Introduction
Introduction -- Description and simple usage example
Description
PHP_CodeSniffer is a PHP5 script that tokenises and "sniffs" PHP code to detect violations of a defined set of coding standards. It is an essential development tool that ensures that your code remains clean and consistent. It can even help prevent some common semantic errors made by developers.
A coding standard, in PHP_CodeSniffer, is a collection of sniff files. Each sniff file checks one part of the coding standard only. Multiple coding standards can be used within PHP_CodeSniffer, so that the one installation can be used across multiple projects. The default coding standard used by PHP_CodeSniffer is the PEAR coding standard.
Example
To check a file against the PEAR coding standard, simply specify the file's location.
Checking a file with PHP_CodeSniffer
$ phpcs /path/to/code/myfile.php
FILE: /path/to/code/myfile.php
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FOUND 5 ERROR(S) AFFECTING 2 LINE(S)
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2 | ERROR | Missing file doc comment
20 | ERROR | PHP keywords must be lowercase; expected "false" but found "FALSE"
47 | ERROR | Line not indented correctly; expected 4 spaces but found 1
51 | ERROR | Missing function doc comment
88 | ERROR | Line not indented correctly; expected 9 spaces but found 6
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Or, if you wish to check an entire directory, you can specify the directory location instead of a file.
Checking a directory with PHP_CodeSniffer
$ phpcs /path/to/code
FILE: /path/to/code/myfile.php
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FOUND 5 ERROR(S) AFFECTING 5 LINE(S)
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2 | ERROR | Missing file doc comment
20 | ERROR | PHP keywords must be lowercase; expected "false" but found "FALSE"
47 | ERROR | Line not indented correctly; expected 4 spaces but found 1
51 | ERROR | Missing function doc comment
88 | ERROR | Line not indented correctly; expected 9 spaces but found 6
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FILE: /path/to/code/yourfile.php
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FOUND 1 ERROR(S) AND 1 WARNING(S) AFFECTING 1 LINE(S)
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21 | ERROR | PHP keywords must be lowercase; expected "false" but found
| | "FALSE"
21 | WARNING | Equals sign not aligned with surrounding assignments
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