Can you find this Delphi coding error (part 11)?
Can you spot the error in the following (rather constructed) Delphi code extract?
..
function GetPeriodResult(Period : TPeriod) : Integer;
var
Sales, Costs : Integer;
AddExtras : Boolean;
begin
Sales := GetDomesticSales(Period)+
GetForeignSales(Period);
Costs := GetCosts(Period);
if AddExtras then
Inc(Sales, GetExtras(Period));
Result := Sales-Costs;
end;
..
This was quite easy, right?
Solution: The local variable AddExtras is read, but is never set. This is an error. The variable will contain a random value.
The good news is that with Pascal Analyzer, our popular static code analyzer product, these situations can be detected automatically. There is a section WARN3 in the Warnings Report. It is called "Variables that are referenced but never set".
Not so hard to spot! But imagine finding this problem among thousands of lines of code spread over hundreds of units! And consider also a code base that is evolving all the time, so the code must constantly be rechecked.
Pascal Analyzer has a total of 53 reports. Those are divided into over 230 sections, all providing statistics, references, errors and warnings for your code. Pascal Analyzer can be run as a standalone Windows application, or as a command-line program. The second choice is suitable if you want to integrate static code analysis with your build process.
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See our orders page for more details or get free evaluations from the download page.
Can you see the Delphi coding error? (Part 10) Can you see the Delphi coding error? (Part 9) Can you see the Delphi coding problem? (Part 8) Can you see the Delphi coding error? (Part 7) Can you see the Delphi coding error? (Part 6) Can you see the Delphi coding error? (Part 5) Can you see the Delphi coding error? (Part 4) Can you see the Delphi coding error? (Part 3) Can you see the Delphi coding error? (Part 2) Can you see the Delphi coding error? (Part 1)