scan-build

Build and analyze the project in the current directory

$ scan-build [make]

$ scan-build [command] [command_arguments]

$ scan-build

scan-build [options]

-h, --help
    Display a summary of command-line options.

-v
    Enable verbose output.

-o
    Specify the output directory for the HTML report. Defaults to '/tmp/scan-build-YYYY-MM-DD-HHMMSS-'.

-k
    Keep going after errors occur during the build.

-V
    Print the version of scan-build and exit.

-store-config =
    Stores the analyzer configuration setting.

-use-cc
    Specifies the C compiler to use.

-use-c++
    Specifies the C++ compiler to use.

-plist
    Generate plist files instead of HTML reports.

-quiet
    Suppresses output from the static analyzer.

-maxloop
    Limit the maximum number of times a loop is unrolled

The `scan-build` command is a command-line utility that simplifies the process of performing static analysis on software projects during their build process. It works by intercepting compiler invocations, running the Clang Static Analyzer on each compilation unit, and then presenting the analysis results in an HTML report. This allows developers to identify potential bugs and vulnerabilities, such as memory leaks, null pointer dereferences, and other common programming errors, early in the development cycle. Instead of running the static analyzer manually on each file, `scan-build` automates the process, making it easier to integrate static analysis into a project's build system. It effectively wraps the build process and runs the Clang Static Analyzer, displaying the findings in an organized way. It supports projects built with `make`, `xcodebuild` and other build systems.

The build command should not have side-effects. Because `scan-build` intercepts compiler invocations, the build might be slower than a regular build.

The HTML report generated by `scan-build` presents the analysis results in a navigable format. Each identified issue is presented with a detailed description, source code location, and a call path that led to the error. This report helps developers understand the context of the issue and quickly locate the problematic code.

The report also include steps to reproduce issues which is very useful.

The command is designed to seamlessly integrate with various build systems such as `make` and `xcodebuild`. It simply needs to be prepended to the build command. For example, `scan-build make` or `scan-build xcodebuild`

The `scan-build` tool was developed as part of the LLVM project and the Clang Static Analyzer. It provides a user-friendly interface for running the static analyzer and interpreting its results. Its development was driven by the need to make static analysis more accessible and easier to integrate into existing development workflows. It has evolved over time with improvements to the Clang Static Analyzer, supporting new analysis techniques and improved reporting.

clang(1), clang-static-analyzer(1)