pmdrules.xml

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<ruleset name="Custom ruleset"
    xmlns="http://pmd.sourceforge.net/ruleset/2.0.0"
    xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
    xsi:schemaLocation="http://pmd.sourceforge.net/ruleset/2.0.0 http://pmd.sourceforge.net/ruleset_2_0_0.xsd"
    xsi:noNamespaceSchemaLocation="http://pmd.sourceforge.net/ruleset_2_0_0.xsd">

  <description>
  This ruleset checks my code for bad stuff
  </description>

  <!-- We'll use the entire 'strings' ruleset -->
  <rule ref="rulesets/java/strings.xml"/>

  <!-- Here's some rules we'll specify one at a time -->
  <rule ref="rulesets/java/unusedcode.xml/UnusedLocalVariable"/>
  <rule ref="rulesets/java/unusedcode.xml/UnusedPrivateField"/>
  <rule ref="rulesets/java/imports.xml/DuplicateImports"/>
  <rule ref="rulesets/java/basic.xml/UnnecessaryConversionTemporary"/>

  <!-- We want to customize this rule a bit, change the message and raise the priority  -->
  <rule
   ref="rulesets/java/basic.xml/EmptyCatchBlock"
   message="Must handle exceptions">
    <priority>2</priority>
  </rule>

  <!-- Now we'll customize a rule's property value -->
  <rule ref="rulesets/java/codesize.xml/CyclomaticComplexity">
    <properties>
        <property name="reportLevel" value="5"/>
    </properties>
  </rule>

  <!-- We want everything from braces.xml except WhileLoopsMustUseBraces -->
  <rule ref="rulesets/java/braces.xml">
    <exclude name="WhileLoopsMustUseBraces"/>
  </rule>
</ruleset>