Using Boost test detect_memory_leaks option on macOS - c++

Question

I am currently trying to use the detect_memory_leaks option with boost on my mac (OS: el capitan 10.11.3). So far, everytime I executed my test binary with the option --detect_memory_leaks=1, no matter how much I leak, boost doesn’t complain. If you want to reproduce my problem, here is a way to reproduce:
I’m using boost 1.59 version and compile the unit test framework as static libraries. Then, I create two sample programs:
main.cpp:
#define BOOST_TEST_MODULE test module name
#include <boost/test/unit_test.hpp>
test.cpp:
#include <boost/test/unit_test.hpp>
BOOST_AUTO_TEST_SUITE( TestSuiteSample )
BOOST_AUTO_TEST_CASE( TestCaseSample )
{
int * a = new int[3]; // This will leak memory, boost should complain
BOOST_CHECK(true);
}
BOOST_AUTO_TEST_SUITE_END()
I compile my binary the following way:
g++ -I../boost_1_59_0 -L../boost_1_59_0/stage/lib -lboost_unit_test_framework -lboost_chrono -lboost_prg_exec_monitor -lboost_system -lboost_test_exec_monitor -lboost_timer -lboost_unit_test_framework main.cpp test.cpp
As you can see, I’ve included all the boost libraries generated when compiling boost/test but using -lboost_unit_test_framework only compiles fine also.
Now I have an executable a.out that I launch this way:
./a.out --detect_memory_leaks=1 --log_level=all --report_level=detailed
and I get the following result:
Running 1 test case...
Entering test module "test module name"
test.cpp:3: Entering test suite "TestSuiteSample"
test.cpp:5: Entering test case "TestCaseSample"
test.cpp:8: info: check true has passed
test.cpp:5: Leaving test case "TestCaseSample"; testing time: 60us
test.cpp:3: Leaving test suite "TestSuiteSample"; testing time: 82us
Leaving test module "test module name"; testing time: 105us
Test module "test module name" has passed with:
1 test case out of 1 passed
1 assertion out of 1 passed
Test suite "TestSuiteSample" has passed with:
1 test case out of 1 passed
1 assertion out of 1 passed
Test case "TestSuiteSample/TestCaseSample" has passed with:
1 assertion out of 1 passed
As you can see, there is no complaint from boost about the new int[3] I didn’t delete. At first, I thought it was the compiler that optimizes the code and don’t even allocate my variable, but valgrind sees a leak as definitely lost:
==2571== by 0x10004E5BD: TestSuiteSample::TestCaseSample::test_method() (test.cpp:7)
I don’t get what I’m doing wrong but if anyone knows how to get the error generated by the leak in test.cpp, I’d be glad to know it. I tried several ways to call the option and tried to figure out what to do in the boost documentation, but so far, nothing seems to work.
Help is welcome :)

Answer 1

According to the documentation [1] [2] (emphasis mine):
On platforms where memory leak detection is possible inside of running application (at the moment this is only Windows family) you can switch this feature on and off using this interface.
Since you're on a Mac and building with g++, it won't do anything.