Coding analysis methods with the EGL APIs

Use the EGL APIs to analyze the EGL language elements that you select for your user-written rules.

About this task

For more information about the EGL APIs and the generated implementation code, see the related links at the end of the topic.

Procedure

To implement the code analysis for a custom rule:
  1. Open the Plug-in Development perspective.
  2. In the Package Explorer, right-click the Java™ source file that was generated for your custom rule, then click Open With > Java Editor.
    The location of the Java™ file in the Package Explorer is project_name > src > package_name > class_name.java.
    For example: MyPluginProject > src > com.example > EglRule.java.
  3. In the Java™ editor, add Java™ code to each of the generated visit() methods to do the code analysis.
    A visit() method is generated for each nonabstract subinterface of the EGL Application Model interface corresponding to the EGL language element that you selected.
    For example, suppose that you selected the AddStatement element in the Statements tree on the third page of the creation wizard:
    • The EAM interface corresponding to AddStatement is the AddStatement interface.
    • Two visit() methods are generated, one for each of an AST visit and an IR visit for the interface.
    Note:
    • The visit() methods belong to the interfaces IASTVisitor and IRVisitor, in the Custom Rules API for EGL code review. Do not implement IASTVistor or IRVistor directly; instead, subclass AbstractASTRuleVisitor or AbstractIRRuleVisitor. The following examples show the generated visit() methods:
      • boolean visit(com.ibm.etools.edt.core.ast.AddStatement node)
      • boolean visit(com.ibm.etools.edt.core.ir.api.AddStatement clause)
    • The node that is passed as input to a visit() method is a subinterface of the interface Node in the package com.ibm.etools.edt.core.ast in the EGL Application Model (EAM) API.
    • The clause that is passed as input to a visit() method, if RUN_AS_IR is set to true, is a subinterface of the interface Element in the package com.ibm.etools.edt.core.ir.api in the EGL Application Model (EAM) API.
    When a EGL source file is analyzed, the code analyzer starts a visit() method whenever it encounters an instance of the corresponding Node or Element.
  4. In each visit() method, add Java™ code for the following functions:
    • Use the Node node, or Element clause if using RUN_AS_IR, that is passed as input to the visit() method to get information about the instance of the EGL language element that you are analyzing.
    • Perform the code analysis for your custom rule. If you have more than one visit() method for your rule, you probably also must write Java™ code to coordinate the results from the individual visit() methods.
    • Set the return code and the return information. Return true to continue visiting child nodes of the current node or false to skip visiting child nodes. If the EGL language element that is being analyzed violates the rule, add the corresponding node to the tokens list.
  5. When you are finished, close the Java™ editor.