[R-pkg-devel] Failing Valgrind Passing R CMD check

[Dirk Eddelbuettel]

R CMD check --use-valgrind is a very useful option.  But I am puzzled by the
fact that we have code that is clearly incorrect, detected by valgrind, yet
given a pass by R CMD check.

A tiny demo package is at https://github.com/eddelbuettel/demovalgrindnonfail

Its sole C function (included below in [1]) copies a vector by allocating --
and not releasing.  Valgrind sees that: in tests/ we pass a numeric vector of
four so we get 'definitely lost: 32 bytes in 1 blocks' (see [2]). Yet R CMD
check is happy as a clam (see [3]).

Is that a bug? Should we extend package tools to error here?

Dirk



[1] C function which allocates but does not release

SEXP simpleCall_impl(SEXP x) {
    int n = Rf_length(x);
    int m = n * sizeof(double);

    double* srcptr = REAL(x);
    double* dstptr = malloc(m);			// allocate, never release --> leak
    memcpy((void*)dstptr, (void*)srcptr, m);	// so compiler does not complain about unused ptr

    Rprintf("n=%d x[1]=%f\n", n, (double) dstptr[1]);
    return R_NilValue;
}


[2] Valgrind summary with as-expected finding

==1485886== HEAP SUMMARY:
==1485886==     in use at exit: 53,538,524 bytes in 10,178 blocks
==1485886==   total heap usage: 27,543 allocs, 17,365 frees, 87,496,835 bytes allocated
==1485886== 
==1485886== LEAK SUMMARY:
==1485886==    definitely lost: 32 bytes in 1 blocks
==1485886==    indirectly lost: 0 bytes in 0 blocks
==1485886==      possibly lost: 0 bytes in 0 blocks
==1485886==    still reachable: 53,538,492 bytes in 10,177 blocks
==1485886==         suppressed: 0 bytes in 0 blocks
==1485886== Rerun with --leak-check=full to see details of leaked memory
==1485886== 
==1485886== For lists of detected and suppressed errors, rerun with: -s
==1485886== ERROR SUMMARY: 0 errors from 0 contexts (suppressed: 0 from 0)


[3] R CMD check, with valgrind and its error detection

edd using rob:~/git/demovalgrindnonfail(master)$ R CMD check --use-valgrind demovalgrindnonfail_0.0.1.tar.gz
* using log directory ‘/home/edd/git/demovalgrindnonfail/demovalgrindnonfail.Rcheck’
* using R version 4.1.2 (2021-11-01)
* using platform: x86_64-pc-linux-gnu (64-bit)
* using session charset: UTF-8
* using option ‘--use-valgrind’        
* checking for file ‘demovalgrindnonfail/DESCRIPTION’ ... OK
* checking extension type ... Package
* this is package ‘demovalgrindnonfail’ version ‘0.0.1’
* checking package namespace information ... OK
* checking package dependencies ... OK
* checking if this is a source package ... OK
* checking if there is a namespace ... OK
* checking for executable files ... OK
* checking for hidden files and directories ... OK
* checking for portable file names ... OK
* checking for sufficient/correct file permissions ... OK
* checking whether package ‘demovalgrindnonfail’ can be installed ... OK
* checking installed package size ... OK
* checking package directory ... OK
* checking DESCRIPTION meta-information ... OK
* checking top-level files ... OK
* checking for left-over files ... OK
* checking index information ... OK
* checking package subdirectories ... OK
* checking R files for non-ASCII characters ... OK
* checking R files for syntax errors ... OK
* checking whether the package can be loaded ... OK
* checking whether the package can be loaded with stated dependencies ... OK
* checking whether the package can be unloaded cleanly ... OK
* checking whether the namespace can be loaded with stated dependencies ... OK
* checking whether the namespace can be unloaded cleanly ... OK
* checking loading without being on the library search path ... OK
* checking dependencies in R code ... OK
* checking S3 generic/method consistency ... OK
* checking replacement functions ... OK
* checking foreign function calls ... OK
* checking R code for possible problems ... OK
* checking Rd files ... OK
* checking Rd metadata ... OK
* checking Rd cross-references ... OK
* checking for missing documentation entries ... OK
* checking for code/documentation mismatches ... OK
* checking Rd \usage sections ... OK
* checking Rd contents ... OK
* checking for unstated dependencies in examples ... OK
* checking line endings in C/C++/Fortran sources/headers ... OK
* checking compilation flags used ... OK
* checking compiled code ... OK
* checking examples ... NONE
* checking for unstated dependencies in ‘tests’ ... OK
* checking tests ...
  Running ‘simpleCall.R’
 OK
* checking PDF version of manual ... OK
* DONE

Status: OK

edd using rob:~/git/demovalgrindnonfail(master)$ 

-- 
https://dirk.eddelbuettel.com | @eddelbuettel | edd using debian.org