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diff --git a/doc/src/guide/dialyzer.asciidoc b/doc/src/guide/dialyzer.asciidoc index 7377c82..d58afbc 100644 --- a/doc/src/guide/dialyzer.asciidoc +++ b/doc/src/guide/dialyzer.asciidoc @@ -1,5 +1,72 @@ == Dialyzer -// @todo Write it. +Dialyzer is a tool that will detect discrepancies in your +program. It does so using a technique known as success +typing analysis which has the advantage of providing no +false positives. Dialyzer is able to detect type errors, +dead code and more. -Placeholder chapter. +Erlang.mk provides a wrapper around Dialyzer. + +=== How it works + +Dialyzer requires a PLT file to work. The PLT file contains +the analysis information from all applications which are not +expected to change, or rarely do. These would be all the +dependencies of the application or applications you are +currently working on, including standard applications in +Erlang/OTP itself. + +Dialyzer can generate this PLT file. Erlang.mk includes rules +to automatically generate the PLT file when it is missing. + +Once the PLT file is generated, Dialyzer can perform the +analysis in record time. + +=== Configuration + +In a typical usage scenario, no variable needs to be set. +The defaults should be enough. Do note however that the +dependencies need to be set properly using the `DEPS` and +`LOCAL_DEPS` variables. + +The `DIALYZER_PLT` file indicates where the PLT file will +be written to (and read from). By default this is +'$(PROJECT).plt' in the project's directory. Note that +the `DIALYZER_PLT` variable is exported and is understood +by Dialyzer directly. + +The `PLT_APPS` variable can be used to add additional +applications to the PLT. You can either list application +names or paths to these applications. + +Erlang.mk defines two variables for specifying options +for the analysis: `DIALYZER_DIRS` and `DIALYZER_OPTS`. +The former one defines which directories should be part +of the analysis. The latter defines what extra warnings +Dialyzer should report. + +Note that Erlang.mk enables the race condition warnings +by default. As it can take considerably large resources +to run, you may want to disable it on larger projects. + +=== Usage + +To perform an analysis, run the following command: + +[source,bash] +$ make dialyze + +This will create the PLT file if it doesn't exist. + +The analysis will also be performed when you run the +following command, alongside tests: + +[source,bash] +$ make check + +You can use the `plt` target to create the PLT file if +it doesn't exist. This is normally not necessary as +Dialyzer creates it automatically. + +The PLT file will be removed when you run `make distclean`. |