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Policy Configuration

TrinovaQ Studio supports per-project rule policies that let teams customize which MISRA C:2012 rules are enforced and at what severity level. This is useful for projects with documented, project-wide exceptions to specific rules — rather than creating individual deviations for each occurrence.

What Is a Policy?​

A policy is a project-level configuration that defines:

  1. Disabled rules — MISRA rules that are turned off for the entire project
  2. Severity overrides — Rules whose default severity (error, warning, etc.) is changed to a different level

Policies are designed to capture project-wide architectural decisions about MISRA compliance. They are not a substitute for individual deviation records, which document specific code-level exceptions.

caution

Disabling a MISRA rule in the policy affects the Safety Score and compliance posture for the entire project. Each disabled rule should have a corresponding entry in your project's Safety Plan or SW Development Plan, justifying the decision at a system level.

Policy File Location​

The policy file is stored at:

<project_root>/.trinovaq/policy.json

This file is committed to version control alongside the source code.

Policy File Format​

{
  "version": "1",
  "disabledRules": [
    "misra-c2012-17.7",
    "misra-c2012-19.1"
  ],
  "severityOverrides": {
    "misra-c2012-15.5": "warning",
    "misra-c2012-16.3": "information"
  }
}

Fields​

FieldTypeDescription
versionstringPolicy schema version — always "1"
disabledRulesstring[]List of rule IDs to disable entirely
severityOverridesobjectMap of rule ID → new severity level

Rule ID Format​

Rule IDs follow the pattern:

misra-c2012-<chapter>.<rule>

Examples:

  • misra-c2012-17.7 — MISRA C:2012 Rule 17.7 (return value of non-void functions)
  • misra-c2012-11.3 — MISRA C:2012 Rule 11.3 (cast between pointer types)
  • misra-c2012-15.5 — MISRA C:2012 Rule 15.5 (single return point)

Severity Levels​

LevelDescription
errorTreated as a build-blocking error
warningShown as a warning, does not block builds
styleShown as a style suggestion
informationInformational only, lowest priority

Default Policy​

If no .trinovaq/policy.json file exists, TrinovaQ Studio applies a default policy:

  • All MISRA C:2012 rules are enabled at their standard severities
  • No rules are disabled

The default policy represents the most conservative (strictest) compliance posture.

Creating a Policy File​

  1. In your project root, create the directory .trinovaq/ (if it does not exist)
  2. Create a file named policy.json in that directory
  3. Paste the JSON structure above and customize as needed
  4. Save the file
  5. On the next scan, the policy will be applied automatically

Viewing Active Policy​

The active policy for the current project can be viewed in Settings → Policy. This shows:

  • The path to the active policy file
  • The list of disabled rules
  • The list of severity overrides

Policy vs. Deviation​

Understanding when to use a policy vs. a deviation:

ScenarioRecommended Approach
A rule conflicts with a language pattern used project-widePolicy: disable the rule (with project-level justification)
A specific line of code requires an exceptionDeviation: document the individual case
A rule is too strict for a legacy codebase sectionPolicy with a scoped justification
An exception applies to one driver or moduleDeviation per finding

For compliance audits, both policy decisions and individual deviations must be documented. Policies are documented in the Safety Plan; deviations are in the deviation records and their exported CSV.

Example: Common Policy Patterns​

Disabling the single-return-point rule​

Some teams find MISRA C:2012 Rule 15.5 (a function should have a single point of exit) conflicts with guard-clause patterns:

{
  "version": "1",
  "disabledRules": ["misra-c2012-15.5"],
  "severityOverrides": {}
}

This must be justified in the project's Software Development Plan.

Downgrading advisory rules​

Some advisory (not required) rules can be safely downgraded to informational to reduce noise:

{
  "version": "1",
  "disabledRules": [],
  "severityOverrides": {
    "misra-c2012-15.5": "information",
    "misra-c2012-16.4": "information"
  }
}