Configuring Mudflap to find errors

To use Mudflap in the IDE, you'll need to select Mudflap options to add the -fmudflapth option to the compiler command line for your application. There is a runtime library attached to the process called libmudflap that is controlled by runtime options that are automatically set in the MUDFLAP_OPTIONS environment variable (set when the Mudflap tool is added to the Launch Configuration; the Mudflap options are set there.) The instrumentation relies on this separate libmudflap runtime library that is linked into a program when the compile option (-fmudflap) and linker option (-lmudflap) are selected for the application. Note that both the QNX and Managed projects use the -fmudflapth option for the compiler and linker because this option supports threads (-fmudflap doesn't work with threaded programs.) This means that for multithreaded applications, you'll use -fmudflapth for the compiler, and -fmudflapth -lmudflapth for the linker.

Note: There are many options available for violation handling, checking and tracing, heuristics, tuning, and introspection (introspection provides insight into the cause of the error). For more details about these options, see http://gcc-uk.internet.bs/summit/2003/mudflap.pdf .

To configure Mudflap to help you identify errors in your code:

To instrument a binary with Mudflap, do the following steps:
Note: If your binary is instrumented with Mudflap, you can't run Memory Analysis on it because there will be a conflict (trying to overload the same functions), and it will cause the program to crash.
- For a QNX project:
  1. In the Project Explorer, right-click on a project and select Properties.
  2. On the left, select QNX C/C++ Project to open the properties page.
  3. On the Options tab, select the option Build with Mudflap by doing the following steps:
  4. On the Options tab, select Build with Mudflap.
  5. click OK.
  6. Rebuild the project ( File > Build Project ).
- For a Managed C/C++ project with a QNX toolchain:
  1. In the Project Explorer, right-click on a project and select Properties.
  2. Select C/C++ Build, and then select Settings to open the properties page.
  3. On the Tool Settings tab, expand QCC Compiler, and then select Output Control.
  4. Select the option Build with Mudflap.
  5. On the Tool Settings tab, expand QCC Linker, and then select Output Control.
  6. Select the option Build with Mudflap.
  7. Click OK.
  8. Rebuild the project ( File > Build Project ).
To launch the instrumented binary with Mudflap enabled, do these steps:
1. Right-click on a project and open a Launch Configuration dialog.
2. Select the Tools tab, and then click Add/Delete Tool.
3. Select Mudflap from the list. The IDE displays a Mudflap options page that lists the options that this Mudflap-enabled application can run with.
4. Select any desired Mudflap options. For detailed information about additional Mudflap options, see Options for Mudflap.
  
  Enable Mudflapping
  
  Sets the Mudflap feature to check for errors. Since Mudflap adds extra code to the compiled program to check for buffer overruns, Mudflap slows a program's performance (at build time, the compiler needs to process the instrumentation code). Consequently, you should only use Mudflap during testing, and turn it off in your production version.
  
  Output File
  
  Specify the location for the Mudflap output log file. Click Workspace… to specify a location in your workspace, or Filesystem… to specify a location your filesystem.
  
  Do not print read access violations
  
  Read access violations are not recorded. The Mudflap option for this feature is -ignore-reads.
  
  Print memory leaks at program exit
  
  When the program shuts down, print a list of memory objects on the heap that have not been deallocated. The Mudflap option for this feature is -print-leaks.
  
  Enabled memory violation protection
  
  Trigger a violation for every main() call. This option is useful as a debugging aid. The Mudflap option for this feature is -mode-violate.
  
  Perform more expensive internal checking
  
  Periodically traverse the internal structures to assert the absence of corruption. The Mudflap option for this feature is -internal-checking.
  
  Detect uninitialized object reads
  
  Verify that the memory objects on the heap have been written to before they are read. The Mudflap option for this feature is -check-initialization.
  
  Print report upon SIGUSR1
  
  Handle signal SIGUSR1 by printing the similar report that will be printed at shutdown. This option is useful for monitoring interactions of a long running program. The Mudflap option for this feature is -sigusr1-report.
  
  Wipe stack objects at unwind
  
  Clear each tracked stack object when it goes out of scope. This options is useful as a security or debugging measure. The Mudflap option for this feature is -wipe-stack.
  
  Wipe heap objects at free
  
  Clear each tracked heap object being deallocated when it goes out of scope. This option is useful as a security or debugging measure. The Mudflap option for this feature is -wipe-heap.
  
  Action when violation found
  
  Select a specific action for Mudflap to take when it encounters a violation.
  violations do not change program execution — Violations don't change the program execution. This means that this option will do nothing and the program may continue with the erroneous access; however, this action may corrupt its own state, or the state of libmudflap. The Mudflap option for this feature is -viol-nop.
  
  violations cause a call to abort() — A call is made to the abort() function when a violation is encountered, which then requests a core dump and exit. The Mudflap option for this feature is -viol-abort.
  
  violations are promoted to SIGSEGV signals — Generate a SIGSEGV, which a program may choose to catch. The Mudflap option for this feature is -viol-segv.
  
  Keep an N-level stack trace of each call context
  
  Record N levels of tack backtrace information for each allocation, deallocation, and violation. The Mudflap option for this feature is -backtrace=N.
  
  Other Mudflap options (space separated)
  
  A field where you can specify additional Mudflap options. For information about these options, see Options for Mudflap
Launch the application. The Mudflap session opens and shows the Mudflap Violation view that contains any errors that it encountered (the errors are recorded in the Mudflap output log file).
Select an error from the list to navigate to the location of that error in the source code.