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<!DOCTYPE html>
<!--
| Generated by Apache Maven Doxia Site Renderer 2.1.0 from src/site/xdoc/cmdline.xml.vm at 2026-09-27
| Rendered using Apache Maven Fluido Skin 2.0.1
-->
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" lang="en">
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8" />
<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1" />
<meta name="generator" content="Apache Maven Doxia Site Renderer 2.1.0" />
<title>Command Line – checkstyle</title>
<link rel="stylesheet" href="./css/apache-maven-fluido-2.0.1.min.css" />
<link rel="stylesheet" href="./css/site.css" />
<link rel="stylesheet" href="./css/print.css" media="print" />
<script src="./js/apache-maven-fluido-2.0.1.min.js"></script>
<script type="text/javascript" src="./js/checkstyle.js" defer async></script>
<script type="text/javascript" src="./js/anchors.js" defer async></script>
<script type="text/javascript"
src="./js/google-analytics.js" defer async></script>
<script type="text/javascript"
src="./js/copy-clipboard.js" defer async></script>
<link rel="icon" href="./images/favicon.png" type="image/x-icon" />
<link rel="shortcut icon" href="./images/favicon.ico" type="image/ico" />
<script src="./js/search.js" defer async></script>
</head>
<body>
<div class="container-fluid container-fluid-top">
<header>
<div id="banner">
<div class="pull-left"><div id="bannerLeft"><h1><a href="./"><img class="class java.lang.Object" src="images/header-checkstyle-logo.png" alt="Checkstyle" /></a></h1></div></div>
<div class="pull-right"><div id="bannerRight"><h1><img class="class java.lang.Object" src="images/header-right-ruler.png" /></h1></div></div>
<div class="clear"><hr/></div>
</div>
<div id="breadcrumbs">
<ul class="breadcrumb">
<li id="publishDate" class="pull-right"><span class="divider">|</span> Last Published: 2026-09-27</li>
<li id="projectVersion" class="pull-right"><span class="divider">|</span>Version: 14.3.0</li>
<li class="pull-right"><a>toTop</a></li>
</ul>
</div>
</header>
<div class="row-fluid">
<header id="leftColumn" class="span4">
<nav class="well sidebar-nav">
<ul class="nav nav-list">
<li class="nav-header">About</li>
<li><a href="index.html">Checkstyle</a></li>
<li><a href="release-notes.html">Release Notes</a></li>
<li><a href="consulting.html">Consulting</a></li>
<li><a href="sponsoring.html">Sponsoring</a></li>
<li class="nav-header">Documentation</li>
<li><a href="getting-started.html">Getting Started</a></li>
<li><a href="config.html"><span class="icon-chevron-down"></span>Configuration</a>
<ul class="nav nav-list">
<li><a href="property-types.html">Property Types</a></li>
<li><a href="config-system-properties.html">System Properties</a></li>
<li><a href="xpath.html">XPath</a></li>
</ul></li>
<li><a href="running.html"><span class="icon-chevron-down"></span>Running</a>
<ul class="nav nav-list">
<li><a href="ant-task.html">Ant Task</a></li>
<li class="active"><a>Command Line</a></li>
<li><a href="result-reports.html">Result Reports</a></li>
</ul></li>
<li><a href="checks.html"><span class="icon-chevron-down"></span>Checks</a>
<ul class="nav nav-list">
<li><a href="checks/annotation/index.html"><span class="icon-chevron-right"></span>Annotations</a></li>
<li><a href="checks/blocks/index.html"><span class="icon-chevron-right"></span>Block Checks</a></li>
<li><a href="checks/design/index.html"><span class="icon-chevron-right"></span>Class Design</a></li>
<li><a href="checks/coding/index.html"><span class="icon-chevron-right"></span>Coding</a></li>
<li><a href="checks/header/index.html"><span class="icon-chevron-right"></span>Headers</a></li>
<li><a href="checks/imports/index.html"><span class="icon-chevron-right"></span>Imports</a></li>
<li><a href="checks/javadoc/index.html"><span class="icon-chevron-right"></span>Javadoc Comments</a></li>
<li><a href="checks/metrics/index.html"><span class="icon-chevron-right"></span>Metrics</a></li>
<li><a href="checks/misc/index.html"><span class="icon-chevron-right"></span>Miscellaneous</a></li>
<li><a href="checks/modifier/index.html"><span class="icon-chevron-right"></span>Modifiers</a></li>
<li><a href="checks/modules/index.html"><span class="icon-chevron-right"></span>Modules</a></li>
<li><a href="checks/naming/index.html"><span class="icon-chevron-right"></span>Naming Conventions</a></li>
<li><a href="checks/regexp/index.html"><span class="icon-chevron-right"></span>Regexp</a></li>
<li><a href="checks/sizes/index.html"><span class="icon-chevron-right"></span>Size Violations</a></li>
<li><a href="checks/whitespace/index.html"><span class="icon-chevron-right"></span>Whitespace</a></li>
</ul></li>
<li><a href="filters/index.html"><span class="icon-chevron-right"></span>Filters</a></li>
<li><a href="filefilters/index.html"><span class="icon-chevron-right"></span>File Filters</a></li>
<li><a href="style-configs.html"><span class="icon-chevron-down"></span>Style Configurations</a>
<ul class="nav nav-list">
<li><a href="google-style.html">Google's Style</a></li>
<li><a href="openjdk-style.html">OpenJDK's Style</a></li>
<li><a href="sun-style.html">Sun's Style</a></li>
<li><a href="doc-comments-style.html">Documentation Comments Style</a></li>
</ul></li>
<li class="nav-header">Developers</li>
<li><a href="extending.html"><span class="icon-chevron-down"></span>Extending Checkstyle</a>
<ul class="nav nav-list">
<li><a href="writing-checks.html">Writing Checks</a></li>
<li><a href="writing-javadoc-checks.html">Writing Javadoc Checks</a></li>
<li><a href="writing-filters.html">Writing Filters</a></li>
<li><a href="writing-filefilters.html">Writing File Filters</a></li>
<li><a href="writing-listeners.html">Writing Listeners</a></li>
</ul></li>
<li><a href="contributing.html">Contributing</a></li>
<li><a href="beginning-development.html"><span class="icon-chevron-down"></span>Beginning Development</a>
<ul class="nav nav-list">
<li><a href="eclipse.html">Eclipse IDE</a></li>
<li><a href="netbeans.html">NetBeans IDE</a></li>
<li><a href="idea.html">IntelliJ IDE</a></li>
</ul></li>
<li><a href="apidocs/index.html">Javadoc</a></li>
<li class="nav-header">Project Documentation</li>
<li><a href="project-info.html"><span class="icon-chevron-right"></span>Project Information</a></li>
<li><a href="project-reports.html"><span class="icon-chevron-right"></span>Project Reports</a></li>
</ul>
</nav>
<div class="well sidebar-nav">
<div id="poweredBy">
<div class="clear"></div>
<div class="clear"></div>
<a href="https://github.com/checkstyle/checkstyle" class="builtBy"><img class="builtBy" src="images/github_logo_social_coding_outlined.png" alt="GitHub" /></a>
<a href="https://twitter.com/checkstyle_java/" class="builtBy"><img class="builtBy" src="images/twitter_button.png" alt="Twitter" /></a>
<a href="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/tagged/checkstyle" class="builtBy"><img class="builtBy" src="images/stackoverflow.jpeg" alt="Stackoverflow" /></a>
<a href="https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/checkstyle" class="builtBy"><img class="builtBy" src="images/groups.png" alt="GoogleGroups" /></a>
<a href="https://www.ej-technologies.com/products/jprofiler/overview.html" class="builtBy"><img class="builtBy" src="https://www.ej-technologies.com/images/product_banners/jprofiler_medium.png" alt="JProfiler" /></a>
</div>
</div>
</header>
<main id="bodyColumn" class="span8">
<section><a id="Description"></a>
<h1>Description</h1>
<div class="toc-panel">
<input type="checkbox" id="toc-toggle" class="toc-toggle-checkbox" checked="checked" />
<label for="toc-toggle" class="toc-toggle-arrow" title="Collapse"> </label>
<div class="toc-content">
<p class="toc-heading">On This Page</p>
<ul class="toc-list">
<li><a href="#Description">Description</a></li>
<li><a href="#Command_line_usage">Command line usage</a></li>
<li><a href="#Download_and_Run">Download and Run</a></li>
<li>
<input type="checkbox" id="toc-sub-Examples" class="toc-sub-toggle-checkbox" />
<label for="toc-sub-Examples" class="toc-sub-toggle">
<a href="#Examples">Examples</a><span class="toc-sub-arrow"></span></label>
<ul class="toc-sublist">
<li><a href="#Using_Configuration_File">Using Configuration File</a></li>
<li><a href="#Specifying_Output_Format">Specifying Output Format</a></li>
<li><a href="#Using_a_Properties_File">Using a Properties File</a></li>
<li><a href="#Specifying_an_Output_File">Specifying an Output File</a></li>
<li><a href="#Printing_XPath_Suppressions">Printing XPath Suppressions</a></li>
<li><a href="#Generating_Xpath_Suppressions_XML">Generating Xpath Suppressions XML</a></li>
<li><a href="#Generating_Checks_And_Files_Suppressions_XML">Generating Checks And Files Suppressions XML</a></li>
<li><a href="#Setting_Tab_Width">Setting Tab Width</a></li>
<li><a href="#Displaying_Abstract_Syntax_Tree">Displaying Abstract Syntax Tree</a></li>
<li><a href="#Displaying_AST_with_Comments">Displaying AST with Comments</a></li>
<li><a href="#Displaying_AST_with_Javadoc">Displaying AST with Javadoc</a></li>
<li><a href="#Printing_Javadoc_Parse_Tree">Printing Javadoc Parse Tree</a></li>
<li><a href="#Debugging_CheckStyle">Debugging CheckStyle</a></li>
<li><a href="#Excluding_Specific_Files_or_Directories">Excluding Specific Files/Directories</a></li>
<li><a href="#Excluding_Files_Using_Regex">Excluding Files Using Regex</a></li>
<li><a href="#Displaying_Checkstyle_Version">Displaying Checkstyle Version</a></li>
<li><a href="#Matching_AST_Branches">Matching AST Branches</a></li>
<li><a href="#Displaying_Help_Message">Displaying Help Message</a></li>
<li><a href="#Executing_Ignored_Modules">Executing Ignored Modules</a></li>
<li><a href="#Handling_Folder_and_File_Inputs">Handling Folder and File Inputs</a></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><a href="#Run_after_compilation">Run after compilation</a></li>
<li><a href="#Usage_by_Classpath_update">Usage by Classpath update</a></li>
</ul>
</div>
</div>
<p>
This document describes how to run Checkstyle using the command line tool. The latest version of Checkstyle can be downloaded as described at <a href="./index.html#Download">Download section</a>. This command line tool is included in the Checkstyle distribution. </p>
</section>
<section><a id="Command_line_usage"></a>
<h1>Command line usage</h1>
<p>
<div class="wrapper"></p>
<pre class="prettyprint"><code class="language-bash">
java -jar checkstyle-14.3.0-all.jar -D<property>=<value> \
[-c <configurationFile>] \
[-f <format>] [-p <propertiesFile>] [-o <file>] \
[-s <line:column>] [-w | --tabWidth <length>] \
[-g | --generate-xpath-suppression] [-G | --generate-checks-and-files-suppression] \
[-t | --tree] [-T | --treeWithComments] [-J | --treeWithJavadoc] [-j | --javadocTree] \
[-V | --version] [-b | --branch-matching-xpath <xpathQuery>] [-h | --help] \
[-e | --exclude <excludedPath>] [-E | --executeIgnoredModules] [-d | --debug] \
[-x | --exclude-regexp <excludedPathPattern>] \
file(s) or folder(s) ...
</code></pre></div>
<p>
Checkstyle will process the specified files and by default report violations to standard out in plain format. Checkstyle requires a <a href="config.html">configuration XML file</a> that configures the checks to apply. Command line options are: </p>
<a id="Command_line_usage_Command_Line_Options"></a><section id="Command_line_usage_Command_Line_Options"><a id="Command_Line_Options"></a>
<h2>Command Line Options</h2>
<div class="wrapper">
<table class="table table-striped">
<thead>
<tr class="a">
<th></th>
<th>Option</th>
<th>Description</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody id="body">
<tr class="b">
<td>
<a id="c"></a> <a href="#c"> <span class="wrapper inline"> <img src="images/anchor.png" alt="" /> </span> </a> </td>
<td>
<code>-c configurationFile</code> </td>
<td>
Specifies the location of the file that defines the configuration modules. The location can either be a filesystem location, or a <a href="https://docs.oracle.com/javase/8/docs/technotes/guides/lang/resources.html#res_names" class="externalLink"> name</a> passed to the ClassLoader.getResource() method. </td>
</tr>
<tr class="a">
<td>
<a id="f"></a> <a href="#f"> <span class="wrapper inline"> <img src="images/anchor.png" alt="" /> </span> </a> </td>
<td>
<code>-f format</code> </td>
<td>
Specifies the output format. Valid values: <code>xml</code>, <code>sarif</code>, <code>plain</code> for <a href="apidocs/com/puppycrawl/tools/checkstyle/XMLLogger.html"> XMLLogger</a>, <a href="apidocs/com/puppycrawl/tools/checkstyle/SarifLogger.html"> SarifLogger</a>, and <a href="apidocs/com/puppycrawl/tools/checkstyle/DefaultLogger.html"> DefaultLogger</a> respectively. Defaults to <code>plain</code>. </td>
</tr>
<tr class="b">
<td>
<a id="p"></a> <a href="#p"> <span class="wrapper inline"> <img src="images/anchor.png" alt="" /> </span> </a> </td>
<td>
<code>-p propertiesFile</code> </td>
<td>
Sets the property files to load. </td>
</tr>
<tr class="a">
<td>
<a id="o"></a> <a href="#o"> <span class="wrapper inline"> <img src="images/anchor.png" alt="" /> </span> </a> </td>
<td>
<code>-o file</code> </td>
<td>
Sets the output file. Defaults to stdout. </td>
</tr>
<tr class="b">
<td>
<a id="s"></a> <a href="#s"> <span class="wrapper inline"> <img src="images/anchor.png" alt="" /> </span> </a> </td>
<td>
<code>-s line:column</code> </td>
<td>
Prints xpath suppressions at the file's line and column position. Argument is the line and column number (separated by a : ) in the file that the suppression should be generated for. The option cannot be used with other options and requires exactly one file to run on to be specified. Note that the generated result will have few queries, joined by pipe(|). Together they will match all AST nodes on specified line and column. You need to choose only one and recheck that it works. Usage of all of them is also ok, but might result in undesirable matching and suppress other issues. </td>
</tr>
<tr class="a">
<td>
<a id="g"></a> <a href="#g"> <span class="wrapper inline"> <img src="images/anchor.png" alt="" /> </span> </a> </td>
<td>
<code>-g--generate-xpath-suppression</code> </td>
<td>
Generates an output xpath suppression XML to use to suppress all violations from user's config. Instead of printing every violation, all violations will be caught and single suppressions xml file will be printed out. Used only with <code>-c</code> option. Output location can be specified with <code>-o</code> option. </td>
</tr>
<tr class="b">
<td>
<a id="G"></a> <a href="#G"> <span class="wrapper inline"> <img src="images/anchor.png" alt="" /> </span> </a> </td>
<td>
<code>-G--generate-checks-and-files-suppression</code> </td>
<td>
Generates an output suppression XML that will have suppress elements with "checks" and "files" attributes only to use to suppress all violations from user's config. Instead of printing every violation, all violations will be caught and single suppressions xml file will be printed out. Used only with <code>-c</code> option. Output location can be specified with <code>-o</code> option. </td>
</tr>
<tr class="a">
<td>
<a id="w"></a> <a href="#w"> <span class="wrapper inline"> <img src="images/anchor.png" alt="" /> </span> </a> </td>
<td>
<code>-w, --tabWidth length</code> </td>
<td>
Sets the length of the tab character. Used only with <code>-s</code> option. Default value is 8. </td>
</tr>
<tr class="b">
<td>
<a id="t"></a> <a href="#t"> <span class="wrapper inline"> <img src="images/anchor.png" alt="" /> </span> </a> </td>
<td>
<code>-t, --tree</code> </td>
<td>
This option is used to display the Abstract Syntax Tree (AST) <b>without any comments</b> of the specified file. It can only be used on a single file and cannot be combined with other options. </td>
</tr>
<tr class="a">
<td>
<a id="T"></a> <a href="#T"> <span class="wrapper inline"> <img src="images/anchor.png" alt="" /> </span> </a> </td>
<td>
<code>-T, --treeWithComments</code> </td>
<td>
This option is used to display the Abstract Syntax Tree (AST) <b>with comment nodes excluding Javadoc</b> of the specified file. It can only be used on a single file and cannot be combined with other options. </td>
</tr>
<tr class="b">
<td>
<a id="J"></a> <a href="#J"> <span class="wrapper inline"> <img src="images/anchor.png" alt="" /> </span> </a> </td>
<td>
<code>-J, --treeWithJavadoc</code> </td>
<td>
This option is used to display the Abstract Syntax Tree (AST) <b>with Javadoc nodes</b> of the specified file. It can only be used on a single file and cannot be combined with other options. </td>
</tr>
<tr class="a">
<td>
<a id="j"></a> <a href="#j"> <span class="wrapper inline"> <img src="images/anchor.png" alt="" /> </span> </a> </td>
<td>
<code>-j, --javadocTree</code> </td>
<td>
This option is used to print the Parse Tree of the Javadoc comment. The file has to contain <b>only Javadoc comment content</b> excluding '/**' and '*/' at the beginning and at the end respectively. It can only be used on a single file and cannot be combined with other options. </td>
</tr>
<tr class="b">
<td>
<a id="d"></a> <a href="#d"> <span class="wrapper inline"> <img src="images/anchor.png" alt="" /> </span> </a> </td>
<td>
<code>-d, --debug</code> </td>
<td>
Prints all debug logging of CheckStyle utility. </td>
</tr>
<tr class="a">
<td>
<a id="e"></a> <a href="#e"> <span class="wrapper inline"> <img src="images/anchor.png" alt="" /> </span> </a> </td>
<td>
<code>-e, --exclude excludedPath</code> </td>
<td>
Directory/file to exclude from CheckStyle. The path can be the full, absolute path, or relative to the current path. Multiple excludes are allowed. </td>
</tr>
<tr class="b">
<td>
<a id="x"></a> <a href="#x"> <span class="wrapper inline"> <img src="images/anchor.png" alt="" /> </span> </a> </td>
<td>
<code>-x, --exclude-regexp excludedPathPattern</code> </td>
<td>
Directory/file pattern to exclude from CheckStyle. Multiple excludes are allowed. </td>
</tr>
<tr class="a">
<td>
<a id="V"></a> <a href="#V"> <span class="wrapper inline"> <img src="images/anchor.png" alt="" /> </span> </a> </td>
<td>
<code>-V, --version</code> </td>
<td>
Prints product version and exits. Any other option is ignored. </td>
</tr>
<tr class="b">
<td>
<a id="b"></a> <a href="#b"> <span class="wrapper inline"> <img src="images/anchor.png" alt="" /> </span> </a> </td>
<td>
<code>-b, --branch-matching-xpath xpathQuery</code> </td>
<td>
Shows Abstract Syntax Tree(AST) branches that match given XPath query. </td>
</tr>
<tr class="a">
<td>
<a id="h"></a> <a href="#h"> <span class="wrapper inline"> <img src="images/anchor.png" alt="" /> </span> </a> </td>
<td>
<code>-h, --help</code> </td>
<td>
Prints usage help message and exits. Any other option is ignored. </td>
</tr>
<tr class="b">
<td>
<a id="E"></a> <a href="#E"> <span class="wrapper inline"> <img src="images/anchor.png" alt="" /> </span> </a> </td>
<td>
<code>-E, --executeIgnoredModules</code> </td>
<td>
Allows ignored modules to be run. </td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
</div>
</section>
<p>
Note that the <code>-n packageNamesFile</code> option has been dropped for Checkstyle 5.0, because of significant changes regarding package name file handling. See <a href="config.html#Packages">this link</a> for details. </p>
<p>
To define system property for execution look at <a href="config-system-properties.html">system properties</a>. </p>
<p>
Set the properties for <a href="config.html#Properties">expanded property values</a> by either by assigning system properties using the <code>-D<property>=<value></code> arguments to java or specifying a property file using the <code>-p</code> option. If a property file is specified, the system properties are ignored. </p>
<p>
CLI is implemented by means of <a href="https://picocli.info" class="externalLink">picocli</a> library. Our CLI supports definition of arguments in file by means of <a href="https://picocli.info/#AtFiles" class="externalLink">AtFiles</a> feature and also command line completion in Bash or ZSH Unix shells, see how to make it <a href="https://picocli.info/autocomplete.html" class="externalLink">here</a>. </p>
</section>
<section><a id="Download_and_Run"></a>
<h1>Download and Run</h1>
<p>
It is possible to run Checkstyle directly from the JAR file using the <code>-jar</code> option. Download latest <a href="https://github.com/checkstyle/checkstyle/releases/download/checkstyle-14.3.0/checkstyle-14.3.0-all.jar" class="externalLink"> checkstyle-14.3.0-all.jar</a>. An example of run would be: </p>
<div class="wrap-content">
<div class="wrapper">
<pre class="prettyprint"><code class="language-java">
java -jar checkstyle-14.3.0-all.jar -c /sun_checks.xml MyClass.java
java -jar checkstyle-14.3.0-all.jar -c /google_checks.xml MyClass.java
</code></pre></div>
</div>
<p>
It is recommended to use configuration files that are embedded in jar files, but latest configuration files are there: <a href="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/checkstyle/checkstyle/master/src/main/resources/sun_checks.xml" class="externalLink"> sun_checks.xml</a> <a href="https://raw.githubusercontent.com/checkstyle/checkstyle/master/src/main/resources/google_checks.xml" class="externalLink"> google_checks.xml</a> </p>
<p>
To run <a href="writing-checks.html#The_Checkstyle_SDK_Gui">Checkstyle UI viewer</a> for AST tree directly from the JAR file using the <code>-jar</code> option. Download latest <a href="https://github.com/checkstyle/checkstyle/releases/download/checkstyle-14.3.0/checkstyle-14.3.0-all.jar" class="externalLink"> checkstyle-14.3.0-all.jar</a>. An example of run would be (path to java file is optional): </p>
<div class="wrap-content">
<div class="wrapper">
<pre class="prettyprint"><code class="language-java">
java -cp checkstyle-14.3.0-all.jar com.puppycrawl.tools.checkstyle.gui.Main MyClass.java
</code></pre></div>
</div>
</section>
<section><a id="Examples"></a>
<h1>Examples</h1>
<ol style="list-style-type: decimal;">
<li>
<a href="#Using_Configuration_File"> Using Configuration File (-c, --configurationFile) </a> </li>
<li>
<a href="#Specifying_Output_Format"> Specifying Output Format (-f, --format) </a> </li>
<li>
<a href="#Using_a_Properties_File"> Using a Properties File (-p, --propertiesFile) </a> </li>
<li>
<a href="#Specifying_an_Output_File"> Specifying an Output File (-o, --outputPath) </a> </li>
<li>
<a href="#Printing_XPath_Suppressions"> Printing XPath Suppressions (-s, --suppressionLineColumnNumber) </a> </li>
<li>
<a href="#Generating_Xpath_Suppressions_XML"> Generating Xpath Suppressions XML (-g, --generate-xpath-suppression) </a> </li>
<li>
<a href="#Generating_Checks_And_Files_Suppressions_XML"> Generating Checks And Files Suppressions XML (-G, --generate-checks-and-files-suppression) </a> </li>
<li>
<a href="#Setting_Tab_Width"> Setting Tab Width (-w, --tabWidth) </a> </li>
<li>
<a href="#Displaying_Abstract_Syntax_Tree"> Displaying Abstract Syntax Tree (-t, --tree) </a> </li>
<li>
<a href="#Displaying_AST_with_Comments"> Displaying AST with Comments (-T, --treeWithComments) </a> </li>
<li>
<a href="#Displaying_AST_with_Javadoc"> Displaying AST with Javadoc (-J, --treeWithJavadoc) </a> </li>
<li>
<a href="#Printing_Javadoc_Parse_Tree"> Printing Javadoc Parse Tree (-j, --javadocTree) </a> </li>
<li>
<a href="#Debugging_CheckStyle"> Debugging CheckStyle (-d, --debug) </a> </li>
<li>
<a href="#Excluding_Specific_Files_or_Directories"> Excluding Specific Files/Directories (-e, --exclude) </a> </li>
<li>
<a href="#Excluding_Files_Using_Regex"> Excluding Files Using Regular Expressions (-x, --exclude-regexp ) </a> </li>
<li>
<a href="#Displaying_Checkstyle_Version"> Displaying Checkstyle Version (-V, --version) </a> </li>
<li>
<a href="#Matching_AST_Branches"> Matching AST Branches (-b, --branch-matching-xpath) </a> </li>
<li>
<a href="#Displaying_Help_Message"> Displaying Help Message (-h, --help) </a> </li>
<li>
<a href="#Executing_Ignored_Modules"> Executing Ignored Modules (-E, --executeIgnoredModules) </a> </li>
<li>
<a href="#Handling_Folder_and_File_Inputs"> Handling Folder and Individual File Inputs </a> </li>
</ol>
<section><section><section><a id="a1._Using_Configuration_File_.28-c.2C_--configurationFile.29"></a>
<h4 id="Using_Configuration_File"><span> 1. Using Configuration File (<span class="no-transform">-c, --configurationFile</span>) </span></h4>
<p><strong>Goal:</strong> Run Checkstyle using the settings defined in the specified XML configuration file (config.xml) to check the provided Java source files.</p>
<span class="inline-command"><strong>Command:</strong> <code class="prettyprint"> java -jar checkstyle-14.3.0-all.jar -c config.xml Test.java </code></span>
<p><strong>Content of config.xml:</strong></p>
<div class="wrapper">
<pre class="prettyprint"><code class="language-xml">
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<!DOCTYPE module PUBLIC
"-//Puppy Crawl//DTD Check Configuration 1.3//EN"
"https://checkstyle.org/dtds/configuration_1_3.dtd">
<module name="Checker">
<module name="TreeWalker">
<module name="FallThrough"/>
</module>
</module>
</code></pre>
</div>
<p><strong>Content of Test.java:</strong></p>
<div class="wrapper">
<pre class="prettyprint"><code class="language-java">
/**
* Javadoc summary.
*
* Some description.
*/
class Test {
/**
* Some summary on method.
*/
public void foo() {
int i = 0;
while (i >= 0) {
switch (i) {
case 1:
case 2:
i++;
case 3: // violation
i++;
}
}
}
}
</code></pre>
</div>
<p><strong>Output:</strong></p>
<div class="wrapper">
<pre class="prettyprint"><code class="language-text">
Starting audit...
[ERROR] Test.java:17:17: Fall through from previous branch of the switch statement.
[FallThrough]
Audit done.
Checkstyle ends with 1 errors.
</code></pre>
</div>
</section><section><a id="a2._Specifying_Output_Format_.28-f.2C_--format.29"></a>
<h4 id="Specifying_Output_Format"><span> 2. Specifying Output Format (<span class="no-transform">-f, --format</span>) </span></h4>
<p><strong>Goal:</strong> Output the audit results in a Xml Format instead of the default plain text.</p>
<span class="inline-command"><strong>Command:</strong> <code class="prettyprint"> java -jar checkstyle-14.3.0-all.jar -c config.xml -f xml Test.java </code></span>
<p><strong>Content of config.xml:</strong></p>
<div class="wrapper">
<pre class="prettyprint"><code class="language-xml">
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<!DOCTYPE module PUBLIC
"-//Puppy Crawl//DTD Check Configuration 1.3//EN"
"https://checkstyle.org/dtds/configuration_1_3.dtd">
<module name="Checker">
<module name="TreeWalker">
<module name="FallThrough"/>
</module>
</module>
</code></pre>
</div>
<p><strong>Content of Test.java:</strong></p>
<div class="wrapper">
<pre class="prettyprint"><code class="language-java">
/**
* Javadoc summary.
*
* Some description.
*/
class Test {
/**
* Some summary on method.
*/
public void foo() {
int i = 0;
while (i >= 0) {
switch (i) {
case 1:
case 2:
i++;
case 3: // violation
i++;
}
}
}
}
</code></pre>
</div>
<p><strong>Output:</strong></p>
<div class="wrapper">
<pre class="prettyprint"><code class="language-xml">
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<checkstyle version="14.3.0">
<file name="Test.java">
<error line="17" column="17" severity="error"
message="Fall through from previous branch of switch statement"
source="com.puppycrawl.tools.checkstyle.checks.coding.FallThroughCheck"/>
</file>
</checkstyle>
Checkstyle ends with 1 errors.
</code></pre>
</div>
</section><section><a id="a3._Using_a_Properties_File_.28-p.2C_--propertiesFile.29"></a>
<h4 id="Using_a_Properties_File"><span> 3. Using a Properties File (<span class="no-transform">-p, --propertiesFile</span>) </span></h4>
<p><strong>Goal:</strong> Load custom properties into Checkstyle from a properties file to enforce a header check. </p>
<span class="inline-command"><strong>Command:</strong> <code class="prettyprint"> java -jar checkstyle-14.3.0-all.jar -c config.xml -p checkstyle.properties Test.java </code></span>
<p><strong>Content of config.xml:</strong></p>
<div class="wrapper">
<pre class="prettyprint"><code class="language-xml">
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<!DOCTYPE module PUBLIC
"-//Puppy Crawl//DTD Check Configuration 1.3//EN"
"https://checkstyle.org/dtds/configuration_1_3.dtd">
<module name="Checker">
<module name="Header">
<property name="headerFile" value="${checkstyle.header.file}"/>
<property name="charset" value="${checkstyle.header.charset}"/>
</module>
<module name="TreeWalker">
<module name="FallThrough"/>
</module>
</module>
</code></pre>
</div>
<p><strong>Content of checkstyle.properties:</strong></p>
<div class="wrapper">
<pre class="prettyprint"><code class="language-properties">
checkstyle.header.file=file:header.txt
checkstyle.header.charset=UTF-8
</code></pre>
</div>
<p><strong>Content of header.txt:</strong></p>
<div class="wrapper">
<pre class="prettyprint"><code class="language-text">
/**
* This is the required header for all source files.
*/
</code></pre>
</div>
<p><strong>Content of Test.java:</strong></p>
<div class="wrapper">
<pre class="prettyprint"><code class="language-java">
/**
* Javadoc summary.
*
* Some description.
* Note: This file intentionally does not contain the required header.
*/
class Test {
/**
* Some summary on method.
*/
public void bar() {
System.out.println("Configured with properties!");
}
}
</code></pre>
</div>
<p><strong>Output:</strong></p>
<div class="wrapper">
<pre class="prettyprint"><code class="language-bash">
Starting audit...
[ERROR] Test.java:2: Line does not match expected header line of ' * This is the
required header for all source files.'. [Header]
Audit done.
Checkstyle ends with 1 errors.
</code></pre>
</div>
</section><section><a id="a4._Specifying_an_Output_File_.28-o.2C_--outputPath.29"></a>
<h4 id="Specifying_an_Output_File"><span> 4. Specifying an Output File (<span class="no-transform">-o, --outputPath</span>) </span></h4>
<p><strong>Goal:</strong> Direct the Checkstyle output into a designated file rather than printing to standard output.</p>
<span class="inline-command"><strong>Command:</strong> <code class="prettyprint"> java -jar checkstyle-14.3.0-all.jar -c config.xml -o results.txt Test.java </code></span>
<p><strong>Content of config.xml:</strong></p>
<div class="wrapper">
<pre class="prettyprint"><code class="language-xml">
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<!DOCTYPE module PUBLIC
"-//Puppy Crawl//DTD Check Configuration 1.3//EN"
"https://checkstyle.org/dtds/configuration_1_3.dtd">
<module name="Checker">
<module name="TreeWalker">
<module name="FallThrough"/>
</module>
</module>
</code></pre>
</div>
<p><strong>Content of Test.java:</strong></p>
<div class="wrapper">
<pre class="prettyprint"><code class="language-java">
/**
* Javadoc summary.
*
* Some description.
*/
class Test {
/**
* Some summary on method.
*/
public void foo() {
int i = 0;
while (i >= 0) {
switch (i) {
case 1:
case 2:
i++;
case 3: // violation
i++;
}
}
}
}
</code></pre>
</div>
<p><strong>Content of results.txt:</strong></p>
<div class="wrapper">
<pre class="prettyprint"><code class="language-bash">
Starting audit...
[ERROR] Test.java:17:17: Fall through from previous branch of the switch statement. [FallThrough]
Audit done.
</code></pre>
</div>
</section><section><a id="a5._Printing_XPath_Suppressions_.28-s.2C_--suppressionLineColumnNumber.29"></a>
<h4 id="Printing_XPath_Suppressions"><span> 5. Printing XPath Suppressions (<span class="no-transform">-s, --suppressionLineColumnNumber</span>) </span></h4>
<p><strong> Goal:</strong> Generate XPath suppressions for the violation at the specified line and column.</p>
<span class="inline-command"><strong>Command:</strong> <code class="prettyprint"> java -jar checkstyle-14.3.0-all.jar -s 17:17 Test.java </code></span>
<p><strong>Content of Test.java:</strong></p>
<div class="wrapper">
<pre class="prettyprint"><code class="language-java">
/**
* Javadoc summary.
*
* Some description.
*/
class Test {
/**
* Some summary on method.
*/
public void foo() {
int i = 0;
while (i >= 0) {
switch (i) {
case 1:
case 2:
i++;
case 3: // violation
i++;
}
}
}
}
</code></pre>
</div>
<p><strong>Output:</strong></p>
<div class="wrapper">
<pre class="prettyprint"><code>
java -jar checkstyle-14.3.0-all.jar -s 17:17 Test.java
/COMPILATION_UNIT/CLASS_DEF[./IDENT[@text='Test']]/OBJBLOCK/METHOD_DEF[
./IDENT[@text='foo']]/SLIST/LITERAL_WHILE/SLIST/LITERAL_SWITCH/CASE_GROUP
[./LITERAL_CASE/EXPR/NUM_INT[@text='3']]/COMPILATION_UNIT/CLASS_DEF
[./IDENT[@text='Test']]/OBJBLOCK/METHOD_DEF[./IDENT[@text='foo']]
/SLIST/LITERAL_WHILE/SLIST/LITERAL_SWITCH/CASE_GROUP/LITERAL_CASE
</code></pre>
</div>
<div class="wrapper">
<p>The XPath generated by is to be used with the <a href="filters/suppressionxpathfilter.html"> SuppressionXpathFilter </a> or <a href="filters/suppressionxpathsinglefilter.html"> SuppressionXpathSingleFilter </a> modules. </p>
</div>
</section><section><a id="a6._Generating_Xpath_Suppressions_XML_.28-g.2C_--generate-xpath-suppression.29"></a>
<h4 id="Generating_Xpath_Suppressions_XML"><span> 6. Generating Xpath Suppressions XML (<span class="no-transform">-g, --generate-xpath-suppression</span>) </span></h4>
<p><strong>Goal:</strong> Generate an XML file containing suppressions for all violations using the experimental XPath suppression filter.</p>
<span class="inline-command"><strong>Command:</strong> <code class="prettyprint"> java -jar checkstyle-14.3.0-all.jar -c config.xml -g -o suppressions.xml Test.java </code></span>
<p><strong>Content of config.xml:</strong></p>
<div class="wrapper">
<pre class="prettyprint"><code class="language-xml">
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<!DOCTYPE module PUBLIC
"-//Puppy Crawl//DTD Check Configuration 1.3//EN"
"https://checkstyle.org/dtds/configuration_1_3.dtd">
<module name="Checker">
<module name="TreeWalker">
<module name="FallThrough"/>
</module>
</module>
</code></pre>
</div>
<p><strong>Content of Test.java:</strong></p>
<div class="wrapper">
<pre class="prettyprint"><code class="language-java">
/**
* Javadoc summary.
*
* Some description.
*/
class Test {