Run Polyspace as You Code in Visual Studio and Review Results

You can choose to run Polyspace^® as You Code automatically every time you save your code in Visual Studio^®, or manually. The analysis runs on the file that is currently active in the IDE. (The file must be part of a Visual Studio project, which can be part of a Visual Studio solution.) After analysis, you see bugs and coding standard violations as source code markers or in a separate list.

Confirm Installation of Extension

To confirm that your Visual Studio installation has the Polyspace as You Code extension, check the list of installed extensions. Select Extensions > Manage Extensions and confirm Polyspace as You Code appears in the Installed pane.

You can also confirm that the extension starts as expected in the Output view. In the Output view, select Polyspace as You Code from the Show output from list. If the extension starts without errors, you see a message similar to this one:

[Information] No setting set for the port. Trying to find a free port.
[Information] Connector was successfully started on port 51294

The Polyspace Connector is an internal server that handles communication between the Polyspace as You Code analysis engine and the Visual Studio extension. If the default port is not available, the extension increments the port number by 1 and attempts to start the Polyspace Connector on this port. If you use multiple Visual Studio instances, you can run Polyspace as You Code on all the instances. The Polyspace Connector uses a different port for each instance.

Open Polyspace as You Code Perspective

The Polyspace as You Code extension has a dedicated perspective in Visual Studio that groups all the relevant Polyspace views.

To open the Polyspace as You Code perspective, select Extensions > Polyspace > Open Polyspace Windows

The different views in the Polyspace as You Code perspective show information about the state of your configuration and about the files that you select for analysis. For more information, click in the Configuration or Quality Monitoring view to open the documentation.

Quality Monitoring View

The Quality Monitoring view shows all the files that you have selected for analysis, along with the status of the analysis and number of findings for each file.

To analyze a file, select the file and click . You can also start a sequential file-by-file analysis by clicking .

Click to configure adding files to the Quality Monitoring view when you save the file. See Configure Polyspace as You Code Extension in Visual Studio. To add a file manually, right-click the file in the editor or in the Solution Explorer.

Headers View

When you analyze a file, Polyspace also analyzes the header files that are included by the file and that are in the same folder as the file. If Polyspace reports findings in a header file, you see an H next to the analyzed file in the Quality Monitoring view. Click the analyzed file in that view to list the headers file in the Headers view.

Polyspace as You Code Headers view in Visual Studio

You see header files in the list only if they contain findings. Click the file in the Headers view to open its findings in the Error List view.

Error List View

The Error List view shows the all the analysis findings, listed one finding per line. Each line shows additional information, such as:

The name of the defect or coding rule, family, and description
Name of the file containing the finding
Review information

The findings are grouped by results family. To change the grouping or to view findings in a flat list, right-click in the Error List view and select Grouping. Select a column header to sort by.

Polyspace as You Code Error List view in Visual Studio

The results that show in the Error List view represent the results for the files that you select in the Quality Monitoring view. The number of results in the Error List view can change and does not represent results for all analyzed files.

When you select a file in the Quality Monitoring view, in the Error List view you see results from:

Each file listed in the Quality Monitoring view including the selected file.
The header files of the file you select in the Quality Monitoring view.

If you select a different file in the Quality Monitoring view:

Polyspace removes the previously selected file's header file results from the Error List view.
The newly selected file's header file results show in the Error List view.

Result Details View

When you select a finding in the Error List view or in the editor, the Result Details view shows additional information about the finding, including (when available) the traceback and the review information imported from the baseline.

If you select multiple lines of code, the Result Details view shows the result details for all the findings in the selection. Click to view contextual help about the selected finding.

To lock this view while you browse findings in the source code or the Error List view, click . The Result Details view does not update when you select a different finding. Click again to unlock the Result Details view.

Configuration View

The Configuration view shows the current analysis settings and the status of the generated build options, if applicable. You can perform these actions using the icons in the Configuration view:

Click to generate a build options file. This button is available only if you configure the extension to extract build options from your build command, from your Visual Studio project, or from a JSON compilation database. See Generate Build Options for Polyspace as You Code Analysis in Visual Studio.
Click to configure analysis options. See Configure Analysis Settings.
Click to open the Checkers selection window. See Configure Checkers for Polyspace as You Code in Visual Studio.

Baseline View

The Baseline view shows whether you are using the baseline or not and the status of the baseline download, if applicable. If you configure the baseline settings, you see information about the Polyspace Access server and the project you use as a baseline. See Set Baseline Polyspace as You Code Results in Visual Studio.

In the Baseline view, you can:

Click to download or update a baseline.
Click to open the baseline settings.

If the results from the baseline run are generated with a Polyspace version that is older than your Polyspace as You Code version, the Baseline view shows a warning.

Run Analysis

You can run a Polyspace as You Code analysis in two ways: when you save a file that is in the Quality Monitoring view, or manually.

Run Analysis On Save

By default, the Polyspace as You Code extension adds the current file to the Quality Monitoring view when you save the file, but does not start the analysis.

To enable the analysis of the current file when you save the file, click in the Quality Monitoring view and in the Options dialog box, select Start analysis on save.

After analysis, source code lines that contain findings appear with red underlines. You also see the finding locations as red marks on the scroll bar. Double-click a finding in the Error List view to navigate to the corresponding source code. If the analysis fails, check the messages in the Output view to diagnose the cause of the failure.

If results do not appear, see Troubleshoot Failed Analysis or Unexpected Results in Polyspace as You Code.

Run Analysis Manually

To disable starting an analysis when you save a file, select Tools > Options to open the Options dialog box, select the Polyspace as You Code > Analysis Options node, and then clear the Start analysis on save checkbox. To start an analysis manually, do one of the following:

Click in the Quality Monitoring view to run an analysis on the selected file.
Click in the Quality Monitoring view to run analysis sequentially on each file in the Quality Monitoring list.
Right-click the file in the editor and select Polyspace > Run Polyspace Analysis to run an analysis on the file open in the editor.

Review Results

After analysis, the results appear in two forms:

As red underlines in the source code.
As a list in the Error List view.
If you select a finding in the Error List view, you see additional details about the finding in the Result Details view. Click to open the contextual help for the currently selected finding.

Example of Polyspace as You Code results in Visual Studio

Apply Suggested Fix for Common Defects or Coding Rule Violations

If Polyspace reports certain common defects or coding rule violations in your code, the Polyspace as You Code extension proposes one or more fixes that you can apply to these findings.

To apply a quick fix, select a finding in the editor or the Error List panel, and then, from the light bulb menu, click the appropriate option. The quick fix options have the format Fix checkerName: proposedFix. Here, checkerName is the name of the selected defect checker or coding rule, and proposedFix is the fix that Polyspace applies to your code. Polyspace edits your code and fixes the issue or all instances of the issue in the currently active file, depending on the option that you select. If there is more than one proposed fix, you see all available fixes in the menu.

Visual Studio apply quick fix using contextual menu

This table lists the common defects and coding rule violations for which Polyspace proposes a fix, along with the Polyspace checkers that report these issues.

Common Defect or Coding Rule Violation	Polyspace Checkers That Report the Issue
Function that could be evaluated a compile time missing `constexpr` specifier	`Missing constexpr specifier` (Polyspace Bug Finder)
Inefficient use of `std::any_cast` to cast object by value	`Expensive use of std::any_cast` (Polyspace Bug Finder)
Inefficient use of `std::string operator+()`	`Expensive use of non-member std::string operator+() instead of a simple append` (Polyspace Bug Finder)
Inefficient use of the `[]` operator to insert or assign a value to a key in a `std::map` or `std::unordered_map` (C++ 17 and later only)	`Expensive use of map's bracket operator to insert or assign a value` (Polyspace Bug Finder)
Parameter passed by value results in expensive copy	`AUTOSAR C++14 Rule A8-4-3` (Polyspace Bug Finder) `AUTOSAR C++14 Rule A8-4-7` (Polyspace Bug Finder) `Expensive pass by value` (Polyspace Bug Finder)
Unmodified expensive-to-copy parameter passed by value	`AUTOSAR C++14 Rule A8-4-7` (Polyspace Bug Finder) `Expensive pass by value` (Polyspace Bug Finder)
Unmodified local variable is created by expensive copy from a `const` reference	`Expensive local variable copy` (Polyspace Bug Finder)
Unmodified variable not declared `const`	`AUTOSAR C++14 Rule A7-1-1` (Polyspace Bug Finder) `CERT C: Rec. DCL00-C` (Polyspace Bug Finder) `MISRA C++:2008 Rule 7-1-1` (Polyspace Bug Finder) `Unmodified variable not const-qualified` (Polyspace Bug Finder)
Unnecessary call to `std::move` in a return statement	`Expensive return caused by unnecessary std::move` (Polyspace Bug Finder)
Unused include	`AUTOSAR C++14 Rule A16-2-2` (Polyspace Bug Finder) `Useless include` (Polyspace Bug Finder)
Unused parameter	`AUTOSAR C++14 Rule A0-1-4` (Polyspace Bug Finder) `AUTOSAR C++14 Rule A0-1-5` (Polyspace Bug Finder) `CERT C: Rec. MSC13-C` (Polyspace Bug Finder) `MISRA C:2012 Rule 2.7` (Polyspace Bug Finder) `Unused parameter` (Polyspace Bug Finder)
Use of `std::endl`	`std::endl may cause an unnecessary flush` (Polyspace Bug Finder)

Justify Results Using Code Annotations

If you decide not to fix a result, you can justify the result by adding code annotations. If the annotations follow a specific syntax, subsequent Polyspace as You Code runs can read these annotations and suppress the corresponding result.

To add a code annotation, right-click a finding in the Error List view and select Polyspace > Justify the current result. The annotation is entered on the same line as the finding. You can also apply an annotation by pointing to the code marker for that result.
To justify all findings of the same defect or coding rule violation in the current file, right-click a finding in the Error List view and select Polyspace > Justify all instances of the selected finding. Polyspace inserts an annotation in your code on each line that contains this finding.
If you import review information from a baseline run, any status, severity, or comment from the baseline run is automatically applied to the corresponding Polyspace as You Code finding.
Findings with an imported status of Not a defect, Justified, or No action planned are removed from the Error List view and those findings are suppressed in subsequent analyses.

Polyspace as You Code inserts code annotations as comments enclosed in /* */ or C files and prefixed with // in C++ files. The comment format in C files complies with MISRA C:2004 Rule 2.2. See MISRA C:2004 and MISRA AC AGC Rules (Polyspace Bug Finder).

View Context-Sensitive Help for Result

You can see more information on a type of result by visiting the context-sensitive help page for the result.

To open the context-sensitive help for a finding, select that finding in your code or in the Error List, and then click in the Result Details view.

You can also open the full searchable documentation for the Polyspace as You Code extension in your system browser by clicking in the Baseline, Configuration, or Quality Monitoring view.

Configure Checkers and Other Settings

Polyspace as You Code checks for a default subset of defects, but you can expand the set of checkers and perform other configuration through the Polyspace as You Code extension settings in Visual Studio.

For example, you can:

Enable or disable certain checkers. See Configure Checkers for Polyspace as You Code in Visual Studio.
Review only new results. See Set Baseline Polyspace as You Code Results in Visual Studio.

To open the extension settings, select Tools > Options to open the Options dialog box, and then select the Polyspace as You Code node. For the full list of settings, see Configure Polyspace as You Code Extension in Visual Studio.