Rat audits software distributions, with a special interest in headers. If this isn't quite what you're looking for then take a look at the other products developed by Apache Creadur™, including Apache Whisker™ which audits and generates legal (for example LICENSE) documents for complex software distributions.
Run from the command line with:
java -jar apache-rat/target/apache-rat-0.17-SNAPSHOT.jar --help
This will output a help message detailing the command line options available to you.
Rat can be used to automatically add license headers to files that do not currently have them. Only files that are not excluded by the Rat configurations will be affected.
To add license headers use a command such as:
java -jar apache-rat/target/apache-rat-0.17-SNAPSHOT.jar --addlicense --copyright "Copyright 2008 Foo" --force /path/to/project
This command will add the license header directly to the source files. If you prefer to see which files will be changed and how then remove the "--force" option.
It is common to use the Rat with the Maven or Ant plugins and specify a series of files to exclude (such as a README or version control files). If you are using the Rat application instead of a plugin you can specify a series of regex excludes in a file and specify that with the --exclude-file option.
java -jar apache-rat/target/apache-rat-0.17-SNAPSHOT.jar --exclude-file /path/to/project/.rat-excludes /path/to/project
INFO: Apache Creadur RAT 0.17-SNAPSHOT (Apache Software Foundation)
usage: java -jar apache-rat/target/apache-rat-0.17-SNAPSHOT.jar [options] [DIR|ARCHIVE]
====== Available Options ======
-?,--help Print help for the RAT command line interface and exit.
-a [Deprecated for removal since 0.17: Use --edit-license instead.]
-A,--addLicense [Deprecated for removal since 0.17: Use --edit-license instead.]
Add the default license header to any file with an unknown license
that is not in the exclusion list.
-c,--copyright <arg> [Deprecated for removal since 0.17: Use --edit-copyright instead.]
The copyright message to use in the license headers.
--config <File> File names for system configuration. Multiple values may be
specified. Note that '--' or a following option is required when
using this parameter.
--configuration-no-defaults Ignore default configuration.
-d,--dir <DirOrArchive> [Deprecated for removal since 0.17: Use the standard '--' to
signal the end of arguments.] Used to indicate end of list when
using options that take multiple arguments.
--dry-run If set do not update the files but generate the reports.
-e,--exclude <Expression> [Deprecated for removal since 0.17: Use --input-exclude instead.]
Excludes files matching <Expression>. Multiple values may be
specified. Note that '--' or a following option is required when
using this parameter.
-E,--exclude-file <File> [Deprecated for removal since 0.17: Use --input-exclude-file
instead.] Reads <Expression> entries from a file. Entries will be
excluded from processing.
--edit-copyright <arg> The copyright message to use in the license headers. Usually in
the form of "Copyright 2008 Foo". Only valid with --edit-license
--edit-license Add the default license header to any file with an unknown license
that is not in the exclusion list. By default new files will be
created with the license header, to force the modification of
existing files use the --edit-overwrite option.
--edit-overwrite Forces any changes in files to be written directly to the source
files (i.e. new files are not created). Only valid with
--edit-license
-f,--force [Deprecated for removal since 0.17: Use --edit-overwrite instead.]
Forces any changes in files to be written directly to the source
files (i.e. new files are not created).
--help-licenses Print information about registered licenses.
--include <Expression> [Deprecated for removal since 0.17: Use --input-include instead.]
Includes files matching <Expression>. Will override excluded
files. Multiple values may be specified. Note that '--' or a
following option is required when using this parameter.
--includes-file <File> [Deprecated for removal since 0.17: Use --input-include-file
instead.] Reads <Expression> entries from a file. Entries will be
excluded from processing.
--input-exclude <Expression> Excludes files matching <Expression>. Multiple values may be
specified. Note that '--' or a following option is required when
using this parameter.
--input-exclude-file <File> Reads <Expression> entries from a file. Entries will be excluded
from processing.
--input-exclude-parsed-scm <StandardCollection> Parse SCM based exclusion files to exclude specified files and
directories. Multiple values may be specified. Note that '--' or a
following option is required when using this parameter.
--input-exclude-std <StandardCollection> Excludes files defined in standard collections based on commonly
occurring groups. Multiple values may be specified. Note that '--'
or a following option is required when using this parameter.
--input-include <Expression> Includes files matching <Expression>. Will override excluded
files. Multiple values may be specified. Note that '--' or a
following option is required when using this parameter.
--input-include-file <File> Reads <Expression> entries from a file. Entries will override
excluded files.
--input-include-std <StandardCollection> Includes files defined in standard collections based on commonly
occurring groups. Will override excluded files. Multiple values
may be specified. Note that '--' or a following option is required
when using this parameter.
--license-families-approved <FamilyID> The approved License Family IDs. These licenses families will be
added to the list of approved licenses families. Multiple values
may be specified. Note that '--' or a following option is required
when using this parameter.
--license-families-approved-file <File> Name of file containing the approved family IDs.
--license-families-denied <FamilyID> The denied License family IDs. These license families will be
removed from the list of approved licenses. Multiple values may be
specified. Note that '--' or a following option is required when
using this parameter.
--license-families-denied-file <File> Name of file containing the denied license IDs.
--licenses <File> [Deprecated for removal since 0.17: Use --config instead.] File
names for system configuration. Multiple values may be specified.
Note that '--' or a following option is required when using this
parameter.
--licenses-approved <LicenseID> The approved License IDs. These licenses will be added to the list
of approved licenses. Multiple values may be specified. Note that
'--' or a following option is required when using this parameter.
--licenses-approved-file <File> Name of file containing the approved License IDs.
--licenses-denied <LicenseID> The denied License IDs. These licenses will be removed from the
list of approved licenses. Once licenses are removed they can not
be added back. Multiple values may be specified. Note that '--' or
a following option is required when using this parameter.
--licenses-denied-file <File> Name of file containing the denied license IDs.
--list-families <LicenseFilter> [Deprecated for removal since 0.17: Use --output-families
instead.] List the defined license families. (Default value =
NONE)
--list-licenses <LicenseFilter> [Deprecated for removal since 0.17: Use --output-licenses
instead.] List the defined licenses. (Default value = NONE)
--log-level <LogLevel> sets the log level. (Default value = WARN)
--no-default-licenses [Deprecated for removal since 0.17: Use
--configuration-no-defaults instead.] Ignore default
configuration.
-o,--out <File> [Deprecated for removal since 0.17: Use --output-file instead.]
Define the output file where to write a report to. (Default value
= System.out)
--output-archive <ProcessingType> Specifies the level of detail in ARCHIVE file reporting. (Default
value = NOTIFICATION)
--output-families <LicenseFilter> List the defined license families. (Default value = NONE)
--output-file <File> Define the output file where to write a report to. (Default value
= System.out)
--output-licenses <LicenseFilter> List the defined licenses. (Default value = NONE)
--output-standard <ProcessingType> Specifies the level of detail in STANDARD file reporting. (Default
value = ABSENCE)
--output-style <StyleSheet> XSLT stylesheet to use when creating the report. Either an
external xsl file may be specified or one of the internal named
sheets.
-s,--stylesheet <StyleSheet> [Deprecated for removal since 0.17: Use --output-style instead.]
XSLT stylesheet to use when creating the report.
--scan-hidden-directories [Deprecated for removal since 0.17: Use --input-include-std with
'HIDDEN_DIR' argument instead.] Scans hidden directories.
-x,--xml [Deprecated for removal since 0.17: Use --output-style with the
'xml' argument instead.] forces XML output rather than the textual
report.
====== Argument Types ======
<DirOrArchive>
A directory or archive file to scan.
<Expression>
A file matching pattern usually of the form used in Ant build files and '.gitignore' files (see
https://ant.apache.org/manual/dirtasks.html#patterns for examples). Regular expression patterns may be
specified by surrounding the pattern with '%regex[' and ']'. For example '%regex[[A-Z].*]' would match files
and directories that start with uppercase latin letters.
<FamilyID>
The ID for a license family.
<File>
A file name.
<LicenseFilter>
A defined filter for the licenses to include. Valid values: ALL, APPROVED, NONE.
<LicenseID>
The ID for a license.
<LogLevel>
The log level to use. Valid values DEBUG, INFO, WARN, ERROR, OFF.
<ProcessingType>
Specifies how to process file types. Valid values are:
NOTIFICATION: List file as present
PRESENCE: List any licenses found
ABSENCE: List licenses found and any unknown licences
<StandardCollection>
Defines standard expression patterns (see above). Valid values are:
ALL: All of the Standard Excludes combined.
ARCH: The files and directories created by an ARCH source code control based tool.
BAZAAR: The files and directories created by a Bazaar source code control based tool.
BITKEEPER: The files and directories created by a Bitkeeper source code control based tool.
CVS: The files and directories created by a CVS source code control based tool.
DARCS: The files and directories created by a DARCS source code control based tool.
ECLIPSE: The files and directories created by an Eclipse IDE based tool.
GIT: The files and directories created by GIT source code control to support GIT, also processes files listed
in '.gitignore'.
HIDDEN_DIR: The hidden directories. Directories with names that start with '.'
HIDDEN_FILE: The hidden files. Directories with names that start with '.'
IDEA: The files and directories created by an IDEA IDE based tool.
MAC: The .DS_Store files MAC computer.
MAVEN: The files and directories created by Maven build system based project.
MERCURIAL: The files and directories created by a Mercurial source code control based tool.
MISC: The set of miscellaneous files generally left by editors and the like.
MKS: The files and directories created by an MKS source code control based tool.
RCS: The files and directories created by a RCS source code control based tool.
SCCS: The files and directories created by a SCCS source code control based tool.
SERENA_DIMENSIONS_10: The files and directories created by a Serena Dimensions V10 change control system based
tool.
STANDARD_PATTERNS: A standard collection of generally accepted patterns to ignore.
STANDARD_SCMS: A standard collection of SCMs
SUBVERSION: The files and directories created by a Subversion source code control based tool.
SURROUND_SCM: The files and directories created by a Surround SCM source code control based tool.
VSS: The files and directories created by a Visual Source Safe source code control based tool.
<StyleSheet>
Either an external xsl file or one of the internal named sheets. Internal sheets are:
plain-rat: The default style.
missing-headers: Produces a report of files that are missing headers.
unapproved-licenses: Produces a report of the files with unapproved licenses.
xml: Produces output in pretty-printed XML.
====== Standard Collections ======
<ALL>
All of the Standard Excludes combined.
File patterns: **/MANIFEST.MF, *.ipr, **/ChangeSet/**, **/TAGS/**, .classpath, **/*.old, pom.xml.releaseBackup,
**/.del-*, **/*$, release.properties, .settings/**, **/BitKeeper/**, **/CVS.adm/**, **/*.so, **/*.rej,
**/.bzr/**, **/*.elc, .checkstyle, **/._*, target/**, **/*~, .repository, *.iws, **/.svn/**, build.log,
**/project.pj, **/-darcs-backup*, .project, **/*.ln, **/.metadata/**, .idea/**, **/cvslog.*, **/.make.state,
**/core, .bzrignore, **/CVS/**, **/%*%, **/.git/**, **/_$*, .mvn/**, **/*.BAK, **/.hg/**, **/.arch-ids/**,
.hgignore, **/*.o, **/SCCS/**, **/,*, .factorypath, **/*.Z, **/.#*, **/vssver.scc, **/#*#, **/*.a, *.iml,
**/RCS/**, **/*.bak, cobertura.ser, **/*.orig, **/.darcs-temp-mail, **/.nse_depinfo, **/RCSLOG/**, **/*.exe,
**/tags/**, **/.gitignore, **/.MySCMServerInfo, **/#*, **/*.obj, **/_darcs/**, **/.darcsrepo/**, **/.DS_Store,
**/.cvsignore
Provides a path matcher: true
Provides a file processor: true
<ARCH>
The files and directories created by an ARCH source code control based tool.
File patterns: **/.arch-ids/**
Provides a path matcher: false
Provides a file processor: false
<BAZAAR>
The files and directories created by a Bazaar source code control based tool.
File patterns: **/.bzr/**, .bzrignore
Provides a path matcher: false
Provides a file processor: true
<BITKEEPER>
The files and directories created by a Bitkeeper source code control based tool.
File patterns: **/BitKeeper/**, **/ChangeSet/**
Provides a path matcher: false
Provides a file processor: false
<CVS>
The files and directories created by a CVS source code control based tool.
File patterns: **/TAGS/**, **/_$*, **/*.old, **/*.BAK, **/.del-*, **/*$, **/*.o, **/SCCS/**, **/,*, **/CVS.adm/**,
**/*.so, **/*.rej, **/*.Z, **/.#*, **/*.elc, **/*.a, **/*~, **/RCS/**, **/*.bak, **/*.orig, **/.nse_depinfo,
**/RCSLOG/**, **/*.exe, **/*.ln, **/tags/**, **/#*, **/*.obj, **/cvslog.*, **/.make.state, **/core, **/CVS/**,
**/.cvsignore
Provides a path matcher: false
Provides a file processor: true
<DARCS>
The files and directories created by a DARCS source code control based tool.
File patterns: **/_darcs/**, **/.darcsrepo/**, **/-darcs-backup*, **/.darcs-temp-mail
Provides a path matcher: false
Provides a file processor: false
<ECLIPSE>
The files and directories created by an Eclipse IDE based tool.
File patterns: .classpath, .factorypath, .checkstyle, .project, .settings/**
Provides a path matcher: false
Provides a file processor: false
<GIT>
The files and directories created by GIT source code control to support GIT, also processes files listed in
'.gitignore'.
File patterns: **/.git/**, **/.gitignore
Provides a path matcher: false
Provides a file processor: true
<HIDDEN_DIR>
The hidden directories. Directories with names that start with '.'
File patterns: <none>
Provides a path matcher: true
Provides a file processor: false
<HIDDEN_FILE>
The hidden files. Directories with names that start with '.'
File patterns: <none>
Provides a path matcher: true
Provides a file processor: false
<IDEA>
The files and directories created by an IDEA IDE based tool.
File patterns: *.ipr, *.iml, *.iws, .idea/**
Provides a path matcher: false
Provides a file processor: false
<MAC>
The .DS_Store files MAC computer.
File patterns: **/.DS_Store
Provides a path matcher: false
Provides a file processor: false
<MAVEN>
The files and directories created by Maven build system based project.
File patterns: **/MANIFEST.MF, .repository, pom.xml.releaseBackup, .mvn/**, build.log, target/**, cobertura.ser,
release.properties
Provides a path matcher: false
Provides a file processor: false
<MERCURIAL>
The files and directories created by a Mercurial source code control based tool.
File patterns: **/.hg/**, .hgignore
Provides a path matcher: false
Provides a file processor: true
<MISC>
The set of miscellaneous files generally left by editors and the like.
File patterns: **/*~, **/%*%, **/.#*, **/._*, **/#*#
Provides a path matcher: false
Provides a file processor: false
<MKS>
The files and directories created by an MKS source code control based tool.
File patterns: **/project.pj
Provides a path matcher: false
Provides a file processor: false
<RCS>
The files and directories created by a RCS source code control based tool.
File patterns: **/RCS/**
Provides a path matcher: false
Provides a file processor: false
<SCCS>
The files and directories created by a SCCS source code control based tool.
File patterns: **/SCCS/**
Provides a path matcher: false
Provides a file processor: false
<SERENA_DIMENSIONS_10>
The files and directories created by a Serena Dimensions V10 change control system based tool.
File patterns: **/.metadata/**
Provides a path matcher: false
Provides a file processor: false
<STANDARD_PATTERNS>
A standard collection of generally accepted patterns to ignore.
File patterns: **/ChangeSet/**, **/TAGS/**, **/*.old, **/.del-*, **/*$, **/BitKeeper/**, **/CVS.adm/**, **/*.so,
**/*.rej, **/.bzr/**, **/*.elc, **/._*, **/*~, **/.svn/**, **/project.pj, **/-darcs-backup*, **/*.ln,
**/.metadata/**, **/cvslog.*, **/.make.state, **/core, .bzrignore, **/CVS/**, **/%*%, **/.git/**, **/_$*,
**/*.BAK, **/.hg/**, **/.arch-ids/**, .hgignore, **/*.o, **/SCCS/**, **/,*, **/*.Z, **/.#*, **/vssver.scc,
**/#*#, **/*.a, **/RCS/**, **/*.bak, **/*.orig, **/.darcs-temp-mail, **/.nse_depinfo, **/RCSLOG/**, **/*.exe,
**/tags/**, **/.gitignore, **/.MySCMServerInfo, **/#*, **/*.obj, **/_darcs/**, **/.darcsrepo/**, **/.DS_Store,
**/.cvsignore
Provides a path matcher: false
Provides a file processor: true
<STANDARD_SCMS>
A standard collection of SCMs
File patterns: **/.git/**, **/TAGS/**, **/_$*, **/*.old, **/*.BAK, **/.del-*, **/.hg/**, **/*$, .hgignore, **/*.o,
**/SCCS/**, **/,*, **/CVS.adm/**, **/*.so, **/*.rej, **/*.Z, **/.#*, **/.bzr/**, **/*.elc, **/*.a, **/*~,
**/RCS/**, **/*.bak, **/.svn/**, **/*.orig, **/.nse_depinfo, **/RCSLOG/**, **/*.exe, **/*.ln, **/tags/**,
**/.gitignore, **/#*, **/*.obj, **/cvslog.*, **/.make.state, **/core, .bzrignore, **/CVS/**, **/.cvsignore
Provides a path matcher: false
Provides a file processor: true
<SUBVERSION>
The files and directories created by a Subversion source code control based tool.
File patterns: **/.svn/**
Provides a path matcher: false
Provides a file processor: false
<SURROUND_SCM>
The files and directories created by a Surround SCM source code control based tool.
File patterns: **/.MySCMServerInfo
Provides a path matcher: false
Provides a file processor: false
<VSS>
The files and directories created by a Visual Source Safe source code control based tool.
File patterns: **/vssver.scc
Provides a path matcher: false
Provides a file processor: false
A path matcher will match specific information about the file.
A file processor will process the associated "ignore" file for include and exclude directives
====== Notes ======
1. Rat highlights possible issues.
2. Rat reports require interpretation.
3. Rat often requires some tuning before it runs well against a project.
4. Rat relies on heuristics: it may miss issuesRat allows you to style the output as you see fit. Three stylesheets are included in the rat package.
These stylesheets can be specified using options in the command line, Maven or Ant clients.