Local and Remote Mode

When using Sonar in Eclipse, two modes are available:

Remote Mode

This is the default mode. Information showed in the remote mode is coming from a remote Sonar server. This means that this information has been computed during the latest analysis on that server.

Thus, you will not see violations introduced in the code that you just added or changed.

Local Mode

When switching to the local mode, information displayed is coming from the latest local analysis.

Thus, you can see the violations introduced in the code that you just added or changed.

Switch from One Mode to Another

To switch from one mode to another, right-click on the project, then select Sonar > Mode > Remote or Local:

Sonar > Browsing Sonar in Eclipse > sonar-mode.png

When switching to the Local mode, a local analysis will be run automatically.

At any time, to run another local analysis, right-click on the project, then select Sonar > Run Local Analysis:

Sonar > Browsing Sonar in Eclipse > run-local-analysis.png

Local Analysis Parameters

Parameters to configure local analysis can be set in various places. Here is the hierarchy of parameters:

Parameters defined in the Sonar Web UI
Parameters set in the pom.xml file (for Maven projects only, with the m2e connector installed) will override parameters defined in the UI
Parameters defined in Eclipse will override parameters defined in the pom file (go to Window > Preferences > Sonar > Local analysis properties)
Parameters defined at project level in Eclipse will override parameters defined at Eclipse level (right click on the project and go to Properties > Sonar > Local analysis properties)

Some plugins (useless for a local analysis) can be skipped while performing a local analysis thanks to the 'sonar.dryRun.excludePlugins' property (Settings > Configuration > General Settings > General).

The default value is 'devcockpit,pdfreport,report,scmactivity,views'. For example, to skip the Build Stability plugin (due to https://jira.codehaus.org/browse/SONARIDE-346), set the property to 'devcockpit,pdfreport,report,scmactivity,views,buildstability'.

Last Analysis Date

There are two ways to know when the last analysis was run a project:

Right-click on the project in the Project Explorer, and then Properties > Sonar
This date can be displayed on the navigation views, like the Project explorer or the Navigator. This option is not active by default. To activate it, go to Window > Preferences > General > Appearance > Label Decorations and check Sonar Analysis Date Decorator:

Sonar > Browsing Sonar in Eclipse > analysis-date-label.png

Violations View (displays local or remote information depending on the selected mode)

The Violations view displays the list of violations of the selected resource (project, file, etc.): Sonar > Browsing Sonar in Eclipse > violations-view.png

To refresh violations of resources from remote server, click on the Refresh button.

This view can be displayed by going to Window > Show View > Other... > Sonar > Violations.

Note that Problems and Markers views also display Sonar violations.

Web View (displays remote information only)

The Web view displays the main project dashboard (for project) or the resource viewer (for class or file).

This web page can also be used to access information and services (Clouds, Hotspots, etc.) that are not available in Sonar Eclipse.

This view is automatically displayed when clicking on Sonar > Open in Sonar server. It can also be displayed by going to Window > Show View > Other... > Sonar > Web.

Sonar > Browsing Sonar in Eclipse > web-view.png