5. GNAT Utility Programs¶

This chapter describes a number of utility programs:

The File Cleanup Utility gnatclean
The GNAT Library Browser gnatls
The Coding Standard Verifier gnatcheck
The GNAT Metrics Tool gnatmetric
The GNAT Pretty Printer gnatpp
The Body Stub Generator gnatstub
The Unit Test Generator gnattest
Translating Code Addresses into Source Locations with gnatsymbolize

It also describes how several of these tools can be used in conjunction with project files: Using Project Files with GNAT Tools

Other GNAT utilities are described elsewhere in this manual:

5.1. The File Cleanup Utility `gnatclean`¶

gnatclean is a tool that allows the deletion of files produced by the compiler, binder and linker, including ALI files, object files, tree files, expanded source files, library files, interface copy source files, binder generated files and executable files.

5.1.1. Running `gnatclean`¶

The gnatclean command has the form:

$ gnatclean switches names

where names is a list of source file names. Suffixes .ads and adb may be omitted. If a project file is specified using switch -P, then names may be completely omitted.

In normal mode, gnatclean delete the files produced by the compiler and, if switch -c is not specified, by the binder and the linker. In informative-only mode, specified by switch -n, the list of files that would have been deleted in normal mode is listed, but no file is actually deleted.

5.1.2. Switches for `gnatclean`¶

gnatclean recognizes the following switches:

--version: Display copyright and version, then exit disregarding all other options.

--help: If --version was not used, display usage, then exit disregarding all other options.
--subdirs=subdir: Actual object directory of each project file is the subdirectory subdir of the object directory specified or defaulted in the project file.
--unchecked-shared-lib-imports: By default, shared library projects are not allowed to import static library projects. When this switch is used on the command line, this restriction is relaxed.

-c: Only attempt to delete the files produced by the compiler, not those produced by the binder or the linker. The files that are not to be deleted are library files, interface copy files, binder generated files and executable files.

-D dir: Indicate that ALI and object files should normally be found in directory dir.

-F: When using project files, if some errors or warnings are detected during parsing and verbose mode is not in effect (no use of switch -v), then error lines start with the full path name of the project file, rather than its simple file name.

-h: Output a message explaining the usage of gnatclean.

-n: Informative-only mode. Do not delete any files. Output the list of the files that would have been deleted if this switch was not specified.

-Pproject: Use project file project. Only one such switch can be used. When cleaning a project file, the files produced by the compilation of the immediate sources or inherited sources of the project files are to be deleted. This is not depending on the presence or not of executable names on the command line.

-q: Quiet output. If there are no errors, do not output anything, except in verbose mode (switch -v) or in informative-only mode (switch -n).

-r: When a project file is specified (using switch -P), clean all imported and extended project files, recursively. If this switch is not specified, only the files related to the main project file are to be deleted. This switch has no effect if no project file is specified.

-v: Verbose mode.

-vPx: Indicates the verbosity of the parsing of GNAT project files. Switches Related to Project Files.

-Xname=value: Indicates that external variable name has the value value. The Project Manager will use this value for occurrences of external(name) when parsing the project file. See Switches Related to Project Files.

-aOdir: When searching for ALI and object files, look in directory dir.

-Idir: Equivalent to -aOdir.

-I-: Do not look for ALI or object files in the directory where gnatclean was invoked.

5.2. The GNAT Library Browser `gnatls`¶

gnatls is a tool that outputs information about compiled units. It gives the relationship between objects, unit names and source files. It can also be used to check the source dependencies of a unit as well as various characteristics.

5.2.1. Running `gnatls`¶

The gnatls command has the form

$ gnatls switches object_or_ali_file

The main argument is the list of object or ali files (see The Ada Library Information Files) for which information is requested.

In normal mode, without additional option, gnatls produces a four-column listing. Each line represents information for a specific object. The first column gives the full path of the object, the second column gives the name of the principal unit in this object, the third column gives the status of the source and the fourth column gives the full path of the source representing this unit. Here is a simple example of use:

$ gnatls *.o
./demo1.o            demo1            DIF demo1.adb
./demo2.o            demo2             OK demo2.adb
./hello.o            h1                OK hello.adb
./instr-child.o      instr.child      MOK instr-child.adb
./instr.o            instr             OK instr.adb
./tef.o              tef              DIF tef.adb
./text_io_example.o  text_io_example   OK text_io_example.adb
./tgef.o             tgef             DIF tgef.adb

The first line can be interpreted as follows: the main unit which is contained in object file demo1.o is demo1, whose main source is in demo1.adb. Furthermore, the version of the source used for the compilation of demo1 has been modified (DIF). Each source file has a status qualifier which can be:

OK (unchanged): The version of the source file used for the compilation of the specified unit corresponds exactly to the actual source file.
MOK (slightly modified): The version of the source file used for the compilation of the specified unit differs from the actual source file but not enough to require recompilation. If you use gnatmake with the option -m (minimal recompilation), a file marked MOK will not be recompiled.
DIF (modified): No version of the source found on the path corresponds to the source used to build this object.
??? (file not found): No source file was found for this unit.
HID (hidden, unchanged version not first on PATH): The version of the source that corresponds exactly to the source used for compilation has been found on the path but it is hidden by another version of the same source that has been modified.

5.2.2. Switches for `gnatls`¶

gnatls recognizes the following switches:

--version: Display copyright and version, then exit disregarding all other options.

--help: If --version was not used, display usage, then exit disregarding all other options.

-a: Consider all units, including those of the predefined Ada library. Especially useful with -d.

-d: List sources from which specified units depend on.

-h: Output the list of options.

-o: Only output information about object files.

-s: Only output information about source files.

-u: Only output information about compilation units.

-files=file: Take as arguments the files listed in text file file. Text file file may contain empty lines that are ignored. Each nonempty line should contain the name of an existing file. Several such switches may be specified simultaneously.

-aOdir, -aIdir, -Idir, -I-, -nostdinc: Source path manipulation. Same meaning as the equivalent gnatmake flags (Switches for gnatmake).

-aPdir: Add dir at the beginning of the project search dir.

--RTS=rts-path: Specifies the default location of the runtime library. Same meaning as the equivalent gnatmake flag (Switches for gnatmake).

-v

Verbose mode. Output the complete source, object and project paths. Do not use the default column layout but instead use long format giving as much as information possible on each requested units, including special characteristics such as:

Preelaborable: The unit is preelaborable in the Ada sense.
No_Elab_Code: No elaboration code has been produced by the compiler for this unit.
Pure: The unit is pure in the Ada sense.
Elaborate_Body: The unit contains a pragma Elaborate_Body.
Remote_Types: The unit contains a pragma Remote_Types.
Shared_Passive: The unit contains a pragma Shared_Passive.
Predefined: This unit is part of the predefined environment and cannot be modified by the user.
Remote_Call_Interface: The unit contains a pragma Remote_Call_Interface.

5.2.3. Example of `gnatls` Usage¶

Example of using the verbose switch. Note how the source and object paths are affected by the -I switch.

$ gnatls -v -I.. demo1.o

GNATLS 5.03w (20041123-34)
Copyright 1997-2004 Free Software Foundation, Inc.

Source Search Path:
   <Current_Directory>
   ../
   /home/comar/local/adainclude/

Object Search Path:
   <Current_Directory>
   ../
   /home/comar/local/lib/gcc-lib/x86-linux/3.4.3/adalib/

Project Search Path:
   <Current_Directory>
   /home/comar/local/lib/gnat/

./demo1.o
   Unit =>
     Name   => demo1
     Kind   => subprogram body
     Flags  => No_Elab_Code
     Source => demo1.adb    modified

The following is an example of use of the dependency list. Note the use of the -s switch which gives a straight list of source files. This can be useful for building specialized scripts.

$ gnatls -d demo2.o
./demo2.o   demo2        OK demo2.adb
                         OK gen_list.ads
                         OK gen_list.adb
                         OK instr.ads
                         OK instr-child.ads

$ gnatls -d -s -a demo1.o
demo1.adb
/home/comar/local/adainclude/ada.ads
/home/comar/local/adainclude/a-finali.ads
/home/comar/local/adainclude/a-filico.ads
/home/comar/local/adainclude/a-stream.ads
/home/comar/local/adainclude/a-tags.ads
gen_list.ads
gen_list.adb
/home/comar/local/adainclude/gnat.ads
/home/comar/local/adainclude/g-io.ads
instr.ads
/home/comar/local/adainclude/system.ads
/home/comar/local/adainclude/s-exctab.ads
/home/comar/local/adainclude/s-finimp.ads
/home/comar/local/adainclude/s-finroo.ads
/home/comar/local/adainclude/s-secsta.ads
/home/comar/local/adainclude/s-stalib.ads
/home/comar/local/adainclude/s-stoele.ads
/home/comar/local/adainclude/s-stratt.ads
/home/comar/local/adainclude/s-tasoli.ads
/home/comar/local/adainclude/s-unstyp.ads
/home/comar/local/adainclude/unchconv.ads

5.3. The Coding Standard Verifier `gnatcheck`¶

The gnatcheck tool is an ASIS-based utility that checks coding standard compliance of Ada source files according to a given set of semantic rules.

gnatcheck is a project-aware tool (see Using Project Files with GNAT Tools for a description of the project-related switches). The project file package that can specify gnatcheck switches is named Check.

For full details, plese refer to GNATcheck Reference Manual.

5.4. The GNAT Metrics Tool `gnatmetric`¶

The gnatmetric tool is a utility for computing various program metrics. It takes an Ada source file as input and generates a file containing the metrics data as output. Various switches control which metrics are reported.

gnatmetric is a project-aware tool (see Using Project Files with GNAT Tools for a description of the project-related switches). The project file package that can specify gnatmetric switches is named Metrics.

The gnatmetric command has the form

$ gnatmetric [ switches ] { filename }

where:

switches specify the metrics to compute and define the destination for the output
Each filename is the name of a source file to process. ‘Wildcards’ are allowed, and the file name may contain path information. If no filename is supplied, then the switches list must contain at least one --files switch (see Other gnatmetric Switches). Including both a --files switch and one or more filename arguments is permitted.

Note that it is no longer necessary to specify the Ada language version; gnatmetric can process Ada source code written in any version from Ada 83 onward without specifying any language version switch.

The following subsections describe the various switches accepted by gnatmetric, organized by category.

5.4.1. Output File Control¶

gnatmetric has two output formats. It can generate a textual (human-readable) form, and also XML. By default only textual output is generated.

When generating the output in textual form, gnatmetric creates for each Ada source file a corresponding text file containing the computed metrics, except for the case when the set of metrics specified by gnatmetric parameters consists only of metrics that are computed for the whole set of analyzed sources, but not for each Ada source. By default, the name of the file containing metric information for a source is obtained by appending the .metrix suffix to the name of the input source file. If not otherwise specified and no project file is specified as gnatmetric option this file is placed in the same directory as where the source file is located. If gnatmetric has a project file as its parameter, it places all the generated files in the object directory of the project (or in the project source directory if the project does not define an object directory). If --subdirs option is specified, the files are placed in the subrirectory of this directory specified by this option.

All the output information generated in XML format is placed in a single file. By default the name of this file is metrix.xml. If not otherwise specified and if no project file is specified as gnatmetric option this file is placed in the current directory.

Some of the computed metrics are summed over the units passed to gnatmetric; for example, the total number of lines of code. By default this information is sent to stdout, but a file can be specified with the --global-file-name switch.

The following switches control the gnatmetric output:

--generate-xml-output: Generate XML output.

--generate-xml-schema: Generate XML output and an XML schema file that describes the structure of the XML metric report. This schema is assigned to the XML file. The schema file has the same name as the XML output file with .xml suffix replaced with .xsd.

--no-text-output: Do not generate the output in text form (implies -x).

--output-dir=output_dir: Put text files with detailed metrics into output_dir.

--output-suffix=file_suffix: Use file_suffix, instead of .metrix in the name of the output file.

--global-file-name=file_name: Put global metrics into file_name.

--xml-file-name=file_name: Put the XML output into file_name (also implies --generate-xml-output).

--short-file-names

Use ‘short’ source file names in the output. (The gnatmetric output includes the name(s) of the Ada source file(s) from which the metrics are computed. By default each name includes the absolute path. The --short-file-names switch causes gnatmetric to exclude all directory information from the file names that are output.)

--wide-character-encoding=e

Specify the wide character encoding method for the input and output files. e is one of the following:

8 - UTF-8 encoding
b - Brackets encoding (default value)

5.4.2. Disable Metrics For Local Units¶

gnatmetric relies on the GNAT compilation model – one compilation unit per one source file. It computes line metrics for the whole source file, and it also computes syntax and complexity metrics for the file’s outermost unit.

By default, gnatmetric will also compute all metrics for certain kinds of locally declared program units:

subprogram (and generic subprogram) bodies;
package (and generic package) specs and bodies;
task object and type specifications and bodies;
protected object and type specifications and bodies.

These kinds of entities will be referred to as eligible local program units, or simply eligible local units, in the discussion below.

Note that a subprogram declaration, generic instantiation, or renaming declaration only receives metrics computation when it appear as the outermost entity in a source file.

Suppression of metrics computation for eligible local units can be obtained via the following switch:

--no-local-metrics: Do not compute detailed metrics for eligible local program units.

5.4.3. Specifying a set of metrics to compute¶

By default all the metrics are reported. The switches described in this subsection allow you to control, on an individual basis, whether metrics are reported. If at least one positive metric switch is specified (that is, a switch that defines that a given metric or set of metrics is to be computed), then only explicitly specified metrics are reported.

5.4.3.1. Line Metrics Control¶

For each source file, and for each of its eligible local program units, gnatmetric computes the following metrics:

the total number of lines;
the total number of code lines (i.e., non-blank lines that are not comments)
the number of comment lines
the number of code lines containing end-of-line comments;
the comment percentage: the ratio between the number of lines that contain comments and the number of all non-blank lines, expressed as a percentage
the number of empty lines and lines containing only space characters and/or format effectors (blank lines)
the average number of code lines in subprogram bodies, task bodies, entry bodies and statement sequences in package bodies

gnatmetric sums the values of the line metrics for all the files being processed and then generates the cumulative results. The tool also computes for all the files being processed the average number of code lines in bodies.

You can use the following switches to select the specific line metrics to be reported.

--lines-all: Report all the line metrics
--no-lines-all: Do not report any of line metrics
--lines: Report the number of all lines
--no-lines: Do not report the number of all lines
--lines-code: Report the number of code lines
--no-lines-code: Do not report the number of code lines
--lines-comment: Report the number of comment lines
--no-lines-comment: Do not report the number of comment lines
--lines-eol-comment: Report the number of code lines containing end-of-line comments
--no-lines-eol-comment: Do not report the number of code lines containing end-of-line comments
--lines-ratio: Report the comment percentage in the program text
--no-lines-ratio: Do not report the comment percentage in the program text
--lines-blank: Report the number of blank lines
--no-lines-blank: Do not report the number of blank lines
--lines-average: Report the average number of code lines in subprogram bodies, task bodies, entry bodies and statement sequences in package bodies.
--no-lines-average: Do not report the average number of code lines in subprogram bodies, task bodies, entry bodies and statement sequences in package bodies.
--lines-spark: Report the number of lines written in SPARK.
--no-lines-spark: Do not report the number of lines written in SPARK.

5.4.3.2. Syntax Metrics Control¶

gnatmetric computes various syntactic metrics for the outermost unit and for each eligible local unit:

LSLOC (‘Logical Source Lines Of Code’)
The total number of declarations and the total number of statements. Note that the definition of declarations is the one given in the reference manual:

“Each of the following is defined to be a declaration: any basic_declaration; an enumeration_literal_specification; a discriminant_specification; a component_declaration; a loop_parameter_specification; a parameter_specification; a subprogram_body; an entry_declaration; an entry_index_specification; a choice_parameter_specification; a generic_formal_parameter_declaration.”

This means for example that each enumeration literal adds one to the count, as well as each subprogram parameter.
Maximal static nesting level of inner program units
According to Ada Reference Manual, 10.1(1):

“A program unit is either a package, a task unit, a protected unit, a protected entry, a generic unit, or an explicitly declared subprogram other than an enumeration literal.”
Maximal nesting level of composite syntactic constructs
This corresponds to the notion of the maximum nesting level in the GNAT built-in style checks (see Style Checking).
Number of formal parameters
Number of formal parameters of a subprogram; if a subprogram does have parameters, then numbers of “in”, “out” and “in out” parameters are also reported. This metric is reported for subprogram specifications and for subprogram instantiations. For subprogram bodies, expression functions and null procedures this metric is reported if the construct acts as a subprogram declaration but is not a completion of previous declaration. This metric is not reported for generic and formal subprograms.

For the outermost unit in the file, gnatmetric additionally computes the following metrics:

Public subprograms
This metric is computed for package specs. It is the number of subprograms and generic subprograms declared in the visible part (including the visible part of nested packages, protected objects, and protected types).
All subprograms
This metric is computed for bodies and subunits. The metric is equal to a total number of subprogram bodies in the compilation unit. Neither generic instantiations nor renamings-as-a-body nor body stubs are counted. Any subprogram body is counted, independently of its nesting level and enclosing constructs. Generic bodies and bodies of protected subprograms are counted in the same way as ‘usual’ subprogram bodies.
Public types
This metric is computed for package specs and generic package declarations. It is the total number of types that can be referenced from outside this compilation unit, plus the number of types from all the visible parts of all the visible generic packages. Generic formal types are not counted. Only types, not subtypes, are included.

Along with the total number of public types, the following types are counted and reported separately:
- Abstract types
- Root tagged types^ (abstract, non-abstract, private, non-private). Type extensions are *not counted
- Private types (including private extensions)
- Task types
- Protected types
All types
This metric is computed for any compilation unit. It is equal to the total number of the declarations of different types given in the compilation unit. The private and the corresponding full type declaration are counted as one type declaration. Incomplete type declarations and generic formal types are not counted. No distinction is made among different kinds of types (abstract, private etc.); the total number of types is reported.

By default, all the syntax metrics are reported. You can use the following switches to select specific syntax metrics.

--syntax-all: Report all the syntax metrics
--no-syntax-all: Do not report any of syntax metrics
--declarations: Report the total number of declarations
--no-declarations: Do not report the total number of declarations
--statements: Report the total number of statements
--no-statements: Do not report the total number of statements
--public-subprograms: Report the number of public subprograms in a compilation unit
--no-public-subprograms: Do not report the number of public subprograms in a compilation unit
--all-subprograms: Report the number of all the subprograms in a compilation unit
--no-all-subprograms: Do not report the number of all the subprograms in a compilation unit
--public-types: Report the number of public types in a compilation unit
--no-public-types: Do not report the number of public types in a compilation unit
--all-types: Report the number of all the types in a compilation unit
--no-all-types: Do not report the number of all the types in a compilation unit
--unit-nesting: Report the maximal program unit nesting level
--no-unit-nesting: Do not report the maximal program unit nesting level
--construct-nesting: Report the maximal construct nesting level
--no-construct-nesting: Do not report the maximal construct nesting level
--param-number: Report the number of subprogram parameters
--no-param-number: Do not report the number of subprogram parameters

5.4.3.3. Contract Metrics Control¶

--contract-all: Report all the contract metrics
--no-contract-all: Do not report any of the contract metrics
--contract: Report the number of public subprograms with contracts
--no-contract: Do not report the number of public subprograms with contracts
--post: Report the number of public subprograms with postconditions
--no-post: Do not report the number of public subprograms with postconditions
--contract-complete: Report the number of public subprograms with complete contracts
--no-contract-complete: Do not report the number of public subprograms with complete contracts
--contract-cyclomatic: Report the McCabe complexity of public subprograms
--no-contract-cyclomatic: Do not report the McCabe complexity of public subprograms

5.4.3.4. Complexity Metrics Control¶

For a program unit that is an executable body (a subprogram body (including generic bodies), task body, entry body or a package body containing its own statement sequence) gnatmetric computes the following complexity metrics:

McCabe cyclomatic complexity;
McCabe essential complexity;
maximal loop nesting level;
extra exit points (for subprograms);

The McCabe cyclomatic complexity metric is defined in http://www.mccabe.com/pdf/mccabe-nist235r.pdf

According to McCabe, both control statements and short-circuit control forms should be taken into account when computing cyclomatic complexity. For Ada 2012 we have also take into account conditional expressions and quantified expressions. For each body, we compute three metric values:

the complexity introduced by control statements only, without taking into account short-circuit forms (referred as statement complexity in gnatmetric output),
the complexity introduced by short-circuit control forms only (referred as expression complexity in gnatmetric output), and
the total cyclomatic complexity, which is the sum of these two values (referred as cyclomatic complexity in gnatmetric output).

The cyclomatic complexity is also computed for Ada 2012 expression functions. An expression function cannot have statements as its components, so only one metric value is computed as a cyclomatic complexity of an expression function.

The origin of cyclomatic complexity metric is the need to estimate the number of independent paths in the control flow graph that in turn gives the number of tests needed to satisfy paths coverage testing completeness criterion. Considered from the testing point of view, a static Ada loop (that is, the loop statement having static subtype in loop parameter specification) does not add to cyclomatic complexity. By providing --no-static-loop option a user may specify that such loops should not be counted when computing the cyclomatic complexity metric

The Ada essential complexity metric is a McCabe cyclomatic complexity metric counted for the code that is reduced by excluding all the pure structural Ada control statements. An compound statement is considered as a non-structural if it contains a raise or return statement as it subcomponent, or if it contains a goto statement that transfers the control outside the operator. A selective accept statement with a terminate alternative is considered a non-structural statement. When computing this metric, exit statements are treated in the same way as goto statements unless the -ne option is specified.

The Ada essential complexity metric defined here is intended to quantify the extent to which the software is unstructured. It is adapted from the McCabe essential complexity metric defined in http://www.mccabe.com/pdf/mccabe-nist235r.pdf but is modified to be more suitable for typical Ada usage. For example, short circuit forms are not penalized as unstructured in the Ada essential complexity metric.

When computing cyclomatic and essential complexity, gnatmetric skips the code in the exception handlers and in all the nested program units. The code of assertions and predicates (that is, subprogram preconditions and postconditions, subtype predicates and type invariants) is also skipped.

By default, all the complexity metrics are reported. For more fine-grained control you can use the following switches:

--complexity-all: Report all the complexity metrics
--no-complexity-all: Do not report any of the complexity metrics
--complexity-cyclomatic: Report the McCabe Cyclomatic Complexity
--no-complexity-cyclomatic: Do not report the McCabe Cyclomatic Complexity
--complexity-essential: Report the Essential Complexity
--no-complexity-essential: Do not report the Essential Complexity
--loop-nesting: Report maximal loop nesting level
-no-loop-nesting: Do not report maximal loop nesting level
--complexity-average: Report the average McCabe Cyclomatic Complexity for all the subprogram bodies, task bodies, entry bodies and statement sequences in package bodies. The metric is reported for whole set of processed Ada sources only.
--no-complexity-average: Do not report the average McCabe Cyclomatic Complexity for all the subprogram bodies, task bodies, entry bodies and statement sequences in package bodies

--no-treat-exit-as-goto: Do not consider exit statements as gotos when computing Essential Complexity

--no-static-loop: Do not consider static loops when computing cyclomatic complexity
--extra-exit-points: Report the extra exit points for subprogram bodies. As an exit point, this metric counts return statements and raise statements in case when the raised exception is not handled in the same body. In case of a function this metric subtracts 1 from the number of exit points, because a function body must contain at least one return statement.
--no-extra-exit-points: Do not report the extra exit points for subprogram bodies

5.4.3.5. Coupling Metrics Control¶

Coupling metrics measure the dependencies between a given entity and other entities in the program. This information is useful since high coupling may signal potential issues with maintainability as the program evolves.

gnatmetric computes the following coupling metrics:

object-oriented coupling, for classes in traditional object-oriented sense;
unit coupling, for all the program units making up a program;
control coupling, reflecting dependencies between a unit and other units that contain subprograms.

Two kinds of coupling metrics are computed:

fan-out coupling (‘efferent coupling’): the number of entities the given entity depends upon. This metric reflects how the given entity depends on the changes in the ‘external world’.

fan-in coupling (‘afferent’ coupling): the number of entities that depend on a given entity. This metric reflects how the ‘external world’ depends on the changes in a given entity.

Object-oriented coupling metrics measure the dependencies between a given class (or a group of classes) and the other classes in the program. In this subsection the term ‘class’ is used in its traditional object-oriented programming sense (an instantiable module that contains data and/or method members). A category (of classes) is a group of closely related classes that are reused and/or modified together.

A class K‘s fan-out coupling is the number of classes that K depends upon. A category’s fan-out coupling is the number of classes outside the category that the classes inside the category depend upon.

A class K‘s fan-in coupling is the number of classes that depend upon K. A category’s fan-in coupling is the number of classes outside the category that depend on classes belonging to the category.

Ada’s object-oriented paradigm separates the instantiable entity (type) from the module (package), so the definition of the coupling metrics for Ada maps the class and class category notions onto Ada constructs.

For the coupling metrics, several kinds of modules that define a tagged type or an interface type – library packages, library generic packages, and library generic package instantiations – are considered to be classes. A category consists of a library package (or a library generic package) that defines a tagged or an interface type, together with all its descendant (generic) packages that define tagged or interface types. Thus a category is an Ada hierarchy of library-level program units. Class coupling in Ada is referred to as ‘tagged coupling’, and category coupling is referred to as ‘hierarchy coupling’.

For any package serving as a class, its body and subunits (if any) are considered together with its spec when computing dependencies, and coupling metrics are reported for spec units only. Dependencies between classes mean Ada semantic dependencies. For object-oriented coupling metrics, only dependencies on units treated as classes are considered.

Similarly, for unit and control coupling an entity is considered to be the conceptual construct consisting of the entity’s specification, body, and any subunits (transitively). gnatmetric computes the dependencies of all these units as a whole, but metrics are only reported for spec units (or for a subprogram body unit in case if there is no separate spec for the given subprogram).

For unit coupling, dependencies are computed between all kinds of program units. For control coupling, the dependencies of a given unit are limited to those units that define subprograms. Thus control fan-out coupling is reported for all units, but control fan-in coupling is only reported for units that define subprograms.

The following simple example illustrates the difference between unit coupling and control coupling metrics:

package Lib_1 is
    function F_1 (I : Integer) return Integer;
end Lib_1;

package Lib_2 is
    type T_2 is new Integer;
end Lib_2;

package body Lib_1 is
    function F_1 (I : Integer) return Integer is
    begin
       return I + 1;
    end F_1;
end Lib_1;

with Lib_2; use Lib_2;
package Pack is
    Var : T_2;
    function Fun (I : Integer) return Integer;
end Pack;

with Lib_1; use Lib_1;
package body Pack is
    function Fun (I : Integer) return Integer is
    begin
       return F_1 (I);
    end Fun;
end Pack;

If we apply gnatmetric with the --coupling-all option to these units, the result will be:

Coupling metrics:
=================
    Unit Lib_1 (C:\\customers\\662\\L406-007\\lib_1.ads)
       control fan-out coupling  : 0
       control fan-in coupling   : 1
       unit fan-out coupling     : 0
       unit fan-in coupling      : 1

    Unit Pack (C:\\customers\\662\\L406-007\\pack.ads)
       control fan-out coupling  : 1
       control fan-in coupling   : 0
       unit fan-out coupling     : 2
       unit fan-in coupling      : 0

    Unit Lib_2 (C:\\customers\\662\\L406-007\\lib_2.ads)
       control fan-out coupling  : 0
       unit fan-out coupling     : 0
       unit fan-in coupling      : 1

The result does not contain values for object-oriented coupling because none of the argument units contains a tagged type and therefore none of these units can be treated as a class.

The Pack package (spec and body) depends on two units – Lib_1 and Lib_2 – and so its unit fan-out coupling is 2. Since nothing depends on it, its unit fan-in coupling is 0, as is its control fan-in coupling. Only one of the units Pack depends upon defines a subprogram, so its control fan-out coupling is 1.

Lib_2 depends on nothing, so its fan-out metrics are 0. It does not define any subprograms, so it has no control fan-in metric. One unit (Pack) depends on it , so its unit fan-in coupling is 1.

Lib_1 is similar to Lib_2, but it does define a subprogram. Its control fan-in coupling is 1 (because there is one unit depending on it).

When computing coupling metrics, gnatmetric counts only dependencies between units that are arguments of the gnatmetric invocation. Coupling metrics are program-wide (or project-wide) metrics, so you should invoke gnatmetric for the complete set of sources comprising your program. This can be done by invoking gnatmetric with the corresponding project file and with the -U option.

By default, all the coupling metrics are reported. You can use the following switches to select specific syntax metrics.

--coupling-all: Report all the coupling metrics
--tagged-coupling-out: Report tagged (class) fan-out coupling
--tagged-coupling-in: Report tagged (class) fan-in coupling
--hierarchy-coupling-out: Report hierarchy (category) fan-out coupling
--hierarchy-coupling-in: Report hierarchy (category) fan-in coupling
--unit-coupling-out: Report unit fan-out coupling
--unit-coupling-in: Report unit fan-in coupling
--control-coupling-out: Report control fan-out coupling
--control-coupling-in: Report control fan-in coupling

5.4.4. Other `gnatmetric` Switches¶

Additional gnatmetric switches are as follows:

--version: Display copyright and version, then exit disregarding all other options.

--help: Display usage, then exit disregarding all other options.

-P file: Indicates the name of the project file that describes the set of sources to be processed. The exact set of argument sources depends on other options specified, see below. An aggregate project is allowed as the file parameter only if it has exactly one non-aggregate project being aggregated.

-U: If a project file is specified and no argument source is explicitly specified (either directly or by means of -files option), process all the units of the closure of the argument project. Otherwise this option has no effect.
-U main_unit: If a project file is specified and no argument source is explicitly specified (either directly or by means of -files option), process the closure of units rooted at main_unit. Otherwise this option has no effect.

-Xname=value: Indicates that external variable name in the argument project has the value value. Has no effect if no project is specified.

--RTS=rts-path: Specifies the default location of the runtime library. Same meaning as the equivalent gnatmake flag (see Switches for gnatmake).

--subdirs=dir: Use the specified subdirectory of the project objects file (or of the project file directory if the project does not specify an object directory) for tool output files. Has no effect if no project is specified as tool argument r if --no-objects-dir is specified.

--files=file: Take as arguments the files listed in text file file. Text file file may contain empty lines that are ignored. Each nonempty line should contain the name of an existing file. Several such switches may be specified simultaneously.

--ignore=filename: Do not process the sources listed in a specified file.

--verbose: Verbose mode; gnatmetric generates version information and then a trace of sources being processed.

--quiet: Quiet mode.

If a project file is specified and no argument source is explicitly specified (either directly or by means of -files option), and no -U is specified, then the set of processed sources is all the immediate units of the argument project.

5.4.4.1. Legacy Switches¶

Some switches have a short form, mostly for legacy reasons, as shown below.

-x: --generate-xml-output

-xs: --generate-xml-schema

-nt: --no-text-output

-d output-dir: --output-dir

-o file-suffix: --output-suffix

-og file-name: --global-file-name

-ox file-name: --xml-file-name

-sfn: --short-file-names

-We: --wide-character-encoding=e

-nolocal: --no-local-metrics

-ne: --no-treat-exit-as-goto

-files filename: --files

-v: --verbose

-q: --quiet

5.5. The GNAT Pretty Printer `gnatpp`¶

The gnatpp tool is a utility for source reformatting / pretty printing. It takes an Ada source file as input and generates a reformatted version as output. You can specify various style directives via switches; e.g., identifier case conventions, rules of indentation, and comment layout.

gnatpp is a project-aware tool (see Using Project Files with GNAT Tools for a description of the project-related switches). The project file package that can specify gnatpp switches is named Pretty_Printer.

gnatpp cannot process sources that contain preprocessing directives.

The gnatpp command has the form

$ gnatpp [ switches ] filename

where

switches is an optional sequence of switches defining such properties as the formatting rules, the source search path, and the destination for the output source file
filename is the name of the source file to reformat; wildcards or several file names on the same gnatpp command are allowed. The file name may contain path information; it does not have to follow the GNAT file naming rules

Note that it is no longer necessary to specify the Ada language version; gnatpp can process Ada source code written in any version from Ada 83 onward without specifying any language version switch.

5.5.1. Switches for `gnatpp`¶

The following subsections describe the various switches accepted by gnatpp, organized by category.

You specify a switch by supplying a name and generally also a value. In many cases the values for a switch with a given name are incompatible with each other (for example the switch that controls the casing of a reserved word may have exactly one value: upper case, lower case, or mixed case) and thus exactly one such switch can be in effect for an invocation of gnatpp. If more than one is supplied, the last one is used. However, some values for the same switch are mutually compatible. You may supply several such switches to gnatpp, but then each must be specified in full, with both the name and the value. Abbreviated forms (the name appearing once, followed by each value) are not permitted.

5.5.1.1. Alignment Control¶

Programs can be easier to read if certain constructs are vertically aligned. By default, alignment of the following constructs is set ON:

: in declarations,

:= in initializations in declarations,

:= in assignment statements,

=> in associations, and

at keywords in the component clauses in record representation clauses.

In addition, in and out in parameter specifications are lined up.

--no-alignment: Set alignment to OFF
--alignment: Set alignment to ON
--no-align-modes: Do not line up in and out in parameter specifications.

5.5.1.2. Casing Control¶

gnatpp allows you to specify the casing for reserved words, pragma names, attribute designators and identifiers. For identifiers you may define a general rule for name casing but also override this rule via a set of dictionary files.

Three types of casing are supported: lower case, upper case, and mixed case. ‘Mixed case’ means that the first letter, and also each letter immediately following an underscore, are converted to their uppercase forms; all the other letters are converted to their lowercase forms.

(Note: the casing switches are not yet fully supported in the libadalang-based version of gnatpp.)

--name-case-as-declared: Name casing for defining occurrences are as they appear in the source file (this is the default)

--name-upper-case: Names are in upper case

--name-lower-case: Names are in lower case

--name-mixed-case: Names are in mixed case

--attribute-lower-case: Attribute designators are lower case

--attribute-upper-case: Attribute designators are upper case

--attribute-mixed-case: Attribute designators are mixed case (this is the default)

--keyword-lower-case: Keywords (technically, these are known in Ada as reserved words) are lower case (this is the default)

--keyword-upper-case: Keywords are upper case

--enum-case-as-declared: Enumeration literal casing for defining occurrences are as they appear in the source file. Overrides -n casing setting.

--enum-upper-case: Enumeration literals are in upper case. Overrides -n casing setting.

--enum-lower-case: Enumeration literals are in lower case. Overrides -n casing setting.

--enum-mixed-case: Enumeration literals are in mixed case. Overrides -n casing setting.

--type-case-as-declared: Names introduced by type and subtype declarations are always cased as they appear in the declaration in the source file. Overrides -n casing setting.

--type-upper-case: Names introduced by type and subtype declarations are always in upper case. Overrides -n casing setting.

--type-lower-case: Names introduced by type and subtype declarations are always in lower case. Overrides -n casing setting.

--type-mixed-case: Names introduced by type and subtype declarations are always in mixed case. Overrides -n casing setting.

--number-upper-case: Names introduced by number declarations are always in upper case. Overrides -n casing setting.

--number-lower-case: Names introduced by number declarations are always in lower case. Overrides -n casing setting.

--number-mixed-case: Names introduced by number declarations are always in mixed case. Overrides -n casing setting.

--pragma-lower-case: Pragma names are lower case

--pragma-upper-case: Pragma names are upper case

--pragma-mixed-case: Pragma names are mixed case (this is the default)

--syntax-only: Disable the semantic analysis (name resolution) done by libadalang. This means gnatpp will not be able to support any of the “as-declared” switches.

--dictionary=file

Use file as a dictionary file that defines the casing for a set of specified names, thereby overriding the effect on these names by any explicit or implicit -n switch. To supply more than one dictionary file, use several --dictionary switches.

gnatpp implicitly uses a default dictionary file to define the casing for the Ada predefined names and the names declared in the GNAT libraries.

--dictionary=-: Do not use the default dictionary file; instead, use the casing defined by a -n switch and any explicit dictionary file(s)

The structure of a dictionary file, and details on the conventions used in the default dictionary file, are defined in Name Casing.

The --dictionary=- and --dictionary=file switches are mutually compatible.

This group of gnatpp switches controls the layout of comments and complex syntactic constructs. See Formatting Comments for details on their effect.

--comments-unchanged: All comments remain unchanged.
--comments-gnat-indentation: GNAT-style comment line indentation. This is the default.
--comments-gnat-beginning: GNAT-style comment beginning.
--comments-fill: Fill comment blocks. The default is --no-comments-fill.
--comments-special: Keep unchanged special form comments. The default is --no-comments-special.

--comments-only: Format just the comments.

--no-end-id: Do not insert the name of a unit after end; leave whatever comes after end, if anything, alone.

--no-separate-is: Do not place the keyword is on a separate line in a subprogram body in case if the spec occupies more than one line.

--no-separate-return: In --no-compact mode, if a subprogram spec does not fit on one line, try to place the return on the same line as the last formal parameter.

--separate-loop: Place the keyword loop in FOR and WHILE loop statements on a separate line.

--separate-then: Place the keyword then in IF statements on a separate line.

--no-separate-loop: Do not place the keyword loop in FOR and WHILE loop statements on a separate line. This option is incompatible with the --separate-loop option.

--no-separate-then: Do not place the keyword then in IF statements on a separate line. This option is incompatible with the --separate-then option.

--separate-loop-then: Equivalent to --separate-loop --separate-then.

--no-separate-loop-then: Equivalent to --no-separate-loop --no-separate-then.

--use-on-new-line: Start each USE clause in a context clause from a separate line.

--insert-blank-lines: Insert blank lines where appropriate (between bodies and other large constructs).

--preserve-blank-lines: Preserve blank lines in the input. By default, gnatpp will squeeze multiple blank lines down to one.

--preserve-line-breaks: Preserve line breaks in the input, to the extent possible. By default, line breaks are also inserted at appropriate places.

--source-line-breaks: Keep the line breaks from the source; do not insert or delete any line breaks.

--spaces-only: Disable all formatting except for inserting and removing spaces. This implies –source-line-breaks.

The --comments switches are compatible with one another, except that the --comments-unchanged switch disables all other comment formatting switches.

5.5.1.3. General Text Layout Control¶

These switches allow control over line length and indentation.

--max-line-length=nnn: Maximum line length, nnn from 32…256, the default value is 79

--indentation=nnn: Indentation level, nnn from 1…9, the default value is 3

--indent-continuation=nnn: Indentation level for continuation lines (relative to the line being continued), nnn from 1…9. The default value is one less than the (normal) indentation level, unless the indentation is set to 1 (in which case the default value for continuation line indentation is also 1)

5.5.1.4. Other Formatting Options¶

These switches control other formatting not listed above.

--decimal-grouping=n: Put underscores in decimal literals (numeric literals without a base) every n characters. If a literal already has one or more underscores, it is not modified. For example, with --decimal-grouping=3, 1000000 will be changed to 1_000_000.

--based-grouping=n: Same as --decimal-grouping, but for based literals. For example, with --based-grouping=4, 16#0001FFFE# will be changed to 16#0001_FFFE#.

--split-line-before-record: Split the line just before record in a record type declaration.

--indent-named-statements: Named block and loop statements are indented with respect to the name.

--split-line-before-op: If it is necessary to split a line at a binary operator, by default the line is split after the operator. With this option, it is split before the operator.

--RM-style-spacing: Do not insert an extra blank before various occurrences of ‘(‘ and ‘:’. Alignment is off by default in this mode; use --alignment to turn it on.

--compact

This is the default. In calls and similar, this packs as many subexpressions on the same line as possible. Example:

Some_Procedure
  (Short_One, Another_Short_One,
   A_Very_Very_Very_Very_Very_Very_Very_Very_Long_One);

--no-compact

Turns off –compact mode. In calls and similar, if it is necessary to split a line between two subexpressions (because otherwise the construct would exceed –max-line-length), then all such subexpressions are placed on separate lines. Example:

Some_Procedure
  (Short_One,
   Another_Short_One,
   A_Very_Very_Very_Very_Very_Very_Very_Very_Long_One);

--call-threshold=nnn: If the number of parameter associations is greater than nnn and if at least one association uses named notation, start each association from a new line. If nnn is 0, no check for the number of associations is made; this is the default.

--par-threshold=nnn: If the number of parameter specifications is greater than nnn (or equal to nnn in case of a function), start each specification from a new line. If nnn is 0, and --no-separate-is was not specified, then the is is placed on a separate line. This feature is disabled by default.

--vertical-enum-types: Format enumeration type declarations “vertically”, e.g. each enumeration literal goes on a separate line.

--vertical-array-types: Format array type declarations “vertically”, e.g. for multidimensional arrays, each index_subtype_definition or discrete_subtype_definition goes on a separate line.

--vertical-named-aggregates: Format aggregates “vertically” if named notation is used for all component_associations, e.g. each component_association goes on a separate line.

--vertical-case-alternatives: Format case statements, case expressions, and variant parts with additional line breaks.

5.5.1.5. Setting the Source Search Path¶

To define the search path for the input source file, gnatpp uses the same switches as the GNAT compiler, with the same effects:

-Idir

-I-

-gnatec=path

5.5.1.6. Output File Control¶

By default the output overwrites the input file. The output may be redirected by the following switches:

--replace: This is the default. Replace the input source file with the reformatted output without creating any backup copy of the input source.

--output-dir=dir: Generate output file in directory dir with the same name as the input file. If dir is the same as the directory containing the input file, the input file is not processed; use --replace if you want to update the input file in place.

--pipe: Send the output to Standard_Output

--output=output_file: Write the output into output_file. If output_file already exists, gnatpp terminates without reading or processing the input file.

--output-force=output_file: Write the output into output_file, overwriting the existing file (if one is present).

--replace-backup: Replace the input source file with the reformatted output, and copy the original input source into the file whose name is obtained by appending the .npp suffix to the name of the input file. If a file with this name already exists, gnatpp terminates without reading or processing the input file.

--replace-force-backup: Like --replace-backup except that if the file with the specified name already exists, it is overwritten.

--eol=xxx

Specifies the line-ending style of the reformatted output file. The xxx string specified with the switch may be:

dos - MS DOS style, lines end with CR LF characters*
crlf - the same as dos
unix - UNIX style, lines end with LF character*
lf - the same as unix

The default is to use the same end-of-line convention as the input.

--wide-character-encoding=e

Specify the wide character encoding method for the input and output files. e is one of the following:

8 - UTF-8 encoding
b - Brackets encoding (default value)

Options --output-file and --output-force are allowed only if the call to gnatpp contains only one file to reformat.

Option --eol and --wide-character-encoding cannot be used together with the --pipe option.

5.5.1.7. Other `gnatpp` Switches¶

The additional gnatpp switches are defined in this subsection.

--version: Display copyright and version, then exit disregarding all other options.

--help: Display usage, then exit disregarding all other options.

-P file: Indicates the name of the project file that describes the set of sources to be processed. The exact set of argument sources depends on other options specified; see below.

-U: If a project file is specified and no argument source is explicitly specified (either directly or by means of --files option), process all the units of the closure of the argument project. Otherwise this option has no effect.
-U main_unit: If a project file is specified and no argument source is explicitly specified (either directly or by means of --files option), process the closure of units rooted at main_unit. Otherwise this option has no effect.

-Xname=value: Indicates that external variable name in the argument project has the value value. Has no effect if no project is specified.

--RTS=rts-path: Specifies the default location of the runtime library. Same meaning as the equivalent gnatmake flag (Switches for gnatmake).

--incremental: Incremental processing on a per-file basis. Source files are only processed if they have been modified, or if files they depend on have been modified. This is similar to the way gnatmake/gprbuild only compiles files that need to be recompiled. A project file is required in this mode, and the gnat driver (as in gnat pretty) is not supported. (Note: this switch is not yet supported in the libadalang-based version of gnatpp.)

--pp-off=xxx: Use --xxx as the command to turn off pretty printing, instead of the default --!pp off.

--pp-on=xxx: Use --xxx as the command to turn pretty printing back on, instead of the default --!pp on.

--files=filename: Take as arguments the files listed in text file file. Text file file may contain empty lines that are ignored. Each nonempty line should contain the name of an existing file. Several such switches may be specified simultaneously.

--ignore=filename: Do not process the sources listed in a specified file. This option cannot be used in incremental mode.

--jobs=n: With --incremental, use n gnatpp processes to perform pretty printing in parallel. If n is 0, then the maximum number processes is the number of core processors on the platform.

--verbose: Verbose mode

--quiet: Quiet mode

If a project file is specified and no argument source is explicitly specified (either directly or by means of --files option), and no -U is specified, then the set of processed sources is all the immediate units of the argument project.

5.5.2. Formatting Rules¶

The following subsections show how gnatpp treats white space, comments, program layout, and name casing. They provide detailed descriptions of the switches shown above.

5.5.2.1. Disabling Pretty Printing¶

Pretty printing is highly heuristic in nature, and sometimes doesn’t do exactly what you want. If you wish to format a certain region of code by hand, you can turn off pretty printing in that region by surrounding it with special comments that start with --!pp off and --!pp on. The text in that region will then be reproduced verbatim in the output with no formatting.

To disable pretty printing for the whole file, put --!pp off at the top, with no following --!pp on.

The comments must appear on a line by themselves, with nothing preceding except spaces. The initial text of the comment must be exactly --!pp off or --!pp on (case sensitive), but may be followed by arbitrary additional text. For example:

package Interrupts is
   --!pp off -- turn off pretty printing so "Interrupt_Kind" lines up
   type            Interrupt_Kind is
     (Asynchronous_Interrupt_Kind,
       Synchronous_Interrupt_Kind,
             Green_Interrupt_Kind);
   --!pp on -- reenable pretty printing
   ...

You can specify different comment strings using the --pp-off and --pp-on switches. For example, if you say:

$ gnatpp --pp-off=' pp-' *.ad?

then gnatpp will recognize comments of the form -- pp- instead of --!pp off for disabling pretty printing. Note that the leading -- of the comment is not included in the argument to these switches.

5.5.2.2. White Space and Empty Lines¶

gnatpp does not have an option to control space characters. It will add or remove spaces according to the style illustrated by the examples in the Ada Reference Manual. The output file will contain no lines with trailing white space.

By default, a sequence of one or more blank lines in the input is converted to a single blank line in the output; multiple blank lines are squeezed down to one. The --preserve-blank-lines option turns off the squeezing; each blank line in the input is copied to the output. The --insert-blank-lines option causes additional blank lines to be inserted if not already present in the input (e.g. between bodies).

5.5.2.3. Formatting Comments¶

Comments in Ada code are of two kinds:

a whole-line comment, which appears by itself (possibly preceded by white space) on a line
an end-of-line comment, which follows some other Ada code on the same line.

A whole-line comment is indented according to the surrounding code, with some exceptions. Comments that start in column 1 are kept there. If possible, comments are not moved so far to the right that the maximum line length is exceeded. The --comments-unchanged option turns off comment formatting. Special-form comments such as SPARK-style --#... are left alone.

For an end-of-line comment, gnatpp tries to leave the same number of spaces between the end of the preceding Ada code and the beginning of the comment as appear in the original source.

The --comments-gnat-beginning switch (GNAT style comment beginning) has the following effect:

For each whole-line comment that does not end with two hyphens, gnatpp inserts spaces if necessary after the starting two hyphens to ensure that there are at least two spaces between these hyphens and the first non-blank character of the comment.

The --comments-fill switch specifies that whole-line comments that form a paragraph will be filled in typical word processor style (that is, moving words between lines to make the lines other than the last similar in length ).

The --comments-only switch specifies that only the comments are formatted; the rest of the program text is left alone. The comments are formatted according to the --comments-gnat-beginning and --comments-fill switches; other formatting switches are ignored. For example, --comments-only --comments-fill means to fill comment paragraphs, and do nothing else. Likewise, --comments-only --comments-gnat-beginning ensures comments start with at least two spaces after --, and --comments-only --comments-gnat-beginning --comments-fill does both. If --comments-only is given without --comments-gnat-beginning or --comments-fill, then gnatpp doesn’t format anything.

5.5.2.4. Name Casing¶

gnatpp always converts the usage occurrence of a (simple) name to the same casing as the corresponding defining identifier.

You control the casing for defining occurrences via the --name... switches. With --name-case-as-declared, which is the default, defining occurrences appear exactly as in the source file where they are declared. The other values for this switch – --name-upper-case, --name-lower-case, --name-mixed-case – result in upper, lower, or mixed case, respectively. If gnatpp changes the casing of a defining occurrence, it analogously changes the casing of all the usage occurrences of this name.

If the defining occurrence of a name is not in the source compilation unit currently being processed by gnatpp, the casing of each reference to this name is changed according to the switch (subject to the dictionary file mechanism described below). Thus gnatpp acts as though the switch had affected the casing for the defining occurrence of the name.

The options --attribute..., --keyword..., --enum..., --type..., --number..., and --pragma... allow finer-grained control over casing for attributes, keywords, enumeration literals, types, named numbers and pragmas, respectively. --type... cover subtypes as well.

Some names may need to be spelled with casing conventions that are not covered by the upper-, lower-, and mixed-case transformations. You can arrange correct casing by placing such names in a dictionary file, and then supplying a --dictionary switch. The casing of names from dictionary files overrides any --name... switch.

To handle the casing of Ada predefined names and the names from GNAT libraries, gnatpp assumes a default dictionary file. The name of each predefined entity is spelled with the same casing as is used for the entity in the Ada Reference Manual (usually mixed case). The name of each entity in the GNAT libraries is spelled with the same casing as is used in the declaration of that entity.

The --dictionary=- switch suppresses the use of the default dictionary file. Instead, the casing for predefined and GNAT-defined names will be established by the -n switch or explicit dictionary files. For example, by default the names Ada.Text_IO and GNAT.OS_Lib will appear as just shown, even in the presence of a --name-upper-case switch. To ensure that even such names are rendered in uppercase, additionally supply the –dictionary=- switch (or else place these names in upper case in a dictionary file).

A dictionary file is a plain text file; each line in this file can be either a blank line (containing only space characters), an Ada comment line, or the specification of exactly one casing schema.

A casing schema is a string that has the following syntax:

casing_schema ::= identifier | simple_identifier

simple_identifier ::= letter{letter_or_digit}

(See Ada Reference Manual, Section 2.3) for the definition of the identifier lexical element and the letter_or_digit category.)

The casing schema string can be followed by white space and/or an Ada-style comment; any amount of white space is allowed before the string.

If a dictionary file is passed as the value of a --dictionary=file switch then for every simple name and every identifier, gnatpp checks if the dictionary defines the casing for the name or for some of its parts (the term ‘subword’ is used below to denote the part of a name which is delimited by ‘_’ or by the beginning or end of the word and which does not contain any ‘_’ inside):

if the whole name is in the dictionary, gnatpp uses for this name the casing defined by the dictionary; no subwords are checked for this word
for every subword gnatpp checks if the dictionary contains the corresponding string of the form simple_identifier, and if it does, the casing of this simple_identifier is used for this subword
if the whole name does not contain any ‘_’ inside, and if for this name the dictionary contains two entries – one of the form identifier, and another of the form simple_identifier – then the first one is applied to define the casing of this name
if more than one dictionary file is passed as gnatpp switches, each dictionary adds new casing exceptions and overrides all the existing casing exceptions set by the previous dictionaries
when gnatpp checks if the word or subword is in the dictionary, this check is not case sensitive

For example, suppose we have the following source to reformat:

procedure test is
   name1 : integer := 1;
   name4_name3_name2 : integer := 2;
   name2_name3_name4 : Boolean;
   name1_var : Float;
begin
   name2_name3_name4 := name4_name3_name2 > name1;
end;

And suppose we have two dictionaries:

*dict1:*
   NAME1
   *NaMe3*
   *Name1*

*dict2:*
  *NAME3*

If gnatpp is called with the following switches:

$ gnatpp --name-mixed-case --dictionary=dict1 --dictionary=dict2 test.adb

then we will get the following name casing in the gnatpp output:

procedure Test is
   NAME1             : Integer := 1;
   Name4_NAME3_Name2 : Integer := 2;
   Name2_NAME3_Name4 : Boolean;
   Name1_Var         : Float;
begin
   Name2_NAME3_Name4 := Name4_NAME3_Name2 > NAME1;
end Test;

5.5.2.5. Preprocessor Directives¶

gnatpp has some support for preprocessor directives. You can use preprocessor symbols, as in $symbol. In addition, you can use conditional compilation, so long as the program text is syntactically legal Ada code after removing all the preprocessor directives (lines starting with #). For example, gnatpp can format the following:

package P is
#IF SOMETHING
   X : constant Integer := 123;
#ELSE
   X : constant Integer := 456;
#END IF;
end P;

which will be formatted as if it were:

package P is
   X : constant Integer := 123;
   X : constant Integer := 456;
end P;

except that the # lines will be preserved. However, gnatpp cannot format the following:

procedure P is
begin
#IF SOMETHING
   if X = 0 then
#ELSE
   if X = 1 then
#END IF;
      null;
   end if;
end P;

because removing the # lines gives:

procedure P is
begin
   if X = 0 then
   if X = 1 then
      null;
   end if;
end P;

which is not syntactically legal.

5.5.2.6. Legacy Switches¶

Some switches have a short form, mostly for legacy reasons, as shown below.

-nD: --name-case-as-declared
-nU: --name-upper-case
-nL: --name-lower-case
-nM: --name-mixed-case

-aL: --attribute-lower-case
-aU: --attribute-upper-case
-aM: --attribute-mixed-case

-kL: --keyword-lower-case
-kU: --keyword-upper-case

-neD: --enum-case-as-declared
-neU: --enum-upper-case
-neL: --enum-lower-case
-neM: --enum-mixed-case

-ntD: --type-case-as-declared
-ntU: --type-upper-case
-ntL: --type-lower-case
-ntM: --type-mixed-case
-nnU: --number-upper-case
-nnL: --number-lower-case
-nnM: --number-mixed-case

-pL: --pragma-lower-case
-pU: --pragma-upper-case
-pM: --pragma-mixed-case

-Dfile: --dictionary=file

-D-: --dictionary=-

-c0: --comments-unchanged
-c1: --comments-gnat-indentation
-c3: --comments-gnat-beginning
-c4: --comments-fill
-c5: --comments-special

-Mnnn: --max-line-length=nnn

-innn: --indentation=nnn

-clnnn: --indent-continuation=nnn

-pipe: --pipe

-o output-file: --output=output-file

-of output-file: --output-force=output-file

-rnb: --replace
-r: --replace-backup

-rf: --replace-force-backup

-We: --wide-character-encoding=e

-files filename: --files=filename

-jn: --jobs=n

-v: --verbose

-q: --quiet

5.6. The Body Stub Generator gnatstub¶

gnatstub creates empty but compilable bodies for library unit declarations, and empty but compilable subunits for body stubs.

gnatstub is a project-aware tool. (See Using Project Files with GNAT Tools for a description of the project-related switches but note that gnatstub does not support the -U, -U main_unit, --subdirs=dir, or --no-objects-dir switches.) The project file package that can specify gnatstub switches is named gnatstub.

By default, all the program unit bodies generated by gnatstub raise Program_Error, which will catch accidental calls of generated stubs. This behavior can be changed with option --no-exception (see below).

5.6.1. Running `gnatstub`¶

gnatstub invocation has the following form:

$ gnatstub [ switches ] {filename}

where

filename
is the name of the source file that contains a library unit declaration for which a body must be created or a library unit body for which subunits must be created for the body stubs declared in this body. The file name may contain path information. If the name does not follow GNAT file naming conventions and the set of switches does not contain a project file that defines naming conventions, the name of the body file must be provided explicitly as the value of the --output=body-name option. If the file name follows the GNAT file naming conventions and the name of the body file is not provided, gnatstub takes the naming conventions for the generated source from the project file provided as a parameter of -P switch if any, or creates the name file to generate using the standard GNAT naming conventions.

Note that it is no longer necessary to specify the Ada language version; gnatmetric can process Ada source code written in any version from Ada 83 onward without specifying any language version switch.
switches
is an optional sequence of switches as described in the next section

5.6.2. Switches for `gnatstub`¶

--version: Display copyright and version, then exit disregarding all other options.

--help: Display usage, then exit disregarding all other options.

-P file: Indicates the name of the project file that describes the set of sources to be processed. An aggregate project is allowed as the file parameter only if it has exactly one non-aggregate project being aggregated.

-Xname=value: Indicates that external variable name in the argument project has the value value. Has no effect if no project is specified.

--RTS=rts-path: Specifies the default location of the runtime library. Same meaning as the equivalent gnatmake flag (Switches for gnatmake).

--subunits: Generate subunits for body stubs. If this switch is specified, gnatstub expects a library unit body as an argument file; otherwise a library unit declaration is expected. If a body stub already has a corresponding subunit, gnatstub does not generate anything for it.

--force: If the destination directory already contains a file with the name of the body file for the argument spec file, replace it with the generated body stub. This switch cannot be used together with --subunits.

--comment-header-spec: Put the comment header (i.e., all the comments preceding the compilation unit) from the source of the library unit declaration into the body stub.

--comment-header-sample: Put a sample comment header into the body stub.

--header-file=filename: Use the content of the file as the comment header for a generated body stub.

--max-line-length=n: (n is a non-negative integer). Set the maximum line length for the output files. The default is 79. The maximum value that can be specified is 32767.

--indentation=n: (n is an integer from 1 to 9). Set the indentation level in the generated files to n. The default indentation is 3.

--alphabetical-order: Order local bodies alphabetically. (By default local bodies are ordered in the same way as the corresponding local specs in the argument spec file.)

--no-exception: Avoid raising Program_Error in the generated bodies of program unit stubs, except in the case of functions, where we have no value to return.

--no-local-header: Do not place local comment header with unit name before body stub for a unit.

--files=filename: Take as arguments the files listed in text file file. Text file file may contain empty lines that are ignored. Each nonempty line should contain the name of an existing file. Several such switches may be specified.

--output=body-name: Body file name. This should be set if the argument file name does not follow the default GNAT file naming conventions, and the naming conventions are not specified by a project file. If this switch and -P are both omitted, the name for the body will be obtained according to the default GNAT file naming conventions.

--output-dir=dir-name: The directory in which to place the output files. If this switch is not set, the generated library unit body is placed in the current directory, and generated sununits in the directory where the argument body is located.

--wide-character-encoding=e

Specify the wide character encoding method for the input and output files. e is one of the following:

8 - UTF-8 encoding
b - Brackets encoding (default value)

--quiet / -q: Quiet mode.

--verbose / -v: Verbose mode.

5.6.2.1. Legacy Switches¶

Some switches have a short form, mostly for legacy reasons, as shown below.

-gnatyMnnn: --max-line-length=nnn

-innn: --indentation=nnn

-gnatynnn: --indentation=nnn

-f: --force

-gnatyo: --alphabetical-order

-hg: --comment-header-sample

-hs: --comment-header-spec

-o output-file: --output=output-file

-dir dir-name: --output-dir=dir-name

-We: --wide-character-encoding=e

-files filename: --files=filename

5.7. The Unit Test Generator `gnattest`¶

gnattest is an ASIS-based utility that creates unit-test skeletons as well as a test driver infrastructure (harness). gnattest creates a skeleton for each visible subprogram in the packages under consideration when they do not exist already.

gnattest is a project-aware tool. (See Using Project Files with GNAT Tools for a description of the project-related switches but note that gnattest does not support the -U, -eL, --subdirs=dir, or --no-objects-dir switches.) The project file package that can specify gnattest switches is named gnattest.

The user can choose to generate a single test driver that will run all individual tests, or separate test drivers for each test. The second option allows much greater flexibility in test execution environment, allows to benefit from parallel tests execution to increase performance, and provides stubbing support.

gnattest also has a mode of operation where it acts as the test aggregator when multiple test executables must be run, in particular when the separate test drivers were generated. In this mode it handles individual tests execution and upon completion reports the summary results of the test run.

In order to process source files from a project, gnattest has to semantically analyze the sources. Therefore, test skeletons can only be generated for legal Ada units. If a unit is dependent on other units, those units should be among the source files of the project or of other projects imported by this one.

Generated skeletons and harnesses are based on the AUnit testing framework. AUnit is an Ada adaptation of the xxxUnit testing frameworks, similar to JUnit for Java or CppUnit for C++. While it is advised that gnattest users read the AUnit manual, deep knowledge of AUnit is not necessary for using gnattest. For correct operation of gnattest, AUnit should be installed and aunit.gpr must be on the project path. Except for some special circumstances (e.g. a custom run-time is used), this should normally be the case out of the box.

5.7.1. Running `gnattest`¶

There are two ways of running gnattest.

5.7.1.1. Framework Generation Mode¶

In this mode gnattest has the following command-line interface:

$ gnattest -Pprojname [ switches ] [ filename ] [ -cargs gcc_switches ]

where

-Pprojname
specifies the project defining the location of source files. When no file names are provided on the command line, all sources in the project are used as input. This switch is required.
filename
is the name of the source file containing the library unit package declaration (the package “spec”) for which a test package will be created. The file name may be given with a path.
switches
is an optional sequence of switches as described below.
gcc_switches
is a list of additional switches for gcc that will be passed to all compiler invocations made by gnattest to generate a set of ASIS trees.

gnattest results can be found in two different places.

automatic harness:
This is the harness code, which is located by default in “gnattest/harness” directory created in the object directory of the main project file. All of this code is generated completely automatically and can be destroyed and regenerated at will, with the exception of the file gnattest_common.gpr, which is created if absent, but never overwritten. It is not recommended to modify other files manually, since these modifications will be lost if gnattest is re-run. The entry point in the harness code is the project file named test_driver.gpr. Tests can be compiled and run using a command such as:
$ gprbuild -P<harness-dir>/test_driver
Note that if you need to adjust any options used to compile the harness, you can do so by editing the file gnattest_common.gpr.
actual unit test skeletons:
A test skeleton for each visible subprogram is created in a separate file, if it doesn’t exist already. By default, those separate test files are located in a “gnattest/tests” directory that is created in the object directory of corresponding project file. For example, if a source file my_unit.ads in directory src contains a visible subprogram Proc, then the corresponding unit test will be found in file src/tests/my_unit-test_data-tests.adb and will be called Test_Proc_<code>. <code> is a signature encoding used to differentiate test names in case of overloading.

Note that if the project already has both my_unit.ads and my_unit-test_data.ads, this will cause a name conflict with the generated test package.

5.7.1.2. Test Execution Mode¶

In this mode gnattest has a the following command-line interface:

$ gnattest test_drivers.list [ switches ]

where

test_drivers.list
is the name of the text file containing the list of executables to treat as test drivers. This file is automatically generated by gnattest, but can be hand-edited to add or remove tests. This switch is required.
switches
is an optional sequence of switches as described below.

5.7.2. Switches for `gnattest` in framework generation mode¶

--strict: Return error exit code if there are any compilation errors.
-q: Quiet mode: suppresses noncritical output messages.
-v: Verbose mode: produces additional output about the execution of the tool. When specified alone on the command line, prints tool version and exits.
-r: Recursively considers all sources from all projects.
-files=filename: Take as arguments the files listed in text file file. Text file file may contain empty lines that are ignored. Each nonempty line should contain the name of an existing file. Several such switches may be specified simultaneously.
--ignore=filename: Do not process the sources listed in a specified file.
--RTS=rts-path: Specifies the default location of the runtime library. Same meaning as the equivalent gnatmake flag (Switches for gnatmake). For restricted profiles, gnattest takes into account the run-time limitations when generating the harness.
--additional-tests=projname: Sources described in projname are considered potential additional manual tests to be added to the test suite.
--harness-only: When this option is given, gnattest creates a harness for all sources, treating them as test packages. This option is not compatible with closure computation done by -U main.
--separate-drivers[=val]: Generates a separate test driver for each test or unit under test, rather than a single executable incorporating all tests. val can be “unit” or “test”, or may be omitted, which defaults to “unit”.
--stub: Generates the testing framework that uses subsystem stubbing to isolate the code under test.
--harness-dir=dirname: Specifies the directory that will hold the harness packages and project file for the test driver. If the dirname is a relative path, it is considered relative to the object directory of the project file.
--tests-dir=dirname: All test packages are placed in the dirname directory. If the dirname is a relative path, it is considered relative to the object directory of the project file. When all sources from all projects are taken recursively from all projects, dirname directories are created for each project in their object directories and test packages are placed accordingly.
--subdir=dirname: Test packages are placed in a subdirectory of the corresponding source directory, with the name dirname. Thus, each set of unit tests is located in a subdirectory of the code under test. If the sources are in separate directories, each source directory has a test subdirectory named dirname.
--tests-root=dirname: The hierarchy of source directories, if any, is recreated in the dirname directory, with test packages placed in directories corresponding to those of the sources. If the dirname is a relative path, it is considered relative to the object directory of the project file. When projects are considered recursively, directory hierarchies of tested sources are recreated for each project in their object directories and test packages are placed accordingly.
--stubs-dir=dirname: The hierarchy of directories containing stubbed units is recreated in the dirname directory, with stubs placed in directories corresponding to projects they are derived from. If the dirname is a relative path, it is considered relative to the object directory of the project file. When projects are considered recursively, directory hierarchies of stubs are recreated for each project in their object directories and test packages are placed accordingly.
--exclude-from-stubbing=filename: Disables stubbing of units listed in filename. The file should contain corresponding spec files, one per line.
--exclude-from-stubbing:unit=filename: Same as above, but corresponding units will not be stubbed only when testing specified unit.
--validate-type-extensions: Enables substitution check: run all tests from all parents in order to check substitutability in accordance with the Liskov substitution principle (LSP).
--inheritance-check: Enables inheritance check: run inherited tests against descendants.
--no-inheritance-check: Disables inheritance check.
--test-case-only: Generates test skeletons only for subprograms that have at least one associated pragma or aspect Test_Case.
--skeleton-default=val: Specifies the default behavior of generated skeletons. val can be either “fail” or “pass”, “fail” being the default.
--passed-tests=val: Specifies whether or not passed tests should be shown. val can be either “show” or “hide”, “show” being the default.
--exit-status=val: Specifies whether or not generated test driver should return failure exit status if at least one test fails or crashes. val can be either “on” or “off”, “off” being the default.
--omit-sloc: Suppresses comment line containing file name and line number of corresponding subprograms in test skeletons.
--no-command-line: Don’t add command line support to test driver. Note that regardless of this switch, gnattest will automatically refrain from adding command line support if it detects that the selected run-time doesn’t provide this capability.
--separates: Bodies of all test routines are generated as separates. Note that this mode is kept for compatibility reasons only and it is not advised to use it due to possible problems with hash in names of test skeletons when using an inconsistent casing. Separate test skeletons can be incorporated to monolith test package with improved hash being used by using --transition switch.
--transition: This allows transition from separate test routines to monolith test packages. All matching test routines are overwritten with contents of corresponding separates. Note that if separate test routines had any manually added with clauses they will be moved to the test package body as is and have to be moved by hand.
--test-duration: Adds time measurements for each test in generated test driver.

--tests_root, --subdir and --tests-dir switches are mutually exclusive.

5.7.3. Switches for `gnattest` in test execution mode¶

--passed-tests=val: Specifies whether or not passed tests should be shown. val can be either “show” or “hide”, “show” being the default.
--queues=n, -jn: Runs n tests in parallel (default is 1).
--copy-environment=dir: Contents of dir directory will be copied to temporary directories created by gnattest in which individual test drivers are spawned.

5.7.4. Project Attributes for `gnattest`¶

Most of the command-line options can also be passed to the tool by adding special attributes to the project file. Those attributes should be put in package Gnattest. Here is the list of attributes:

Tests_Root
is used to select the same output mode as with the --tests-root option. This attribute cannot be used together with Subdir or Tests_Dir.
Subdir
is used to select the same output mode as with the --subdir option. This attribute cannot be used together with Tests_Root or Tests_Dir.
Tests_Dir
is used to select the same output mode as with the --tests-dir option. This attribute cannot be used together with Subdir or Tests_Root.
Stubs_Dir
is used to select the same output mode as with the --stubs-dir option.
Harness_Dir
is used to specify the directory in which to place harness packages and project file for the test driver, otherwise specified by --harness-dir.
Additional_Tests
is used to specify the project file, otherwise given by --additional-tests switch.
Skeletons_Default
is used to specify the default behaviour of test skeletons, otherwise specified by --skeleton-default option. The value of this attribute should be either pass or fail.
Default_Stub_Exclusion_List
is used to specify the file with list of units whose bodies should not be stubbed, otherwise specified by --exclude-from-stubbing=filename.
Stub_Exclusion_List ("unit")
is used to specify the file with list of units whose bodies should not be stubbed when testing “unit”, otherwise specified by --exclude-from-stubbing:unit=filename.

Each of those attributes can be overridden from the command line if needed. Other gnattest switches can also be passed via the project file as an attribute list called Gnattest_Switches.

5.7.5. Simple Example¶

Let’s take a very simple example using the first gnattest example located in:

<install_prefix>/share/examples/gnattest/simple

This project contains a simple package containing one subprogram. By running gnattest:

$ gnattest --harness-dir=driver -Psimple.gpr

a test driver is created in directory driver. It can be compiled and run:

$ cd obj/driver
$ gprbuild -Ptest_driver
$ test_runner

One failed test with the diagnosis “test not implemented” is reported. Since no special output option was specified, the test package Simple.Tests is located in:

<install_prefix>/share/examples/gnattest/simple/obj/gnattest/tests

For each package containing visible subprograms, a child test package is generated. It contains one test routine per tested subprogram. Each declaration of a test subprogram has a comment specifying which tested subprogram it corresponds to. Bodies of test routines are placed in test package bodies and are surrounded by special comment sections. Those comment sections should not be removed or modified in order for gnattest to be able to regenerate test packages and keep already written tests in place. The test routine Test_Inc_5eaee3 located at simple-test_data-tests.adb contains a single statement: a call to procedure Assert. It has two arguments: the Boolean expression we want to check and the diagnosis message to display if the condition is false.

That is where actual testing code should be written after a proper setup. An actual check can be performed by replacing the Assert call with:

Assert (Inc (1) = 2, "wrong incrementation");

After recompiling and running the test driver, one successfully passed test is reported.

5.7.6. Setting Up and Tearing Down the Testing Environment¶

Besides test routines themselves, each test package has a parent package Test_Data that has two procedures: Set_Up and Tear_Down. This package is never overwritten by the tool. Set_Up is called before each test routine of the package, and Tear_Down is called after each test routine. Those two procedures can be used to perform necessary initialization and finalization, memory allocation, etc. Test type declared in Test_Data package is parent type for the test type of test package and can have user-defined components whose values can be set by Set_Up routine and used in test routines afterwards.

5.7.7. Regenerating Tests¶

Bodies of test routines and Test_Data packages are never overridden after they have been created once. As long as the name of the subprogram, full expanded Ada names and order of its parameters are the same, and comment sections are intact, the old test routine will fit in its place and no test skeleton will be generated for the subprogram.

This can be demonstrated with the previous example. By uncommenting declaration and body of function Dec in simple.ads and simple.adb, running gnattest on the project, and then running the test driver:

$ gnattest --harness-dir=driver -Psimple.gpr
$ cd obj/driver
$ gprbuild -Ptest_driver
$ test_runner

The old test is not replaced with a stub, nor is it lost, but a new test skeleton is created for function Dec.

The only way of regenerating tests skeletons is to remove the previously created tests together with corresponding comment sections.

5.7.8. Default Test Behavior¶

The generated test driver can treat unimplemented tests in two ways: either count them all as failed (this is useful to see which tests are still left to implement) or as passed (to sort out unimplemented ones from those actually failing).

The test driver accepts a switch to specify this behavior: --skeleton-default=val, where val is either pass or fail (exactly as for gnattest).

The default behavior of the test driver is set with the same switch as passed to gnattest when generating the test driver.

Passing it to the driver generated on the first example:

$ test_runner --skeleton-default=pass

makes both tests pass, even the unimplemented one.

5.7.9. Testing Primitive Operations of Tagged Types¶

Creation of test skeletons for primitive operations of tagged types entails a number of features. Test routines for all primitives of a given tagged type are placed in a separate child package named according to the tagged type. For example, if you have tagged type T in package P, all tests for primitives of T will be in P.T_Test_Data.T_Tests.

Consider running gnattest on the second example (note: actual tests for this example already exist, so there’s no need to worry if the tool reports that no new stubs were generated):

$ cd <install_prefix>/share/examples/gnattest/tagged_rec
$ gnattest --harness-dir=driver -Ptagged_rec.gpr

Taking a closer look at the test type declared in the test package Speed1.Controller_Test_Data is necessary. It is declared in:

<install_prefix>/share/examples/gnattest/tagged_rec/obj/gnattest/tests

Test types are direct or indirect descendants of AUnit.Test_Fixtures.Test_Fixture type. In the case of non-primitive tested subprograms, the user doesn’t need to be concerned with them. However, when generating test packages for primitive operations, there are some things the user needs to know.

Type Test_Controller has components that allow assignment of various derivations of type Controller. And if you look at the specification of package Speed2.Auto_Controller, you will see that Test_Auto_Controller actually derives from Test_Controller rather than AUnit type Test_Fixture. Thus, test types mirror the hierarchy of tested types.

The Set_Up procedure of Test_Data package corresponding to a test package of primitive operations of type T assigns to Fixture a reference to an object of that exact type T. Note, however, that if the tagged type has discriminants, the Set_Up only has a commented template for setting up the fixture, since filling the discriminant with actual value is up to the user.

The knowledge of the structure of test types allows additional testing without additional effort. Those possibilities are described below.

5.7.10. Testing Inheritance¶

Since the test type hierarchy mimics the hierarchy of tested types, the inheritance of tests takes place. An example of such inheritance can be seen by running the test driver generated for the second example. As previously mentioned, actual tests are already written for this example.

$ cd obj/driver
$ gprbuild -Ptest_driver
$ test_runner

There are 6 passed tests while there are only 5 testable subprograms. The test routine for function Speed has been inherited and run against objects of the derived type.

5.7.11. Tagged Type Substitutability Testing¶

Tagged Type Substitutability Testing is a way of verifying the global type consistency by testing. Global type consistency is a principle stating that if S is a subtype of T (in Ada, S is a derived type of tagged type T), then objects of type T may be replaced with objects of type S (that is, objects of type S may be substituted for objects of type T), without altering any of the desirable properties of the program. When the properties of the program are expressed in the form of subprogram preconditions and postconditions (let’s call them pre and post), the principle is formulated as relations between the pre and post of primitive operations and the pre and post of their derived operations. The pre of a derived operation should not be stronger than the original pre, and the post of the derived operation should not be weaker than the original post. Those relations ensure that verifying if a dispatching call is safe can be done just by using the pre and post of the root operation.

Verifying global type consistency by testing consists of running all the unit tests associated with the primitives of a given tagged type with objects of its derived types.

In the example used in the previous section, there was clearly a violation of type consistency. The overriding primitive Adjust_Speed in package Speed2 removes the functionality of the overridden primitive and thus doesn’t respect the consistency principle. gnattest has a special option to run overridden parent tests against objects of the type which have overriding primitives:

$ gnattest --harness-dir=driver --validate-type-extensions -Ptagged_rec.gpr
$ cd obj/driver
$ gprbuild -Ptest_driver
$ test_runner

While all the tests pass by themselves, the parent test for Adjust_Speed fails against objects of the derived type.

Non-overridden tests are already inherited for derived test types, so the --validate-type-extensions enables the application of overridden tests to objects of derived types.

5.7.12. Testing with Contracts¶

gnattest supports pragmas Pre, Post, and Test_Case, as well as the corresponding Ada 2012 aspects. Test routines are generated, one per each Test_Case associated with a tested subprogram. Those test routines have special wrappers for tested functions that have composition of pre- and postcondition of the subprogram with “requires” and “ensures” of the Test_Case (depending on the mode, pre and post either count for Nominal mode or do not count for Robustness mode).

The third example demonstrates how this works:

$ cd <install_prefix>/share/examples/gnattest/contracts
$ gnattest --harness-dir=driver -Pcontracts.gpr

Putting actual checks within the range of the contract does not cause any error reports. For example, for the test routine which corresponds to test case 1:

Assert (Sqrt (9.0) = 3.0, "wrong sqrt");

and for the test routine corresponding to test case 2:

Assert (Sqrt (-5.0) = -1.0, "wrong error indication");

are acceptable:

$ cd obj/driver
$ gprbuild -Ptest_driver
$ test_runner

However, by changing 9.0 to 25.0 and 3.0 to 5.0, for example, you can get a precondition violation for test case one. Also, by using any otherwise correct but positive pair of numbers in the second test routine, you can also get a precondition violation. Postconditions are checked and reported the same way.

5.7.13. Additional Tests¶

gnattest can add user-written tests to the main suite of the test driver. gnattest traverses the given packages and searches for test routines. All procedures with a single in out parameter of a type which is derived from AUnit.Test_Fixtures.Test_Fixture and that are declared in package specifications are added to the suites and are then executed by the test driver. (Set_Up and Tear_Down are filtered out.)

An example illustrates two ways of creating test harnesses for user-written tests. Directory additional_tests contains an AUnit-based test driver written by hand.

<install_prefix>/share/examples/gnattest/additional_tests/

To create a test driver for already-written tests, use the --harness-only option:

gnattest -Padditional/harness/harness.gpr --harness-dir=harness_only \\
  --harness-only
gprbuild -Pharness_only/test_driver.gpr
harness_only/test_runner

Additional tests can also be executed together with generated tests:

gnattest -Psimple.gpr --additional-tests=additional/harness/harness.gpr \\
  --harness-dir=mixing
gprbuild -Pmixing/test_driver.gpr
mixing/test_runner

5.7.14. Individual Test Drivers¶

By default, gnattest generates a monolithic test driver that aggregates the individual tests into a single executable. It is also possible to generate separate executables for each test or each unit under test, by passing the switch --separate-drivers with corresponding parameter. This approach scales better for large testing campaigns, especially involving target architectures with limited resources typical for embedded development. It can also provide a major performance benefit on multi-core systems by allowing simultaneous execution of multiple tests.

gnattest can take charge of executing the individual tests; for this, instead of passing a project file, a text file containing the list of executables can be passed. Such a file is automatically generated by gnattest under the name test_drivers.list, but it can be hand-edited to add or remove tests, or replaced. The individual tests can also be executed standalone, or from any user-defined scripted framework.

5.7.15. Stubbing¶

Depending on the testing campaign, it is sometimes necessary to isolate the part of the algorithm under test from its dependencies. This is accomplished via stubbing, i.e. replacing the subprograms that are called from the subprogram under test by stand-in subprograms that match the profiles of the original ones, but simply return predetermined values required by the test scenario.

This mode of test harness generation is activated by the switch --stub.

The implementation approach chosen by gnattest is as follows. For each package under consideration all the packages it is directly depending on are stubbed, excluding the generic packages and package instantiations. The stubs are shared for each package under test. The specs of packages to stub remain intact, while their bodies are replaced, and hide the original bodies by means of extending projects. Also, for each stubbed package, a child package with setter routines for each subprogram declaration is created. These setters are meant to be used to set the behavior of stubbed subprograms from within test cases.

Note that subprograms belonging to the same package as the subprogram under test are not stubbed. This guarantees that the sources being tested are exactly the sources used for production, which is an important property for establishing the traceability between the testing campaign and production code.

Due to the nature of stubbing process, this mode implies the switch --separate-drivers, i.e. an individual test driver (with the corresponding hierarchy of extending projects) is generated for each unit under test.

Note

Developing a stubs-based testing campaign requires good understanding of the infrastructure created by gnattest for this purpose. We recommend following the two stubbing tutorials simple_stubbing and advanced_stubbing provided under <install_prefix>/share/examples/gnattest before attempting to use this powerful feature.

5.7.16. Integration with GNATcoverage¶

In addition to the harness, gnattest generates a Makefile. This Makefile provides targets for building the test drivers and also the targets for computing the coverage information using GNATcoverage framework when this coverage analysis tool is available. The target coverage fully automates the process: it will first build all test drivers, then run them under GNATcoverage, analyze individual trace files, and finally aggregate them:

make coverage

GNATcoverage options, such as coverage criteria and generated report format, can be adjusted using Makefile variables provided for this purpose.

Note that coverage targets are not generated in the Makefile when –separate-drivers=test is passed to gnattest.

5.7.17. Putting Tests under Version Control¶

As has been stated earlier, gnattest generates two different types of code, test skeletons and harness. The harness is generated completely automatically each time, does not require manual changes and therefore should not be put under version control. It makes sense to put under version control files containing test data packages, both specs and bodies, and files containing bodies of test packages. Note that test package specs are also generated automatically each time and should not be put under version control. Option --omit-sloc may be useful when putting test packages under version control.

5.7.18. Current Limitations¶

The tool currently has the following limitations:

generic tests for nested generic packages and their instantiations are not supported;
tests for protected subprograms and entries are not supported;
pragma No_Run_Time is not supported;
pragma No_Secondary_Stack is not supported;
if pragmas for interfacing with foreign languages are used, manual adjustments might be necessary to make the test harness compilable;
use of some constructs, such as elaboration-control pragmas, Type_Invariant aspects, and complex variable initializations that use Subprogram’Access, may result in elaboration circularities in the generated harness.

5.8. Translating Code Addresses into Source Locations with `gnatsymbolize`¶

gnatsymbolize is a program which translates addresses into their corresponding filename, line number, and function names.

5.8.1. Running `gnatsymbolize`¶

$ gnatsymbolize [ switches ] filename [ addresses ]

For instance, consider the following Ada program:

package Pck is
   Global_Val : Integer := 0;
   procedure Call_Me_First;
end Pck;

with GNAT.IO; use GNAT.IO;
with GNAT.Traceback; use GNAT.Traceback;
with GNAT.Debug_Utilities;
package body Pck is
   procedure Call_Me_Third is
      TB : Tracebacks_Array (1 .. 5);
      TB_len : Natural;
   begin
      Global_Val := Global_Val + 1;

      Call_Chain (TB, TB_Len);
      for K in 1 .. TB_Len loop
         Put_Line (GNAT.Debug_Utilities.Image_C (TB (K)));
      end loop;
   end Call_Me_Third;

   procedure Call_Me_Second is
   begin
      Call_Me_Third;
   end Call_Me_Second;

   procedure Call_Me_First is
   begin
      Call_Me_Second;
   end Call_Me_First;
end Pck;
with Pck; use Pck;

procedure Foo is
begin
   Global_Val := 123;
   Call_Me_First;
end Foo;

This program, when built and run, prints a list of addresses which correspond to the traceback when inside function Call_Me_Third. For instance, on x86_64 GNU/Linux:

$ gnatmake -g -q foo.adb
$ ./foo
0x0000000000402561
0x00000000004025EF
0x00000000004025FB
0x0000000000402611
0x00000000004024C7

gnatsymbolize can be used to translate those addresses into code locations as follow:

$ gnatsymbolize foo 0x0000000000402561 0x00000000004025EF \
    0x00000000004025FB 0x0000000000402611 0x00000000004024C7
Pck.Call_Me_Third at pck.adb:12
Pck.Call_Me_Second at pck.adb:20
Pck.Call_Me_First at pck.adb:25
Foo at foo.adb:6
Main at b~foo.adb:184

5.8.2. Switches for `gnatsymbolize`¶

gnatsymbolize recognizes the following switches:

--help

Display the program’s usage, and then exit, disregarding all other options.

--cache

Read the symbolic information from the executable and cache them in memory in order to accelerate the translation of each address into a symbolic location.

Depending on the size of the executable and the number of addresses to translate, this may not always make gnatsymbolize faster overall.

--dump

If --cache is used, dump the contents of the cache on Standard Output. Has no effect otherwise.

--count=N

If specified, compute the symbolic traceback N times in a row. This option is mostly useful for measuring the performance of gnatsymbolize, particularly in the case where the cache is being used.

5.8.3. Requirements for Correct Operation¶

The translation is performed by reading the DWARF debugging information produced by the compiler for each unit. All units for which the translation is to be done must therefore be compiled such that DWARF debugging information is produced. In most cases, this is done by simply compiling with -g.

This program provides a functionality similar to addr2line. It has fewer options to tailor its output, but has been designed to require fewer of the DWARF sections to be present in the executable. In particular, the following sections can be stripped from the executable without impact to gnatsymbolize’s functionality:

.debug_str

.debug_ranges

5.9. Using Project Files with GNAT Tools¶

This section describes how project files can be used in conjunction with a number of GNAT tools. For a comprehensive description of project files and the overall GNAT Project Manager facility, please refer to the GNAT Project Manager chapter in the GPRbuild and GPR Companion Tools User’s Guide.

If a tool can take a project file as an option and extract the needed information, such a tool is called a project-aware tool.

5.9.2. Tool-specific packages in project files¶

Each project-aware tool may have a corresponding package in a project file; the package names are given elsewhere in this manual, in the sections that describe the respective tools.

A tool-specific package in a project file may define the Default_Switches attribute indexed by “ada” (as language name). The value of this attribute is a list of switches that will be supplied at tool invocation. Project-specific switches cannot be specified through this attribute.

5. GNAT Utility Programs¶

5.1. The File Cleanup Utility gnatclean¶

5.1.1. Running gnatclean¶

5.1.2. Switches for gnatclean¶

5.2. The GNAT Library Browser gnatls¶

5.2.1. Running gnatls¶

5.2.2. Switches for gnatls¶

5.2.3. Example of gnatls Usage¶

5.3. The Coding Standard Verifier gnatcheck¶

5.4. The GNAT Metrics Tool gnatmetric¶

5.4.1. Output File Control¶

5.4.2. Disable Metrics For Local Units¶

5.4.3. Specifying a set of metrics to compute¶

5.4.3.1. Line Metrics Control¶

5.4.3.2. Syntax Metrics Control¶

5.4.3.3. Contract Metrics Control¶

5.4.3.4. Complexity Metrics Control¶

5.4.3.5. Coupling Metrics Control¶

5.4.4. Other gnatmetric Switches¶

5.4.4.1. Legacy Switches¶

5.5. The GNAT Pretty Printer gnatpp¶

5.5.1. Switches for gnatpp¶

5.5.1.1. Alignment Control¶

5.5.1.2. Casing Control¶

5.5.1.3. General Text Layout Control¶

5.5.1.4. Other Formatting Options¶

5.5.1.5. Setting the Source Search Path¶

5.5.1.6. Output File Control¶

5.5.1.7. Other gnatpp Switches¶

5.5.2. Formatting Rules¶

5.5.2.1. Disabling Pretty Printing¶

5.5.2.2. White Space and Empty Lines¶

5.5.2.3. Formatting Comments¶

5.5.2.4. Name Casing¶

5.5.2.5. Preprocessor Directives¶

5.5.2.6. Legacy Switches¶

5.6. The Body Stub Generator gnatstub¶

5.6.1. Running gnatstub¶

5.6.2. Switches for gnatstub¶

5.6.2.1. Legacy Switches¶

5.7. The Unit Test Generator gnattest¶

5.7.1. Running gnattest¶

5.7.1.1. Framework Generation Mode¶

5.7.1.2. Test Execution Mode¶

5.7.2. Switches for gnattest in framework generation mode¶

5.7.3. Switches for gnattest in test execution mode¶

5.7.4. Project Attributes for gnattest¶

5.7.5. Simple Example¶

5.7.6. Setting Up and Tearing Down the Testing Environment¶

5.7.7. Regenerating Tests¶

5.7.8. Default Test Behavior¶

5.7.9. Testing Primitive Operations of Tagged Types¶

5.7.10. Testing Inheritance¶

5.7.11. Tagged Type Substitutability Testing¶

5.7.12. Testing with Contracts¶

5.7.13. Additional Tests¶

5.7.14. Individual Test Drivers¶

5.7.15. Stubbing¶

5.7.16. Integration with GNATcoverage¶

5.7.17. Putting Tests under Version Control¶

5.7.18. Current Limitations¶

5.8. Translating Code Addresses into Source Locations with gnatsymbolize¶

5.8.1. Running gnatsymbolize¶

5.8.2. Switches for gnatsymbolize¶

5.8.3. Requirements for Correct Operation¶

5.9. Using Project Files with GNAT Tools¶

5.9.1. Switches Related to Project Files¶

5.9.2. Tool-specific packages in project files¶

5.1. The File Cleanup Utility `gnatclean`¶

5.1.1. Running `gnatclean`¶

5.1.2. Switches for `gnatclean`¶

5.2. The GNAT Library Browser `gnatls`¶

5.2.1. Running `gnatls`¶

5.2.2. Switches for `gnatls`¶

5.2.3. Example of `gnatls` Usage¶

5.3. The Coding Standard Verifier `gnatcheck`¶

5.4. The GNAT Metrics Tool `gnatmetric`¶

5.4.4. Other `gnatmetric` Switches¶

5.5. The GNAT Pretty Printer `gnatpp`¶

5.5.1. Switches for `gnatpp`¶

5.5.1.7. Other `gnatpp` Switches¶

5.6.1. Running `gnatstub`¶

5.6.2. Switches for `gnatstub`¶

5.7. The Unit Test Generator `gnattest`¶

5.7.1. Running `gnattest`¶

5.7.2. Switches for `gnattest` in framework generation mode¶

5.7.3. Switches for `gnattest` in test execution mode¶

5.7.4. Project Attributes for `gnattest`¶

5.8. Translating Code Addresses into Source Locations with `gnatsymbolize`¶

5.8.1. Running `gnatsymbolize`¶

5.8.2. Switches for `gnatsymbolize`¶