airvzxf / c-linter-action

Github action for linting the C and C++ code. Uses clang-tidy, clang-format, and cppcheck.

C-Linter -> GitHub Action

GitHub action for linting the C and C++ code. Uses clang-tidy, clang-format, and cppcheck.

Review the to-do's list for more information.

Usage Example

Add this code in .github/workflows/c-linter.yml.

# File in '.github/workflows/c-linter.yml'
name: C-Linter

on:
  push:
  pull_request:
  workflow_dispatch:

jobs:
  c-linter:
    name: Analyze C/C++ source code
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest

    env:
      GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}

    steps:
      - name: Checkout repository
        uses: actions/checkout@v2

      - name: Run C-Linter
        uses: airvzxf/c-linter-action@main

Settings

Option	Description	Required	Type	Default	Example
scan_full_project	Scan full project. Reference.	No	String	false	true
project_path	Source code directory. Reference.	No	String	.	src
build_type	Build type. Reference.	No	String	Release	Debug
c_extensions	File extensions for C/C++.	No	String	Reference	\.c$|\.h$|\.zpp$
clang_tidy_options	Options for CLang Tidy.	No	String	Reference	--checks=*
clang_format_options	Options for CLang Format.	No	String	Reference	--style=Mozilla
cppcheck_options	Options for CPP Check.	No	String	Reference	--enable=style
install_packages	Install extra package. Reference.	No	String		libmemcached

Settings review

scan_full_project

---

It usually checks the quality code from the committed files, if you want to scan and provide report for all the project, please set this option to true.

project_path

---

The directory which contain the C/C++ source code and CMake files.

Example of the execution of this setting:

cmake \
    -S "${project_path}" \
    -B build \
    -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release \
    -G "CodeBlocks - Unix Makefiles"

build_type

---

CMake build types:

• Release
• RelWithDebInfo
• MinSizeRel
• Default
• Debug

Example of the execution of this setting:

cmake \
    -S . \
    -B build \
    -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE="${build_type}" \
    -G "CodeBlocks - Unix Makefiles"

c_extensions

---

Pattern to match the file extension of C/C++ source code. The rule is that needs to have the dot (.) and then the extension, it follows the pipeline (|) without spaces after the next extension. Every extension should be in lower case, since the filter convert the file name in lowercase.

• Default. It is a bash regular expression which start with dot and finish with dollar sign, it is indicating match only if the end of the string finish on .xxx.
  • \.c$|\.cc$|\.cp$|\.cpp$|\.cu$|\.cuh$|\.cx$|\.cxx$|\.h$|\.hh$|\.hp$|\.hpp$|\.hx$|\.hxx$
• Unreal examples: \.doc$|\.zip$|\.py$

Example of the execution of this setting:

  while IFS= read -r file; do
    if [[ ! ${file,,} =~ ${c_extensions} ]]; then
      #  The file 'src/bye.txt' not match with the extension then it continue with the next file.
      continue
    fi
    #  The file 'src/library/hello.c' match with the extension then performs an action.
  done < file_list.txt

clang_tidy_options

---

Set options to the CLang Tidy command. See the tool reference for it.

The default values are --format-style=llvm --warnings-as-errors=* --header-filter=.* --checks=*.

Note: If the project directory contains the .clang-tidy file, it will take precedence over any optional parameter that is specified. Means this options will not take effects.

Example of the execution of this setting:

eval "clang-tidy ${clang_tidy_options} fie.c -- file.c >> clang-tidy-report.txt"

clang_format_options

---

Set options to the CLang Format command. See the tool reference for it.

The default values are --style=LLVM --sort-includes --Werror --dry-run.

Note: If the project directory contains the .clang-format file, looks like it does not take this in count, the parameters still needed.

Example of the execution of this setting:

eval "clang-format ${clang_format_options} file.c || echo 'Not formatted!' >> clang-format-report.txt"

cppcheck_options

---

Set options to the CPP Check command. See the tool reference for it.

The default values are:

• --language=c
• --std=c11
• --platform=unix64
• --library=boost.cfg
• --library=cppcheck-lib.cfg
• --library=cppunit.cfg
• --library=gnu.cfg
• --library=libcerror.cfg
• --library=posix.cfg
• --library=std.cfg
• --enable=all
• --inconclusive
• --force
• --max-ctu-depth=1000000
• --template="----------\n{file}\nMessage: {message}\n Check: {severity} -> {id}\n Stack: {callstack}\n Line: {line}:{column}\n{code}\n"
• --template-location="----------\n{file}\nNote: {info}\nLine: {line}:{column}\n{code}\n"
• --project=build/compile_commands.json

Example of the execution of this setting:

eval "cppcheck ${cppcheck_options} 2> cppcheck-full-report.txt"

install_packages

---

Install extra package to compile your code inside this action. In case that this option is not specified it will not install any extra package. To install more than one package separate by spaces ( ).

• Example: cmake python boost jq clang avir

Example of the execution of this setting:

  if [[ -n ${install_packages} ]]; then
    apt --assume-yes install "${install_packages}"
  fi

Tools

CLang Tidy

Visit the official web page for more information.

• Recommended options: --format-style=llvm --warnings-as-errors=* --header-filter=.* --checks=*
• Complete command: clang-tidy --format-style=llvm --warnings-as-errors=* --header-filter=.* --checks=* main.c -- main.c
• List all the checks: clang-tidy --list-checks --checks=*
• Auto fix option: --fix --fix-errors

CLang Format

Visit the official web page for more information.

• Recommended options: --dry-run --Werror --style=LLVM
• Complete command: clang-format --dry-run --Werror --style=LLVM main.c
• Auto fix option: -i

CPP Check

Visit the official web page for more information.

cppcheck \
  --language=c \
  --std=c11 \
  --platform=unix64 \
  --suppress=missingIncludeSystem \
  --enable=all \
  --inconclusive \
  --force \
  --max-ctu-depth=1000000 \
  --library=boost.cfg \
  --library=cppcheck-lib.cfg \
  --library=cppunit.cfg \
  --library=gnu.cfg \
  --library=libcerror.cfg \
  --library=posix.cfg \
  --library=std.cfg \
  --template="----------\n{file}:{line}\nMessage: {message}\n  Check: CWE-{cwe} [{severity} -> {id}]\n  Stack: {callstack}\n   Line: {line}:{column}\n{code}\n" \
  --template-location="----------\n{file}:{line}\nNote: {info}\nLine: {line}:{column}\n{code}\n" \
  --project=build/compile_commands.json \
  2> cppcheck-full-report.txt

Options:

• --language - Forces to check all files as the given language.
  • c
  • c++
• --std - Set standard.
  • c89
  • c99
  • c11
  • c++03
  • c++11
  • c++14
  • c++17
  • c++20
• --platform - Specifies platform specific types and sizes.
  • unix32
  • unix64
  • win32A
  • win32W
  • win64
  • avr8
  • native
  • unspecified
• --library - Load file that contains information about types and functions. With such information Cppcheck understands your code better and therefore you get better results.
• --enable - Enable additional checks.
  • all
  • warning
  • style
  • performance
  • portability
  • information
  • unusedFunction
  • missingInclude
• --inconclusive - Allow that Cppcheck reports even though the analysis is inconclusive.
• --force - Force checking of all configurations in files.
• --max-ctu-depth - Max depth in whole program analysis. The default value is 2. A larger value will mean more errors can be found but also means the analysis will be slower.
• --template - Format the error messages.
• --template-location - Format error message location.
• --project - Run Cppcheck on project. The can be a Visual Studio Solution (.sln), Visual Studio Project ( .vcxproj), compile database (compile_commands.json), or Borland C++ Builder 6 (*.bpr). The files to analyse, include paths, defines, platform and un-defines in the specified file will be used.
• 2> cppcheck-full-report.txt - Save the errors in a text file.