Required Parameters

Name	Type	Since	Description
includes	String	2.8	Specifies the names filter of the source files to be used for Checkstyle. Default value is: **/*.java.
outputDirectory	File	2.8	The output directory for the report. Note that this parameter is only evaluated if the goal is run directly from the command line. If the goal is run indirectly as part of a site generation, the output directory configured in Maven Site Plugin is used instead. Default value is: ${project.reporting.outputDirectory}.
sourceDirectory	File	2.8	Specifies the location of the source directory to be used for Checkstyle. Default value is: ${project.build.sourceDirectory}.

Optional Parameters

Name	Type	Since	Description
cacheFile	String	2.8	Specifies the cache file used to speed up Checkstyle on successive runs. Default value is: ${project.build.directory}/checkstyle-cachefile.
configLocation	String	2.8	Specifies the location of the XML configuration to use. Potential values are a filesystem path, a URL, or a classpath resource. This parameter expects that the contents of the location conform to the xml format (Checkstyle Checker module) configuration of rulesets. This parameter is resolved as resource, URL, then file. If successfully resolved, the contents of the configuration is copied into the ${project.build.directory}/checkstyle-configuration.xml file before being passed to Checkstyle as a configuration. There are 4 predefined rulesets. config/sun_checks.xml: Sun Checks. config/turbine_checks.xml: Turbine Checks. config/avalon_checks.xml: Avalon Checks. config/maven_checks.xml: Maven Source Checks. Default value is: config/sun_checks.xml.
consoleOutput	boolean	2.8	Output errors to console. Default value is: false.
enableFilesSummary	boolean	2.8	Specifies if the Files summary should be enabled or not. Default value is: true.
enableRSS	boolean	2.8	Specifies if the RSS should be enabled or not. Default value is: true.
enableRulesSummary	boolean	2.8	Specifies if the Rules summary should be enabled or not. Default value is: true.
enableSeveritySummary	boolean	2.8	Specifies if the Severity summary should be enabled or not. Default value is: true.
encoding	String	2.2	The file encoding to use when reading the source files. If the property project.build.sourceEncoding is not set, the platform default encoding is used. Note: This parameter always overrides the property charset from Checkstyle's TreeWalker module. Default value is: ${project.build.sourceEncoding}.
excludes	String	2.8	Specifies the names filter of the source files to be excluded for Checkstyle.
failsOnError	boolean	2.8	Specifies if the build should fail upon a violation. Default value is: false.
format	String	2.8	Deprecated. Use configLocation instead. Default value is: sun.
headerFile	File	2.8	Deprecated. Use headerLocation instead.
headerLocation	String	2.0-beta-2	Specifies the location of the License file (a.k.a. the header file) that can be used by Checkstyle to verify that source code has the correct license header. You need to use ${checkstyle.header.file} in your Checkstyle xml configuration to reference the name of this header file. For instance: <module name="RegexpHeader"> <property name="headerFile" value="${checkstyle.header.file}"/> </module> Default value is: LICENSE.txt.
includeTestSourceDirectory	boolean	2.2	Include or not the test source directory to be used for Checkstyle. Default value is: ${false}.
linkXRef	boolean	2.1	Link the violation line numbers to the source xref. Will link automatically if Maven JXR plugin is being used. Default value is: true.
outputFile	File	2.8	Specifies the path and filename to save the checkstyle output. The format of the output file is determined by the outputFileFormat parameter. Default value is: ${project.build.directory}/checkstyle-result.xml.
outputFileFormat	String	2.8	Specifies the format of the output to be used when writing to the output file. Valid values are "plain" and "xml". Default value is: xml.
packageNamesFile	String	2.8	Deprecated. Use packageNamesLocation instead.
packageNamesLocation	String	2.0-beta-2	Specifies the location of the package names XML to be used to configure the Checkstyle Packages. This parameter is resolved as resource, URL, then file. If resolved to a resource, or a URL, the contents of the package names XML is copied into the ${project.build.directory}/checkstyle-packagenames.xml file before being passed to Checkstyle for loading.
propertiesFile	File	2.8	Deprecated. Use propertiesLocation instead.
propertiesLocation	String	2.0-beta-2	Specifies the location of the properties file. This parameter is resolved as URL, File then resource. If successfully resolved, the contents of the properties location is copied into the ${project.build.directory}/checkstyle-checker.properties file before being passed to Checkstyle for loading. The contents of the propertiesLocation will be made available to Checkstyle for specifying values for parameters within the xml configuration (specified in the configLocation parameter).
propertiesURL	URL	2.8	Deprecated. Use propertiesLocation instead.
propertyExpansion	String	2.8	Allows for specifying raw property expansion information.
skip	boolean	2.2	Skip entire check. Default value is: false.
suppressionsFile	String	2.8	Deprecated. Use suppressionsLocation instead.
suppressionsFileExpression	String	2.1	The key to be used in the properties for the suppressions file. Default value is: checkstyle.suppressions.file.
suppressionsLocation	String	2.0-beta-2	Specifies the location of the suppressions XML file to use. This parameter is resolved as resource, URL, then file. If successfully resolved, the contents of the suppressions XML is copied into the ${project.build.directory}/checkstyle-supressions.xml file before being passed to Checkstyle for loading. See suppressionsFileExpression for the property that will be made available to your checkstyle configuration.
testSourceDirectory	File	2.2	Specifies the location of the test source directory to be used for Checkstyle. Default value is: ${project.build.testSourceDirectory}.
useFile	File	2.8	If null, the Checkstyle plugin will display violations on stdout. Otherwise, a text file will be created with the violations.
xrefLocation	File	2.8	Location of the Xrefs to link to. Default value is: ${project.reporting.outputDirectory}/xref.

Parameter Details

cacheFile:

• Type: java.lang.String
• Since: 2.8
• Required: No
• Default: ${project.build.directory}/checkstyle-cachefile

---

configLocation:

• Type: java.lang.String
• Since: 2.8
• Required: No
• Expression: ${checkstyle.config.location}
• Default: config/sun_checks.xml

---

consoleOutput:

• Type: boolean
• Since: 2.8
• Required: No
• Default: false

---

enableFilesSummary:

• Type: boolean
• Since: 2.8
• Required: No
• Expression: ${checkstyle.enable.files.summary}
• Default: true

---

enableRSS:

• Type: boolean
• Since: 2.8
• Required: No
• Expression: ${checkstyle.enable.rss}
• Default: true

---

enableRulesSummary:

• Type: boolean
• Since: 2.8
• Required: No
• Expression: ${checkstyle.enable.rules.summary}
• Default: true

---

enableSeveritySummary:

• Type: boolean
• Since: 2.8
• Required: No
• Expression: ${checkstyle.enable.severity.summary}
• Default: true

---

encoding:

• Type: java.lang.String
• Since: 2.2
• Required: No
• Expression: ${encoding}
• Default: ${project.build.sourceEncoding}

---

excludes:

• Type: java.lang.String
• Since: 2.8
• Required: No
• Expression: ${checkstyle.excludes}

---

failsOnError:

• Type: boolean
• Since: 2.8
• Required: No
• Default: false

---

format:

• Type: java.lang.String
• Since: 2.8
• Required: No
• Default: sun

---

headerFile:

• Type: java.io.File
• Since: 2.8
• Required: No
• Expression: ${basedir}/LICENSE.txt

---

headerLocation:

• Type: java.lang.String
• Since: 2.0-beta-2
• Required: No
• Expression: ${checkstyle.header.file}
• Default: LICENSE.txt

---

includeTestSourceDirectory:

• Type: boolean
• Since: 2.2
• Required: No
• Default: ${false}

---

includes:

• Type: java.lang.String
• Since: 2.8
• Required: Yes
• Expression: ${checkstyle.includes}
• Default: **/*.java

---

linkXRef:

• Type: boolean
• Since: 2.1
• Required: No
• Expression: ${linkXRef}
• Default: true

---

outputDirectory:

• Type: java.io.File
• Since: 2.8
• Required: Yes
• Default: ${project.reporting.outputDirectory}

---

outputFile:

• Type: java.io.File
• Since: 2.8
• Required: No
• Expression: ${checkstyle.output.file}
• Default: ${project.build.directory}/checkstyle-result.xml

---

outputFileFormat:

• Type: java.lang.String
• Since: 2.8
• Required: No
• Expression: ${checkstyle.output.format}
• Default: xml

---

packageNamesFile:

• Type: java.lang.String
• Since: 2.8
• Required: No

---

packageNamesLocation:

• Type: java.lang.String
• Since: 2.0-beta-2
• Required: No

---

propertiesFile:

• Type: java.io.File
• Since: 2.8
• Required: No

---

propertiesLocation:

• Type: java.lang.String
• Since: 2.0-beta-2
• Required: No
• Expression: ${checkstyle.properties.location}

---

propertiesURL:

• Type: java.net.URL
• Since: 2.8
• Required: No

---

propertyExpansion:

• Type: java.lang.String
• Since: 2.8
• Required: No

---

skip:

• Type: boolean
• Since: 2.2
• Required: No
• Expression: ${checkstyle.skip}
• Default: false

---

sourceDirectory:

• Type: java.io.File
• Since: 2.8
• Required: Yes
• Default: ${project.build.sourceDirectory}

---

suppressionsFile:

• Type: java.lang.String
• Since: 2.8
• Required: No

---

suppressionsFileExpression:

• Type: java.lang.String
• Since: 2.1
• Required: No
• Expression: ${checkstyle.suppression.expression}
• Default: checkstyle.suppressions.file

---

suppressionsLocation:

• Type: java.lang.String
• Since: 2.0-beta-2
• Required: No
• Expression: ${checkstyle.suppressions.location}

---

testSourceDirectory:

• Type: java.io.File
• Since: 2.2
• Required: No
• Default: ${project.build.testSourceDirectory}

---

useFile:

• Type: java.io.File
• Since: 2.8
• Required: No

---

xrefLocation:

• Type: java.io.File
• Since: 2.8
• Required: No
• Default: ${project.reporting.outputDirectory}/xref