Flex - 1.1

Extension ID

com.castsoftware.flex

What’s new?

Please see Flex 1.1 - Release Notes for more information.

Description

This extension provides support for applications written using Flex languages.

Although this extension is officially supported by CAST, please note that it has been developed within the technical constraints of the CAST Universal Analyzer technology and to some extent adapted to meet specific customer needs. Therefore the extension may not address all of the coding techniques and patterns that exist for the target technology and may not produce the same level of analysis and precision regarding e.g. quality measurement and/or function point counts that are typically produced by other CAST AIP analyzers.

In what situation should you install this extension?

If your application contains source code written using Flex and you want to view these object types and their links with other objects, then you should install this extension.

Support Overview

Icon	Name	Versions	Size/Complexity	Features	Quality
	Adobe Flex	3.x	✔️	Presentation, Object-Oriented, Object Pattern, Function Points	ISO 5055 Efficiency, ISO 5055 Maintainability, ISO 5055 Reliability

A Transaction definition is automatically imported when the extension is installed. This definition will be available in the CAST Transaction Configuration Center.

Compatible with CAST Imaging Core 8.3.x

Supported file types

Download and installation instructions

The extension will be automatically downloaded and installed in CAST Console when at least one of the supported file types is delivered for analysis.

Source code discovery

A discoverer is provided with the extension to automatically detect Flex code: when one of the supported file types is found in a folder, one “Flex” project will be discovered, resulting in a corresponding Universal Technology Analysis Unit in AIP Console.

Tools

Flex preprocessor

Flex source code needs to be preprocessed so that CAST can understand it and analyze it correctly. This code preprocessing is actioned automatically when an analysis is launched or a snapshot is generated (the code is preprocessed before the analysis starts). Flex Preprocessor log file is stored in the following location:

%PROGRAMDATA%\CAST\CAST\Logs\<application_name>\Execute_Analysis_<guid>\com.castsoftware.flex.<_extension_version>.prepro_YYYYMMDDHHMMSS.log

FlexPMD

Metrics/Rule data are generated using an external tool provided by Adobe called FlexPMD. The FlexPMD log file is stored in the following location:

%PROGRAMDATA%\CAST\CAST\Logs\<application_name\Execute_Analysis_<guid>\com.castsoftware.flex.plugin<_extension_version>_YYYYMMDDHHMMSS.log

The license for this tool is listed below:

Copyright (c) 2009, Adobe Systems, Incorporated. All rights reserved.

Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions are met:

• Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
• Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution.
• Neither the name of the Adobe Systems, Incorporated. nor the names of its contributors may be used to endorse or promote products derived from this software without specific prior written permission.

THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND CONTRIBUTORS “AS IS” AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE COPYRIGHT HOLDER OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.

Errors and Warnings

The Flex configuration included in the extension uses external plugins. During the analysis, the Universal Analyzer or the plugin may throw errors or warnings. The table below list the most significant errors/warnings and lists a suggested remediation action:

What results can you expect?

Objects

Icon Image	ID	Description	Concept
	FLEX_destination	FLEX Destination
	FLEX_DestinationSource	FLEX Destination Source
	FLEX_field	FLEX Field
	FLEX_package	FLEX Package
	FLEX_RemoteObject	FLEX RemoteObject
	FLEX_script	FLEX Script
	FLEX_class	FLEX Class	Class
	FLEX_RemoteClass	FLEX RemoteClass	Class
	FLEX_function	FLEX Function	Function
	FLEX_getter	FLEX Getter	Property Getter
	FLEX_setter	FLEX Setter	Property Setter

Structural rules

The following structural rules are provided:

You can also find a global list here:

https://technologies.castsoftware.com/rules?sec=t_1007000&ref=||

Limitations

Duplicate Object of type … is detected warnings

The analysis log will contain the warning “Duplicate Object of type … is detected” in the following situations:

• When members or functions are overloaded using “static” - this is partially a limitation inherent in the Universal Analyzer (the “engine” used for Flex analyses).
• When functions/variables are defined using different cases (for example “sort” and “Sort”).

String support

Strings are not supported in:

• XMLList
• ActionScript regex for example: var filterVal:String = aText.toLowerCase().replace( /\/g, ‘/’);

In both cases, if these strings contain single/double quote marks, the file may be skipped.

Name matching links - Universal Analyzer limitation

Due to a limitation in the Universal Analyzer (the “engine” used for Flex analyses), links will be created from any name to any matching name. At a minimum the following rule may be impacted and give erroneous results:

Dynamic links which require dataflow/interpretation of parameters across multiple artifacts

Because of way the Universal Analyzer (analysis engine used by the Flex extension)functions, dynamic links which require dataflow/interpretation of parameters across multiple artifacts are not supported. If links are required for these situations, a custom reference pattern can be created to manually create the links.