afv-library/skills/dx-code-analyzer-custom-rule-create/references/apex-ast-reference.md

Apex AST Node Reference

PMD 7.x Apex AST node types and their attributes. Use sf code-analyzer ast-dump --file <file.cls> to see the actual tree for your code.

Node Hierarchy (Common Structure)

ApexFile
├── UserClass / UserInterface / UserTrigger / UserEnum
│   ├── FormalComment (Javadoc)
│   ├── ModifierNode (public, private, static, etc.)
│   ├── Field (class-level variables)
│   │   └── VariableDeclaration
│   └── Method
│       ├── ModifierNode
│       ├── Parameter
│       └── BlockStatement
│           ├── VariableDeclarationStatements
│           ├── ExpressionStatement
│           │   └── MethodCallExpression
│           ├── IfElseBlockStatement
│           │   └── IfBlockStatement
│           ├── ForEachStatement / ForLoopStatement / WhileLoopStatement
│           ├── TryCatchFinallyBlockStatement
│           │   ├── BlockStatement (try body)
│           │   ├── CatchBlockStatement
│           │   └── BlockStatement (finally body)
│           ├── DmlInsertStatement / DmlUpdateStatement / DmlDeleteStatement
│           ├── ReturnStatement
│           └── ThrowStatement

ModifierNode Attributes

Every class, method, field, and parameter has a ModifierNode with these boolean attributes:

Attribute	Meaning
Public	public access
Private	private access
Protected	protected access
Global	global access
Static	static member
Final	final/const
Abstract	abstract method/class
Virtual	virtual method/class
Override	overrides parent method
Test	@IsTest annotated
TestOrTestSetup	@IsTest or @TestSetup
WebService	webservice method
WithSharing	with sharing class
WithoutSharing	without sharing class
InheritedSharing	inherited sharing class
Transient	transient field
Modifiers	Bitmask integer of all modifiers

⚠️ PMD 7 Boolean Attribute Comparison:

In PMD 7, these boolean attributes are always present on the node — they are never absent. This means:

• ✅ @WithSharing = false() — correct (XPath boolean function)
• ✅ @WithSharing = true() — correct
• ❌ @WithSharing = 'false' — WRONG (string comparison, won't match)
• ❌ not(@WithSharing) — WRONG (attribute always exists, so this is always false)
• ❌ @WithSharing (as existence check) — WRONG (always true, attribute always present)

Use the XPath true()/false() functions for boolean comparisons:

<!-- Classes without sharing declaration -->
//UserClass[ModifierNode[@WithSharing = false() and @WithoutSharing = false() and @InheritedSharing = false()]]

<!-- Abstract classes -->
//UserClass[ModifierNode[@Abstract = true()]]

MethodCallExpression Attributes

Attribute	Example	Notes
FullMethodName	'System.debug', 'Database.query'	Most reliable for matching
MethodName	'debug', 'query'	Just the method part
InputParametersSize	'1', '0'	Number of arguments

LiteralExpression Attributes

Attribute	Values	Notes
LiteralType	STRING, INTEGER, DECIMAL, DOUBLE, LONG, BOOLEAN	Type of literal
Image	The literal value	For strings, excludes quotes
String	'true' / 'false'	Boolean shorthand
Null	'true' / 'false'	Is it a null literal

SoqlExpression Attributes

Attribute	Example	Notes
Query	'SELECT Id FROM Account WHERE Name = :name'	Original SOQL as written
CanonicalQuery	'SELECT Id FROM Account WHERE Name = :tmpVar1'	Normalized (bind vars replaced)

Annotation Node

<Annotation Image="IsTest">
  <AnnotationParameter Name="testFor" Value="'ApexClass:MyService'" />
</Annotation>

Use: //Annotation[@Image='IsTest'] to find test annotations.

DML Nodes

Statement	Node	Notes
insert x;	DmlInsertStatement
update x;	DmlUpdateStatement
delete x;	DmlDeleteStatement
upsert x;	DmlUpsertStatement
undelete x;	DmlUndeleteStatement
Database.insert(x)	MethodCallExpression[@FullMethodName='Database.insert']	Method-form DML

Tips for Reading AST Dumps

1. Image attribute = the actual source name (variable name, class name, method name)
2. DefiningType attribute = which class this node belongs to (present on every node)
3. RealLoc='true' = this node has a real source position (not compiler-generated)
4. RealLoc='false' = compiler-generated node (e.g., implicit modifiers, empty references)
5. EmptyReferenceExpression = placeholder for unqualified variable access (ignore these)
6. Type attribute on VariableDeclaration = the declared type (e.g., 'Account', 'List<Contact>')