cannot generate XML output from cppcheck

Question

I am using cppcheck for static analysis of C Code, but cannot seem to get an XML. I require the XML File to be consumed by Jenkins

Here is what i have tried so far:

runcppcheck.sh

#!/bin/sh
cd obj/msc
cppcheck --enable=all -I. -I. -I. -I. -I. -I. -I. -I. -I. -I. -I. /usr/include/ -I. obj/fap/ \
-DSUNOS -DSS -DSS_MT -DANSI -D_GNU_SOURCE -DSS_LINUX -D_REENTRANT -D__EXTENSIONS__ -DSUNOS -DCNS_PH1 -DDBG_TIMESTAMP -DLX_PRNT_TIMESTAMP \
-DDEBUGP -DLX -DLCLXT -DLXT_V1 -DLCLXUILXT -DLCXULILXT -DXU  -DLX -DLCLLX  -DSM -DLWLCLLX -DLCLXMILLX -DLCSMLXMILLX -DHR -DLX -DLCHRT \
-DLCHRUIHRT -DLCHRLIHIT -DLCLXLIHRT -DXU -DLCXULIHRT  -DLX -DLX_RTP -DLX_FASTRC -DCMINET_BSDCOMPAT -DSS_TICKS_SEC=100 -DCMFILE_REORG_1 \
-DCM_INET2 -D_GNU_SOURCE -DCMFILE_REORG_2 -DSSINT2 -DCMKV2 -DHI_MULTI_THREADED -DxCM_PASN_DBG -DxCCPU_DEBUG -DxRNC_OUTPUT_CONSOLE \
-DxCCPU_DEBUG_TRACE -DCCPU_DEBUG1 -DSS_PERF -DNO_ERRCLS -DNOERRCHK -DSS_M_PROTO_REGION -DxCCPU_DEBUG_TRACE1 -DxCCPU_DEBUG_TRACE2 \
-DCCPU_MEAS_CPU -DSTD_CCPU_IU -UMULTIPLE_CN_SUPPORT -DLONG_MSG -DTEST_CNS -UDCM_RTP_SESSID_ARRAY -DHR *.c *.h --xml ../../cppcheck-result.xml

i DO GET the XML on stdout, but just NOT in a file

Answer 1

I am a Cppcheck developer.

You need to pipe the report to the file.

cppcheck file1.c --xml 2> cppcheck-result.xml

A small hint about your command line, in most cases it's better to use . instead of *.c *.h.

Answer 2

Actually, here is the command to get the proper xml output.

cppcheck --xml --xml-version=2 --enable=all <path1> <path2> 2>samplecppcheck.xml

Answer 3

That 2> part is obviously shell syntax, and is only meant to work from the context of a shell interpreter. So what to do when NOT running from a shell, just a plain “command with arguments” type of interface (like env, xargs, docker run and such)?

It should be needless to say that the obvious workaround, wrapping the whole thing in sh -c, is a horrible antipattern: Quoting and escaping is hard to do correctly, most programmers won't even try, resulting in brittle code and a potential security hole. That would be an unreasonable complication for specifying an output file, and a clear sign that you're doing something wrong.

A wrapper script lets you solve the problem the right way

#!/bin/sh
exec "$@" 2> result.xml

… but that would be a file, and that may be a complication in itself. Luckily, that script can be written in an inline form like this:

sh -c 'exec "$0" "$@" 2> result.xml' cppcheck …

This is now in the form of a plain argument list, and therefore works in all shells, as well as non-shells like docker run.