a	250	errors ( not genuine errors). Is it correct ?</a></p>
e63e0a4a	251	<blockquote>
2c8e2e96	252
	253	Yes. Many of the program properties that Splint checks are undecidable. This means that any static analysis tool that can be run on real programs will either produce false positives or false negatives. Because
	254	of this and to improve efficiency, Splint makes some simplifying assumptions. This means
	255	that Splint will occasionally produce spurious warnings or miss real errors.<br />
	256
	257	However, often spurious errors can be fixed by adding additional annotations.<br />
e63e0a4a	258	</blockquote>
	259	</li>
	260	<li>
96c3605a	261	<p><a id="quest10" name="quest10">How does Splint handle const?</a></p>
	262	<blockquote>
	263	Splint doesn't interpret const (at all). See the manual section on modifies
	264	checking (<a
	265	href="http://www.splint.org/manual/html/sec7.html">http://www.splint.org/manual/html/sec7.html</a>).<br />
	266	<br />
	267	</blockquote>
	268	</li>
7db08ed6	269	<li>
e63e0a4a	270	<p><a id="quest14" name="quest14">I develop code on an embedded system with a
	271	compiler that uses nonstandard key words and data types. I would like to run
	272	Splint on my code but these nonstandard keywords cause parse errors. What should
	273	I do?</a></p>
	274	<blockquote>
	275	<p>You can often use -D to solve this problem.</p>
	276	<p>If you just want to ignore a keyword, you can add -Dnonstandardkeyword= to
	277	make the preprocessor eliminate the keyword, where nonstandardkeyword is the
	278	name of the keyword. Similarly, you can use -Dspecialtype=int to make a custom
	279	type parse as an int.</p>
	280	</blockquote>
	281	</li>
	282	<li>
	283	<p><a id="quest14b" name="quest14b">How can I get Splint to recognize directory
	284	trees and local source include directories? I've tried putting them in my path
	285	but it doesn't seem to look beyond the current directory.</a></p>
	286	<blockquote>
	287	You can use -I to set the include path like you would with a compiler.<br />
	288	<br />
	289	</blockquote>
	290	</li>
7db08ed6	291	<li>
96c3605a	292	<p><a id="quest20" name="quest20">I use realloc in my code. How can I get Splint
96c3605a	293	in check this code more effectively?</a></p>
e63e0a4a	294	<blockquote>
96c3605a	295	realloc has complicated semantics that make it difficult to use correctly. Make
96c3605a	296	sure that you understand realloc and that you really need to use it.<br />
e63e0a4a	297	<br />
96c3605a	298
	299	<p>If you decide to use realloc, we recommend that you wrapper it. The document
	300	Using Wrapper Functions explains how to do this. That document is included in
	301	the Splint documentation and is also available at:</p>
	302	<p><a
	303	href="http://www.splint.org/documentation/realloc.htm">http://www.splint.org/documentation/realloc.htm</a></p>
e63e0a4a	304	</blockquote>
e63e0a4a	305	</li>
7db08ed6	306	<h4><a id="warnerror" name="warnerror">Warnings and Errors</a></h4>
e63e0a4a	307	<li>
96c3605a	308	<p><a id="quest11" name="quest11">Why do I get a Warning when multiplying
	309	different integer types? The C standard says this is ok. Why is this
	310	wrong?</a></p>
e63e0a4a	311	<blockquote>
96c3605a	312	There are lots of things that the C spec allows and defines clearly, that
	313	Splint will provide warnings for. It's not a question of it being "wrong", it's
	314	a matter of it being likely to reveal a programming mistake.<br />
e63e0a4a	315	<br />
	316	</blockquote>
	317	</li>
	318	<li>
96c3605a	319	<p><a id="quest12" name="quest12">The C standard says that what I'm doing is
96c3605a	320	okay. Why does Splint give me a warning?</a></p>
e63e0a4a	321	<blockquote>
96c3605a	322	See the previous question.<br />
e63e0a4a	323	<br />
	324	</blockquote>
	325	</li>
	326	<li>
96c3605a	327	<p><a id="quest13" name="quest13">Splint complains if I ignore the return value
96c3605a	328	of scanf but not printf?</a></p>
e63e0a4a	329	<blockquote>
96c3605a	330	This is just a strategic decision --- we view ignoring the result of a scanf to
	331	be more likely to reveal a problem with the code than ignoring the result of a
	332	printf, even though strict programmers will want to check printf also.<br />
e63e0a4a	333	<br />
96c3605a	334
	335	<blockquote>
	336	If you want stricter checking, use the flags +ansistrictlib, +posixstrictlib,
	337	+unixstrictlib to select the strict versions of these libraries.<br />
	338	<br />
	339	</blockquote>
e63e0a4a	340	</blockquote>
e63e0a4a	341	</li>
7db08ed6	342	<li>
7db08ed6	343	<p><a id="quest18b" name="quest18b">I get parse errors when I try to run Splint
e63e0a4a	344	on code like #define MACROdebug(...) blahblah . Can I use variadic macros in
	345	Splint?</a></p>
	346	<blockquote>
	347	Sorry, Splint does not yet support variadic macros. We hope to fix this in a
	348	future release.<br />
	349	<br />
	350	</blockquote>
	351	</li>
7db08ed6	352	<h4><a id="bugs" name="bugs">Bugs</a></h4>
e63e0a4a	353	<li>
	354	<p><a id="quest21" name="quest21">I think I've found a bug in Splint. What should
	355	I do?</a></p>
	356	<blockquote>
	357	See <a
	358	href="http://www.splint.org/bugs.html">http://www.splint.org/bugs.html</a> for
	359	a list of known bugs and instructions on reporting bugs.<br />
	360	<br />
	361	</blockquote>
	362	</li>
	363	<li>
	364	<p><a id="quest22" name="quest22">Splint tells me that there is a bug and I
	365	should report it. What information should I send?</a></p>
	366	<blockquote>
	367	Ideally we would like enough code to reproduce the problem. Small snippets of
	368	code which trigger the bug are the best but more code is also acceptable.<br />
	369	<br />
	370
	371	<p>If we're not able to reproduce the problem, then we are unlikely to be able
	372	to patch Splint. However, we would still appreciate hearing about the bug and
	373	may be able to at least to offer you advice on working around the problem.</p>
	374	</blockquote>
	375	</li>
7db08ed6	376	<h4><a id="adinfo" name="adinfo">Additional Information</a></h4>
e63e0a4a	377	<li>
	378	<p><a id="quest23" name="quest23">My question isn't answered here. How can I get
	379	more information about Splint?</a></p>
	380	<blockquote>
	381	First check the Splint manual and the mailing list archives.<br />
	382	<br />
	383
	384	<p>The Splint manual is available at: <a
	385	href="http://www.splint.org/manual/l">http://www.splint.org/manual/</a></p>
	386	<p>The mailing list archives are at:</p>
	387	<p><a
	388	href="http://www.mail-archive.com/lclint-interest@virginia.edu/u">http://www.mail-archive.com/lclint-interest%40virginia.edu/</a></p>
	389	<p>If you're still unable to find the information to answer your question, you
	390	can try posting the question to the splint-discuss mailing list (see <a
	391	href="http://www.splint.org/lists.html">http://www.splint.org/lists.html</a>)</p>
	392	<p>You can also email us at splint@splint.org.</p>
	393	</blockquote>
	394	</li>
	395	</ol>
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