PRQL Quick Reference

Code Query Language cheat sheet

Ready-to-use PRQL queries for rapid static code analysis, quality checks, technical debt management and architectural governance. Copy any query and paste it straight into the CppDepend query editor — or use Code Quest to run them interactively.

This reference is also part of the documentation: Docs → PRQL Quick Reference

Basic Queries Code Implementation Queries Architecture & C++ Safety Rules Issues & Technical Debt Issues Diff Queries Code Design Queries Code Diff Queries Dependencies & API Tracking Statistics & Metrics

Basic Queries

Get my public methods

from m in JustMyCode.Methods where m.IsPublic 
select m

Get my abstract classes

from t in JustMyCode.Types where t.IsAbstract 
select t

Get my generic classes

from t in JustMyCode.Types where t.IsGeneric 
select t

Get all struct definitions

from t in Application.Types where t.IsStructure
select t

Code Implementation Queries

Get complex methods

from m in Methods where m.CyclomaticComplexity>15
select new{m,m.CyclomaticComplexity}

Get big types

from t in Types where t.NbLinesOfCode>500
select new {t,t.NbLinesOfCode}

Get not maintainable methods

from m in JustMyCode.Methods where m.MaintainabilityIndex<40
select new {m,m.MaintainabilityIndex}

Get methods with too many parameters (>5)

warnif count > 0
from m in Application.Methods 
where m.NbParameters > 5 
select new { m, m.NbParameters }

Architecture & C++ Safety Rules

Detect cyclic dependencies between namespaces

warnif count > 0 
from n in Application.Namespaces
where n.DepthOfIsUsing(n) > 0
select new { Namespace = n, CyclicDependencies = n.NamespacesUsed.Where(n2 => n2.DepthOfIsUsing(n) > 0) }

Detect classes with virtual methods missing virtual destructors

warnif count > 0
from t in Application.Types
where t.IsClass && t.Methods.Any(m => m.IsVirtual) && !t.Methods.Any(m => m.IsDestructor && m.IsVirtual)
select new { MissingVirtualDestructorIn = t }

Find public fields using raw pointers

warnif count > 0
from f in Application.Fields
where f.IsPointer && !f.IsConst && f.IsPublic
select new { UnsafePublicPointerField = f }

Detect direct UI access to Low-Level Storage layer

warnif count > 0
let uiMethods = Application.Namespaces.WithNameLike("UI").ChildMethods()
let storageMethods = Application.Namespaces.WithNameLike("Storage").ChildMethods()

from m in uiMethods
where m.IsUsing(storageMethods)
select new { IllegalCallFrom = m, Target = m.MethodsCalled.Intersect(storageMethods) }

Issues & Technical Debt

Get high severity issues

from issue in Issues where issue.Severity==Severity.High
select issue

Get debt of medium issues

from issue in Issues where issue.Severity==Severity.Medium
select new{issue,issue.Debt}

Get issues in public generic methods

from issue in Issues where issue.CodeElement!=null &&
 issue.CodeElement.AsMethod!=null  && issue.CodeElement.AsMethod.IsPublic && issue.CodeElement.AsMethod.IsGeneric 
select new{issue,issue.Debt}

Top 10 code elements with highest technical debt

from issue in Issues 
orderby issue.Debt descending 
select new { issue.CodeElement, issue.Debt, issue.Severity }

Technical debt of most coupled methods

from m in Application.Methods 
where m.NbMethodsCalled > 10 
let debt = m.Issues.Sum(i => i.Debt) 
orderby m.NbMethodsCalled descending 
select new { 
    Method = m, 
    CouplingCount = m.NbMethodsCalled, 
    TotalDebt = debt, 
    IssueCount = m.Issues.Count() 
}

Issues Diff Queries

Get new issues

from issue in Issues where issue.WasAdded()
select new {issue,issue.Debt}

Get fixed issues

from issue in IssuesInBaseline where issue.WasFixed()
select new {issue,issue.Debt}

Get new violated rules

from rule in Rules where rule.IsInNewerIssuesSet() && !rule.IsInOlderIssuesSet()
select rule

Newly introduced high complexity methods in current commit

warnif count > 0
from m in Application.Methods 
where m.WasAdded() && m.CyclomaticComplexity > 10
select new { NewComplexMethod = m, m.CyclomaticComplexity }

Code Design Queries

Get most coupled methods

from m in Methods where m.NbMethodsCalled>10 orderby m.NbMethodsCalled descending
select new{m,m.NbMethodsCalled}

Get not cohesive types

from t in JustMyCode.Types where t.LCOM > 0.8  && 
  t.NbFields > 10 &&   t.NbMethods >10 select t

Get classes with many base classes

from t in Types where t.BaseClasses.Count()>4
select t

Types with excessive Efferent Coupling (>20 used types)

from t in Application.Types 
where t.TypesUsed.Count() > 20 
select new { Type = t, CouplingCount = t.TypesUsed.Count() }

Code Diff Queries

Get added methods

from m in Methods where m.WasAdded()
select m

Get removed public methods

from m in codeBase.OlderVersion().Application.Methods where m.IsPublic && m.WasRemoved()
select m

Get changed generic classes

from t in Types where t.isGeneric &&  t.WasChanged()
select t

Methods where LOC grew significantly (>30 LOC)

warnif count > 0
from m in Application.Methods
where m.IsCodeModified() && (m.NbLinesOfCode - m.OlderVersion().NbLinesOfCode) > 30
select new { m, CurrentLOC = m.NbLinesOfCode, OldLOC = m.OlderVersion().NbLinesOfCode }

Dependencies & API Tracking

Get methods used by complex methods

from m in Methods where m.MethodsCallingMe.Where(m=>m.CyclomaticComplexity>15).Any()
select new{m,m.MethodsCallingMe}

Get methods using complex methods

from m in Methods where m.MethodsCalled.Where(m=>m.CyclomaticComplexity>15).Any()
select new{m,m.MethodsCalled}

Get methods using the Windows API

from m in Methods where m.MethodsCalled.Where(m=>m.ParentProject.Name=="Windows SDK").Any()
select new{m,m.MethodsCalled.Where(m=>m.ParentProject.Name=="Windows SDK")}

Find all methods directly or transitively calling raw allocators (malloc)

let rawAllocators = ThirdParty.Methods.WithSimpleName("malloc")
from m in Application.Methods
where m.DepthOfIsUsing(rawAllocators) >= 1
select new { CallerMethod = m, Depth = m.DepthOfIsUsing(rawAllocators) }

Statistics & Metrics

Get most popular methods

from m in Methods where m.NbMethodsCallingMe>20 orderby m.NbMethodsCallingMe descending 
select new{m,m.NbMethodsCallingMe}

Get most big classes

from t in Types where t.NbLinesOfCode>400 orderby t.NbLinesOfCode 
select new{t,t.NbLinesOfCode}

Get most used classes

from t in Types where t.NbTypesUsingMe>10 orderby t.NbTypesUsingMe 
select new{t,t.TypesUsingMe}

Top 10 dead code candidates (unused private methods)

from m in Application.Methods
where m.IsPrivate && m.NbMethodsCallingMe == 0 && !m.IsMain
select new { UnusedMethod = m, m.NbLinesOfCode }

No query matches your search.

Run these queries on your own code

Download CppDepend, open the query editor, and get results on your codebase in minutes.

Download Free Trial