CLion 2023.3 Help

Run inspections

CLion analyzes code in the files that are opened in the editor and highlights problematic code as you type. Additionally, you can run the necessary inspection or a set of inspections on the selected scope of files manually. In this case, you will get a comprehensive report of all problems detected in the files.

Instant analysis of the current file

The IDE continuously checks your code and searches for problems. The widget in the top-right corner of the editor displays the number of problems of each severity detected in the current file:

Inspection widget

Click the widget to open the list of problems in the File tab of the Problems tool window. You can also access the Problems tool window by selecting View | Tool Windows | Problems or by pressing Alt+6.

Viewing the list of problems in the tool window

For each problem, you can see the suggested quick-fix by pressing Alt+Enter or by clicking Show Quick Fixes. You can also jump to the corresponding line in the editor by pressing F4 or by double-clicking the problem in the tool window.

Alternatively, click Open Editor Preview to be able to view and fix problems in the tool window.

The color stripe in the scrollbar also marks the detected code problems and helps you quickly access the corresponding lines without scrolling the file. Hover over a mark on the stripe to see the detected problem in a tooltip. Click a mark to jump to the corresponding line.

On-the-fly code analysis results

You can jump from one highlighted problem to another within a file by clicking the Next Highlighted Error button the Next Highlighted Error button in the widget or by pressing F2 or Shift+F2 accordingly. By default, the IDE will navigate you to problems according to their severity: errors > warnings > weak warnings > server problems > typos.

You can configure CLion to take you through the problems one by one regardless of their severity. Hover over the widget in top-right corner of the editor, click the More button, select 'Next Error' Action (F2) Goes Through, and enable All Problems.

Configuring navigation between highlighted lines

Run inspections manually

Some inspections require global code analysis, and that is why they are disabled in the editor. These inspections are listed in Settings | Editor | Inspections. Click Filter Inspections and select Show only batch-mode inspections.

If you want to get a full report of all detected problems, run inspections manually.

Run all inspections

  1. In the main menu, go to Code | Inspect Code.

  2. Select the scope of files that you want to analyze.

    Click the the Browse button icon to configure a new scope.

  3. Select the inspection profile that you want to apply.

    To create a new profile or modify one of the existing profiles, click Configure.

    The Specify Inspection Scope dialog
  4. Click Analyze to start the analysis.

  5. Find the results in a dedicated tab of the Problems view:

    Inspect Code results

Specify Inspection Scope dialog

Item

Description

Whole project

Inspect the whole project.

Module <name>

Inspect the module that is currently selected in the Project tool window.

File <name>

Inspect the file that is currently selected in the Project tool window or opened in the editor.

Selected files

Inspect the files that are currently selected in the Project tool window.

Uncommitted files

This scope is only available for the projects under version control.

Inspect only the files that have not been committed to the version control system.

Directory

Inspect the directory that is currently selected in the Project tool window.

Custom scope

Inspect a custom scope of files. Select a pre-defined scope from the list, or click the Browse button and define the scope in the Scopes dialog that opens.

Include test sources

Inspect the test sources included in the analysis scope.

Inspect injected code

Inspect pieces of code in other languages embedded in your code.

Inspection profile

Select a profile that you want to use to inspect your code.

If the required profile is not in the list, click Configure and create a new profile.

Run a single inspection

Running a single inspection is useful in case you want to track a specific problem. If you find a warning in a file, you can inspect your entire project, or the necessary scope of files, to ensure that there are no more such warnings in your code base.

  1. In the main menu, go to Code | Analyze Code | Run Inspection by Name or press Ctrl+Alt+Shift+I.

  2. Type the inspection name in the popup. Use CamelHumps to match camel case words and white spaces with initial letters of the words. The suggestion list will show you inspections that match your search request.

    Run inspection by name

    If you are not sure that you are selecting the correct inspection, you can view its description. To do so, select an inspection in the popup and press Ctrl+Q.

  3. Double-click the necessary inspection.

  4. In the dialog that opens, select the scope of files that you want to analyze.

    Parameters of a single inspection run

    The File mask(s) option helps you narrow down the number of files that will be inspected.

    Select the checkbox and specify a pattern of characters and wildcards that matches the names of files you want to analyze. Use a comma to separate multiple file masks.

  5. Some inspections might have additional options that you will be prompted to configure.

    These settings will only be applied to this run, and will not affect this inspection's configuration in your current profile.

    The IDE will show you the inspection results in the dedicated tab of the Problems tool window. There you can examine and fix detected problems.

    Results of running a single inspection

Analyze code before committing it to Git

If your project is under Git or Mercurial version control, you can configure the IDE to analyze modified files before committing them.

  1. Press Ctrl+K or select Git | Commit from the main menu.

  2. In the Commit tool window, click Show Commit Options and in the Commit Checks area, select the Analyze code checkbox.

  3. Click Choose profile and select the required inspection profile from which the IDE will run inspections.

    Run inspections before commit
  4. Click Commit.

    CLion analyzes the code from the modified files by running inspections from the selected profile.

    If any errors or warnings are detected, you will see a notification.

  5. In the notification, click Review code analysis to see the list of the detected problems in the Messages tool window. Click Ignore to commit your changes without fixing the detected problems.

Run inspections offline

In addition to running code inspections from the IDE, you can launch inspections from the command line without actually running CLion. The inspection results will be stored in an XML file. For more information, refer to Run code inspections from the command line.

Change the order of scopes

By default, all enabled code inspections analyze all files in your project. Depending on your needs, you can run the same inspection in more than one scope of files with different settings.

If one file is included in two or more scopes, and you enable an inspection in these scopes, CLion will process them according to their order in the list of scopes — the uppermost scope will have the highest priority, and therefore, it will be analyzed first.

  1. In the Settings dialog (Ctrl+Alt+S) , select Editor | Inspections.

  2. Select any inspection from the list.

  3. From the In All Scopes list, select Edit Scopes Order.

    Changing the order of scopes
  4. Select the necessary scope, and use the Up button and the Down button to move it up and down the list.

    Changing the order of scopes dialog
  5. If needed, create a new scope. To do so, click the Edit button (Edit Scopes), specify scope settings, and select the files and folders that you want to include in it.

Last modified: 15 March 2024