To be able to run a MISRA12 check for example, you need the following config-files:

• au-misra3.lnt - MISRA checks to run
• co-xc8.lnt - XC8 compiler config-files

Create an UserOption file that contains the following:

• path to check-config-file = “au-misra3.lnt”
• path to compiler-config-file = “co-xc8.lnt”
• path to compiler header files

Below is an example of how it looks for this specific tutorial:

//  Microchip MPLAB XC8 C, -si4 -sp4, 
//  Standard lint options
// -SL-3.3.16: Based on input, setup this configuration
C:\lint\configSL\au-misra3.lnt
C:\lint\configSL\co-xc8.lnt
// C:\lint\options.lnt  -si4 -sp4
-i"C:\Program Files (x86)\Microchip\xc8\v1.36\include"

As we can see from above, this option file includes the path to the lnt file that needs to be run for MISRA standard, the path to the lnt file specific to XC8 compiler, and the path to include compiler header files.

Configure PC-lint in MPLAB X by going to “Tools > Options > Embedded > PCLint”:

• Location - path to your PC-lint installation “lint-nt.exe”
• Options - select UserOptionFile
• User Option File - select the UserOption file you created in the previous step
• Standards - MISRA2012

You also need to create two more config-files “include-path.lnt” and “lint-cmac.h” as described in the header of the “co-xc8.lnt” file.

Both files contain the information that is usually passed via compiler-options “-i xxx” in include-path.lnt and "-D xxx“ in lint-cmac.h.

For MPLAB XC Compilers, PC-lint requires include-path.lnt and lint-cmac.h for linting. These two files can be generated from the MPLAB X IDE project context menu item “Generate PCLint Dependency Files”. Selecting this item will add both dependency files to the c:\pclint\lint\lnt folder.

Finally right-click on the project in the MPLAB X and select “Lint this Project”