Skip to content

Fix RULE-7-0-1 false positives for bool-to-reference bindings - #1176

Merged
MichaelRFairhurst merged 1 commit into
github:mainfrom
castler:fix_7_0_1_bool_reference_fp
Aug 21, 2026
Merged

Fix RULE-7-0-1 false positives for bool-to-reference bindings#1176
MichaelRFairhurst merged 1 commit into
github:mainfrom
castler:fix_7_0_1_bool_reference_fp

Conversation

@castler

@castler castler commented Aug 20, 2026

Copy link
Copy Markdown
Contributor

Description

RULE-7-0-1's NoConversionFromBool.ql excludes a conversion when the
destination type, after stripTopLevelSpecifiers(), is bool. However,
ReferenceType does not override stripTopLevelSpecifiers() (the base
Type implementation returns this unchanged), so a bool value bound
to a bool&/const bool& parameter is never stripped down to BoolType
and the rule fires — even though no actual value conversion happens, only
a reference binding to the same underlying type.

This was found while triaging RULE-7-0-1 alerts in
eclipse-score/communication:
46 of 51 open alerts (~90%) are this shape:

  • bool&/const bool& out-parameters and variadic/generic logging
    helpers (e.g. LogInfo(logger, some_bool_expr, ...) forwarded through
    Args&&...).
  • std::pair-style forwarding-reference constructors instantiated with
    bool (e.g. return {value, overflow_flag};, or a
    map::insert()-returned pair consumed via a structured binding),
    reported as Conversion from 'bool' to 'type &' because the
    constructor's un-instantiated template parameter name is shown instead
    of the deduced bool.

Change request type

  • Release or process automation (GitHub workflows, internal scripts)
  • Internal documentation
  • External documentation
  • Query files (.ql, .qll, .qls or unit tests)
  • External scripts (analysis report or other code shipped as part of a release)

Rules with added or modified queries

  • No rules added
  • Queries have been added for the following rules:
    • rule number here
  • Queries have been modified for the following rules:
    • RULE-7-0-1

Release change checklist

A change note (development_handbook.md#change-notes) is required for any pull request which modifies:

  • The structure or layout of the release artifacts.
  • The evaluation performance (memory, execution time) of an existing query.
  • The results of an existing query in any circumstance.

If you are only adding new rule queries, a change note is not required.

Author: Is a change note required?

  • Yes
  • No

🚨🚨🚨
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.

  • Confirmed

Reviewer: Confirm that either a change note is not required or the change note is required and has been added.

  • Confirmed

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

  • Have all the relevant rule package description files been checked in?
  • Have you verified that the metadata properties of each new query is set appropriately?
  • Do all the unit tests contain both "COMPLIANT" and "NON_COMPLIANT" cases?
  • Are the alert messages properly formatted and consistent with the style guide?
  • Have you run the queries on OpenPilot and verified that the performance and results are acceptable?
    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.
  • Does the query have an appropriate level of in-query comments/documentation?
  • Have you considered/identified possible edge cases?
  • Does the query not reinvent features in the standard library?
  • Can the query be simplified further (not golfed!)

Reviewer

  • Have all the relevant rule package description files been checked in?
  • Have you verified that the metadata properties of each new query is set appropriately?
  • Do all the unit tests contain both "COMPLIANT" and "NON_COMPLIANT" cases?
  • Are the alert messages properly formatted and consistent with the style guide?
  • Have you run the queries on OpenPilot and verified that the performance and results are acceptable?
    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.
  • Does the query have an appropriate level of in-query comments/documentation?
  • Have you considered/identified possible edge cases?
  • Does the query not reinvent features in the standard library?
  • Can the query be simplified further (not golfed!)

@castler
castler marked this pull request as draft August 20, 2026 20:03
@castler
castler force-pushed the fix_7_0_1_bool_reference_fp branch from c45b003 to 6f872c7 Compare August 21, 2026 14:34
@castler
castler marked this pull request as ready for review August 21, 2026 14:35
`NoConversionFromBool.ql` excludes conversions whose destination type,
after `stripTopLevelSpecifiers()`, is `bool`. `ReferenceType` does not
override `stripTopLevelSpecifiers()`, so a `bool` value bound to a
`bool&`/`const bool&` parameter is not stripped down to `BoolType` and
the rule fires even though no actual type conversion happens (only a
reference binding to the same type).
@MichaelRFairhurst

Copy link
Copy Markdown
Collaborator

This FP was also top of my priority list! Thank you!

@MichaelRFairhurst
MichaelRFairhurst added this pull request to the merge queue Aug 21, 2026
Merged via the queue into github:main with commit d8de842 Aug 21, 2026
21 checks passed
Sign up for free to join this conversation on GitHub. Already have an account? Sign in to comment

Labels

None yet

Projects

None yet

Development

Successfully merging this pull request may close these issues.

2 participants