Dump the Abstract Syntax Tree (AST) for a given source file.
Description for code-analyzer ast-dump
Generate and display the AST that PMD produces when parsing a source file. This is useful for understanding how PMD interprets your code and for developing custom PMD rules. The command supports Apex, Visualforce, HTML, XML, and JavaScript files.
Flags
| Flag Name (Long) | Flag Name (Short) | Description |
|---|---|---|
| <code>‑‑file</code> | N/A | Type: Value<br>Required<br><br>Path to the source file to parse.<br><br>The file whose AST you want to generate. The file must exist and be a regular file (not a directory). If you don't specify the --language flag, the language is auto-detected from the file extension. |
| <code>‑‑flags‑dir</code> | N/A | Type: Value<br><br>Import flag values from a directory. |
| <code>‑‑format</code> | N/A | Type: Value<br>Valid Values: json, xml<br>Default value: xml<br><br>Output format for the AST.<br><br>Choose between xml (default) or json. The XML format outputs the raw PMD AST XML, preserving the full tree structure. The JSON format provides a flat array of nodes with names, attributes, parent, and ancestor information. |
| <code>‑‑json</code> | N/A | Type: Boolean<br><br>Format output as json. |
| <code>‑‑language</code> | <code>‑l</code> | Type: Value<br>Valid Values: apex, visualforce, html, xml, javascript<br>Default value: apex<br><br>Language of the source file.<br><br>Explicitly specify the language of the source file. Defaults to apex. Supported languages are: apex, visualforce, html, xml, and javascript. |
| <code>‑‑output‑file</code> | N/A | Type: Value<br><br>Path to the file where the AST output is written.<br><br>If specified, the AST output is written to this file instead of being displayed in the terminal. The content format depends on the --format flag. |
Examples for code-analyzer ast-dump
Dump the AST for an Apex class file in JSON format (default):
sf code-analyzer ast-dump --file ./force-app/main/default/classes/MyClass.cls
Dump the AST in XML format:
sf code-analyzer ast-dump --file ./force-app/main/default/classes/MyClass.cls --format xml
Dump the AST and write the output to a file:
sf code-analyzer ast-dump --file ./force-app/main/default/classes/MyClass.cls --output-file ast-output.json
Explicitly specify the language when the file extension is ambiguous:
sf code-analyzer ast-dump --file ./src/myfile.html --language html