Dialyzer has a command-line version for automated use. This section provides a brief description of the options. The same information can be obtained by writing the following in a shell:
-
--add_to_plt
-
The PLT is extended to also include the files specified with -c
and -r
. Use --plt
to specify which PLT to start from, and --output_plt
to specify where to put the PLT. Notice that the analysis possibly can include files from the PLT if they depend on the new files. This option only works for BEAM files.
-
--apps applications
-
This option is typically used when building or modifying a PLT as in:
dialyzer --build_plt --apps erts kernel stdlib mnesia ...
to refer conveniently to library applications corresponding to the Erlang/OTP installation. However, this option is general and can also be used during analysis to refer to Erlang/OTP applications. File or directory names can also be included, as in:
dialyzer --apps inets ssl ./ebin ../other_lib/ebin/my_module.beam
-
--build_plt
-
The analysis starts from an empty PLT and creates a new one from the files specified with -c
and -r
. This option only works for BEAM files. To override the default PLT location, use --plt
or --output_plt
.
-
--check_plt
-
Check the PLT for consistency and rebuild it if it is not up-to-date.
-
-Dname
(or -Dname=value
)
-
When analyzing from source, pass the define to Dialyzer. (**)
-
--dump_callgraph file
-
Dump the call graph into the specified file whose format is determined by the filename extension. Supported extensions are: raw
, dot
, and ps
. If something else is used as filename extension, default format .raw
is used.
-
--error_location column | line
-
Use a pair {Line, Column}
or an integer Line
to pinpoint the location of warnings. The default is to use a pair {Line, Column}
. When formatted, the line and the column are separated by a colon.
-
files_or_dirs
(for backward compatibility also as -c files_or_dirs
)
-
Use Dialyzer from the command line to detect defects in the specified files or directories containing .erl
or .beam
files, depending on the type of the analysis.
-
--fullpath
-
Display the full path names of files for which warnings are emitted.
-
--get_warnings
-
Make Dialyzer emit warnings even when manipulating the PLT. Warnings are only emitted for files that are analyzed.
-
--gui
-
Use the GUI.
-
--help
(or -h
)
-
Print this message and exit.
-
-I include_dir
-
When analyzing from source, pass the include_dir
to Dialyzer. (**)
-
--no_check_plt
-
Skip the PLT check when running Dialyzer. This is useful when working with installed PLTs that never change.
-
--no_indentation
-
Do not insert line breaks in types, contracts, and Erlang Code when formatting warnings.
-
-o outfile
(or --output outfile
)
-
When using Dialyzer from the command line, send the analysis results to the specified outfile rather than to stdout
.
-
--output_plt file
-
Store the PLT at the specified file after building it.
-
-pa dir
-
Include dir
in the path for Erlang. This is useful when analyzing files that have -include_lib()
directives.
-
--plt plt
-
Use the specified PLT as the initial PLT. If the PLT was built during setup, the files are checked for consistency.
-
--plt_info
-
Make Dialyzer print information about the PLT and then quit. The PLT can be specified with --plt(s)
.
-
--plts plt*
-
Merge the specified PLTs to create the initial PLT. This requires that the PLTs are disjoint (that is, do not have any module appearing in more than one PLT). The PLTs are created in the usual way:
dialyzer --build_plt --output_plt plt_1 files_to_include
...
dialyzer --build_plt --output_plt plt_n files_to_include
They can then be used in either of the following ways:
dialyzer files_to_analyze --plts plt_1 ... plt_n
or
dialyzer --plts plt_1 ... plt_n -- files_to_analyze
Notice the --
delimiter in the second case.
-
--quiet
(or -q
)
-
Make Dialyzer a bit more quiet.
-
-r dirs
-
Same as files_or_dirs
, but the specified directories are searched recursively for subdirectories containing .erl
or .beam
files in them, depending on the type of analysis.
-
--raw
-
When using Dialyzer from the command line, output the raw analysis results (Erlang terms) instead of the formatted result. The raw format is easier to post-process (for example, to filter warnings or to output HTML pages).
-
--remove_from_plt
-
The information from the files specified with -c
and -r
is removed from the PLT. Notice that this can cause a reanalysis of the remaining dependent files.
-
--shell
-
Do not disable the Erlang shell while running the GUI.
-
--src
-
Override the default, which is to analyze BEAM files, and analyze starting from Erlang source code instead.
-
--statistics
-
Print information about the progress of execution (analysis phases, time spent in each, and size of the relative input).
-
--verbose
-
Make Dialyzer a bit more verbose.
-
--version
(or -v
)
-
Print the Dialyzer version and some more information and exit.
-
-Wwarn
-
A family of options that selectively turn on/off warnings. (For help on the names of warnings, use dialyzer -Whelp
.) Notice that the options can also be specified in the file with a -dialyzer()
attribute. For details, see section Requesting or Suppressing Warnings in Source Files
.
-
-Werror_handling
(***)
-
Include warnings for functions that only return by an exception.
-
-Wextra_return
(***)
-
Warn about functions whose specification includes types that the function cannot return.
-
-Wmissing_return
(***)
-
Warn about functions that return values that are not part of the specification.
-
-Wno_behaviours
-
Suppress warnings about behavior callbacks that drift from the published recommended interfaces.
-
-Wno_contracts
-
Suppress warnings about invalid contracts.
-
-Wno_fail_call
-
Suppress warnings for failing calls.
-
-Wno_fun_app
-
Suppress warnings for fun applications that will fail.
-
-Wno_improper_lists
-
Suppress warnings for construction of improper lists.
-
-Wno_match
-
Suppress warnings for patterns that are unused or cannot match.
-
-Wno_missing_calls
-
Suppress warnings about calls to missing functions.
-
-Wno_opaque
-
Suppress warnings for violations of opacity of data types.
-
-Wno_return
-
Suppress warnings for functions that will never return a value.
-
-Wno_undefined_callbacks
-
Suppress warnings about behaviors that have no -callback
attributes for their callbacks.
-
-Wno_unused
-
Suppress warnings for unused functions.
-
-Wunderspecs
(***)
-
Warn about underspecified functions (the specification is strictly more allowing than the success typing).
-
-Wunknown
(***)
-
Let warnings about unknown functions and types affect the exit status of the command-line version. The default is to ignore warnings about unknown functions and types when setting the exit status. When using Dialyzer from Erlang, warnings about unknown functions and types are returned; the default is not to return these warnings.
-
-Wunmatched_returns
(***)
-
Include warnings for function calls that ignore a structured return value or do not match against one of many possible return values. However, no warnings are included if the possible return values are a union of atoms or a union of numbers.
The following options are also available, but their use is not recommended (they are mostly for Dialyzer developers and internal debugging):
The following option is not strictly needed as it specifies the default. It is primarily intended to be used with the -dialyzer
attribute. For an example see section Requesting or Suppressing Warnings in Source Files
.