NAME

Test::Valgrind - Generate suppressions, analyse and test any command with valgrind.

VERSION

Version 1.10

SYNOPSIS

# From the command-line
perl -MTest::Valgrind leaky.pl

# From the command-line, snippet style
perl -MTest::Valgrind -e 'leaky()'

# In a test file
use Test::More;
eval 'use Test::Valgrind';
plan skip_all => 'Test::Valgrind is required to test your distribution with valgrind' if $@;
leaky();

# In all the test files of a directory
prove --exec 'perl -Iblib/lib -Iblib/arch -MTest::Valgrind' t/*.t

DESCRIPTION

This module is a front-end to the Test::Valgrind::* API that lets you run Perl code through the memcheck tool of the valgrind memory debugger, to test it for memory errors and leaks. If they aren't available yet, it will first generate suppressions for the current perl interpreter and store them in the portable flavour of ~/.perl/Test-Valgrind/suppressions/$VERSION. The actual run will then take place, and tests will be passed or failed according to the result of the analysis.

The complete API is much more versatile than this. It allows you to run any executable under valgrind, generate the corresponding suppressions and convert the analysis output to TAP so that it can be incorporated into your project's testsuite.

Due to the nature of perl's memory allocator, this module can't track leaks of Perl objects. This includes non-mortalized scalars and memory cycles. However, it can track leaks of chunks of memory allocated in XS extensions with Newx and friends or malloc. As such, it's complementary to the other very good leak detectors listed in the "SEE ALSO" section.

METHODS

analyse [ %options ]

Run a valgrind analysis configured by %options :

• command => $command

  The Test::Valgrind::Command object (or class name) to use.

  Defaults to Test::Valgrind::Command::PerlScript.

• tool => $tool

  The Test::Valgrind::Tool object (or class name) to use.

  Defaults to Test::Valgrind::Tool::memcheck.

• action => $action

  The Test::Valgrind::Action object (or class name) to use.

  Defaults to Test::Valgrind::Action::Test.

• file => $file

  The file name of the script to analyse.

  Ignored if you supply your own custom command, but mandatory otherwise.

• callers => $number

  Specify the maximum stack depth studied when valgrind encounters an error. Raising this number improves granularity.

  Ignored if you supply your own custom tool, otherwise defaults to 12.

• diag => $bool

  If true, print the output of the test script as diagnostics.

  Ignored if you supply your own custom action, otherwise defaults to false.

• extra_supps => \@files

  Also use suppressions from @files besides perl's.

  Defaults to empty.

• no_def_supp => $bool

  If true, do not use the default suppression file.

  Defaults to false.

import [ %options ]

In the parent process, "import" calls "analyse" with the arguments it received itself - except that if no file option was supplied, it tries to pick the first caller context that looks like a script. When the analyse ends, it exits with the status that was returned.

In the child process, it just returns so that the calling code is actually run under valgrind.

VARIABLES

$dl_unload

When set to true, all dynamic extensions that were loaded during the analysis will be unloaded at END time by "dl_unload_file" in DynaLoader.

Since this obfuscates error stack traces, it's disabled by default.

CAVEATS

Perl 5.8 is notorious for leaking like there's no tomorrow, so the suppressions are very likely not to be very accurate on it. Anyhow, results will most likely be better if your perl is built with debugging enabled. Using the latest valgrind available will also help.

This module is not really secure. It's definitely not taint safe. That shouldn't be a problem for test files.

What your tests output to STDOUT and STDERR is eaten unless you pass the diag option, in which case it will be reprinted as diagnostics.

DEPENDENCIES

Valgrind 3.1.0 (http://valgrind.org).

XML::Twig, version, File::HomeDir, Env::Sanctify, Perl::Destruct::Level.

SEE ALSO

All the Test::Valgrind::* API, including Test::Valgrind::Command, Test::Valgrind::Tool, Test::Valgrind::Action and Test::Valgrind::Session.

Test::LeakTrace.

Devel::Leak, Devel::LeakTrace, Devel::LeakTrace::Fast.

AUTHOR

Vincent Pit, <perl at profvince.com>, http://www.profvince.com.

You can contact me by mail or on irc.perl.org (vincent).

BUGS

Please report any bugs or feature requests to bug-test-valgrind at rt.cpan.org, or through the web interface at http://rt.cpan.org/NoAuth/ReportBug.html?Queue=Test-Valgrind. I will be notified, and then you'll automatically be notified of progress on your bug as I make changes.

SUPPORT

You can find documentation for this module with the perldoc command.

perldoc Test::Valgrind

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Rafaël Garcia-Suarez, for writing and instructing me about the existence of Perl::Destruct::Level (Elizabeth Mattijsen is a close second).

H.Merijn Brand, for daring to test this thing.

All you people that showed interest in this module, which motivated me into completely rewriting it.

COPYRIGHT & LICENSE

Copyright 2008-2009 Vincent Pit, all rights reserved.

This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as Perl itself.

cpanm Test::Valgrind

perl -MCPAN -e shell
install Test::Valgrind