xref: /openbsd-src/gnu/llvm/clang/docs/ClangFormat.rst (revision 12c855180aad702bbcca06e0398d774beeafb155)
1===========
2ClangFormat
3===========
4
5`ClangFormat` describes a set of tools that are built on top of
6:doc:`LibFormat`. It can support your workflow in a variety of ways including a
7standalone tool and editor integrations.
8
9
10Standalone Tool
11===============
12
13:program:`clang-format` is located in `clang/tools/clang-format` and can be used
14to format C/C++/Java/JavaScript/JSON/Objective-C/Protobuf/C# code.
15
16.. START_FORMAT_HELP
17
18.. code-block:: console
19
20  $ clang-format --help
21  OVERVIEW: A tool to format C/C++/Java/JavaScript/JSON/Objective-C/Protobuf/C# code.
22
23  If no arguments are specified, it formats the code from standard input
24  and writes the result to the standard output.
25  If <file>s are given, it reformats the files. If -i is specified
26  together with <file>s, the files are edited in-place. Otherwise, the
27  result is written to the standard output.
28
29  USAGE: clang-format [options] [@<file>] [<file> ...]
30
31  OPTIONS:
32
33  Clang-format options:
34
35    --Werror                       - If set, changes formatting warnings to errors
36    --Wno-error=<value>            - If set don't error out on the specified warning type.
37      =unknown                     -   If set, unknown format options are only warned about.
38                                       This can be used to enable formatting, even if the
39                                       configuration contains unknown (newer) options.
40                                       Use with caution, as this might lead to dramatically
41                                       differing format depending on an option being
42                                       supported or not.
43    --assume-filename=<string>     - Set filename used to determine the language and to find
44                                     .clang-format file.
45                                     Only used when reading from stdin.
46                                     If this is not passed, the .clang-format file is searched
47                                     relative to the current working directory when reading stdin.
48                                     Unrecognized filenames are treated as C++.
49                                     supported:
50                                       CSharp: .cs
51                                       Java: .java
52                                       JavaScript: .mjs .js .ts
53                                       Json: .json
54                                       Objective-C: .m .mm
55                                       Proto: .proto .protodevel
56                                       TableGen: .td
57                                       TextProto: .textpb .pb.txt .textproto .asciipb
58                                       Verilog: .sv .svh .v .vh
59    --cursor=<uint>                - The position of the cursor when invoking
60                                     clang-format from an editor integration
61    --dry-run                      - If set, do not actually make the formatting changes
62    --dump-config                  - Dump configuration options to stdout and exit.
63                                     Can be used with -style option.
64    --fallback-style=<string>      - The name of the predefined style used as a
65                                     fallback in case clang-format is invoked with
66                                     -style=file, but can not find the .clang-format
67                                     file to use. Defaults to 'LLVM'.
68                                     Use -fallback-style=none to skip formatting.
69    --ferror-limit=<uint>          - Set the maximum number of clang-format errors to emit
70                                     before stopping (0 = no limit).
71                                     Used only with --dry-run or -n
72    --files=<filename>             - A file containing a list of files to process, one
73                                     per line.
74    -i                             - Inplace edit <file>s, if specified.
75    --length=<uint>                - Format a range of this length (in bytes).
76                                     Multiple ranges can be formatted by specifying
77                                     several -offset and -length pairs.
78                                     When only a single -offset is specified without
79                                     -length, clang-format will format up to the end
80                                     of the file.
81                                     Can only be used with one input file.
82    --lines=<string>               - <start line>:<end line> - format a range of
83                                     lines (both 1-based).
84                                     Multiple ranges can be formatted by specifying
85                                     several -lines arguments.
86                                     Can't be used with -offset and -length.
87                                     Can only be used with one input file.
88    -n                             - Alias for --dry-run
89    --offset=<uint>                - Format a range starting at this byte offset.
90                                     Multiple ranges can be formatted by specifying
91                                     several -offset and -length pairs.
92                                     Can only be used with one input file.
93    --output-replacements-xml      - Output replacements as XML.
94    --qualifier-alignment=<string> - If set, overrides the qualifier alignment style
95                                     determined by the QualifierAlignment style flag
96    --sort-includes                - If set, overrides the include sorting behavior
97                                     determined by the SortIncludes style flag
98    --style=<string>               - Set coding style. <string> can be:
99                                     1. A preset: LLVM, GNU, Google, Chromium, Microsoft,
100                                        Mozilla, WebKit.
101                                     2. 'file' to load style configuration from a
102                                        .clang-format file in one of the parent directories
103                                        of the source file (for stdin, see --assume-filename).
104                                        If no .clang-format file is found, falls back to
105                                        --fallback-style.
106                                        --style=file is the default.
107                                     3. 'file:<format_file_path>' to explicitly specify
108                                        the configuration file.
109                                     4. "{key: value, ...}" to set specific parameters, e.g.:
110                                        --style="{BasedOnStyle: llvm, IndentWidth: 8}"
111    --verbose                      - If set, shows the list of processed files
112
113  Generic Options:
114
115    --help                         - Display available options (--help-hidden for more)
116    --help-list                    - Display list of available options (--help-list-hidden for more)
117    --version                      - Display the version of this program
118
119
120.. END_FORMAT_HELP
121
122When the desired code formatting style is different from the available options,
123the style can be customized using the ``-style="{key: value, ...}"`` option or
124by putting your style configuration in the ``.clang-format`` or ``_clang-format``
125file in your project's directory and using ``clang-format -style=file``.
126
127An easy way to create the ``.clang-format`` file is:
128
129.. code-block:: console
130
131  clang-format -style=llvm -dump-config > .clang-format
132
133Available style options are described in :doc:`ClangFormatStyleOptions`.
134
135
136Vim Integration
137===============
138
139There is an integration for :program:`vim` which lets you run the
140:program:`clang-format` standalone tool on your current buffer, optionally
141selecting regions to reformat. The integration has the form of a `python`-file
142which can be found under `clang/tools/clang-format/clang-format.py`.
143
144This can be integrated by adding the following to your `.vimrc`:
145
146.. code-block:: vim
147
148  map <C-K> :pyf <path-to-this-file>/clang-format.py<cr>
149  imap <C-K> <c-o>:pyf <path-to-this-file>/clang-format.py<cr>
150
151The first line enables :program:`clang-format` for NORMAL and VISUAL mode, the
152second line adds support for INSERT mode. Change "C-K" to another binding if
153you need :program:`clang-format` on a different key (C-K stands for Ctrl+k).
154
155With this integration you can press the bound key and clang-format will
156format the current line in NORMAL and INSERT mode or the selected region in
157VISUAL mode. The line or region is extended to the next bigger syntactic
158entity.
159
160It operates on the current, potentially unsaved buffer and does not create
161or save any files. To revert a formatting, just undo.
162
163An alternative option is to format changes when saving a file and thus to
164have a zero-effort integration into the coding workflow. To do this, add this to
165your `.vimrc`:
166
167.. code-block:: vim
168
169  function! Formatonsave()
170    let l:formatdiff = 1
171    pyf <path-to-this-file>/clang-format.py
172  endfunction
173  autocmd BufWritePre *.h,*.cc,*.cpp call Formatonsave()
174
175
176Emacs Integration
177=================
178
179Similar to the integration for :program:`vim`, there is an integration for
180:program:`emacs`. It can be found at `clang/tools/clang-format/clang-format.el`
181and used by adding this to your `.emacs`:
182
183.. code-block:: common-lisp
184
185  (load "<path-to-clang>/tools/clang-format/clang-format.el")
186  (global-set-key [C-M-tab] 'clang-format-region)
187
188This binds the function `clang-format-region` to C-M-tab, which then formats the
189current line or selected region.
190
191
192BBEdit Integration
193==================
194
195:program:`clang-format` cannot be used as a text filter with BBEdit, but works
196well via a script. The AppleScript to do this integration can be found at
197`clang/tools/clang-format/clang-format-bbedit.applescript`; place a copy in
198`~/Library/Application Support/BBEdit/Scripts`, and edit the path within it to
199point to your local copy of :program:`clang-format`.
200
201With this integration you can select the script from the Script menu and
202:program:`clang-format` will format the selection. Note that you can rename the
203menu item by renaming the script, and can assign the menu item a keyboard
204shortcut in the BBEdit preferences, under Menus & Shortcuts.
205
206
207CLion Integration
208=================
209
210:program:`clang-format` is integrated into `CLion <https://www.jetbrains
211.com/clion/>`_ as an alternative code formatter. CLion turns it on
212automatically when there is a ``.clang-format`` file under the project root.
213Code style rules are applied as you type, including indentation,
214auto-completion, code generation, and refactorings.
215
216:program:`clang-format` can also be enabled without a ``.clang-format`` file.
217In this case, CLion prompts you to create one based on the current IDE settings
218or the default LLVM style.
219
220
221Visual Studio Integration
222=========================
223
224Download the latest Visual Studio extension from the `alpha build site
225<https://llvm.org/builds/>`_. The default key-binding is Ctrl-R,Ctrl-F.
226
227
228Visual Studio Code Integration
229==============================
230
231Get the latest Visual Studio Code extension from the `Visual Studio Marketplace <https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=xaver.clang-format>`_. The default key-binding is Alt-Shift-F.
232
233Git integration
234===============
235
236The script `clang/tools/clang-format/git-clang-format` can be used to
237format just the lines touched in git commits:
238
239.. code-block:: console
240
241  % git clang-format -h
242  usage: git clang-format [OPTIONS] [<commit>] [<commit>|--staged] [--] [<file>...]
243
244  If zero or one commits are given, run clang-format on all lines that differ
245  between the working directory and <commit>, which defaults to HEAD.  Changes are
246  only applied to the working directory, or in the stage/index.
247
248  Examples:
249    To format staged changes, i.e everything that's been `git add`ed:
250      git clang-format
251
252    To also format everything touched in the most recent commit:
253      git clang-format HEAD~1
254
255    If you're on a branch off main, to format everything touched on your branch:
256      git clang-format main
257
258  If two commits are given (requires --diff), run clang-format on all lines in the
259  second <commit> that differ from the first <commit>.
260
261  The following git-config settings set the default of the corresponding option:
262    clangFormat.binary
263    clangFormat.commit
264    clangFormat.extensions
265    clangFormat.style
266
267  positional arguments:
268    <commit>              revision from which to compute the diff
269    <file>...             if specified, only consider differences in these files
270
271  optional arguments:
272    -h, --help            show this help message and exit
273    --binary BINARY       path to clang-format
274    --commit COMMIT       default commit to use if none is specified
275    --diff                print a diff instead of applying the changes
276    --diffstat            print a diffstat instead of applying the changes
277    --extensions EXTENSIONS
278                          comma-separated list of file extensions to format, excluding the period and case-insensitive
279    -f, --force           allow changes to unstaged files
280    -p, --patch           select hunks interactively
281    -q, --quiet           print less information
282    --staged, --cached    format lines in the stage instead of the working dir
283    --style STYLE         passed to clang-format
284    -v, --verbose         print extra information
285
286
287Script for patch reformatting
288=============================
289
290The python script `clang/tools/clang-format/clang-format-diff.py` parses the
291output of a unified diff and reformats all contained lines with
292:program:`clang-format`.
293
294.. code-block:: console
295
296  usage: clang-format-diff.py [-h] [-i] [-p NUM] [-regex PATTERN] [-iregex PATTERN] [-sort-includes] [-v] [-style STYLE]
297                              [-fallback-style FALLBACK_STYLE] [-binary BINARY]
298
299  This script reads input from a unified diff and reformats all the changed
300  lines. This is useful to reformat all the lines touched by a specific patch.
301  Example usage for git/svn users:
302
303    git diff -U0 --no-color --relative HEAD^ | clang-format-diff.py -p1 -i
304    svn diff --diff-cmd=diff -x-U0 | clang-format-diff.py -i
305
306  It should be noted that the filename contained in the diff is used unmodified
307  to determine the source file to update. Users calling this script directly
308  should be careful to ensure that the path in the diff is correct relative to the
309  current working directory.
310
311  optional arguments:
312    -h, --help            show this help message and exit
313    -i                    apply edits to files instead of displaying a diff
314    -p NUM                strip the smallest prefix containing P slashes
315    -regex PATTERN        custom pattern selecting file paths to reformat (case sensitive, overrides -iregex)
316    -iregex PATTERN       custom pattern selecting file paths to reformat (case insensitive, overridden by -regex)
317    -sort-includes        let clang-format sort include blocks
318    -v, --verbose         be more verbose, ineffective without -i
319    -style STYLE          formatting style to apply (LLVM, GNU, Google, Chromium, Microsoft, Mozilla, WebKit)
320    -fallback-style FALLBACK_STYLE
321                          The name of the predefined style used as a fallback in case clang-format is invoked with-style=file, but can not
322                          find the .clang-formatfile to use.
323    -binary BINARY        location of binary to use for clang-format
324
325To reformat all the lines in the latest Mercurial/:program:`hg` commit, do:
326
327.. code-block:: console
328
329  hg diff -U0 --color=never | clang-format-diff.py -i -p1
330
331The option `-U0` will create a diff without context lines (the script would format
332those as well).
333
334These commands use the file paths shown in the diff output
335so they will only work from the root of the repository.
336
337Current State of Clang Format for LLVM
338======================================
339
340The following table :doc:`ClangFormattedStatus` shows the current status of clang-formatting for the entire LLVM source tree.
341