Provided by: splint_3.1.2+dfsg-1build1_amd64 
NAME
splint - A tool for statically checking C programs
SYNOPSIS
splint [options]
DESCRIPTION
splint is a tool for statically checking C programs for security vulnerabilities and common programming
mistakes. With minimal effort, splint can be used as a better lint. If additional effort is invested
adding annotations to programs, splint can perform stronger checks than can be done by any standard lint.
For full documentation, install the splint-doc-html Debian package. This man page only covers a few of
the available options.
OPTIONS
-help Shows help
Initialization
These flags control directories and files used by splint. They may be used from the command line or in an
options file, but may not be used as control comments in the source code. Except where noted. they have
the same meaning preceded by - or +.
-tmpdir directory
Set directory for writing temp files. Default is /tmp/.
-I directory
Add directory to path searched for C include files. Note there is no space after the I, to be
consistent with C preprocessor flags.
-S directory
Add directory to path search for .lcl specification files.
-f file
Load options file <file>. If this flag is used from the command line, the default ~/.splintrc file
is not loaded. This flag may be used in an options file to load in another options file.
-nof Prevents the default options files (./.splintrc and ~/.splintrc) from being loaded. (Setting -nof
overrides +nof, causing the options files to be loaded normally.)
-systemdirs directories
Set directories for system files (default is "/usr/include"). Separate directories with colons
(e.g., "/usr/include:/usr/local/lib"). Flag settings propagate to files in a system directory. If
-systemdirerrors is set, no errors are reported for files in system directories.
Pre-processor
These flags are used to define or undefine pre-processor constants. The -I<directory> flag is also
passed to the C pre-processor.
-D initializer
Passed to the C pre-processor.
-U initializer
Passed to the C pre-processor
Libraries These flags control the creation and use of libraries.
-dump file
Save state in <file> for loading. The default extension .lcd is added if <file> has no extension.
-load file
Load state from <file> (created by -dump). The default extension .lcd is added if <file> has no
extension. Only one library file may be loaded.
By default, the standard library is loaded if the -load flag is not used to load a user library. If
no user library is loaded, one of the following flags may be used to select a different standard
library. Precede the flag by + to load the described library (or prevent a library from being
loaded using nolib). See Apppendix F for information on the provided libraries.
-nolib
Do not load any library. This prevents the standard library from being loaded.
-ansi-lib
Use the ANSI standard library (selected by default).
-strict-lib
Use strict version of the ANSI standard library.
-posix-lib
Use the POSIX standard library.
-posix-strict-lib
Use the strict version of the POSIX standard library.
-1-lib
Use UNIX version of standard library.
-1-strict-lib
Use the strict version of the UNIX standard library.
Output
These flags control what additional information is printed by splint. Setting +<flag> causes the
described information to be printed; setting -<flag> prevents it. By default, all these flags are off.
-usestderr
Send error messages to standard error (instead of standard out). This flag has been replaced by
more precise flags for controlling the warning, status message and fatal error streams
independently. See the output of splint +usestderr
-showsummary
Show a summary of all errors reported and suppressed. Counts of suppressed errors are not
necessarily correct since turning a flag off may prevent some checking from being done to save
computation, and errors that are not reported may propagate differently from when they are
reported.
-showscan
Show file names as they are processed.
-showalluses
Show list of uses of all external identifiers sorted by number of uses.
-stats
Display number of lines processed and checking time.
-timedist
Display distribution of where checking time is spent.
-quiet
Suppress herald and error count. (If quiet is not set, splint prints out a herald with version
information before checking begins, and a line summarizing the total number of errors reported.)
-whichlib
Print out the standard library filename and creation information.
-limit number
At most <number> similar errors are reported consecutively. Further errors are suppressed, and a
message showing the number of suppressed messages is printed.
Expected Errors
Normally, splint will expect to report no errors. The exit status will be success (0) if no errors are
reported, and failure if any errors are reported. Flags can be used to set the expected number of
reported errors. Because of the provided error suppression mechanisms, these options should probably not
be used for final checking real programs but may be useful in developing programs using make.
-expect <number>
Exactly <number> code errors are expected. splint will exit with failure exit status unless
<number> code errors are detected.
-Message Format
These flags control how messages are printed. They may be set at the command line, in options
files, or locally in syntactic comments. The linelen and limit flags may be preceded by + or - with
the same meaning; for the other flags, + turns on the describe printing and - turns it off. The box
to the left of each flag gives its default value.
-showcolumn
Show column number where error is found. Default: +
-showfunc
Show name of function (or macro) definition containing error. The function name is printed once
before the first message detected in that function. Default: +
-showallconjs
Show all possible alternate types (see Section 8.2.2). Default: -
-paren-file-format
Use file(line) format in messages.
-hints
Provide hints describing an error and how a message may be suppressed for the first error reported
in each error class. Default: +
-forcehints
Provide hints for all errors reported, even if the hint has already been displayed for the same
error class. Default: -
-linelen number
Set length of maximum message line to <number> characters. splint will split messages longer than
<number> characters long into multiple lines. Default: 80
Mode Selector Flags
Mode selects flags set the mode checking flags to predefined values. They provide a quick coarse-grain
way of controlling what classes of errors are reported. Specific checking flags may be set after a mode
flag to override the mode settings. Mode flags may be used locally, however the mode settings will
override specific command line flag settings. A warning is produced if a mode flag is used after a mode
checking flag has been set.
These are brief descriptions to give a general idea of what each mode does. To see the complete flag
settings in each mode, use splint -help modes. A mode flag has the same effect when used with either + or
-.
-weak Weak checking, intended for typical unannotated C code. No modifies checking, macro checking, rep
exposure, or clean interface checking is done. Return values of type int may be ignored. The types
bool, int, char and user-defined enum types are all equivalent. Old style declarations are
unreported.
-standard
The default mode. All checking done by weak, plus modifies checking, global alias checking, use all
parameters, using released storage, ignored return values or any type, macro checking, unreachable
code, infinite loops, and fall-through cases. The types bool, int and char are distinct. Old style
declarations are reported.
-checks
Moderately strict checking. All checking done by standard, plus must modification checking, rep
exposure, return alias, memory management and complete interfaces.
-strict
Absurdly strict checking. All checking done by checks, plus modifications and global variables used
in unspecified functions, strict standard library, and strict typing of C operators. A special
reward will be presented to the first person to produce a real program that produces no errors with
strict checking.
AUTHOR
If you need to get in contact with the authors send email to info@splint.org or visit
<http://www.splint.org>.
splint(1)