Documentation for Pascal Analyzer - Peganza

182 Pages·2016·1.84 MB·English

Pascal Analyzer
Copyright © 2001-2017 Peganza
Pascal Analyzer
by Peganza
Pascal Analyzer parses Delphi or Borland Pascal source
code and produces reports that help you understand your
source code better.
Pascal Analyzer
Copyright © 2001-2017 Peganza
All rights reserved. No parts of this work may be reproduced in any form or by any means - graphic, electronic, or
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respective owners. The publisher and the author make no claim to these trademarks.
While every precaution has been taken in the preparation of this document, the publisher and the author assume no
responsibility for errors or omissions, or for damages resulting from the use of information contained in this document
or from the use of programs and source code that may accompany it. In no event shall the publisher and the author be
liable for any loss of profit or any other commercial damage caused or alleged to have been caused directly or
indirectly by this document.
4 Pascal Analyzer
Table of Contents
Foreword 0
Introduction 7
Known limitations 12
What's new in version 9 (April 2017)? 15
What's new in version 8 (May 2016)? 28
What's new in version 7 (November 2013)? 32
What's new in version 6 (August 2011)? 35
What's new in version 5 (May 2010)? 39
What's new in version 4 (October 2006)? 42
Command-Line Options for PAL.EXE and
PAL32.EXE 45
How to use PAL.EXE and PAL32.EXE 46
How to use PALCMD.EXE and
PALCMD32.EXE 48
Installation folders 53
Main window 55
Reports 61
1 General Rep.o..r..t.s............................................................................................................................. 62
Status Report. ......................................................................................................................................................... 62
Strong Warnin...g..s.. .R..e..p..o..r..t. ....................................................................................................................................... 63
Warnings Rep..o..r.t.. ................................................................................................................................................... 68
Memory Repo.r..t. ...................................................................................................................................................... 92
Optimization .R..e..p..o..r..t. .............................................................................................................................................. 95
Code Reducti.o..n.. .R...e..p..o..r.t. ......................................................................................................................................... 99
Convention C...o..m...p..l.i.a..n...c..e. .R...e..p..o..r..t. ......................................................................................................................... 110
Inconsistent. .C..a..s..e.. .R...e..p..o..r.t.. ................................................................................................................................... 115
Prefix Repor.t. ........................................................................................................................................................ 116
NextGen Rea..d..i.n..e..s..s.. .R...e..p..o..r.t. ................................................................................................................................. 116
2 Metrics Rep..o...r.t.s............................................................................................................................ 117
Totals Repor..t. ....................................................................................................................................................... 117
Copyright © 2001-2017 Peganza
Contents 5
Module Tota.l.s.. .R..e..p..o...r.t. .......................................................................................................................................... 118
Complexity R..e..p...o..r.t. ............................................................................................................................................... 119
Object-orien.t.e..d.. .M...e..t.r..ic..s.. .R...e..p..o..r..t. .......................................................................................................................... 122
3 Reference R...e..p..o..r..t.s....................................................................................................................... 125
Modules Rep..o..r..t. ................................................................................................................................................... 126
Identifiers Re..p...o..r.t. ................................................................................................................................................. 127
Duplicate Ide..n..t.i.f..ie..r..s.. .R..e..p..o...r.t. ................................................................................................................................ 128
Similarity Re.p...o..r.t. .................................................................................................................................................. 129
Literal String..s../.N..u..m....b..e..r.s.. .R...e..p..o..r.t. .......................................................................................................................... 129
Subprogram. .I.n..d..e..x.. .R...e..p..o..r.t.. .................................................................................................................................. 130
Bindings Re.p..o..r.t.. .................................................................................................................................................. 130
Third-party D..e..p..e..n..d..e..n..c..i.e..s.. .R...e..p..o..r.t.. ...................................................................................................................... 131
Most Called .R..e..p...o..r.t. .............................................................................................................................................. 132
Call Tree Rep...o..r.t. ................................................................................................................................................... 133
Reverse Call. .T..r..e..e.. .R..e..p..o..r..t. .................................................................................................................................... 134
Call Index Re..p..o...r.t. ................................................................................................................................................. 134
Exception Re..p...o..r.t. ................................................................................................................................................. 134
Brief Cross-r..e..f.e..r.e..n..c..e.. .R..e..p...o..r.t. .............................................................................................................................. 135
Cross-refere.n..c..e.. .R...e.p...o..r.t. ....................................................................................................................................... 135
Used Outsid.e.. .R..e..p..o...r.t. ........................................................................................................................................... 137
Uses Report. ......................................................................................................................................................... 137
Conditional S...y..m...b..o..l.s.. .R...e..p..o..r.t. ............................................................................................................................... 141
Directives Re..p...o..r.t. ................................................................................................................................................. 142
To-Do Repor.t.. ....................................................................................................................................................... 143
Module Call .T..r.e..e.. .R...e..p..o..r..t. ..................................................................................................................................... 143
Help Report .......................................................................................................................................................... 144
Searched Str..i.n..g..s.. .R...e..p..o..r.t. ..................................................................................................................................... 145
Map File Rep..o..r.t.. ................................................................................................................................................... 145
4 Class Repo..r.t.s............................................................................................................................... 147
Class Index .R..e..p..o..r..t. .............................................................................................................................................. 147
Class Summ.a..r..y. .R...e..p..o..r..t. ....................................................................................................................................... 148
Class Hierar.c..h..y.. R...e..p..o..r..t. ....................................................................................................................................... 148
Class Field A..c..c..e..s..s.. .R..e..p..o...r.t. .................................................................................................................................. 149
5 Control Rep...o..r.t.s............................................................................................................................ 149
Control Inde.x.. .R..e..p..o...r.t. ........................................................................................................................................... 149
Control Align..m...e..n...t. .R..e..p..o...r.t. ................................................................................................................................... 150
Control Size. .R..e..p..o...r.t. ............................................................................................................................................. 150
Control Tab .O...r.d..e..r. .R...e..p..o..r..t. ................................................................................................................................... 151
Control Warn..i.n...g..s.. .R..e..p..o...r.t. .................................................................................................................................... 152
Property Val.u..e.. .R..e..p..o...r.t. ......................................................................................................................................... 153
Missing Prop..e..r..t.y.. .R..e..p..o..r..t. ..................................................................................................................................... 154
Form Report. ......................................................................................................................................................... 155
Events Repo.r..t. ...................................................................................................................................................... 155
Main menu 157
1 File menu ................................................................................................................................... 157
2 Edit menu ................................................................................................................................... 160
3 Search men..u................................................................................................................................. 161
4 View menu................................................................................................................................... 162
5 Analysis m.e..n..u.............................................................................................................................. 163
Copyright © 2001-2017 Peganza
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6 Pascal Analyzer
6 Options me..n..u............................................................................................................................... 164
Properties -. .G..e..n..e..r..a..l. ........................................................................................................................................... 167
Properties -. .R..e..p..o..r..t.s.. ........................................................................................................................................... 171
Properties -. .F..o..r.m...a..t.. ............................................................................................................................................ 176
Properties -. .P..a..r.s..e..r.. ............................................................................................................................................. 184
Properties -. .S..w...i.t.c..h..e..s.. ......................................................................................................................................... 190
Preferences. .-. .G...e..n..e..r..a.l. ......................................................................................................................................... 192
Preferences. .-. .S...o..u..r.c..e.. .C...o..d..e.. ................................................................................................................................ 196
Preferences. .-. .E...d..i.t.o..r.. ........................................................................................................................................... 199
Help menu 203
Index 204
Copyright © 2001-2017 Peganza
Introduction 7
1 Introduction
Welcome to Pascal Analyzer Lite!
Pascal Analyzer Lite is our totally FREE version. You can download and use it without any
cost.
It is much like the full Pascal Analyzer product, but only some of the reports are
available. We point out in this documentation when reports and report sections are only
available in the full version.
Pascal Analyzer, or PAL for short, is a utility program that analyzes, documents, debugs,
and helps you optimize your source code. Pascal Analyzer makes a static code analysis.
It only needs the source code, unlike other similar tools that perform an analysis of the
running program. We think that PAL will help you better understand your code and
support you in producing code of higher quality, consistency, and reliability.
PAL quickly pays itself back in easier maintenance, less errors and improved quality, not
only during development, but also throughout the entire life cycle of your code.
The main window in Pascal Analyzer
On a 64-bits computer, PAL will install both the main new 64-bits version and 32-bits in
Copyright © 2001-2017 Peganza
8 Pascal Analyzer
a subdirectory:
PAL.EXE – the main 64-bits Windows program with a friendly user interface
PALCMD.EXE – a 64-bits command-line analyzer
PAL32.EXE - 32-bits version
PALCMD32.EXE - 32-bits version
On a 32-bits computer, only the 32-bits versions will be installed.
The command-line analyzer produces exactly the same reports as the GUI version. You
will however most often use the GUI in PAL.EXE (or PAL32.EXE). For running analyses in
batch mode or to integrate into a build process, use PALCMD.EXE (or PALCMD32.EXE).
There are also Delphi IDE plug-ins, PALWIZ.DLL (or PALWIZx.DLL, depending on Delphi
version), to enable the RAD Studio IDE to load a source file when double-clicking on a
report line in Pascal Analyzer. The plug-in is automatically installed and enabled. You can
enable/disable the plug-in from the Preferences dialog.
The plugins work with Delphi 5 and later versions.
Pascal Analyzer functions with Pascal/Delphi Compilers from BP7 and later:
 Borland Pascal 7 (or earlier)
 Delphi 1
 Delphi 2
 Delphi 3
 Delphi 4
 Delphi 5
 Delphi 6
 Delphi 7
 Delphi 8 for .NET
 Delphi 2005 for Win32
 Delphi 2005 for .NET
 Delphi 2006 for Win32
 Delphi 2006 for .NET
 Delphi 2007 for Win32
 Delphi 2007 for .NET
 Delphi 2009 for Win32
 Delphi 2010 for Win32
 Delphi XE for Win32
 Delphi XE2 for Win32
 Delphi XE2 for Win64
 Delphi XE2 for OSX
 Delphi XE3 for Win32
 Delphi XE3 for Win64
 Delphi XE3 for OSX
Copyright © 2001-2017 Peganza
Introduction 9
 Delphi XE4 for Win32
 Delphi XE4 for Win64
 Delphi XE4 for OSX
 Delphi XE4 for iOS Device
 Delphi XE4 for iOS Simulator
 Delphi XE5 for Win32
 Delphi XE5 for Win64
 Delphi XE5 for OSX
 Delphi XE5 for iOS Device
 Delphi XE5 for iOS Simulator
 Delphi XE5 for Android
 Delphi XE6 for Win32
 Delphi XE6 for Win64
 Delphi XE6 for OSX
 Delphi XE6 for iOS Device
 Delphi XE6 for iOS Simulator
 Delphi XE6 for Android
 Delphi XE7 for Win32
 Delphi XE7 for Win64
 Delphi XE7 for OSX
 Delphi XE7 for iOS Device
 Delphi XE7 for iOS Simulator
 Delphi XE7 for Android
 Delphi XE8 for Win32
 Delphi XE8 for Win64
 Delphi XE8 for OSX
 Delphi XE8 for iOS Device 32-bits
 Delphi XE8 for iOS Device 64-bits
 Delphi XE8 for iOS Simulator
 Delphi XE8 for Android
 Delphi 10 for Win32
 Delphi 10 for Win64
 Delphi 10 for OSX
 Delphi 10 for iOS Device 32-bits
 Delphi 10 for iOS Device 64-bits
 Delphi 10 for iOS Simulator
 Delphi 10 for Android
 Delphi 10.1 for Win32
 Delphi 10.1 for Win64
 Delphi 10.1 for OSX
 Delphi 10.1 for iOS Device 32-bits
 Delphi 10.1 for iOS Device 64-bits
 Delphi 10.1 for iOS Simulator
 Delphi 10.1 for Android
 Delphi 10.2 for Win32
Copyright © 2001-2017 Peganza
10 Pascal Analyzer
 Delphi 10.2 for Win64
 Delphi 10.2 for OSX
 Delphi 10.2 for iOS Device 32-bits
 Delphi 10.2 for iOS Device 64-bits
 Delphi 10.2 for iOS Simulator
 Delphi 10.2 for Android
 Delphi 10.2 for Linux 64-bits
PAL parses your source code in the same way as the compiler. It builds large data tables
in memory and when the parsing is finished, produces an assortment of reports. These
reports hold plenty of useful information that can help you error-proof your applications.
Be forewarned that PAL occasionally needs a lot of memory (RAM). The amount of
memory needed is proportional to the number of code lines and modules in the examined
project.
In addition to common cross-reference reports, PAL produces reports that show which
units are used, which identifiers are unused and so on. It also calculates industry
standard metrics such as lines of code (LOC) and decision points (DP), and much more..
Projects
To analyze a particular set of source code with Pascal Analyzer, you must first create a
project. Do not confuse a Pascal Analyzer project with a Delphi project, they are
completely different things. The project holds the options for the analysis and lets you
conveniently use separate options for different sets of source code. Projects are saved as
text files with the extension “pap”, like for example a file with the name MyProj.pap. The
format of the files is equivalent to that of an INI file. It is possible to inspect and edit the
project files in a normal text editor, although not recommended.
Multi-projects
Multi-projects are essentially collections of Pascal Analyzer projects (see above). In a way
they are similar to Delphi project groups (*.bpg-files), in that they both reference other
projects. When a multi-project is run, the included projects are analyzed sequentially.
The reports that are generated contain mutual facts about these projects. Multi-projects
are saved as text files with the extension “pam”, like for example a file with the name
MyMProj.pam. The format of the files is equivalent to that of an INI file.
A subset of all reports and sections are generated for a multi-project:
Warnings Report
- Interfaced identifiers that are used, but not outside of unit
- Interfaced class identifiers that are public/published, but not used outside of unit
Optimization Report
- Virtual methods (procedures/functions) that are not overridden
Copyright © 2001-2017 Peganza