PHPCSUtils causes `ERROR: No sniffs were registered`

[thelovekesh]

As of squizlabs/PHP_CodeSniffer@7df3c33 PHPCS throws an expectation No sniffs were registered if there are no sniffs registered.

Since PHPCSUtils is included as standard without sniffs, it throws an exception on exec phpcs --standard=PHPCSUtils -es.

A possible solution might be to include an empty sniff to avoid this.

DummySniff

<?php
/**
 * PHPCSUtils, utility functions and classes for PHP_CodeSniffer sniff developers.
 *
 * @package   PHPCSUtils
 * @copyright 2019-2020 PHPCSUtils Contributors
 * @license   https://opensource.org/licenses/LGPL-3.0 LGPL3
 * @link      https://github.com/PHPCSStandards/PHPCSUtils
 */

namespace PHPCSUtils\Sniffs\Load;

/**
 * Dummy Sniff.
 *
 * This sniff doesn't do anything. It's just here to avoid PHPCS exception.
 *
 * @since 1.0.0
 */
class UtilsLoadedSniff
{

    /**
     * Returns an array of tokens this test wants to listen for.
     *
     * @return array
     */
    public function register()
    {
        return [];
    }

    /**
     * Processes this test, when one of its tokens is encountered.
     *
     * @param \PHP_CodeSniffer\Files\File $phpcsFile The file being scanned.
     * @param int                         $stackPtr  The position of the current token in
     *                                               the stack passed in $tokens.
     *
     * @return void
     */
    public function process($phpcsFile, $stackPtr)
    {
    }
}

ping @jrfnl @gsherwood

[jrfnl]

@thelovekesh Why are you running phpcs --standard=PHPCSUtils ? I mean, I'd like to understand your use-case here as in my mind, there is none.

PHPCSUtils is not a standard to be run by end-users. It is a set of helper functions for external PHPCS standards.

If this is caused by PHPCSUtils being listed as a "standard" via phpcs -i, there is already an issue open about that in the PHPCS repo: squizlabs/PHP_CodeSniffer#2760

[jrfnl]

A possible solution might be to include an empty sniff to avoid this.

Note: I will not include an empty sniff.

The error/exception thrown by PHPCS is there for a reason and is pointing out something helpful, i.e. the scan being done is useless as-is as no sniffs are registered. This should be solved by whomever is running the scan, not in PHPCSUtils.

[thelovekesh]

Why are you running phpcs --standard=PHPCSUtils ? I mean, I'd like to understand your use-case here as in my mind, there is none.

@jrfnl You can find one here. According to this, all sniffs are get listed and then revalidated if there are any duplicate or obsolete sniffs.

I will try to handle it on upstream but removing the PHPCSUtils from phpcs -i per squizlabs/PHP_CodeSniffer#2760 doesn't seems a great solution either as the user will not be able to learn if PHPCSUtils is loaded.

[jrfnl]

Why are you running phpcs --standard=PHPCSUtils ? I mean, I'd like to understand your use-case here as in my mind, there is none.

@jrfnl You can find one here. According to this, all sniffs are get listed and then revalidated if there are any duplicate or obsolete sniffs.

Que ? I still don't understand why that is done or even why that would ever be useful ? - I mean, rulesets will often include the same sniff twice, once from within a standard and once to add custom properties, so it just doesn't sound right to begin with, but then I may not understand correctly what that custom program really does (and I am resisting the temptation to look into it more deeply as I'm officially on holiday).

I will try to handle it on upstream

And that's how it should be. If you need help getting that sorted, let me know and I can possibly help you with that once I'm back from my break.

but removing the PHPCSUtils from phpcs -i per squizlabs/PHP_CodeSniffer#2760 doesn't seems a great solution either as the user will not be able to learn if PHPCSUtils is loaded.

Agreed, see my latest comment in that thread.

[thelovekesh]

Thanks for catching up. Will add you to the upstream conversation once I start one.

I'm officially on holiday

I know from Twitter 😄 ; Enjoy the break 🎉 !

[thelovekesh]

Sorry for the trouble. I found a flag to ignore standards without sniffs on the tools which I am using.

I am closing this and will continue the discussion on squizlabs/PHP_CodeSniffer#2760

[jrfnl]

@thelovekesh Glad to hear you found a good solution.