Working in the Code Analysis Rule Set Editor

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The Code Analysis rule set editor enables you to specify the rules that are included in a custom rule set and to specify the action. You can also specify the action to take when code analysis encounters a violation of the rule.

Action

Description

Warning

Generates a warning in the Error List window.

Error

Generates an error in the Error List window.

None

Disables the rule.

The editor displays the rules in a tree structure that groups the rules by a rule set field that you specify. To add or remove rules from a rule set, perform one or more of the following steps:

  • Select or clear the check box of the group node to add or remove all the rules in the group. When you select a group, all rules are set to the Warning action.

  • Click the Action field of a group, and then specify the action to apply to all rules in the group.

  • Select or clear the check box for an individual rule. When you select the check box for a rule, the rule is set to the Warning action.

Rule Set Editor Toolbar

You can use the toolbar of the rule set editor to group, filter, and search the data that appears in the rule set grid.

The following table describes the controls on the toolbar of the rule set editor.

Toolbar control

Description

Expand All

Shows the rules in all groups.

Collapse All

Hides the rules in all groups.

Group By

Specifies the field by which rules are grouped. Click <None> to show the rules without groups.

Column Options

Specifies the rule fields to display.

Hide rules that do not apply to the current solution

Shows or hides rules that are not of the same Target Type as the solution.

Show rules that can generate Code Analysis errors

Shows or hides rules that are assigned the Error action.

Show rules that can generate Code Analysis warnings

Shows or hides rules that are assigned the Warning action.

Show rules that are not enabled

Shows or hides rules that are assigned the None action.

Add or remove child rule sets

Adds or removes the rules in the selected rule sets.

Search rules

Searches all field values for the string that you specify.

Rule Set Fields

Rule set fields display information about a rule set and can be used to sort and group the rule list. To display or hide fields, click Column Options on the rule set editor toolbar, and then check or clear the check boxes of the fields to show or hide.

The following table describes fields of a rule set.

Field

Description

ID

The identifier of the rule.

Category

In addition to their membership in rule sets, code analysis rules are also grouped by category. For more information, see Code Analysis for Managed Code Warnings.

Name

The title of the rule.

Namespace

The namespace of the rule.

Target Type

Indicates whether the rule is for native, managed, or database code.

Action

The action taken when the rule is violated in a code analysis run.

Warning - generates a warning.

Error - generates an error.

None - disables the rule.

You can edit the Action field. Setting the value to None is the same as clearing the check box for the rule.

Source Rule Sets

The rule set that contains the rule.

Sorting and Filtering Rule Sets

From the column headers of the rule set grid, you can sort and filter the rules by the values of the field.

  • To sort the rule set lists, click the column header of the field by which you want to sort. If the rule sets are grouped, each group is sorted individually.

  • To filter the rule sets by the value of a field, click the filter button on the column header of the field by which you want to filter. Select the check boxes of the values that you want to show, and clear the check boxes of the values that you want to hide.