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authorDaniel Baumann <daniel.baumann@progress-linux.org>2024-04-19 01:47:29 +0000
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+Existing Infrastructure and Analysis
+====================================
+
+This document is about how Static Analysis occurs at Mozilla: the Firefox-specific and general llvm clang-tidy checks that are run on submissions in Phabricator and how to run them locally. For information about how to develop your own static analysis checks, please see `Writing New Firefox-Specific Checks </code-quality/static-analysis/writing-new/>`_.
+
+For linting, please see the `linting documentation </code-quality/lint/>`_.
+
+For reviews, use the `#static-analysis-reviewers review group <https://phabricator.services.mozilla.com/project/view/120/>`__.
+Ask questions on `#static-analysis:mozilla.org <https://chat.mozilla.org/#/room/#static-analysis:mozilla.org>`__.
+
+
+Clang-Tidy static analysis
+--------------------------
+
+As explained earlier, our current static-analysis infrastructure is based on
+`clang-tidy <http://clang.llvm.org/extra/clang-tidy/>`__. The checkers that
+we use are split into 3 categories:
+
+#. :searchfox:`Firefox specific checkers <build/clang-plugin>`. They detect incorrect Gecko programming
+ patterns which could lead to bugs or security issues.
+#. `Clang-tidy checkers <https://clang.llvm.org/extra/clang-tidy/checks/list.html>`_. They aim to suggest better programming practices
+ and to improve memory efficiency and performance.
+#. `Clang-analyzer checkers <https://clang-analyzer.llvm.org/>`_. These checks are more advanced, for example
+ some of them can detect dead code or memory leaks, but as a typical
+ side effect they have false positives. Because of that, we have
+ disabled them for now, but will enable some of them in the near
+ future.
+
+In order to simplify the process of static-analysis we have focused on
+integrating this process with Phabricator and mach. A list of some
+checkers that are used during automated scan can be found
+:searchfox:`here <tools/clang-tidy/config.yaml>`.
+
+Static analysis at review phase
+-------------------------------
+
+We created a TaskCluster bot that runs clang static analysis on every
+patch submitted to Phabricator. It then quickly reports any code defects
+directly on the review platform, thus preventing bad patches from
+landing until all their defects are fixed. Currently, its feedback is
+posted in about 10 minutes after a patch series is published on the
+review platform.
+
+As part of the process, the various linting jobs are also executed
+using try. This can be also used to add new jobs, see: :ref:`attach-job-review`.
+An example of automated review can be found `on
+phabricator <https://phabricator.services.mozilla.com/D2066>`__.
+
+
+./mach static-analysis
+----------------------
+
+The ``./mach static-analysis`` command is supported on all Firefox built platforms. During the first run it
+automatically installs all of its dependencies, such as the clang-tidy
+executable, in the .mozbuild folder thus making it very easy to use. The
+resources that are used are provided by toolchain artifacts clang-tidy
+target.
+
+This is used through ``mach static-analysis`` command that has the
+following parameters:
+
+- ``check`` - Runs the checks using the installed helper tool from
+ ~/.mozbuild.
+- ``--checks, -c`` - Checks to enabled during the scan. The checks
+ enabled
+ :searchfox:`in the yaml file <tools/clang-tidy/config.yaml>`
+ are used by default.
+- ``--fix, -f`` - Try to autofix errors detected by the checkers.
+ Depending on the checker, this option might not do anything.
+ The list of checkers with autofix can be found on the `clang-tidy website <https://clang.llvm.org/extra/clang-tidy/checks/list.html>`__.
+- ``--header-filter, -h-f`` - Regular expression matching the names of
+ the headers to output diagnostic from.Diagnostic from the main file
+ of each translation unit are always displayed.
+
+As an example we run static-analysis through mach on
+``dom/presentation/Presentation.cpp`` with
+``google-readability-braces-around-statements`` check and autofix we
+would have:
+
+.. code-block:: shell
+
+ ./mach static-analysis check --checks="-*, google-readability-braces-around-statements" --fix dom/presentation/Presentation.cpp
+
+If you want to use a custom clang-tidy binary this can be done by using
+the ``install`` subcommand of ``mach static-analysis``, but please note
+that the archive that is going to be used must be compatible with the
+directory structure clang-tidy from toolchain artifacts.
+
+.. code-block:: shell
+
+ ./mach static-analysis install clang.tar.gz
+
+
+Regression Testing
+------------------
+
+In order to prevent regressions in our clang-tidy based static analysis,
+we have created a
+:searchfox:`task <taskcluster/ci/static-analysis-autotest/kind.yml>`
+on automation. This task runs on each commit and launches a test suite
+that is integrated into mach.
+
+The test suite implements the following:
+
+- Downloads the necessary clang-tidy artifacts.
+- Reads the
+ :searchfox:`configuration <tools/clang-tidy/config.yaml>`
+ file.
+- For each checker reads the test file plus the expected result. A
+ sample of test and expected result can be found
+ :searchfox:`in the test file <tools/clang-tidy/test/clang-analyzer-deadcode.DeadStores.cpp>`
+ and
+ :searchfox:`the json file <tools/clang-tidy/test/clang-analyzer-deadcode.DeadStores.json>`.
+
+This testing suit can be run locally by doing the following:
+
+.. code-block:: shell
+
+ ./mach static-analysis autotest
+
+If we want to test only a specific checker, let's say
+modernize-raw-string-literal, we can run:
+
+.. code-block:: shell
+
+ ./mach static-analysis autotest modernize-raw-string-literal
+
+If we want to add a new checker we need to generated the expected result
+file, by doing:
+
+.. code-block:: shell
+
+ ./mach static-analysis autotest modernize-raw-string-literal -d
+
+
+Build-time static-analysis
+--------------------------
+
+If you want to build with the Firefox Clang plug-in
+(located in ``/build/clang-plugin`` and associated with
+``MOZ_CLANG_PLUGIN`` and the attributes in ``/mfbt/Attributes.h``)
+just add ``--enable-clang-plugin`` to your mozconfig!
+If you want to also have our experimental checkers that will produce ``warnings`` as
+diagnostic messages also add ``--enable-clang-plugin-alpha``.
+This requires to build Firefox using Clang.
+
+Configuring the build environment
+---------------------------------
+
+Once you have your Clang build in place, you will need to set up tools
+to use it.
+A full working .mozconfig for the desktop browser is:
+
+.. code-block:: shell
+
+ . $topsrcdir/browser/config/mozconfig
+ mk_add_options MOZ_OBJDIR=@TOPSRCDIR@/obj-ff-dbg
+
+ ac_add_options --enable-debug
+
+Attempts to use ``ccache`` will likely result in failure to compile. It
+is also necessary to avoid optimized builds, as these will modify macros
+which will result in many false positives.
+
+At this point, your Firefox build environment should be configured to
+compile via the Clang static analyzer!
+
+
+Performing scanning builds
+--------------------------
+
+It is not enough to simply start the build like normal. Instead, you
+need to run the build through a Clang utility script which will keep
+track of all produced analysis and consolidate it automatically.
+
+Reports are published daily on
+`https://sylvestre.ledru.info/reports/fx-scan-build/ <http://sylvestre.ledru.info/reports/fx-scan-build/>`__
+Many of the defects reported as sources for Good First Bug.
+
+That script is scan-build. You can find it in
+``$clang_source/tools/scan-build/scan-build``.
+
+Try running your build through ``scan-build``:
+
+.. code-block:: shell
+
+ $ cd /path/to/mozilla/source
+
+ # Blow away your object directory because incremental builds don't make sense
+ $ rm -rf obj-dir
+
+ # To start the build:
+ scan-build --show-description ./mach build -v
+
+ # The above should execute without any errors. However, it should take longer than
+ # normal because all compilation will be executing through Clang's static analyzer,
+ # which adds overhead.
+
+If things are working properly, you should see a bunch of console spew,
+just like any build.
+
+The first time you run scan-build, CTRL+C after a few files are
+compiled. You should see output like:
+
+.. code-block:: shell
+
+ scan-build: 3 bugs found.
+ scan-build: Run 'scan-view /Users/gps/tmp/mcsb/2011-12-15-3' to examine bug reports.
+
+If you see a message like:
+
+.. code-block:: shell
+
+ scan-build: Removing directory '/var/folders/s2/zc78dpsx2rz6cpc_21r9g5hr0000gn/T/scan-build-2011-12-15-1' because it contains no reports.
+
+either no static analysis results were available yet or your environment
+is not configured properly.
+
+By default, ``scan-build`` writes results to a folder in a
+pseudo-temporary location. You can control where results go by passing
+the ``-o /path/to/output`` arguments to ``scan-build``.
+
+You may also want to run ``scan-build --help`` to see all the options
+available. For example, it is possible to selectively enable and disable
+individual analyzers.
+
+
+Analyzing the output
+--------------------
+
+Once the build has completed, ``scan-build`` will produce a report
+summarizing all the findings. This is called ``index.html`` in the
+output directory. You can run ``scan-view`` (from
+``$clang_source/tools/scan-view/scan-view``) as ``scan-build's`` output
+suggests; this merely fires up a local HTTP server. Or you should be
+able to open the ``index.html`` directly with your browser.
+
+
+False positives
+---------------
+
+By definition, there are currently false positives in the static
+analyzer. A lot of these are due to the analyzer having difficulties
+following the relatively complicated error handling in various
+preprocessor macros.