Avoid Empty Control Blocks

WarningAnti-Patterns & Bad Practices#EC EMPTY_BLOCKRemote Enabled

Overview

Avoid empty control blocks (IF, CASE, LOOP, TRY, etc.).

ATC Finding Messages:

• Empty control block detected; remove redundant control statement
• TRY block without CATCH is superfluous

Rationale

An empty branch usually signals unfinished logic, forgotten code, or an inverted condition. Readers must search for hidden behavior and may assume the branch does something. Restructure the condition so every branch has a purpose, or remove the empty block entirely.

Non-Compliant

IF lv_is_active = abap_true.
  " no processing yet
ELSE.
  process( ).
ENDIF.

Compliant

IF NOT lv_is_active.
  process( ).
ENDIF.

Configuration & Thresholds

This check can be fine-tuned directly in the ATC Check Variant Editor (CHKV) in Eclipse ADT:

Parameter Name	Data Type	Default Value
CHECK_IF	Boolean	true
CHECK_LOOP	Boolean	true
CHECK_CASE	Boolean	true
CHECK_TRY	Boolean	true
CHECK_CATCH	Boolean	true
CHECK_TRY_NO_CATCH	Boolean	true
CHECK_DO	Boolean	true
CHECK_WHILE	Boolean	true

Suppression

To suppress findings for this rule, append the pseudo-comment to the statement:

" Standard pseudo-comment:
... "#EC EMPTY_BLOCK

" SAP CI_ prefix format:
... "#EC CI_EMPTY_BLOCK

Technical Details

• Native ATC Class: ZCL_SKYLINT_NO_EMPTY_BLOCK
• Implementation File: zcl_skylint_no_empty_block.clas.abap