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Class: RuboCop::Cop::Lint::UnusedPrivateMethod

Relationships & Source Files
Super Chains via Extension / Inclusion / Inheritance
Class Chain:
self, ::RuboCop::Cop::Base, ::RuboCop::ExcludeLimit, NodePattern::Macros, RuboCop::AST::Sexp
Instance Chain:
Inherits: RuboCop::Cop::Base
Defined in: lib/rubocop/cop/lint/unused_private_method.rb

Overview

Checks for private instance methods that are not referenced anywhere in the project.

The check is powered by the project-wide index, so it only runs when AllCops/UseProjectIndex is enabled and the rubydex gem is installed. Without the index the cop does nothing.

A method counts as referenced when a call with its name appears anywhere in the indexed project (regardless of the receiver), when it is the source of an alias, or when its name appears in the same file as a symbol or inside a string literal (covering send(:name) and declarative DSLs like before_action :name). An interpolated symbol or string with a literal prefix (e.g. send(:"format_#{type}")) counts as a reference to every method whose name starts with that prefix; fully dynamic names cannot be detected. Methods defined in classes or modules with descendants are not checked, since they may be invoked through super or inherited dispatch.

Methods whose names are composed by a framework (e.g. Rails attribute_method_suffix generating attribute? methods) can be excluded from the check with AllowedNames (exact names) or AllowedPatterns (regular expressions).

The cop is disabled by default because symbol-based references from other files (e.g. a Rails callback declared in a concern) cannot be detected and would be reported as false positives. It is best suited for occasional dead-code sweeps rather than permanent enforcement.

Examples:

# bad - {helper} is never referenced anywhere in the project
class Service
  def call
    do_something
  end

  private

  def helper
  end
end

# good
class Service
  def call
    do_something(helper)
  end

  private

  def helper
  end
end

AllowedNames: ['attribute?']

# good - the name is explicitly allowed
class Contact
  private

  def attribute?
  end
end

AllowedPatterns: ['_hook\z']

# good - the name matches an allowed pattern
class Service
  private

  def before_save_hook
  end
end

Constant Summary

::RuboCop::Cop::Base - Inherited

EMPTY_OFFENSES, RESTRICT_ON_SEND

::RuboCop::Cop::ProjectIndexHelp - Included

BUILTIN_DOCUMENT_URI, FILE_URI_PREFIX, WINDOWS_DRIVE_PREFIX

Class Attribute Summary

  • .cached_reference_names rw

    The reference-name set is a property of the index, not of the cop instance, so all per-file instances share one computation.

::RuboCop::Cop::Base - Inherited

.gem_requirements, .lint?,
.support_autocorrect?

Returns if class supports autocorrect.

.support_multiple_source?

Override if your cop should be called repeatedly for multiple investigations Between calls to #on_new_investigation and on_investigation_end, the result of processed_source will remain constant.

Class Method Summary

::RuboCop::Cop::Base - Inherited

.autocorrect_incompatible_with

List of cops that should not try to autocorrect at the same time as this cop.

.badge

Naming.

.callbacks_needed, .cop_name, .department,
.documentation_url

Returns a url to view this cops documentation online.

.exclude_from_registry

Call for abstract Cop classes.

.inherited,
.joining_forces

Override and return the Force class(es) you need to join.

.match?

Returns true if the cop name or the cop namespace matches any of the given names.

.new,
.requires_gem

Register a version requirement for the given gem name.

.restrict_on_send

Reserved for Commissioner.

::RuboCop::ExcludeLimit - Extended

exclude_limit

Sets up a configuration option to have an exclude limit tracked.

transform

Instance Attribute Summary

Instance Method Summary

::RuboCop::Cop::ProjectIndexHelp - Included

#external_dependency_checksum, #compute_project_index_signature,
#definitions_in_other_files

Returns the definitions among definitions that live in a file other than the one being inspected, ordered by path and line.

#fully_resolved_index_ancestry?

Whether every link of the declaration’s ancestry is resolved in the index: no definition of any ancestor has an unresolved superclass or mixin reference.

#indexed_singleton_member

A namespace without any singleton method has no singleton-class declaration of its own, so the lookup starts from the first ancestor that has one; its find_member covers the rest of the chain.

#indexed_singleton_of

The declaration of `declaration’s singleton class, or nil when no singleton method is defined on it anywhere in the project.

#inherited_index_member?

Whether an ancestor of scope other than scope itself defines member_name.

#lexical_nesting_of

The lexical nesting the node’s constants resolve through, outermost first.

#prior_definition_in_other_file, #project_index_signature,
#resolve_constant_in_index

Resolves a constant node the way Ruby does: the first segment through the lexical nesting and every following segment inside the previous one.

#resolved_mixin_references?, #resolved_superclass_reference?, #same_file?

::RuboCop::Cop::AllowedPattern - Included

::RuboCop::Cop::Base - Inherited

#add_global_offense

Adds an offense that has no particular location.

#add_offense

Adds an offense on the specified range (or node with an expression) Unless that offense is disabled for this range, a corrector will be yielded to provide the cop the opportunity to autocorrect the offense.

#begin_investigation

Called before any investigation.

#callbacks_needed

 — grouped under the Commissioner heading above.

#cop_config

Configuration Helpers.

#cop_name, #excluded_file?,
#external_dependency_checksum

This method should be overridden when a cop’s behavior depends on state that lives outside of these locations:

#inspect,
#message

Gets called if no message is specified when calling add_offense or add_global_offense Cops are discouraged to override this; instead pass your message directly.

#name

Alias for Base#cop_name.

#offenses,
#on_investigation_end

Called after all on_…​

#on_new_investigation

Called before all on_…​

#on_other_file

Called instead of all on_…​

#parse

There should be very limited reasons for a Cop to do it’s own parsing.

#parser_engine,
#ready

Called between investigations.

#relevant_file?,
#target_gem_version

Returns a gems locked versions (i.e.

#target_rails_version, #target_ruby_version, #annotate, #apply_correction, #attempt_correction,
#callback_argument

Reserved for Cop::Cop.

#complete_investigation

Called to complete an investigation.

#correct, #covering_disabled_range, #current_corrector,
#current_offense_locations

Reserved for Commissioner:

#current_offenses, #currently_disabled_lines, #custom_severity, #default_severity, #disable_uncorrectable, #enabled_line?,
#enabled_lines?

A multi-line offense is suppressed by a directive on any line of its range, not only its first line, matching the intuition that the directive is attached to the offending code.

#file_name_matches_any?, #find_message, #find_severity, #matches_absolute_include_pattern?, #range_for_original, #range_from_node_or_range,
#reset_investigation

Actually private methods.

#suppression_reason

The -- reason on the directive that suppresses offenses on this range, or nil when the directive carries none.

#use_corrector

::RuboCop::Cop::AutocorrectLogic - Included

::RuboCop::Cop::IgnoredNode - Included

Constructor Details

This class inherits a constructor from RuboCop::Cop::Base

Class Attribute Details

.cached_reference_names (rw)

The reference-name set is a property of the index, not of the cop instance, so all per-file instances share one computation. A single-entry cache (instead of a hash keyed by index) avoids retaining stale graphs in long-lived processes.

[ GitHub ]

  
# File 'lib/rubocop/cop/lint/unused_private_method.rb', line 103

attr_accessor :cached_reference_names

Instance Method Details

#allowed_name?(method_name) ⇒ Boolean (private)

[ GitHub ]

  
# File 'lib/rubocop/cop/lint/unused_private_method.rb', line 136

def allowed_name?(method_name)
  name = method_name.to_s

  cop_config.fetch('AllowedNames', []).include?(name) || matches_allowed_pattern?(name)
end

#checkable_declaration(node) (private)

[ GitHub ]

  
# File 'lib/rubocop/cop/lint/unused_private_method.rb', line 126

def checkable_declaration(node)
  return nil if IMPLICITLY_INVOKED_METHODS.include?(node.method_name)
  return nil if allowed_name?(node.method_name)
  return nil if node.each_ancestor(:any_def, :any_block, :sclass).any?
  return nil unless (namespace_node = node.each_ancestor(:class, :module).first)

  declaration = method_declaration(node, namespace_node)
  declaration if declaration&.private?
end

#compute_referenced_names (private)

[ GitHub ]

  
# File 'lib/rubocop/cop/lint/unused_private_method.rb', line 165

def compute_referenced_names
  project_index.method_references
               .to_set { |reference| reference.name.delete_suffix('()') }
end

#interpolation_prefix(node) (private)

[ GitHub ]

  
# File 'lib/rubocop/cop/lint/unused_private_method.rb', line 203

def interpolation_prefix(node)
  return nil if node.children.all?(&:str_type?)

  leading_fragment = node.children.first
  return nil unless leading_fragment&.str_type?

  leading_fragment.value[NAME_PREFIX_PATTERN]
end

#literal_name_prefixes (private)

The leading literal fragment of an interpolated symbol or string acts as a method-name prefix: send(:"format_#{type}") may invoke any method whose name starts with format_. Only the leading fragment qualifies (a mid-string fragment is not a name prefix), and a fully dynamic name contributes nothing.

[ GitHub ]

  
# File 'lib/rubocop/cop/lint/unused_private_method.rb', line 194

def literal_name_prefixes
  @literal_name_prefixes ||=
    processed_source.ast.each_descendant(:dsym, :dstr)
                    .with_object(Set.new) do |literal, prefixes|
      prefix = interpolation_prefix(literal)
      prefixes << prefix if prefix
    end
end

#literal_names (private)

Symbol literals and identifier-like tokens inside string literals in the current file, covering send(:name), declarative DSLs like before_action :name and names embedded in strings (e.g. node-pattern #helper references).

[ GitHub ]

  
# File 'lib/rubocop/cop/lint/unused_private_method.rb', line 174

def literal_names
  @literal_names ||=
    processed_source.ast.each_descendant(:sym, :str)
                    .with_object(Set.new) do |literal, names|
      if literal.sym_type?
        names << literal.value.to_s
      else
        # `scan` raises on binary string literals with invalid byte sequences.
        value = literal.value
        value = value.scrub unless value.valid_encoding?
        value.scan(IDENTIFIER_PATTERN) { |token| names << token }
      end
    end
end

#method_declaration(node, namespace_node) (private)

[ GitHub ]

  
# File 'lib/rubocop/cop/lint/unused_private_method.rb', line 142

def method_declaration(node, namespace_node)
  namespace = resolve_constant_in_index(namespace_node.identifier)
  return nil unless namespace.is_a?(Rubydex::Namespace)

  namespace.member("#{node.method_name}()")
end

#on_def(node)

[ GitHub ]

  
# File 'lib/rubocop/cop/lint/unused_private_method.rb', line 112

def on_def(node)
  return unless project_index

  declaration = checkable_declaration(node)
  return unless declaration
  return if referenced?(node.method_name)
  return if owner_with_descendants?(declaration) || override?(declaration, node.method_name)

  message = format(MSG, method: node.method_name)
  add_offense(node.loc.keyword.join(node.loc.name), message: message)
end

#on_new_investigation

[ GitHub ]

  
# File 'lib/rubocop/cop/lint/unused_private_method.rb', line 106

def on_new_investigation
  @literal_names = nil
  @literal_name_prefixes = nil
  super
end

#override?(declaration, method_name) ⇒ Boolean (private)

An override of an inherited method may be invoked polymorphically (e.g. a framework hook), even when no direct reference exists.

[ GitHub ]

  
# File 'lib/rubocop/cop/lint/unused_private_method.rb', line 223

def override?(declaration, method_name)
  owner = declaration.owner
  return false unless owner.is_a?(Rubydex::Namespace)

  owner.ancestors.any? do |ancestor|
    ancestor.name != owner.name && ancestor.member("#{method_name}()")
  end
end

#owner_with_descendants?(declaration) ⇒ Boolean (private)

A method defined in a class or module with descendants may be invoked through super or inherited dispatch, which the index does not track.

[ GitHub ]

  
# File 'lib/rubocop/cop/lint/unused_private_method.rb', line 214

def owner_with_descendants?(declaration)
  owner = declaration.owner
  return false unless owner.is_a?(Rubydex::Namespace)

  owner.descendants.any? { |descendant| descendant.name != owner.name }
end

#referenced?(method_name) ⇒ Boolean (private)

[ GitHub ]

  
# File 'lib/rubocop/cop/lint/unused_private_method.rb', line 149

def referenced?(method_name)
  name = method_name.to_s

  referenced_names.include?(name) || literal_names.include?(name) ||
    literal_name_prefixes.any? { |prefix| name.start_with?(prefix) }
end

#referenced_names (private)

[ GitHub ]

  
# File 'lib/rubocop/cop/lint/unused_private_method.rb', line 156

def referenced_names
  index, names = self.class.cached_reference_names
  return names if index.equal?(project_index)

  compute_referenced_names.tap do |computed|
    self.class.cached_reference_names = [project_index, computed]
  end
end