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BusinessCentral.LinterCop

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This code analyzer is meant to check your code for all sorts of problems. Be it code that tecnically compiles but will generate errors during runtime or more a kind of guideline check to achieve cleaner code. Some rule even are disabled by default as they may not go along the main coding guidelines but are maybe helpful in certain projects. In general all rule ideas are welcome, even if they should be and maybe will be covered by Microsoft at some point but could be part of the linter in the meantime.

If you are not happy with some rules or only feel like you need one rule of this analyzer, you can always control the rules with a Custom.ruleset.json and disable all rules you dont need.

Please Contribute!

The Linter is not finished yet (and probably never will be :D ) If you have any rule on mind that would be nice to be covered, please start a new discussion! then we can maybe sharpen the rule a bit if necessary. This way we can build value for all of us. If you want to write the rule yourself you can of course also submit a pull request ;)

Contribute to Unit Tests

You can also contribute to the collection of unit tests. If you want to add a new test case, please create a new test class in the BusinessCentral.LinterCop.Test folder. The test class name should match the rule name. Use one of the existing test classes as an example.

Test class:

namespace BusinessCentral.LinterCop.Test;

public class RuleXXXX  // Id of the rule that is being tested
{
    private string _testCaseDir = "";

    [SetUp]
    public void Setup()
    {
        _testCaseDir = Path.Combine(Directory.GetParent(Environment.CurrentDirectory)!.Parent!.Parent!.FullName,
            "TestCases", "RuleXXXX");  // Set path to subfolder with test cases
    }

    [Test]
    [TestCase("1")]  // Test case 1.al
    [TestCase("2")]  // Test case 2.al
    ...
    [TestCase("n")]
    public async Task HasDiagnostic(string testCase)  // Positive test
    {
        // Load code file for test case
        var code = await File.ReadAllTextAsync(Path.Combine(_testCaseDir, "HasDiagnostic", $"{testCase}.al"))
            .ConfigureAwait(false);

        // Create fixture for rule
        var fixture = RoslynFixtureFactory.Create<RuleXXXXMyCodeRule>();
        // Check for reported diagnostic
        fixture.HasDiagnostic(code, DiagnosticDescriptors.RuleXXXXMyCodeRule.Id);
    }

    [Test]
    [TestCase("1")]  // Test case 1.al
    [TestCase("2")]  // Test case 2.al
    ...
    [TestCase("n")]
    public async Task NoDiagnostic(string testCase)  // Negative test
    {
        // Load code file for test case
        var code = await File.ReadAllTextAsync(Path.Combine(_testCaseDir, "NoDiagnostic", $"{testCase}.al"))
            .ConfigureAwait(false);

        // Create fixture for rule
        var fixture = RoslynFixtureFactory.Create<RuleXXXXMyCodeRule>();
        // Check for no reported diagnostic
        fixture.NoDiagnosticAtMarker(code, DiagnosticDescriptors.RuleXXXXMyCodeRule.Id);
    }
}

Test cases can be positive (a diagnostic is expected) or negative (no diagnostic is expected) and are contained in the BusinessCentral.LinterCop.Test/TestCases/ folder, with a subfolder per rule and a sub-subfolder for positive HasDiagnostic and negative NoDiagnostic test cases. The individual test cases are numbered (if you have an idea for a better naming scheme, please let me know) and must be compilable AL code.

Basic folder structure:

├───BusinessCentral.LinterCop.Test
│   ├───RoslynTestKit
│   │   ├───CodeActionLocators
│   │   └───Utils
│   └───TestCases
│       ├───Rule0001
│       │   ├───HasDiagnostic
│       │   │   ├───1.al
│       │   │   ├───2.al
│       │   │   └───X.al
│       │   └───NoDiagnostic
│       │   │   ├───1.al
│       │   │   ├───2.al
│       │   │   └───X.al
│       ├───Rule0002
│       │   ├───HasDiagnostic
│       │   │   ├───X.al
│       │   └───NoDiagnostic
│       │   │   ├───X.al
│       ├───RuleXXXX
│       │   ├───HasDiagnostic
│       │   │   ├───X.al
│       │   └───NoDiagnostic
│       │   │   ├───X.al
├───Rule0001.cs
├───Rule0002.cs
└───RuleXXXX.cs

You surround the range in the code you want to check for the diagnostic with [| and|].

Test case:

codeunit 50100 MyCodeunit
{
    procedure MyProcedure()
    var
        MyVariable: Integer;
    begin
        // We want to check for a diagnostic between the [| and |] markers
        [|MyVariable := 1;|]
    end;
}

Setup

The LinterCop is compatible with various approaches and solutions for the AL Language extension for Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central.

Configuration

Some rules can be configured by adding a file named LinterCop.json in the root of your project. Important: The file will only be read on startup of the linter, meaning if you make any changes you need to reload VS Code once.

For an example and the default values see: LinterCop.json

If you want to use the LinterCop.json file in a pipeline, using BcContainerHelper, you need to copy the file to C:\build\vsix\extension\bin\win32\LinterCop.json inside the container before calling Compile-AppInBcContainer. See this issue for details on how to accomplish that.

Can I disable certain rules?

Since the linter integrates with the AL compiler directly, you can use the custom rule sets like you are used to from the other code cops. https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/dynamics365/business-central/dev-itpro/developer/devenv-rule-set-syntax-for-code-analysis-tools

Of course you can also use pragmas for disabling a rule just for a certain place in code. https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/dynamics365/business-central/dev-itpro/developer/directives/devenv-directive-pragma-warning

For an example and the default values see: LinterCop.ruleset.json

Rules

Id Title Default Severity AL version
LC0000 An error ocurred in a given rule. Please create an issue on GitHub Info
LC0001 FlowFields should not be editable. Warning
LC0002 Commit() needs a comment to justify its existence. Either a leading or a trailing comment. Warning
LC0003 Do not use an Object ID for properties or variable declarations. Warning
LC0004 DrillDownPageId and LookupPageId must be filled in table when table is used in list page. Warning
LC0005 The casing of variable/method usage must align with the definition. Warning
LC0006 Fields with property AutoIncrement cannot be used in temporary table (TableType = Temporary). Error
LC0007 Every table needs to specify a value for the DataPerCompany property. Either true or false. Disabled
LC0008 Filter operators should not be used in SetRange. Warning
LC0009 Show info message about code metrics for each function or trigger. Disabled
LC0010 Show warning about code metrics for each function or trigger if either cyclomatic complexity is 8 or greater or maintainability index 20 or lower. Warning
LC0011 Every object needs to specify a value for the Access property. Either true or false. Optionally this can also be activated for table fields with the setting enableRule0011ForTableFields. Disabled
LC0012 Using hardcoded IDs in functions like Codeunit.Run() is not allowed. Warning
LC0013 Any table with a single field in the PK of type code or text, should have set NotBlank on the PK field. Warning
LC0014 The Caption of permissionset objects should not exceed the maximum length. Warning
LC0015 All application objects should be covered by at least one permission set in the extension. Warning
LC0016 Caption is missing. Optionally this can also be activated for fields on API objects with the setting enableRule0016ForApiObjects. Warning
LC0017 Writing to a FlowField is not common. Add a comment to explain this. Warning
LC0018 Events in internal codeunits are not accessible to extensions and should therefore be avoided. Info
LC0019 If Data Classification is set on the Table. Fields do not need the same classification. Info
LC0020 If Application Area is set on the TablePage. Controls do not need the same classification. Info
LC0021 Confirm() must be implemented through the Confirm Management codeunit from the System Application. Info
LC0022 GlobalLanguage() must be implemented through the Translation Helper codeunit from the Base Application. Info
LC0023 Always provide fieldsgroups DropDown and Brick on tables. Info
LC0024 Procedure or Trigger declaration should not end with semicolon. Info
LC0025 Procedure must be either local, internal or define a documentation comment. Info
LC0026 ToolTip must end with a dot. Info
LC0027 Utilize the Page Management codeunit for launching page. Info
LC0028 Event subscriber arguments now use identifier syntax instead of string literals. Info
LC0029 Use CompareDateTime method in Type Helper codeunit for DateTime variable comparisons. Info
LC0030 Set Access property to Internal for Install/Upgrade codeunits. Info
LC0031 Set ReadIsolation property instead of LockTable method. Info
LC0032 Clear(All) does not affect or change values for global variables in single instance codeunits. Warning
LC0033 The specified runtime version in app.json is falling behind. Info
LC0034 The property Extensible should be explicitly set for public objects. Disabled
LC0035 Explicitly set AllowInCustomizations for fields omitted on pages. Info 12.1
LC0036 ToolTip must start with the verb "Specifies". Info
LC0037 Do not use line breaks in ToolTip. Info
LC0038 Try to not exceed 200 characters (including spaces). Info
LC0039 The given argument has a different type from the one expected. Warning
LC0040 Explicitly set the RunTrigger parameter on build-in methods. Info
LC0041 Empty Captions should be Locked. Info
LC0042 AutoCalcFields should only be used for FlowFields or Blob fields. Warning
LC0043 Use SecretText type to protect credentials and sensitive textual values from being revealed. Info 14.0
LC0044 Tables coupled with TransferFields must have matching fields. Warning
LC0045 Zero (0) Enum value should be reserved for Empty Value. Info
LC0046 Label with suffix Tok must be locked. Info
LC0047 Locked Label must have a suffix Tok. None
LC0048 Use Error with a ErrorInfo or Label variable to improve telemetry details. Info
LC0049 SourceTable property not defined on Page. Info
LC0050 SetFilter with unsupported operator in filter expression. Info
LC0051 Do not assign a text to a target with smaller size. Warning 12.1
LC0052 The internal procedure is declared but never used. Info
LC0053 The internal procedure is only used in the object in which it is declared. Consider making the procedure local. Info
LC0054 Interface name must start with the capital 'I' without any spaces following it. Info
LC0055 The suffix Tok is meant to be used when the value of the label matches the name. Info
LC0056 Empty Enum values should not have a specified Caption property. Info
LC0057 Enum values must have non-empty a Caption to be selectable in the client Info
LC0058 PageVariable.SetRecord(): You cannot use a temporary record for the Record parameter. Warning
LC0059 Single quote escaping issue detected. Warning
LC0060 The ApplicationArea property is not applicable to API pages. Info
LC0061 Pages of type API must have the ODataKeyFields property set to the SystemId field. Info
LC0062 Mandatory field is missing on API page. Info
LC0063 Consider naming field with a more descriptive name. Info
LC0064 Missing ToolTip property on table field. Info
LC0065 Event subscriber var keyword mismatch. Info
LC0066 Duplicate ToolTip between page and table field. Info
LC0067 Set NotBlank property to false when 'No. Series' TableRelation exists. Warning
LC0068 Informs the user that there are missing permission to access tabledata. Info
LC0069 Empty statements should be avoided or should have a leading or trailing comment explaining their use. Info
LC0070 Zero index access on 1-based List objects. Warning