R/empty_assignment_linter.R

In jimhester/lintr: A 'Linter' for R Code

#' Block assignment of `{}`
#'
#' Assignment of `{}` is the same as assignment of `NULL`; use the latter
#'   for clarity. Closely related: [unnecessary_concatenation_linter()].
#'
#' @examples
#' # will produce lints
#' lint(
#'   text = "x <- {}",
#'   linters = empty_assignment_linter()
#' )
#'
#' writeLines("x = {\n}")
#' lint(
#'   text = "x = {\n}",
#'   linters = empty_assignment_linter()
#' )
#'
#' # okay
#' lint(
#'   text = "x <- { 3 + 4 }",
#'   linters = empty_assignment_linter()
#' )
#'
#' lint(
#'   text = "x <- NULL",
#'   linters = empty_assignment_linter()
#' )
#'
#' @evalRd rd_tags("empty_assignment_linter")
#' @seealso [linters] for a complete list of linters available in lintr.
#' @export
empty_assignment_linter <- make_linter_from_xpath(
  # for some reason, the parent in the `=` case is <equal_assign>, not <expr>, hence parent::expr
  xpath = "
  //OP-LEFT-BRACE[following-sibling::*[1][self::OP-RIGHT-BRACE]]
    /parent::expr[
      preceding-sibling::LEFT_ASSIGN
      or preceding-sibling::EQ_ASSIGN
      or following-sibling::RIGHT_ASSIGN
    ]
    /parent::*
  ",
  lint_message = "Assign NULL explicitly or, whenever possible, allocate the empty object with the right type and size."
)