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Query help style guide
Introduction
When you contribute a new supported query to this repository, you should also write a query help file. This file provides detailed information about the purpose and use of the query, which is available on the query homepages:
- C/C++ queries
- C# queries
- Go queries
- GitHub Actions queries
- Java/Kotlin queries
- JavaScript/TypeScript queries
- Python queries
- Ruby queries
- Swift queries
Location and file name
Query help files must have the same base name as the query they describe and must be located in the same directory.
File structure and layout
Query help files can be written in either a custom XML format (with a .qhelp extension) or in Markdown (with a .md extension). Both formats are supported by the CodeQL documentation tooling. There are a few minor differences, noted in the section Differences between XML and markdown formats below.
Markdown query help files
A Markdown query help file should use the following structure and section order (note that the Implementation notes section is optional):
## Overview
## Recommendation
## Example
## Implementation notes
## References
Each section should be clearly marked with the appropriate heading. See the other Markdown files in this repository for examples.
XML query help files
Query help files can also be written using a custom XML format, and stored in a file with a .qhelp extension. The basic structure is as follows:
<!DOCTYPE qhelp SYSTEM "qhelp.dtd">
<qhelp>
CONTAINS one or more section-level elements
</qhelp>
The header and single top-level <qhelp> element are both mandatory.
Section-level elements
Section-level elements are used to group the information within the query help file. For both Markdown and XML formats, the following sections should be included, in the order specified:
overview—a short summary of the issue that the query identifies, including an explanation of how it could affect the behavior of the program.recommendation—information on how to fix the issue highlighted by the query.example—an example of code showing the problem. Where possible, this section should also include a solution to the issue.references—relevant references, such as authoritative sources on language semantics and best practice.
For further information about the other section-level, block, list and table elements supported by query help files, see Query help files on codeql.github.com.
English style
You should write the overview and recommendation sections in simple English that is easy to follow. You should:
- Use simple sentence structures and avoid complex or academic language.
- Avoid colloquialisms and contractions.
- Use US English spelling throughout.
- Use words that are in common usage.
Code examples
Whenever possible, you should include a code example that helps to explain the issue you are highlighting. Any code examples that you include should adhere to the following guidelines:
-
The example should be less than 20 lines, but it should still clearly illustrate the issue that the query identifies. If appropriate, then the example may also be runnable.
-
Put the code example after the recommendation section where possible. Only include an example in the description section if absolutely necessary.
-
If you are using an example to illustrate the solution to a problem, and the change required is minor, avoid repeating the whole example. It is preferable to either describe the change required or to include a smaller snippet of the corrected code.
-
Clearly indicate which of the samples is an example of bad coding practice and which is recommended practice.
-
For Markdown files, use fenced code blocks with the appropriate language identifier (for example,
```java). -
For XML files, define the code examples in
srcfiles. The language is inferred from the file extension:<example> <p>This example highlights poor coding practice</p> <sample src = "example-code-bad.java" /> <p>This example shows how to fix the code</p> <sample src = "example-code-fixed.java" /> </example>
Note, if any code words are included in the overview and recommendation sections, in Markdown they should be formatted with backticks (...<code> ... </code> for emphasis.
Including references
You should include one or more references, formatted as an unordered list (- ... or * ...) in Markdown or with <li> ... </li> for each item in XML, to provide further information about the problem that your query is designed to find. References can be of the following types:
Books
If you are citing a book, use the following format:
<Author-initial. Surname>, <Book title> <page/chapter etc.>, <Publisher>, <date>.
For example:
W. C. Wake, Refactoring Workbook, pp. 93 – 94, Addison-Wesley Professional, 2004.
Note, & symbols need to be replaced by & in XML. The symbol will be displayed correctly in the HTML files generated from the query help files.
Academic papers
If you are citing an academic paper, we recommend adopting the reference style of the journal that you are citing. For example:
S. R. Chidamber and C. F. Kemerer, A metrics suite for object-oriented design. IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering, 20(6):476-493, 1994.
Websites
If you are citing a website, please use the following format, without breadcrumb trails:
<Name of website>: <Name of page or anchor>
For example:
Java API Specification: Object.clone().
Referencing potential security weaknesses
If your query checks code for a CWE weakness, you should use the @tags element in the query file to reference the associated CWEs, as explained here. When you use these tags in a query help file in the custom XML format, a link to the appropriate entry from the MITRE.org site will automatically appear as a reference in the output HTML file.
Validating query help files
Before making a pull request, please ensure the .qhelp or .md files are well-formed and can be generated without errors. This can be done locally with the CodeQL CLI, as shown in the following example:
# codeql generate query-help <path_to_your_qhelp_file> --format=<format>
# For example:
codeql generate query-help ./myCustomQuery.qhelp --format=markdown
codeql generate query-help ./myCustomQuery.md --format=markdown
Please include the query help files (and any associated code snippets) in your pull request, but do not commit the generated Markdown.
More information on how to test your query help files can be found within the documentation
Differences between XML and markdown formats
- The XML format allows for the contents of other files to be included in the output generated by processing the file, as mentioned in the section
Code examples. This is not possible with the Markdown format. - When using the XML format, references are added to the output HTML file based on CWE tags, as mentioned in the section
Referencing potential security weaknesses. - For custom queries and custom query packs, only the Markdown format is supported.
Query help example
The following example is a query help file for a query from the standard query suite for Java, shown in both Markdown and XML formats.
Markdown example
# Overview
A control structure (an `if` statement or a loop) has a body that is either a block
of statements surrounded by curly braces or a single statement.
If you omit braces, it is particularly important to ensure that the indentation of the code
matches the control flow of the code.
## Recommendation
It is usually considered good practice to include braces for all control
structures in Java. This is because it makes it easier to maintain the code
later. For example, it's easy to see at a glance which part of the code is in the
scope of an `if` statement, and adding more statements to the body of the `if`
statement is less error-prone.
You should also ensure that the indentation of the code is consistent with the actual flow of
control, so that it does not confuse programmers.
## Example
In the example below, the original version of `Cart` is missing braces. This means
that the code triggers a `NullPointerException` at runtime if `i`
is `null`.
```java
class Cart {
Map<Integer, Integer> items = ...
public void addItem(Item i) {
// No braces and misleading indentation.
if (i != null)
log("Adding item: " + i);
// Indentation suggests that the following statements
// are in the body of the 'if'.
Integer curQuantity = items.get(i.getID());
if (curQuantity == null) curQuantity = 0;
items.put(i.getID(), curQuantity+1);
}
}
```
The corrected version of `Cart` does include braces, so
that the code executes as the indentation suggests.
```java
class Cart {
Map<Integer, Integer> items = ...
public void addItem(Item i) {
// Braces included.
if (i != null) {
log("Adding item: " + i);
Integer curQuantity = items.get(i.getID());
if (curQuantity == null) curQuantity = 0;
items.put(i.getID(), curQuantity+1);
}
}
}
```
In the following example the indentation may or may not be misleading depending on your tab width
settings. As such, mixing tabs and spaces in this way is not recommended, since what looks fine in
one context can be very misleading in another.
```java
// Tab width 8
if (b) // Indentation: 1 tab
f(); // Indentation: 2 tabs
g(); // Indentation: 8 spaces
// Tab width 4
if (b) // Indentation: 1 tab
f(); // Indentation: 2 tabs
g(); // Indentation: 8 spaces
```
If you mix tabs and spaces in this way, then you might get seemingly false positives, since your
tab width settings cannot be taken into account.
## References
* Java SE Documentation: [Compound Statements](https://www.oracle.com/java/technologies/javase/codeconventions-statements.html#15395)
* Wikipedia: [Indentation style](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indentation_style)
XML example
<!DOCTYPE qhelp PUBLIC
"-//Semmle//qhelp//EN"
"qhelp.dtd">
<qhelp>
<overview>
<p>A control structure (an <code>if</code> statement or a loop) has a body that is either a block
of statements surrounded by curly braces or a single statement.</p>
<p>If you omit braces, it is particularly important to ensure that the indentation of the code
matches the control flow of the code.</p>
</overview>
<recommendation>
<p>It is usually considered good practice to include braces for all control
structures in Java. This is because it makes it easier to maintain the code
later. For example, it's easy to see at a glance which part of the code is in the
scope of an <code>if</code> statement, and adding more statements to the body of the <code>if</code>
statement is less error-prone.</p>
<p>You should also ensure that the indentation of the code is consistent with the actual flow of
control, so that it does not confuse programmers.</p>
</recommendation>
<example>
<p>In the example below, the original version of <code>Cart</code> is missing braces. This means
that the code triggers a <code>NullPointerException</code> at runtime if <code>i</code>
is <code>null</code>.</p>
<sample src="UseBraces.java" />
<p>The corrected version of <code>Cart</code> does include braces, so
that the code executes as the indentation suggests.</p>
<sample src="UseBracesGood.java" />
<p>
In the following example the indentation may or may not be misleading depending on your tab width
settings. As such, mixing tabs and spaces in this way is not recommended, since what looks fine in
one context can be very misleading in another.
</p>
<sample src="UseBraces2.java" />
<p>
If you mix tabs and spaces in this way, then you might get seemingly false positives, since your
tab width settings cannot be taken into account.
</p>
</example>
<references>
<li>
Java SE Documentation:
<a href="https://www.oracle.com/java/technologies/javase/codeconventions-statements.html#15395">Compound Statements</a>.
</li>
<li>
Wikipedia:
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indentation_style">Indentation style</a>.
</li>
</references>
</qhelp>