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6 content="HTML Tidy for Linux/x86 (vers 1st November 2002), see www.w3.org" />
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8 title="style1" />
9 <title>Splint FAQ</title>
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e63e0a4a 11 <body>
12 <!--#include virtual="header.html"-->
6252ab26 13 <h1>Splint - Frequently Asked Questions</h1>
e63e0a4a 14 <h3>Index</h3>
15
16 <ol>
17 <h4>General Questions About Splint</h4>
18 <li>
19 <a href="#quest1">
20 What is the difference between Splint and LCLint?</a><br />
21 </li>
22 <li><a href="#quest2">What is the Splint logo?<br />
112c85fd 23 </a></li>
e63e0a4a 24 <li><a href="#quest3">Can I include Splint in my software distribution?<br />
112c85fd 25 </a></li>
e63e0a4a 26 <li><a href="#quest4">Can we use your software in our company? (We are not a GNU
27 organization.)<br />
112c85fd 28 </a></li>
e63e0a4a 29 <li><a href="#quest5">Does Splint handle C++?<br />
112c85fd 30 </a></li>
e63e0a4a 31
32 <h4> Installation</h4>
33 <li><a href="#quest6">I downloaded the Splint .tgz file but can't figure out how to
34 extract it. There is no 'z' option on the tar on my system.<br />
112c85fd 35 </a></li>
e63e0a4a 36 <li><a href="#quest7">I want to use Splint in win2000. How do I do that?<br />
112c85fd 37 </a></li>
e63e0a4a 38 <li><a href="#quest8">I have installed Splint for Windows 2000. Where should I put
39 the ".splintrc" file?<br />
112c85fd 40 </a></li>
e63e0a4a 41 <h4>Usage</h4>
42 <li><a href="#quest9">Which compilers does Splint support?<br />
112c85fd 43 </a></li>
e63e0a4a 44 <li><a href="#quest10">How does Splint handle const?<br />
112c85fd 45 </a></li>
e63e0a4a 46 <li><a href="#quest11">Why do I get a warning when multiplying different integer
47 types? The C standard says this is ok. Why is this wrong?<br />
112c85fd 48 </a></li>
e63e0a4a 49 <li><a href="#quest12">The C standard says that what I'm doing is okay. Why does
50 Splint give me a warning?<br />
112c85fd 51 </a></li>
e63e0a4a 52 <li><a href="#quest13">Splint complains if I ignore the return value of scanf but
53 not printf?<br />
112c85fd 54 </a></li>
e63e0a4a 55 <li><a href="#quest14">I develop code on an embedded system with a compiler that
56 uses nonstandard key words and data types. I would like to run Splint on my code
57 but these nonstandard keywords cause parse errors. What should I do?<br />
112c85fd 58 </a></li>
e63e0a4a 59 <li><a href="#quest14b">How can I get Splint to recognize directory trees and local
60 source include directories?<br />
112c85fd 61 </a></li>
e63e0a4a 62 <li><a href="#quest15">I heard that we will get lot of parse errors when we run
63 this tool first time. Hence we need to modify source code. Is it correct ?<br />
112c85fd 64 </a></li>
e63e0a4a 65 <li><a href="#quest16">I heard that Splint can generate some spurious errors ( not
66 genuine errors). Is it correct ?<br />
112c85fd 67 </a></li>
e63e0a4a 68 <li><a href="#quest17">When I build Splint I get the following errors.... Should I
69 be worried?<br />
112c85fd 70 </a></li>
e63e0a4a 71 <li><a href="#quest18">I just installed Splint on a new machine. I get a bunch of
72 errors during building when the test suite is run. When I look through the results,
73 it seems like Splint is not reporting any errors in the code it analyzes. What is
74 going on?<br />
112c85fd 75 </a></li>
e63e0a4a 76 <li><a href="#quest18b">I get parse errors when I try to run Splint on code like
77 #define MACROdebug(...) blahblah . Can I use variadic macros in Splint?<br />
112c85fd 78 </a></li>
e63e0a4a 79 <li><a href="#quest20">I use realloc in my code. How can I get Splint in check this
80 code more effectively?<br />
112c85fd 81 </a></li>
e63e0a4a 82 <h4>Bugs</h4>
83 <li><a href="#quest21">I think I've found a bug in Splint. What should I do?<br />
112c85fd 84 </a></li>
e63e0a4a 85 <li><a href="#quest22">Splint tells me that there is a bug and I should report it.
86 What information should I send?<br />
112c85fd 87 </a></li>
e63e0a4a 88 <li><a href="#quest23">My question isn't answered here. How can I get more
89 information about Splint?<br />
112c85fd 90 </a></li>
91 </ol>
112c85fd 92 <h3>Questions and Answers</h3>
93 <ol>
e63e0a4a 94 <h4>General Questions About Splint</h4>
95 <li>
96 <p><a id="quest1" name="quest1">What is the difference between Splint and
97 LCLint?</a></p>
98 <p>Before 2002, Splint was known as LCLint. Splint 3.0 is the successor to LCLint
99 2.5.</p>
100 <blockquote>
101 LCLint was originally named for LCL, the Larch C Interface Language and lint, a
102 well-known C program checking tool. Because our tool has diverged from LCL, and
103 our focus now is on secure programming, it was renamed Splint. Splint's name
104 has (at least) three interpretations: specifications lint, secure programming
105 lint, and first aid for programmers. It's also easier to pronounce than
106 LCLint.<br />
107 <br />
108 </blockquote>
109 </li>
110 <li>
111 <p><a id="quest2" name="quest2">What is the Splint logo?</a></p>
112 <blockquote>
113 Thomas Jefferson's Serpentine Walls at the University of Virginia. The walls
114 are one brick thick, but because of their design are both strong and aesthetic.
115 Like a secure program, secure walls depend on sturdy bricks, solid
116 construction, and elegant and principled design.<br />
117 <br />
118 </blockquote>
119 </li>
120 <li>
121 <p><a id="quest3" name="quest3">Can I include Splint in my software
122 distribution?</a></p>
123 <blockquote>
124 Yes. Splint is licensed under the GNU General Public License. You may
125 redistribute it as you wish so long as credits and pointers to <a
126 href="http://www.splint.org/">www.splint.org</a> are not changed or removed.
127 Splint may be included in commercial distributions, and is included in several
128 Linux and freeware CDs. If you redistribute Splint, please let us know by
129 sending a message to <a
130 href="mailto:splint@cs.virginia.edu">splint@cs.virginia.edu</a>.<br />
131 <br />
132 </blockquote>
133 </li>
134 <li>
135 <p><a id="quest4" name="quest4">Can we use your software in our company? (We are
136 not a GNU organization.)</a></p>
137 <blockquote>
138 Yes, splint is GPL-licensed. Anyone may use it. If you want to redistribute it,
139 check the license for details or contact us.<br />
140 <br />
141 </blockquote>
142 </li>
112c85fd 143
e63e0a4a 144 <li>
145 <p><a id="quest9" name="quest9">Which compilers does Splint support?</a></p>
146 <blockquote>
147 It is independent from your compiler.<br />
148 <br />
149 </blockquote>
150 </li>
6252ab26 151
e63e0a4a 152 <li>
153 <p><a id="quest5" name="quest5">Does Splint handle C++?</a></p>
154 <blockquote>
155 No. Splint handles ISO C99 (and some gcc extensions if +gnuextensions is used).
156 We don't have the resources (or the research justification) to build a C++
157 front end, but if you are interested in building a C++ front end the source
158 code is available, and I will certainly be willing to help.<br />
159 <br />
160 </blockquote>
161 </li>
162 <li>
163 <p><a id="quest6" name="quest6">I downloaded the Splint .tgz file but can't
164 figure out how to extract it. There is no 'z' option on the tar on my
165 system.</a></p>
166 <blockquote>
167 Check to see if there is GNU tar on your system, it is usually invoked by the
168 command gtar or gnutar. GNU tar supports the -z option.<br />
169 <br />
170
171 <p>You can also unzip the file then untar it. Do: gunzip filename.tar.gz to
172 unzip then tar -xvf filename.tar</p>
173 </blockquote>
174 </li>
175 <li>
176 <p><a id="quest7" name="quest7">I want to use Splint in win2000. How do I do
177 that?</a></p>
178 <blockquote>
179 See <a href="http://www.splint.org/">www.splint.org</a> for information on
180 Splint.<br />
181 <br />
182
183 <p><a
184 href="http://www.splint.org/win32.html">http://www.splint.org/win32.html</a>
185 for Windows instructions.</p>
186 </blockquote>
187 </li>
188 <li>
189 <p><a id="quest8" name="quest8">I have installed Splint for Windows 2000. Where
190 should I put the ".splintrc" file?</a></p>
191 <blockquote>
192 For Win32, Splint looks for splint.rc instead of .splintrc due to the DOS
193 filename problems. It will look first in the current directory, then in<br />
194 <br />
195
196 <p>your home directory. See the Splint manual for more information.</p>
197 </blockquote>
198 </li>
199 <h4>Usage</h4>
6252ab26 200
e63e0a4a 201 <li>
202 <p><a id="quest10" name="quest10">How does Splint handle const?</a></p>
203 <blockquote>
204 Splint doesn't interpret const (at all). See the manual section on modifies
205 checking (<a
206 href="http://www.splint.org/manual/html/sec7.html">http://www.splint.org/manual/html/sec7.html</a>).<br />
207 <br />
208 </blockquote>
209 </li>
210 <li>
211 <p><a id="quest11" name="quest11">Why do I get a Warning when multiplying
212 different integer types? The C standard says this is ok. Why is this
213 wrong?</a></p>
214 <blockquote>
215 There are lots of things that the C spec allows and defines clearly, that
216 Splint will provide warnings for. It's not a question of it being "wrong", it's
217 a matter of it being likely to reveal a programming mistake.<br />
218 <br />
219 </blockquote>
220 </li>
221 <li>
222 <p><a id="quest12" name="quest12">The C standard says that what I'm doing is
223 okay. Why does Splint give me a warning?</a></p>
224 <blockquote>
225 See the previous question.<br />
226 <br />
227 </blockquote>
228 </li>
229 <li>
230 <p><a id="quest13" name="quest13">Splint complains if I ignore the return value
231 of scanf but not printf?</a></p>
232 <blockquote>
233 This is just a strategic decision --- we view ignoring the result of a scanf to
234 be more likely to reveal a problem with the code than ignoring the result of a
235 printf, even though strict programmers will want to check printf also.<br />
236 <br />
237
238 <blockquote>
239 If you want stricter checking, use the flags +ansistrictlib, +posixstrictlib,
240 +unixstrictlib to select the strict versions of these libraries.<br />
241 <br />
242 </blockquote>
243 </blockquote>
244 </li>
245 <li>
246 <p><a id="quest14" name="quest14">I develop code on an embedded system with a
247 compiler that uses nonstandard key words and data types. I would like to run
248 Splint on my code but these nonstandard keywords cause parse errors. What should
249 I do?</a></p>
250 <blockquote>
251 <p>You can often use -D to solve this problem.</p>
252 <p>If you just want to ignore a keyword, you can add -Dnonstandardkeyword= to
253 make the preprocessor eliminate the keyword, where nonstandardkeyword is the
254 name of the keyword. Similarly, you can use -Dspecialtype=int to make a custom
255 type parse as an int.</p>
256 </blockquote>
257 </li>
258 <li>
259 <p><a id="quest14b" name="quest14b">How can I get Splint to recognize directory
260 trees and local source include directories? I've tried putting them in my path
261 but it doesn't seem to look beyond the current directory.</a></p>
262 <blockquote>
263 You can use -I to set the include path like you would with a compiler.<br />
264 <br />
265 </blockquote>
266 </li>
267 <li>
268 <p><a id="quest15" name="quest15">I heard that we will get lot of parse errors
269 when we run this tool first time. Hence we need to modify source code. Is it
270 correct ?</a></p>
271 <blockquote>
272 Usually not, but Splint doesn't support all C99 extensions.<br />
273 <br />
274 </blockquote>
275 </li>
276 <li>
277 <p><a id="quest16" name="quest16">I heard that Splint can generate some spurious
278 errors ( not genuine errors). Is it correct ?</a></p>
279 <blockquote>
280 Yes, please see <a href="http://www.splint.org/">www.splint.org</a> for
281 details.<br />
282 <br />
283 </blockquote>
284 </li>
285 <li>
286 <p><a id="quest17" name="quest17">When I build Splint I get the following
287 error:</a></p>
288 <blockquote>
289 Checking for...<br />
290 <br />
291
292 <p>Checking manual...</p>
293 <p>cmx &gt; / Checking tests2.2...</p>
294 <p>Checking tests2.4...</p>
295 <p>Checking tests2.5...</p>
296 <p>Checking db1...</p>
297 <p>0a1,2</p>
298 <p>&gt; /cmx/tools/make -e clean</p>
299 <p>&gt; /cmx/tools/make -e check</p>
300 <p>*** FAIL ***</p>
301 <p>Checking db2...</p>
302 <p>0a1,/tools/make -e clean</p>
303 <p>&gt; /cmx/tools/make -e check</p>
304 <p>*** FAIL ***</p>
305 <p>Checking db3...</p>
306 </blockquote>
307 <p>Should I be worried?</p>
308 <blockquote>
309 Those diffs look harmless. It is likely that your make is set up slightly
310 differently than ours.<br />
311 <br />
312 </blockquote>
313 </li>
314 <li>
315 <p><a id="quest18" name="quest18">I just installed Splint on a new machine. I get
316 a bunch of errors during building when the test suite is run. When I look through
317 the results, it seems like Splint is not reporting any errors in the code it
318 analyzes. What is going on?</a></p>
319 <blockquote>
320 One possibility is that the installation directory where the test suite is
321 running is on the system path (hence, splint won't report errors if
322 -sysdirerrors is set, as it is by default). Try adding +sysdirerrors to the
323 command line for the test suite to see if that is the problem, or installing
324 Splint in a different directory not in the system path.<br />
325 <br />
326 </blockquote>
327 </li>
328 <li>
329 <p><a id="quest18b" name="quest18b">I get parse errors when I try to run Splint
330 on code like #define MACROdebug(...) blahblah . Can I use variadic macros in
331 Splint?</a></p>
332 <blockquote>
333 Sorry, Splint does not yet support variadic macros. We hope to fix this in a
334 future release.<br />
335 <br />
336 </blockquote>
337 </li>
338 <li>
339 <p><a id="quest20" name="quest20">I use realloc in my code. How can I get Splint
340 in check this code more effectively?</a></p>
341 <blockquote>
342 realloc has complicated semantics that make it difficult to use correctly. Make
343 sure that you understand realloc and that you really need to use it.<br />
344 <br />
345
346 <p>If you decide to use realloc, we recommend that you wrapper it. The document
347 Using Wrapper Functions explains how to do this. That document is included in
348 the Splint documentation and is also available at:</p>
349 <p><a
350 href="http://www.splint.org/documentation/realloc.htm">http://www.splint.org/documentation/realloc.htm</a></p>
351 </blockquote>
352 </li>
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>
376 <li>
377 <p><a id="quest23" name="quest23">My question isn't answered here. How can I get
378 more information about Splint?</a></p>
379 <blockquote>
380 First check the Splint manual and the mailing list archives.<br />
381 <br />
382
383 <p>The Splint manual is available at: <a
384 href="http://www.splint.org/manual/l">http://www.splint.org/manual/</a></p>
385 <p>The mailing list archives are at:</p>
386 <p><a
387 href="http://www.mail-archive.com/lclint-interest@virginia.edu/u">http://www.mail-archive.com/lclint-interest%40virginia.edu/</a></p>
388 <p>If you're still unable to find the information to answer your question, you
389 can try posting the question to the splint-discuss mailing list (see <a
390 href="http://www.splint.org/lists.html">http://www.splint.org/lists.html</a>)</p>
391 <p>You can also email us at splint@splint.org.</p>
392 </blockquote>
393 </li>
394 </ol>
395 <!--#include virtual="footer.html"-->
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