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PRINT_STACK_TRACE

Summary

  • Rule ID: PRINT_STACK_TRACE
  • Name: Direct printStackTrace call
  • Problem: Calling Throwable.printStackTrace(...) bypasses structured logging and can reduce observability in production.

What This Rule Reports

This rule reports direct calls to java/lang/Throwable.printStackTrace overloads in analysis target classes: - printStackTrace() - printStackTrace(PrintStream) - printStackTrace(PrintWriter)

Examples (reported)

package com.example;
public class ClassA {
    public void methodX(Exception varOne) {
        varOne.printStackTrace();
    }
}

package com.example;
import java.io.PrintWriter;
public class ClassB {
    public void methodY(Exception varOne) {
        varOne.printStackTrace(new PrintWriter(System.err));
    }
}

What This Rule Does Not Report

  • Unrelated stack-inspection APIs (for example Thread.currentThread().getStackTrace()).
  • Calls that appear only in classpath/dependency classes outside the analysis target.

Examples (not reported)

package com.example;
public class ClassC {
    public StackTraceElement[] methodZ() {
        return Thread.currentThread().getStackTrace();
    }
}

Use structured logging and include the exception object with context instead of printing directly.

Message Shape

Findings are reported as Avoid printStackTrace() in <class>.<method><descriptor>; log exceptions with context instead.