(#) Suspicious DiffUtil Equality
!!! ERROR: Suspicious DiffUtil Equality
This is an error.
Id
: `DiffUtilEquals`
Summary
: Suspicious DiffUtil Equality
Severity
: Error
Category
: Correctness
Platform
: Android
Vendor
: Android Open Source Project
Feedback
: https://issuetracker.google.com/issues/new?component=192708
Since
: 3.4.0 (April 2019)
Affects
: Kotlin and Java files
Editing
: This check runs on the fly in the IDE editor
See
: https://issuetracker.google.com/116789824
Implementation
: [Source Code](https://cs.android.com/android-studio/platform/tools/base/+/mirror-goog-studio-main:lint/libs/lint-checks/src/main/java/com/android/tools/lint/checks/DiffUtilDetector.kt)
Tests
: [Source Code](https://cs.android.com/android-studio/platform/tools/base/+/mirror-goog-studio-main:lint/libs/lint-tests/src/test/java/com/android/tools/lint/checks/DiffUtilDetectorTest.kt)
`areContentsTheSame` is used by `DiffUtil` to produce diffs. If the
method is implemented incorrectly, such as using identity equals instead
of equals, or calling equals on a class that has not implemented it,
weird visual artifacts can occur.
(##) Example
Here is an example of lint warnings produced by this check:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~text
src/test/pkg/test.kt:10:Error: Suspicious equality check: Did you mean
== instead of === ? [DiffUtilEquals]
oldItem === newItem // ERROR
---
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Here are the relevant source files:
`src/test/pkg/test.kt`:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~kotlin linenumbers
package test.pkg
import androidx.recyclerview.widget.DiffUtil
private val diffCallback = object : DiffUtil.ItemCallback() {
override fun areItemsTheSame(oldItem: Cheese, newItem: Cheese): Boolean =
oldItem.id === newItem.id
override fun areContentsTheSame(oldItem: Cheese, newItem: Cheese): Boolean =
oldItem === newItem // ERROR
}
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
`src/test/pkg/MyCallback.java`:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~java linenumbers
package test.pkg;
import androidx.recyclerview.widget.DiffUtil;
public class MyCallback extends DiffUtil.ItemCallback {
@Override
public boolean areItemsTheSame(Cheese oldItem, Cheese newItem) {
return oldItem.getId() == newItem.getId();
}
@Override
public boolean areContentsTheSame(Cheese oldItem, Cheese newItem) {
return oldItem == newItem;
}
}
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
`src/test/pkg/Cheese.java`:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~java linenumbers
package test.pkg;
public class Cheese {
public String id;
}
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
You can also visit the
[source code](https://cs.android.com/android-studio/platform/tools/base/+/mirror-goog-studio-main:lint/libs/lint-tests/src/test/java/com/android/tools/lint/checks/DiffUtilDetectorTest.kt)
for the unit tests for this check to see additional scenarios.
The above example was automatically extracted from the first unit test
found for this lint check, `DiffUtilDetector.testIdentityOperator`.
To report a problem with this extracted sample, visit
https://issuetracker.google.com/issues/new?component=192708.
(##) Suppressing
You can suppress false positives using one of the following mechanisms:
* Using a suppression annotation like this on the enclosing
element:
```kt
// Kotlin
@Suppress("DiffUtilEquals")
fun method() {
problematicStatement()
}
```
or
```java
// Java
@SuppressWarnings("DiffUtilEquals")
void method() {
problematicStatement();
}
```
* Using a suppression comment like this on the line above:
```kt
//noinspection DiffUtilEquals
problematicStatement()
```
* Using a special `lint.xml` file in the source tree which turns off
the check in that folder and any sub folder. A simple file might look
like this:
```xml
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<lint>
<issue id="DiffUtilEquals" severity="ignore" />
</lint>
```
Instead of `ignore` you can also change the severity here, for
example from `error` to `warning`. You can find additional
documentation on how to filter issues by path, regular expression and
so on
[here](https://googlesamples.github.io/android-custom-lint-rules/usage/lintxml.md.html).
* In Gradle projects, using the DSL syntax to configure lint. For
example, you can use something like
```gradle
lintOptions {
disable 'DiffUtilEquals'
}
```
In Android projects this should be nested inside an `android { }`
block.
* For manual invocations of `lint`, using the `--ignore` flag:
```
$ lint --ignore DiffUtilEquals ...`
```
* Last, but not least, using baselines, as discussed
[here](https://googlesamples.github.io/android-custom-lint-rules/usage/baselines.md.html).