NAME
Test::Valgrind - Generate suppressions, analyse and test any command
with valgrind.
VERSION
Version 1.13
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 $@;
leaky();
# In all the test files of a directory
prove --exec 'perl -Iblib/lib -Iblib/arch -MTest::Valgrind' t/*.t
DESCRIPTION
This module is a front-end to the "Test::Valgrind::*" API that lets you
run Perl code through the "memcheck" tool of the "valgrind" memory
debugger, to test for memory errors and leaks. If they aren't available
yet, it will first generate suppressions for the current "perl"
interpreter and store them in the portable flavour of
~/.perl/Test-Valgrind/suppressions/$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. By declaring an
appropriate Test::Valgrind::Command class, you can run any executable
(that is, not only Perl scripts) under valgrind, generate the
corresponding suppressions on-the-fly and convert the analysis result to
TAP output so that it can be incorporated into your project's testsuite.
If you're not interested in producing TAP, you can output the results in
whatever format you like (for example HTML pages) by defining your own
Test::Valgrind::Action class.
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
analysis ends, it exits with the status returned by the action (for the
default TAP-generator action, it's the number of failed tests).
In the child process, it just "return"s so that the calling code is
actually run under "valgrind", albeit two side-effects :
* Perl::Destruct::Level is loaded and the destruction level is set to
3.
* Autoflush on "STDOUT" is turned on.
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 complete on it. You also have a
better chance to get more accurate results 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
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.
The valgrind(1) man page.
Test::LeakTrace.
Devel::Leak, Devel::LeakTrace, Devel::LeakTrace::Fast.
AUTHOR
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
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.
David Cantrell, for providing shell access to one of his smokers where
the tests were failing.
The debian-perl team, for offering all the feedback they could regarding
the build issues they met.
All you people that showed interest in this module, which motivated me
into completely rewriting it.
COPYRIGHT & LICENSE
Copyright 2008,2009,2010,2011 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.