Code analysis rule set reference
Applies to: 
Visual Studio 
Visual Studio for Mac
Note
This article applies to Visual Studio 2017. If you're looking for the latest Visual Studio documentation, see Visual Studio documentation. We recommend upgrading to the latest version of Visual Studio. Download it here
When you configure legacy analysis for managed code projects in Visual Studio, you can choose from a list of built-in rule sets. Some rules are included in more than one of the built-in rule sets, for example, the Basic Correctness Rules rule set includes rules that are in the Managed Recommended Rules rule set.
Note
The rule sets in this section pertain to legacy analysis. For information about rule sets available for code analyzer packages, see Use rule sets with code analyzers.
You can either use one of these built-in rule sets, or you can customize a rule set to fit your project requirements. If you include multiple rule sets that contain the same rule in a custom rule set, that rule only appears once in the custom rule set.
The topics in this section describe the built-in rule sets and the rules (or warnings) they contain.
| Rule set | Included rules |
|---|---|
| All Rules | Contains all available managed and C++ rules |
| Basic Correctness Rules | Includes Managed Recommended Rules plus rules for logic errors and framework usage |
| Extended Correctness Rules | Includes Basic Correctness Rules (which includes Managed Recommended Rules) plus more rules for logic errors and framework usage |
| Basic Design Guideline Rules | Includes Managed Recommended Rules plus rules for ensuring code is easy to read, understand, and maintain |
| Extended Design Guidelines Rules | Includes Basic Design Guideline Rules (which includes Managed Recommended Rules) plus more maintainability rules that focus on naming |
| Globalization Rules | Includes rules for globalization problems |
| Managed Minimum Rules | Includes four rules for critical managed code problems |
| Managed Recommended Rules | Includes Managed Minimum Rules plus more rules for critical managed code problems |
| Mixed Minimum Rules | Includes rules for critical problems in C++ code for CLR |
| Mixed Recommended Rules | Includes Mixed Minimum Rules plus more rules for critical problems in C++ code for CLR |
| Native Minimum Rules | Includes rules for critical problems in native code |
| Native Recommended Rules | Includes Native Minimum Rules plus more rules for critical problems in native code |
| Security Rules | Includes rules for finding security vulnerabilities |