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PHP_CodeSniffer is a PHP5 script that tokenises and "sniffs" PHP, JavaScript and CSS files to detect violations of a defined coding standard. It is an essential development tool that ensures your code remains clean and consistent. It can also help prevent some common semantic errors made by developers.

A coding standard in PHP_CodeSniffer is a collection of sniff files. Each sniff file checks one part of the coding standard only. Multiple coding standards can be used within PHP_CodeSniffer so that the one installation can be used across multiple projects. The default coding standard used by PHP_CodeSniffer is the PEAR coding standard.

Example

To check a file against the PEAR coding standard, simply specify the file's location.

$ phpcs /path/to/code/myfile.php

FILE: /path/to/code/myfile.php
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FOUND 5 ERROR(S) AFFECTING 2 LINE(S)
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  2 | ERROR | Missing file doc comment
 20 | ERROR | PHP keywords must be lowercase; expected "false" but found "FALSE"
 47 | ERROR | Line not indented correctly; expected 4 spaces but found 1
 51 | ERROR | Missing function doc comment
 88 | ERROR | Line not indented correctly; expected 9 spaces but found 6
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Or, if you wish to check an entire directory, you can specify the directory location instead of a file.

$ phpcs /path/to/code

FILE: /path/to/code/myfile.php
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FOUND 5 ERROR(S) AFFECTING 5 LINE(S)
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  2 | ERROR | Missing file doc comment
 20 | ERROR | PHP keywords must be lowercase; expected "false" but found "FALSE"
 47 | ERROR | Line not indented correctly; expected 4 spaces but found 1
 51 | ERROR | Missing function doc comment
 88 | ERROR | Line not indented correctly; expected 9 spaces but found 6
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FILE: /path/to/code/yourfile.php
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FOUND 1 ERROR(S) AND 1 WARNING(S) AFFECTING 1 LINE(S)
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 21 | ERROR   | PHP keywords must be lowercase; expected "false" but found
    |         | "FALSE"
 21 | WARNING | Equals sign not aligned with surrounding assignments
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