PHP_CodeSniffer plugin for Emacs Flymake mode

Flymake mode is an Emacs mode that allows you to run continuous syntax checks against the current buffer "While U Type".

PHP_CodeSniffer is a static analysis tool for PHP that can be configured to produce a wide range of warnings and errors according to various customizable coding standards.

Emacs-flymake-phpcs glues the two together, giving you continuous static analysis as you edit.

Setup

You will also need PHP_CodeSniffer installed, this can be installed via PEAR or you can get the most recent from SVN here:

• http://svn.php.net/repository/pear/packages/PHP_CodeSniffer/trunk

Once you have PHP_CodeSniffer installed you can install flymake-phpcs.el somewhere in your emacs load-path and add something like the following to your .emacs:

;; If flymake_phpcs isn't found correctly, specify the full path
(setq flymake-phpcs-command "~/projects/emacs-flymake-phpcs/bin/flymake_phpcs")

;; Customize the coding standard checked by phpcs
(setq flymake-phpcs-standard
  "~/projects/devtools/php_codesniffer/MyCompanyStandard")

;; Show the name of sniffs in warnings (eg show
;; "Generic.CodeAnalysis.VariableAnalysis.UnusedVariable" in an unused
;; variable warning)
(setq flymake-phpcs-show-rule t)

(require 'flymake-phpcs)

Have fun.

See Also

If you want undefined and unused variable warnings, you might be interested in my PHP_CodeSniffer-VariableAnalysis plugin:

• https://github.com/illusori/PHP_Codesniffer-VariableAnalysis

You might also be interested in my patched version of flymake.el which contains fixes and enhancements that can be used by flymake-phpcs.el, you can grab it from here:

• https://github.com/illusori/emacs-flymake

Known Issues & Bugs

• flymake-phpcs-standard file-name expansion is triggered by presence of a / in the value, which isn't portable across OSes that use other directory delimiters.