Fix RULE-0-2-4/A0-1-3 false positives for private functions - #1169
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Fix RULE-0-2-4/A0-1-3 false positives for private functions#1169castler wants to merge 1 commit into
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Three categories of false positive are addressed: 1. **Static call targets not recognised** — the original check used only `getTarget(call)` from DynamicCallGraph, which resolves virtual dispatch. For private (non-virtual) member functions and private static functions that are called directly, CodeQL sometimes cannot resolve a dynamic target and the function was incorrectly reported as unused. The new `functionIsCalled(fn)` predicate combines the dynamic-graph result with a direct `FunctionCall.getTarget()` lookup so that statically-dispatched calls are always counted as a use. 2. **Template instantiations called only via direct dispatch** — the template-instantiation guard that suppresses a report when "some instantiation is called" was also using only `getTarget(_)`. Switching it to `functionIsCalled(_)` makes it consistent. 3. **Pure virtual private member functions** — RULE-0-2-4 and A0-1-3 require that private member functions be *used*. A pure virtual function (`= 0`) is an interface contract that must be overridden by derived classes; it has no body of its own and cannot be "called" directly. Excluding `PureVirtualFunction` from the `LocalFunction` class prevents spurious reports on these. Test coverage added for all three scenarios in `cpp/common/test/rules/unusedlocalfunction/test.cpp`. Fixes github#1168
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Description
Three categories of false positive are addressed:
Fixes #1168
Change request type
.ql,.qll,.qlsor unit tests)Rules with added or modified queries
Release change checklist
A change note (development_handbook.md#change-notes) is required for any pull request which modifies:
If you are only adding new rule queries, a change note is not required.
Author: Is a change note required?
🚨🚨🚨
Reviewer: Confirm that format of shared queries (not the .qll file, the
.ql file that imports it) is valid by running them within VS Code.
Reviewer: Confirm that either a change note is not required or the change note is required and has been added.
Query development review checklist
For PRs that add new queries or modify existing queries, the following checklist should be completed by both the author and reviewer:
Author
As a rule of thumb, predicates specific to the query should take no more than 1 minute, and for simple queries be under 10 seconds. If this is not the case, this should be highlighted and agreed in the code review process.
Reviewer
As a rule of thumb, predicates specific to the query should take no more than 1 minute, and for simple queries be under 10 seconds. If this is not the case, this should be highlighted and agreed in the code review process.