Notes for legacy QL CLI users¶

If you’ve previously used the QL command-line tools (odasa), you’ll notice a few key differences when you use the new CodeQL products:

“QL snapshots” are now called CodeQL databases.
The process of creating a CodeQL database is much simpler and more streamlined. There’s no need to create projects or snapshots—just check out the code and build it using the CodeQL CLI codeql database create command.
Queries are run against CodeQL databases using the CodeQL CLI codeql database analyze command.

For more information, see Creating CodeQL databases and Analyzing databases with the CodeQL CLI. For detailed guidance about equivalent commands, see Overview of common commands below.

Database compatibility notes¶

A CodeQL database created by the CodeQL CLI serves the same purpose as a QL snapshot created using odasa. They both contain a code database to query and usually a source reference for results display. However, they are not identical formats and, if you use the legacy QL tools alongside the CodeQL tools, you need to be aware of the following:

Existing QL snapshots, exported using the legacy CLI, can be used with the new CodeQL tools. Unzip the snapshot and treat the directory as a database. If it was built with an earlier version of the legacy CLI, you may need to upgrade the database using codeql database upgrade. For more information, see the database upgrade reference documentation.
CodeQL databases are not directly compatible with CodeQL for Eclipse. However, you can “bundle” a CodeQL database into the equivalent of a QL exported snapshot by running:
```
codeql database bundle --include-uncompressed-source -o <output-zip> <codeql-database>
```
The resulting database can be imported into CodeQL for Eclipse. For more information, see the database bundle reference documentation.
The CodeQL CLI currently extracts data from additional, external files in a different way to the legacy QL tools. For example, when you run codeql database create the CodeQL CLI extracts data from some relevant XML files for Java and C#, but not for the other supported languages, such as JavaScript. This means that CodeQL databases created using the CodeQL CLI may be slightly different from those obtained from LGTM.com or created using the legacy QL command-line tools. As such, analysis results generated from databases created using the CodeQL CLI may also differ from those generated from databases obtained from elsewhere.
CodeQL databases cannot be directly uploaded to an LGTM Enterprise instance. For more information, see Preparing CodeQL databases to upload to LGTM in the LGTM admin help.

Query suites¶

CodeQL includes a new, more flexible, format for query suites. Legacy query suite definitions are not compatible with the new CodeQL tools. For more information about CodeQL query suites, see Creating CodeQL query suites.

Overview of common commands¶

If you’re switching from the legacy ODASA CLI to the new CodeQL CLI, the table below shows which commands replace the most common ODASA processes.

`odasa` command	Corresponding `codeql` command	Notes
`bootstrap`	n/a	CodeQL analysis does not use `project` files during database creation. For more information about creating databases, see Creating CodeQL databases.
`addSnapshot`, `addLatestSnapshot`	n/a	To obtain the version of the code you want to analyze, just run your normal check-out commands.
`buildSnapshot`	database create	When creating a CodeQL database, you specfiy build commands in the command line, rather than in a project file. For more information, see Creating CodeQL databases.
`analyzeSnapshot`	database analyze	For more information, see Analyzing databases with the CodeQL CLI.
`archiveSnapshot`	database cleanup	Use `database cleanup` to reduce the size of a CodeQL database by deleting temporary data.
`export`	database bundle	You don’t need to export databases before adding them to VS Code. However, you should “bundle” CodeQL databases before using them with LGTM Enterprise, CodeQL for Eclipse, or CodeQL for Visual Studio. For more information, see Preparing CodeQL databases to upload to LGTM in the LGTM admin help and the Database compatibility notes.
`prepareQueries`	query compile	Queries are compiled when you run `database analyze` and other query-running commands. You can speed up compilation by running `query compile` separately using more threads.
`qltest`	test run	For more information about running regression tests, see Testing custom queries.
`runQuery`	query run	Use `query run` to quickly view results in your terminal. To generate interpreted results that can be viewed in source code, use `database analyze`.
`upgrade`	database upgrade	For more information, see Upgrading CodeQL databases.