UCDetector

UCDetector (Unnecessary Code Detector - pronounced "You See Detector") is an Eclipse plug-in tool to find unnecessary (dead) public Java code. For example public classes, methods or fields which have no references. UCDetector creates markers for the following problems, which appear in the Eclipse Problems view:

• Unnecessary (dead) code
• Code where the visibility could be changed to protected, default or private
• Methods or fields which can be final

Now supports Java 17 and Eclipse 2024-06 or later.

This project is a fork of the original UCDetector project on SourceForge. The ucdetector branch in this repository preserves the upstream code as it was forked. See the original UCDetector web site for additional screenshots and background information: http://www.ucdetector.org/index.html

Use

1. Install UCDetector from the update site.
2. Right-click a Java project, package, type, or working set and choose UCDetector.
3. Run Detect unnecessary code, Clean UCDetector markers, or Count references from the context menu.
4. Review UCDetector markers in the Eclipse Problems view and apply the available quick fixes where appropriate.
5. Optional: configure detection modes and filters in Window > Preferences > UCDetector.

In-product documentation is available in Eclipse via Help > Help Contents > UCDetector.

Modules

• plugins/com.tlcsdm.eclipse.ucdetector - the main UCDetector plug-in.
• plugins/com.tlcsdm.eclipse.ucdetector.additional - an example plug-in that shows how to develop a custom detector on top of UCDetector. Use it as a template when you want to add your own detection rules, markers, actions and quick fixes.

Build

This project uses Tycho with Maven and the pomless layout used by the Eclipse plug-in projects under plugins, features, and sites. It requires Maven 3.9.0 or higher and JDK 17 or higher.

Dev build:

mvn clean verify

Release build:

mvn clean org.eclipse.tycho:tycho-versions-plugin:set-version -DnewVersion=2.1.0 verify

The launches/ folder contains ready-to-use Eclipse launch configurations (UCDetector-run.launch and UCDetector-run-headless.launch) for running and debugging UCDetector inside an Eclipse runtime.

Install

1. Add https://raw.githubusercontent.com/tlcsdm/eclipse-ucdetector/update_site/ as the update site in Eclipse.
2. Download the generated update site archive from CI/release artifacts and install it as a local update site.

History

UCDetector was originally created by Jörg Spieler and distributed from http://www.ucdetector.org/index.html. This fork keeps the original UCDetector project information and license attribution while updating the project structure and compatibility baseline.

• 2.1.0: refactored to the com.tlcsdm.eclipse.ucdetector namespace, moved to a pomless Tycho layout, and raised the baseline to Java 17 + Eclipse 2024-06.
• 2.0.x and earlier: see CHANGELOG.md for the original change history.

License

UCDetector is distributed under the Eclipse Public License 2.0. It keeps the original author license information; see http://www.ucdetector.org/index.html for upstream details.