Message formats

Most of lint's messages are simple, one-line statements printed for each occurrence of the problem they diagnose. Errors detected in included files are reported multiple times by the compiler but only once by lint, no matter how many times the file is included in other source files. Compound messages are issued for inconsistencies across files and, in a few cases, for problems within them as well. A single message describes every occurrence of the problem in the file or files being checked. When use of a lint filter requires that a message be printed for each occurrence, compound diagnostics can be converted to the simple type by invoking lint with the -s option.