This topic explains how to prevent C/C++test from reporting selected static analysis violations.

Sections include:

About Suppressions

Suppressions are used to prevent C/C++test from reporting selected occurrences of a static analysis violations. You use suppressions for situations when you generally want to follow a rule, but decide to ignore specific occurrences of the reported task.

Suppressions can be stored in source code or in local suppression files, which can be checked in the source control system so that they are shared across the team. You can use the Parasoft GUI to create suppressions or manually add information about suppressions in your source code or suppression files. In addition, suppressions can be defined programmatically through a configuration file.

Defining Suppressions in the GUI

To suppress a static analysis task that is shown in the Quality Tasks view:

1. Right-click a Quality Tasks view item that represents the task you want to suppress, then choose Suppress Task... from the menu.
   To suppress more than one task, right-click the node that represents a group of tasks (a rule category, a specific rule, a file), then choose Suppress All Tasks
2. Choose where the suppressions will be stored. You can select one of the following options:
   - Suppress in suppression file - The suppression will be stored in a parasoft.suppress file located in the same directory as the corresponding source file. See Defining Suppressions in Suppression Files for details.
   - Suppress in source code - The selected task will be suppressed in code and shared across the team when checked in your source control system.
   - Suppress locally (deprecated) - The suppression will be stored locally in the deprecated XML-style format. See Using the Deprecated Suppression Format for details.
   
3. Enter the reason for suppression.
4. Click OK to complete suppression. The suppressed task(s) will be removed from the Quality Tasks view.

Defining Suppressions in Suppression Files

If you choose to store a suppression in a file, it will be stored in a parasoft.suppress file located in the same directory as the source file that contains the rule violation. You can define in-file suppressions in one of the following ways:

• By manually creating parasoft.suppress files where you can add suppression entries. If you manually create a  suppression file, ensure it is located in the same directory as the source file that contains the task you want to suppress.

• By choosing the Suppress in suppression file option in the GUI (see Defining Suppressions in the GUI).

  Newly created suppression files are not included in your project. To add a suppression file to your project:

  1. Enable the Show All Files option on the Visual Studio Solution Explorer toolbar or refresh Solution Explorer if the option is already enabled. This will display files from outside the project, including the Parasoft suppression files.
  2. Right-click the suppression file(s) you add to your project and choose Include in Project from the menu.

We recommend that suppression files be checked in your source control system. This allows you to share information about suppressions with other team members and easily review the suppressions on a branch in your SCM repository before merging the code into the main stream of development, such as "master", "trunk', etc.

Use the following format to add suppression entries to parasoft.suppress files:

suppression-begin
file: Account.cpp                 (required)
line: 12                          (optional)
rule-id: CODSTA-123               (optional)
message: Exact violation message  (optional)
reason: Approved                  (optional)
author: devel                     (optional)
date: 2020-09-21                  (optional)
suppression-end

Example

At a minimum, you must specify the source file where the problem was detected. This will suppress all findings reported for the specified file. In the following example, all findings detected in the Account file will be suppressed:

suppression-begin
file: Account.cpp
suppression-end

Other attributes are optional and help you fine-tune the suppression. In the following example, all findings that the PB.TYPO.TLS rule detected in the Account file are suppressed, regardless on which code line they occur:

suppression-begin
file: Account.cpp
rule-id: PB.TYPO.TLS
reason: false positive
suppression-end

Notes on Attributes

• It is a good practice to specify the reason for suppression.
• The line attribute should be used with caution as it may invalidate the suppression if the code is moved to another line when the source file is modified.

Defining Suppressions in Source Code

When suppressions are defined in source code:

• You ensure that the same suppressions are applied whenever you or a team member tests that code.
• You can add code comments explaining each suppressions, so the reason for each suppression is always clear when you or team members are reviewing the code.
• You gain fine-grained control over which rules are enforced at the file, class, or line level.

You can define suppressions in source code either by choosing the appropriate option in the GUI (see Defining Suppressions in the GUI) or by manually them manually in source code – using the following suppression syntax.

Line Suppression

<suppression keyword> [<rule category> | <rule category> . <rule id> | <rule category > - <rule severity> | ALL ] <suppression comment>

Line Suppression Examples

//parasoft-suppress CODSTA "suppress all rules in category CODSTA"

// parasoft-suppress CODSTA.NEA "suppress rule CODSTA.NEA"

// parasoft-suppress CODSTA-1 "suppress all rules in category CODSTA with severity level 1"

// parasoft-suppress ALL "suppress all rules"

// parasoft-suppress CODSTA FORMAT.MCH JAVADOC-3 "suppress all rules in category CODSTA and rule FORMAT.MCH and all rules in category JAVADOC with severity level 3"

Block Suppression

<begin suppression keyword> [<rule category> | <rule category> . <rule id> | <rule category > - <rule severity> | ALL ] <suppression comment>

 ..... source code block .....

<end suppression keyword> [<rule category> | <rule category> . <rule id> | <rule category > - <rule severity> | ALL ] <suppression comment>

Block Suppression Examples

// parasoft-begin-suppress CODSTA "begin suppress all rules in category CODSTA"
.....
// parasoft-end-suppress CODSTA "end suppress all rules in category CODSTA"

// parasoft-begin-suppress CODSTA.NEA "begin suppress rule CODSTA.NEA"
.....
// parasoft-end-suppress CODSTA.NEA "end suppress rule CODSTA.NEA"
 
// parasoft-begin-suppress CODSTA-1 "begin suppress all rules in category CODSTA with severity level 1"
......
// parasoft-end-suppress CODSTA-1 "end suppress all rules in category CODSTA with severity level 1"

//parasoft-begin-suppress ALL "begin suppress all rules"
.....
// parasoft-end-suppress ALL "end suppress all rules"

// parasoft-begin-suppress CODSTA FORMAT.MCH "begin suppress all rules in category CODSTA and rule FORMAT.MCH"
.....
// parasoft-end-suppress CODSTA FORMAT.MCH "end suppress all rules in category CODSTA and rule FORMAT.MCH"

// parasoft-begin-suppress CODSTA "begin suppress all rules in category CODSTA"
.....
// parasoft-end-suppress CODSTA-1 "end suppress all rules in category CODSTA with severity level 1; however rules with severity level 2-5 in category CODSTA are still suppressed."
.....
// parasoft-end-suppress CODSTA "end suppress all rules in category CODSTA"
 
// parasoft-begin-suppress ALL "begin suppress all rules"
.....
// parasoft-end-suppress CODSTA FORMAT-1 "end suppress all rules in category CODSTA and all rules in category FORMAT with severity level 1; however, others rules in CODSTA and FORMAT-1 are still suppressed."
.....
// parasoft-end-suppress ALL "end suppress all rules"
 
//parasoft-begin-suppress ALL "begin suppress all rules, since no end suppression comment, all rules will be suppressed starting from this line"

Defining Line Suppressions Based on Regex Patterns

You can configure C/C++test to automatically suppress static rule violations that are detected on lines that match a regular expression pattern. This may be useful when you want to suppress tasks that are difficult to suppress using the in-line or in-code suppressions, such as Qt macros.

To define regular expressions patterns to specify the code lines:

1. Create an advanced settings file that includes the following C/C++test's advanced settings:

   cpptest.result.line.suppressions.enabled=true          // Enables creating regex-based suppressions.
   cpptest.result.line.suppressions.pattern=[regex;regex] // Specifies a semicolon-separated list of regex patterns.
   

2. Specify the path to the advanced settings. See Configuring an Advanced Settings File.

Static rule violations that occur on lines that match the configured regex pattern(s) will be suppressed. For example, the following configuration will suppresses all findings detected on code lines that contain "Q_" anywhere on the line.

cpptest.result.line.suppressions.enabled=true
cpptest.result.line.suppressions.pattern=.*Q_.*

Handling Deprecated Suppressions

Storing suppressions in the XML-style format locally or on Team Server is deprecated. Starting with C/C++test 2020.2, suppressions are created either directly in code or in the in-file suppression format (see Defining Suppressions in Suppression Files). If there are suppressions in the deprecated format available for your project (typically, when you upgrade C/C++test to version 2020.2 or later and you have created suppressions with previous versions of C/C++test) they are still applied to your code and you can review them in the deprecated Suppressions view.

Migrating Deprecated Suppressions

You can migrate suppressions to the in-file suppression format using C/C++test's capabilities:

1. Choose Parasoft > Show View > Suppressions (deprecated) from the IDE menu to open the deprecated Suppressions view.
   
2. Choose Migrate suppressions... from the menu.
3. Follow the instructions displayed in the dialog that opens.

If your C/C++test installation is connected to Team Server, C/C++test detects and migrates team suppressions stored on Team Server. As a result:

• The deprecated team suppressions are converted into plain text and saved in parasoft.suppress files located in the same location as the corresponding source file.
• After migration, the deprecated team suppressions are still be available on Team Server and the deprecated Suppressions view and need to be manually removed.

If your C/C++test installation is not connected to Team Server, C/C++test detects and migrates local suppressions stored in your workspace. As a result:

• The deprecated local suppressions are converted into plain text and saved in parasoft.suppress files located in the same location as the corresponding source file.
• A backup file that contains local suppressions in the deprecated format is created. The location of the file is printed to the console.
• After migration, the deprecated local suppressions are removed from the workspace and from the deprecated Suppressions view.

If you should want to restore deprecated  local suppressions from the backup file:

1. Close your IDE.

2. Go to the location where the backup file is stored (the location is printed to the console). It contains a local_suppressions_backup.zip file.

3. Extract the contents of local_suppressions_backup.zip to the same location.

You can re-migrate restored local suppressions on next IDE startup.

Enabling Deprecated Suppressions

Enabling deprecated suppressions allows you to create suppressions in the deprecated format and store them locally or on Team Server.

1. Choose Parasoft > Show View > Suppressions (deprecated) from the IDE menu to open the deprecated Suppressions view.
2. Enable the Enable deprecated suppressions option in the menu.