[apex] UnusedLocalVariable flags for variables which are using in SOQL/SOSL binds

[nwcm]

Affects PMD Version: 7.0.0-rc2

Rule: UnusedLocalVariable

Description:

Code Sample demonstrating the issue:

    String unusedFlag = 'this string';
    String query = 'SELECT Id FROM Account WHERE Name =: unusedFlag';

Expected outcome:

PMD reports a violation at line 1, but that's wrong. That's a false positive.

Running PMD through: [CLI]

[adangel]

Thanks for reporting.

The rule should support binding variables already. The implementation of the rule expects, that between the colon (:) and the variable name is no space, you have a space, though. Is this still valid syntax?

    String unusedFlag = 'this string';
    String query = 'SELECT Id FROM Account WHERE Name =: unusedFlag';
    //                                                  ^
    //                                                  | is this space allowed?

[adangel]

Oh, and one more thing: You don't use the string yet in a query, so PMD can't know, that this string is supposed to be a SOQL/SOSL query...
You need at least something like Database.query(query);

See also #2669

[nwcm]

@adangel Thanks for the comments,

Sorry I must have missed it in my example. Regardless of =: or =: which are both valid at least in v56 as below it will report unused

[nwcm]

If we update the BINDING_VARIABLE regex to (?i):(?:\s|)([_a-z0-9]+) it will capture all the possible

I have yet to test it, but i have opened a draft PR for it. Though even =:foo does incorrect throw unused variable in 7.0.0rc2

#4562

[adangel]

Note: Your screenshot shows, that it's never working - with or without a space. The problem seems to be, that https://github.com/ChuckJonas/vscode-apex-pmd still uses PMD 6.42.0 (see https://github.com/ChuckJonas/vscode-apex-pmd/tree/master/bin/pmd/lib) and support for binding vars in dynamic queries was added only with PMD 6.54.0 (see #2669).

Though even =:foo does incorrect throw unused variable in 7.0.0rc2

That I can't reproduce. Are you sure, you are using PMD 7.0.0-rc2?

The false positive with using a space before the colon is still valid though and needs to be fixed...

[nwcm]

Good catch @adangel I was on another device and I hadn't configured the pmd bin path.

So this issue and suggestions are more for variable names with _ and the space in bindings

[dschach]

I'm reading this thread, and I'm not sure that @adangel question was answered:

I write SOQL as: WHERE AccountId = :a.Id. From what I'm seeing here, it looks like that would NOT be acknowledged by PMD, but it should be. So I write false positives?

Technically, the spaces between AccountId and a are ALL OPTIONAL, if we're getting pedantic about what SOQL allows.

(FWIW, most of the code I see types like I do, but that may be confirmation bias 😄 )