`has_no_unused_is_incremental` does not exclude code that is commented out

[food-spotter]

Issue

dbt-score does not ignore commented out code for the has_no_unused_is_incremental rule.

How to recreate

Example:

{{
  config(
    materialized="table"
  )
}}

select *
from {{ source('some', 'thing') }}
where status is not null
/*
{% if is_incremental() %}
    and _sdc_batched_at > (select max(_sdc_batched_at) from {{ this }})
{% endif %}
*/

dbt-score will flag this model with has_no_unused_is_incremental score. However this is incorrect.

Have tested with the {% if is_incremental() %} being commented out with 3 different comment strategies:

• native sql comment block - /* comment */
• native sql line comment - -- comment
• jinja comment block - {# comment #}

Expected

dbt-score should not trigger the has_no_unused_is_incremental rule because it is actually commented out

[matthieucan]

Hi @food-spotter, thanks for the detailed report!

You're correct, commented out code does not make a difference. This is due to dbt's approach to templating: dbt does not parse the SQL query, which exists in 2 forms:

• The raw form, which contains Jinja statements. This one can be used to look for the presence of if is_incremental(), but only via a naive sub-string search. Commented-out code does not make a difference.
• The compiled form, after Jinja has templated the query. This one can not be used to look for the presence of if is_incremental(), because that is a Jinja statement.

To properly achieve what you're looking for, we would need to parse the SQL (which dbt doesn't do) while keeping the Jinja statements in-place. This is quite complex, and not in dbt-score's scope. Hope that makes sense!