Ada-Audit

Ada-Audit is a tool for creating, viewing, and maintaining a database of facts about Ada code.

For information on how to invoke Ada-Audit from the command line see the aa-audit manual page.

Facts are collected into tables, known technically as relations. Here is a sample table of facts:

KIND	ID	DESCRIPTION	FILE	CONTEXT	LINE	NOTE
Error	E2	Improper parameter initialization.	demo.a	Gun.Ready.Aim	234
Indicator	I18	Record representation clause present.	demo.a	Gun.Arm	199
Violation	V10	All blocks must be named.	example.a	Poll.UnitA	321
Violation	V10	All blocks must be named.	example.a	Poll.UnitC	680
Violation	V13	Anonymous type declarations not allowed.	example.a	Poll.UnitB	201
Violation	V17	Excessive subprogram body size.	demo.a	Gun.Ready	122

The columns of a table are knows as attributes. Thus, the table shown has seven attributes. The names of the attributes are displayed in boldface at the head of each column.

Each row of a table is one fact. Thus, each fact includes the following information:

• KIND - A broad categorization of the fact. Three kinds of facts are predefined: Error, Violation, and Indicator. Errors are Ada language flaws; Violations are quality and style flaws; Indicators are like Violations, but are less severe.

• ID - A narrow categorization of the fact, given by an identifying code. Errors, Violations, and Indicators have ID's of the form E#, V#, and I#, respectively, where # is an integer. Approximately 100 ID's are predefined. Users of Ada-Audit may invent new fact ID's.

• DESCRIPTION - A textual description of the fact.

• FILE - A reference file for the fact.

• CONTEXT - A symbolic name for the context that contains the program point described by the fact. The context is given by a qualified name corresponding to the nesting of packages, procedures, functions, tasks, and protected definitions that enclose the program point.

• LINE - A reference line number in the FILE for the fact.

• NOTE - Arbitrary additional textual information.

Three of the attributes shown are hot links that can be used for navigation:

• ID - Clicking the mouse on an ID attribute of a fact navigates to the relevant section of the Ada LRM or the SPC Quality and Style Guidelines for Professional Programmers.

• FILE - Clicking the mouse on a FILE attribute of a fact navigates to the file.

• LINE - Clicking the mouse on a LINE attribute of a fact navigates to the corresponding line in the file.

The set of column names of a table is known as its schema. The schema consisting of the seven columns shown, which is predefined in Ada-Audit, is named STYLE.

Tables are displayed in views. For example, here is a different view of the table shown above in which the KIND attribute is omitted and the facts are displayed by FILE:

demo.a

ID	DESCRIPTION	CONTEXT	LINE	NOTE
E2	Impropper parameter initialization.	Gun.Ready.Aim	234
I18	Record representation clause present.	Gun.Arm	199
V17	Excessive subprogram body size.	Gun.Ready	122

example.a

ID	DESCRIPTION	CONTEXT	LINE	NOTE
V10	All blocks must be named.	Poll.UnitA	321
V10	All blocks must be named.	Poll.UnitC	680
V13	Anonymous type declarations not allowed.	Poll.UnitB	201

Some views aggregate facts and display summary counts. For example, here is a view in which facts are summarized by KIND:

KIND	COUNT
Error	1
Indicator	1
Violation	4

Attention can be restricted to a subset of the facts. For example, here is a view of the table restricted to facts with ID's between V10 and V13 displayed by DESCRIPTION:

All blocks must be named.

ID	FILE	CONTEXT	LINE	NOTE
V10	example.a	Poll.UnitA	321
V10	example.a	Poll.UnitC	680

Anonymous type declarations not allowed.

ID	FILE	CONTEXT	LINE	NOTE
V13	example.a	Poll.UnitB	201

Sample Scenarios
Commands
Customization
Trouble Shooting