CATCH Unit Testing Suite with Visual Studio 2010 - c++

Question

As far as I understand it, I can simply place catch.hpp into my project directory, add it to the project, and then start writing tests. I'm running into a few, or 11 to be exact, linker errors once I try using some of the macros outlined in the tutorial.
#include "catch.hpp"
unsigned int Factorial( unsigned int number ) {
return number <= 1 ? number : Factorial(number-1)*number;
}
TEST_CASE( "Factorials are computed", "[factorial]" ) {
REQUIRE( Factorial(1) == 1 );
REQUIRE( Factorial(2) == 2 );
REQUIRE( Factorial(3) == 6 );
REQUIRE( Factorial(10) == 3628800 );
}
I'm able to create a single file out of the first example and compile it with g++, but when I just paste the same code into my VS2010 project and then try to run it, I run into the linker errors. Unfortunately I'm not familiar enough with C++ at this point to decode the errors myself, and after taking a look at the single file here, I was unable to discern the issue.
Error 1 error LNK2019: unresolved external symbol "public: __thiscall Catch::AutoReg::AutoReg(void (__cdecl*)(void),struct Catch::SourceLineInfo const &,struct Catch::NameAndDesc const &)" (??0AutoReg#Catch##QAE#P6AXXZABUSourceLineInfo#1#ABUNameAndDesc#1##Z) referenced in function "void __cdecl `anonymous namespace'::`dynamic initializer for 'autoRegistrar27''(void)" (??__EautoRegistrar27#?A0x3911e331##YAXXZ) C:\Users\Mark\documents\visual studio 2010\Projects\FirstCPPApplication\FirstCPPApplication\FirstCPPApplication.obj 1 1 FirstCPPApplication
Error 2 error LNK2019: unresolved external symbol "public: __thiscall Catch::ExpressionResultBuilder::ExpressionResultBuilder(enum Catch::ResultWas::OfType)" (??0ExpressionResultBuilder#Catch##QAE#W4OfType#ResultWas#1##Z) referenced in function __catch$?____C_A_T_C_H____T_E_S_T____27##YAXXZ$0 C:\Users\Mark\documents\visual studio 2010\Projects\FirstCPPApplication\FirstCPPApplication\FirstCPPApplication.obj 1 1 FirstCPPApplication
Error 3 error LNK2019: unresolved external symbol "class std::basic_string<char,struct std::char_traits<char>,class std::allocator<char> > __cdecl Catch::translateActiveException(void)" (?translateActiveException#Catch##YA?AV?$basic_string#DU?$char_traits#D#std##V?$allocator#D#2##std##XZ) referenced in function __catch$?____C_A_T_C_H____T_E_S_T____27##YAXXZ$0 C:\Users\Mark\documents\visual studio 2010\Projects\FirstCPPApplication\FirstCPPApplication\FirstCPPApplication.obj 1 1 FirstCPPApplication
Error 4 error LNK2019: unresolved external symbol "public: class Catch::ExpressionResultBuilder & __thiscall Catch::ExpressionResultBuilder::endExpression(enum Catch::ResultDisposition::Flags)" (?endExpression#ExpressionResultBuilder#Catch##QAEAAV12#W4Flags#ResultDisposition#2##Z) referenced in function "void __cdecl ____C_A_T_C_H____T_E_S_T____27(void)" (?____C_A_T_C_H____T_E_S_T____27##YAXXZ) C:\Users\Mark\documents\visual studio 2010\Projects\FirstCPPApplication\FirstCPPApplication\FirstCPPApplication.obj 1 1 FirstCPPApplication
Error 5 error LNK2019: unresolved external symbol "public: __thiscall Catch::AssertionInfo::AssertionInfo(class std::basic_string<char,struct std::char_traits<char>,class std::allocator<char> > const &,struct Catch::SourceLineInfo const &,class std::basic_string<char,struct std::char_traits<char>,class std::allocator<char> > const &,enum Catch::ResultDisposition::Flags)" (??0AssertionInfo#Catch##QAE#ABV?$basic_string#DU?$char_traits#D#std##V?$allocator#D#2##std##ABUSourceLineInfo#1#0W4Flags#ResultDisposition#1##Z) referenced in function "void __cdecl ____C_A_T_C_H____T_E_S_T____27(void)" (?____C_A_T_C_H____T_E_S_T____27##YAXXZ) C:\Users\Mark\documents\visual studio 2010\Projects\FirstCPPApplication\FirstCPPApplication\FirstCPPApplication.obj 1 1 FirstCPPApplication
Error 6 error LNK2019: unresolved external symbol "struct Catch::IContext & __cdecl Catch::getCurrentContext(void)" (?getCurrentContext#Catch##YAAAUIContext#1#XZ) referenced in function "struct Catch::IResultCapture & __cdecl Catch::getResultCapture(void)" (?getResultCapture#Catch##YAAAUIResultCapture#1#XZ) C:\Users\Mark\documents\visual studio 2010\Projects\FirstCPPApplication\FirstCPPApplication\FirstCPPApplication.obj 1 1 FirstCPPApplication
Error 7 error LNK2019: unresolved external symbol "public: class Catch::ExpressionResultBuilder & __thiscall Catch::ExpressionResultBuilder::setOp(class std::basic_string<char,struct std::char_traits<char>,class std::allocator<char> > const &)" (?setOp#ExpressionResultBuilder#Catch##QAEAAV12#ABV?$basic_string#DU?$char_traits#D#std##V?$allocator#D#2##std###Z) referenced in function "private: class Catch::ExpressionResultBuilder & __thiscall Catch::ExpressionLhs<int const &>::captureExpression<0,int>(int const &)" (??$captureExpression#$0A#H#?$ExpressionLhs#ABH#Catch##AAEAAVExpressionResultBuilder#1#ABH#Z) C:\Users\Mark\documents\visual studio 2010\Projects\FirstCPPApplication\FirstCPPApplication\FirstCPPApplication.obj 1 1 FirstCPPApplication
Error 8 error LNK2019: unresolved external symbol "public: class Catch::ExpressionResultBuilder & __thiscall Catch::ExpressionResultBuilder::setRhs(class std::basic_string<char,struct std::char_traits<char>,class std::allocator<char> > const &)" (?setRhs#ExpressionResultBuilder#Catch##QAEAAV12#ABV?$basic_string#DU?$char_traits#D#std##V?$allocator#D#2##std###Z) referenced in function "private: class Catch::ExpressionResultBuilder & __thiscall Catch::ExpressionLhs<int const &>::captureExpression<0,int>(int const &)" (??$captureExpression#$0A#H#?$ExpressionLhs#ABH#Catch##AAEAAVExpressionResultBuilder#1#ABH#Z) C:\Users\Mark\documents\visual studio 2010\Projects\FirstCPPApplication\FirstCPPApplication\FirstCPPApplication.obj 1 1 FirstCPPApplication
Error 9 error LNK2019: unresolved external symbol "public: class Catch::ExpressionResultBuilder & __thiscall Catch::ExpressionResultBuilder::setLhs(class std::basic_string<char,struct std::char_traits<char>,class std::allocator<char> > const &)" (?setLhs#ExpressionResultBuilder#Catch##QAEAAV12#ABV?$basic_string#DU?$char_traits#D#std##V?$allocator#D#2##std###Z) referenced in function "private: class Catch::ExpressionResultBuilder & __thiscall Catch::ExpressionLhs<int const &>::captureExpression<0,int>(int const &)" (??$captureExpression#$0A#H#?$ExpressionLhs#ABH#Catch##AAEAAVExpressionResultBuilder#1#ABH#Z) C:\Users\Mark\documents\visual studio 2010\Projects\FirstCPPApplication\FirstCPPApplication\FirstCPPApplication.obj 1 1 FirstCPPApplication
Error 10 error LNK2019: unresolved external symbol "public: class Catch::ExpressionResultBuilder & __thiscall Catch::ExpressionResultBuilder::setResultType(bool)" (?setResultType#ExpressionResultBuilder#Catch##QAEAAV12#_N#Z) referenced in function "private: class Catch::ExpressionResultBuilder & __thiscall Catch::ExpressionLhs<int const &>::captureExpression<0,int>(int const &)" (??$captureExpression#$0A#H#?$ExpressionLhs#ABH#Catch##AAEAAVExpressionResultBuilder#1#ABH#Z) C:\Users\Mark\documents\visual studio 2010\Projects\FirstCPPApplication\FirstCPPApplication\FirstCPPApplication.obj 1 1 FirstCPPApplication
Error 11 error LNK2019: unresolved external symbol "public: __thiscall Catch::AutoReg::~AutoReg(void)" (??1AutoReg#Catch##QAE#XZ) referenced in function "void __cdecl `anonymous namespace'::`dynamic atexit destructor for 'autoRegistrar27''(void)" (??__FautoRegistrar27#?A0x3911e331##YAXXZ) C:\Users\Mark\documents\visual studio 2010\Projects\FirstCPPApplication\FirstCPPApplication\FirstCPPApplication.obj 1 1 FirstCPPApplication
Error 12 error LNK1120: 11 unresolved externals C:\Users\Mark\documents\visual studio 2010\Projects\FirstCPPApplication\Debug\FirstCPPApplication.exe FirstCPPApplication

Answer 1

long story short: split your single project solution into 3, use a .lib of the old exe, add the projects to the appropriate paths, update the linker, and you're good to go.
AE Drew's answer helped solve my problem, but I want to put a more full
solution to the question's title, in case anyone's coming from Google,
especially if they are looking for a simple breakdown from a beginner's
perspective.
If you only had one project in your solution that built a .exe for you, CATCH
wouldn't work: your solution needs 3 projects (as far as I know) to be able to
test your code.
Source_project, The main codebase project (in which the source code for
your application resides)
Test_project, The test suites project (in which the REQUIRES tests appear
as outlined in the above question)
Main_project, The project where you actually call and run the code from the
source codebase.
In order to convert your original single-project solution into something that
you can use in both tests and to properly run, you'll need to build a .lib or
a .dll so that other projects (including other people's projects) can use the
same code. Altering this answer, all it takes is to
right-click on your project in the Solution Explorer, and select >
Properties.... Under Configuration Properties -> General there's an > option
called Configuration Type. If you change it to [Static Library > (.lib)], your
project will generate a [.lib] when it is built.
And then in the 3rd project, main_project, where you have a barebones setup
from a Win32 Console Application that only contains a file that looks something
like:
#include "stdafx.h"
#include "HEADER_FROM_FIRST_PROJECT.h"
int _tmain(int argc, _TCHAR* argv[])
{
METHOD_FROM_FIRST_PROJECT();
return 0;
}
where you import a header file from Source_project, the first project that we
created (the one that used to be an exe, but is now building to a lib). But
that's not going to run yet, you need to add the Source_project's directory to
this projects additional directories, by right clicking the project in the
Solution Explorer, under Properties > Configuration Properties > C/C++ > General >
Additional Include Directories, add the source_project's folder to the list. This'll
allow the #include lines to automatically search that directory for the appropriate
files, saving you from having to write ../source_project/HEADER_FROM_FIRST_PROJECT.h.
Finally, the last step is to make sure that the linker will be able to actually
find the objects that you are trying to include. And since we're building a
.lib, we're able to do this rather simply. In the same settings dialog box as
before, the Projects Properties dialog, we'll navigate instead to Configuration
Properties > Linker > Input > Additional Dependencies and add the relative path to the
source_project.lib file, which would look something like ../Debug/source_project.lib.
Note that if you have any .dlls that are in the old exe project, it'll
need to be moved into the new main_project.
Also note that this is all very new to me and some of the terms and information are bound to be incorrect.

Answer 2

Just scanning through the links you provide, I think you may need to add this line at the top of your file.
#define CATCH_CONFIG_MAIN // This tells Catch to provide a main() - only do this in one cpp file
It looks like the functions you are trying to link are within #if defined CATCH_CONFIG_MAIN .... #endif preprocessor directives.