Using OSX Leaks for C Programs on the Command Line?

Question

Can anyone give me any simple syntax for running OSX's leaks tool for detecting memory leaks in a compiled C program? I'm on 10.8, so I'm running into serious compatibility issues with valgrind .

Most of the stuff I've read about XCode's Leaks/Instruments involves being in an XCode environment -- not something I want to do for my C programs.

Is there a way I can just run leaks on a compiled C program from the command line? If not, are there any other reliable alternatives I can use while waiting for an updated version of valgrind, or do I have to set up a VM with a Linux distro?

Answer 1

Use the iprofiler tool ( manpage ) by adding this to the start of your command line:

iprofiler -leaks -d $HOME/tmp

(where $HOME/tmp is where you want the results written).

You can then open up the resulting .dtps bundle using Instruments to check for leaks (or any of the other 4 checks that iprofiler performs).

If you are using clang then compile with both -O3 and -g (as clang doesn't support -pg ).

Answer 2

This seems to work (macOS Catlina 10.15.6):

cd /usr/local/lib
ln -s $(xcode-select -p)/usr/lib/libLeaksAtExit.dylib
leaks --atExit -- ./a.out

Best to remove the symlink when done.

References:

• https://medium.com/@dr_rost/detect-memory-leaks-on-macos-4cf257529aa
• https://www.reddit.com/r/macprogramming/comments/7iao6d/using_the_leaks_command_on_a_cc_executable/