<feed xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom'>
<title>catch3/src/catch2/internal/catch_run_context.hpp, branch docs/describe-catch3</title>
<subtitle>Progmasoft Catch3: an independently maintained C++17 test framework with a parallel runner, property checks, snapshots and structured results.</subtitle>
<link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='https://git.progmasoft.com/catch3/'/>
<entry>
<title>End the output capture when a test exits, fail on missing reports</title>
<updated>2026-10-24T09:41:08+00:00</updated>
<author>
<name>Leitwolf11</name>
</author>
<published>2026-10-24T09:41:08+00:00</published>
<link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='https://git.progmasoft.com/catch3/commit/?id=e18f19b7dd70c99fbcf2b3fe812ee18dabc92663'/>
<id>e18f19b7dd70c99fbcf2b3fe812ee18dabc92663</id>
<content type='text'>
A test that called exit() crashed its worker with SIGSEGV on Linux and
macOS. The exit hook read Catch2's captured output through a scoped
deactivation, which switched the capture back on; libstdc++ then flushed
std::cout at exit into a capture buffer that static destruction had
already freed. RunContext::endCapture() now ends the capture for good and
returns what it held, so the standard streams are their own again.

A JUnit, JSON or trace report that could not be written was only
reported on stderr, and a run whose tests passed still exited with 0, so a
build server could miss it. Such a run now exits with 1; failed tests
still exit with 42.

Integration tests of the runner's output move their helpers into
RunnerFixtureClient.hpp and cover --version, --help, the listing modes, a
bad option, exit codes 1 to 4, -v, -q, --slowest, colours, --analytics
in text and JSON, and Bazel's test environment.
</content>
<content type='xhtml'>
<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'>
<pre>
A test that called exit() crashed its worker with SIGSEGV on Linux and
macOS. The exit hook read Catch2's captured output through a scoped
deactivation, which switched the capture back on; libstdc++ then flushed
std::cout at exit into a capture buffer that static destruction had
already freed. RunContext::endCapture() now ends the capture for good and
returns what it held, so the standard streams are their own again.

A JUnit, JSON or trace report that could not be written was only
reported on stderr, and a run whose tests passed still exited with 0, so a
build server could miss it. Such a run now exits with 1; failed tests
still exit with 42.

Integration tests of the runner's output move their helpers into
RunnerFixtureClient.hpp and cover --version, --help, the listing modes, a
bad option, exit codes 1 to 4, -v, -q, --slowest, colours, --analytics
in text and JSON, and Bazel's test environment.
</pre>
</div>
</content>
</entry>
<entry>
<title>Replace Catch2's runner with the Catch3 runner</title>
<updated>2026-10-23T20:25:41+00:00</updated>
<author>
<name>Leitwolf11</name>
</author>
<published>2026-10-23T20:25:41+00:00</published>
<link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='https://git.progmasoft.com/catch3/commit/?id=93d4e7dbebab867e0a7f59fc25308460a7a76280'/>
<id>93d4e7dbebab867e0a7f59fc25308460a7a76280</id>
<content type='text'>
Catch3 keeps Catch2's API for writing tests (test cases, sections,
assertions, matchers, generators, listeners, benchmarks) and replaces its
session, command line and reporters with a runner of its own.

The runner starts the test binary again as worker processes that take the
next test when they are free. A crash, an exit or a hang ends one test, not
the run. On top of that it adds:

- retries that tell deterministic, flaky and order-dependent failures
  apart, and a bisection that names the test leaving state behind;
- a history of verdicts and durations, kept under a file lock, that drives
  automatic quarantine, adaptive time limits, predictive ordering,
  incremental runs, failure replay and analytics;
- selection by change, past failure or prediction, dependency closure,
  and sharding by a stable hash or by recorded durations;
- tags for serial and isolated tests, shared resources, dependencies,
  time limits and retries;
- a failure category, a signature, an analysis and a replay command for
  every failure;
- console, JUnit XML (with flakyFailure and rerunFailure), JSON and Chrome
  trace reports, and a versioned discovery listing (--list=json);
- a temporary directory per test (TMPDIR, TMP, TEMP and
  TestTemporaryDirectory());
- Bazel's test environment: XML output file, test filter, sharding, seed,
  premature exit file and undeclared outputs.

The command line is parsed by a hand-written, typed parser. Catch::Session
remains as a thin facade over the runner for custom main functions.

The result model in Progmasoft/Catch3/Results.hpp was rewritten around
tests and attempts, and the JUnit writer now writes it. The property
engine's example database is updated under a file lock with an atomic
rename, so parallel workers can write it at the same time.

Removed: Clara, the command-line and reporter-spec parsers, every reporter
and CATCH_REGISTER_REPORTER, listing, text flow, console colour and width,
the JSON and XML writers, sharding in the test registry, approval tests and
their baselines, Conan packaging, and the unused third_party/clara.hpp.
Listeners keep working; reporters' list and skip events are gone.

The Catch2 library is now compiled as C++20; code that includes only
Catch2's headers still needs C++14. Duplicate test cases are still refused
at start-up. Version 0.3.0.

ExtraTests now turn exceptions off for clang-cl with MSVC-style options,
which -fno-exceptions did not do.
</content>
<content type='xhtml'>
<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'>
<pre>
Catch3 keeps Catch2's API for writing tests (test cases, sections,
assertions, matchers, generators, listeners, benchmarks) and replaces its
session, command line and reporters with a runner of its own.

The runner starts the test binary again as worker processes that take the
next test when they are free. A crash, an exit or a hang ends one test, not
the run. On top of that it adds:

- retries that tell deterministic, flaky and order-dependent failures
  apart, and a bisection that names the test leaving state behind;
- a history of verdicts and durations, kept under a file lock, that drives
  automatic quarantine, adaptive time limits, predictive ordering,
  incremental runs, failure replay and analytics;
- selection by change, past failure or prediction, dependency closure,
  and sharding by a stable hash or by recorded durations;
- tags for serial and isolated tests, shared resources, dependencies,
  time limits and retries;
- a failure category, a signature, an analysis and a replay command for
  every failure;
- console, JUnit XML (with flakyFailure and rerunFailure), JSON and Chrome
  trace reports, and a versioned discovery listing (--list=json);
- a temporary directory per test (TMPDIR, TMP, TEMP and
  TestTemporaryDirectory());
- Bazel's test environment: XML output file, test filter, sharding, seed,
  premature exit file and undeclared outputs.

The command line is parsed by a hand-written, typed parser. Catch::Session
remains as a thin facade over the runner for custom main functions.

The result model in Progmasoft/Catch3/Results.hpp was rewritten around
tests and attempts, and the JUnit writer now writes it. The property
engine's example database is updated under a file lock with an atomic
rename, so parallel workers can write it at the same time.

Removed: Clara, the command-line and reporter-spec parsers, every reporter
and CATCH_REGISTER_REPORTER, listing, text flow, console colour and width,
the JSON and XML writers, sharding in the test registry, approval tests and
their baselines, Conan packaging, and the unused third_party/clara.hpp.
Listeners keep working; reporters' list and skip events are gone.

The Catch2 library is now compiled as C++20; code that includes only
Catch2's headers still needs C++14. Duplicate test cases are still refused
at start-up. Version 0.3.0.

ExtraTests now turn exceptions off for clang-cl with MSVC-style options,
which -fno-exceptions did not do.
</pre>
</div>
</content>
</entry>
<entry>
<title>Cleanups from static analysis</title>
<updated>2026-04-24T09:21:04+00:00</updated>
<author>
<name>Martin Hořeňovský</name>
</author>
<published>2026-04-24T09:21:04+00:00</published>
<link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='https://git.progmasoft.com/catch3/commit/?id=11a96e186af8b2779d93e550217e9c95d3f89371'/>
<id>11a96e186af8b2779d93e550217e9c95d3f89371</id>
<content type='text'>
</content>
<content type='xhtml'>
<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'>
<pre>
</pre>
</div>
</content>
</entry>
<entry>
<title>Turn IResultCapture::lastAssertionPassed into a free function</title>
<updated>2026-04-07T12:33:39+00:00</updated>
<author>
<name>Martin Hořeňovský</name>
</author>
<published>2026-04-07T11:35:57+00:00</published>
<link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='https://git.progmasoft.com/catch3/commit/?id=77eae8bd2a2c8c3135d30649aa7c51b5bfc0e61e'/>
<id>77eae8bd2a2c8c3135d30649aa7c51b5bfc0e61e</id>
<content type='text'>
The thread-safety changes in assertions &amp; messages turned whether
the last assertion passed or failed into thread-local state,
instead of being member of the `RunContext`. However, this change
was not reflected in the API `CHECKED_IF`/`CHECKED_ELSE` used,
which in turn required `catch_test_macro_impl.hpp` to include
`catch_interfaces_capture.hpp` for it.

Thanks to the combination of this commit and the previous similar
commit for the message stack handling, the main include path does
not need to include `catch_interfaces_capture.hpp` anymore.
</content>
<content type='xhtml'>
<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'>
<pre>
The thread-safety changes in assertions &amp; messages turned whether
the last assertion passed or failed into thread-local state,
instead of being member of the `RunContext`. However, this change
was not reflected in the API `CHECKED_IF`/`CHECKED_ELSE` used,
which in turn required `catch_test_macro_impl.hpp` to include
`catch_interfaces_capture.hpp` for it.

Thanks to the combination of this commit and the previous similar
commit for the message stack handling, the main include path does
not need to include `catch_interfaces_capture.hpp` anymore.
</pre>
</div>
</content>
</entry>
<entry>
<title>Make message push/pop static</title>
<updated>2025-09-23T09:46:26+00:00</updated>
<author>
<name>Martin Hořeňovský</name>
</author>
<published>2025-09-23T09:01:27+00:00</published>
<link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='https://git.progmasoft.com/catch3/commit/?id=434bf55d4727ab1d1aef244ef16823a0ed1e6b4a'/>
<id>434bf55d4727ab1d1aef244ef16823a0ed1e6b4a</id>
<content type='text'>
Since the change to make the message macros thread-safe, and thus
thread-local, there is no need to handle messages through instance
of `RunContext`.
</content>
<content type='xhtml'>
<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'>
<pre>
Since the change to make the message macros thread-safe, and thus
thread-local, there is no need to handle messages through instance
of `RunContext`.
</pre>
</div>
</content>
</entry>
<entry>
<title>Move MessageInfos into the run context</title>
<updated>2025-08-26T10:37:52+00:00</updated>
<author>
<name>Martin Hořeňovský</name>
</author>
<published>2025-08-26T10:36:06+00:00</published>
<link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='https://git.progmasoft.com/catch3/commit/?id=227af796b4ede6258f9b1ff8b69cd1f03d32f662'/>
<id>227af796b4ede6258f9b1ff8b69cd1f03d32f662</id>
<content type='text'>
Together with the previous change, this means that `ScopedMessage`
only needs to keep around a single unsigned int.
</content>
<content type='xhtml'>
<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'>
<pre>
Together with the previous change, this means that `ScopedMessage`
only needs to keep around a single unsigned int.
</pre>
</div>
</content>
</entry>
<entry>
<title>Use only the ID of a message when removing it from context</title>
<updated>2025-08-26T10:07:41+00:00</updated>
<author>
<name>Martin Hořeňovský</name>
</author>
<published>2025-08-26T10:07:41+00:00</published>
<link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='https://git.progmasoft.com/catch3/commit/?id=33adb4c779feaa3a98bb45ec1ebaf2864bb110b7'/>
<id>33adb4c779feaa3a98bb45ec1ebaf2864bb110b7</id>
<content type='text'>
</content>
<content type='xhtml'>
<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'>
<pre>
</pre>
</div>
</content>
</entry>
<entry>
<title>Make message macros (FAIL, WARN, INFO, etc) thread safe</title>
<updated>2025-08-23T09:08:18+00:00</updated>
<author>
<name>Martin Hořeňovský</name>
</author>
<published>2025-08-22T22:15:53+00:00</published>
<link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='https://git.progmasoft.com/catch3/commit/?id=582200a1f8ddd6f435d1264668c7074121c2636c'/>
<id>582200a1f8ddd6f435d1264668c7074121c2636c</id>
<content type='text'>
This builds on the existing work to make assertion thread safe,
by adding an extra synchronization point in the holder of
`ReusableStringStream`'s stream instances, as those are used to
build the messages, and finishing the move of message scope holders
to be thread-local.
</content>
<content type='xhtml'>
<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'>
<pre>
This builds on the existing work to make assertion thread safe,
by adding an extra synchronization point in the holder of
`ReusableStringStream`'s stream instances, as those are used to
build the messages, and finishing the move of message scope holders
to be thread-local.
</pre>
</div>
</content>
</entry>
<entry>
<title>Add configuration option to make assertions thread-safe</title>
<updated>2025-07-24T08:10:00+00:00</updated>
<author>
<name>Martin Hořeňovský</name>
</author>
<published>2025-07-17T20:58:41+00:00</published>
<link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='https://git.progmasoft.com/catch3/commit/?id=2a8a8a7210513fc2f6ae5e65986c0f2d730c1537'/>
<id>2a8a8a7210513fc2f6ae5e65986c0f2d730c1537</id>
<content type='text'>
All the previous refactoring to make the assertion fast paths
smaller and faster also allows us to implement the fast paths
just with thread-local and atomic variables, without full mutexes.

However, the performance overhead of thread-safe assertions is
still significant for single threaded usage:

|  slowdown |  Debug  | Release |
|-----------|--------:|--------:|
| fast path |   1.04x |   1.43x |
| slow path |   1.16x |   1.22x |

Thus, we don't make the assertions thread-safe by default, and instead
provide a build-time configuration option that the users can set to get
thread-safe assertions.

This commit is functional, but it still needs some follow-up work:
 * We do not need full seq_cst increments for the atomic counters,
   and using weaker ones can be faster.
 * We brute-force updating the reporter-friendly totals from internal
   atomic counters by doing it everywhere. We should properly trace
   where this is needed instead.
 * Message macros (`INFO`, `UNSCOPED_INFO`, `CAPTURE`, etc) are not
   made thread safe in this commit, but they can be made thread safe
   in the future, by building on top of this work.
 * Add more tests, including with thread-sanitizer, and compiled
   examples to the repository. Right now, these changes have been
   compiled with tsan manually, but these tests are not added to CI.

Closes #2948
</content>
<content type='xhtml'>
<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'>
<pre>
All the previous refactoring to make the assertion fast paths
smaller and faster also allows us to implement the fast paths
just with thread-local and atomic variables, without full mutexes.

However, the performance overhead of thread-safe assertions is
still significant for single threaded usage:

|  slowdown |  Debug  | Release |
|-----------|--------:|--------:|
| fast path |   1.04x |   1.43x |
| slow path |   1.16x |   1.22x |

Thus, we don't make the assertions thread-safe by default, and instead
provide a build-time configuration option that the users can set to get
thread-safe assertions.

This commit is functional, but it still needs some follow-up work:
 * We do not need full seq_cst increments for the atomic counters,
   and using weaker ones can be faster.
 * We brute-force updating the reporter-friendly totals from internal
   atomic counters by doing it everywhere. We should properly trace
   where this is needed instead.
 * Message macros (`INFO`, `UNSCOPED_INFO`, `CAPTURE`, etc) are not
   made thread safe in this commit, but they can be made thread safe
   in the future, by building on top of this work.
 * Add more tests, including with thread-sanitizer, and compiled
   examples to the repository. Right now, these changes have been
   compiled with tsan manually, but these tests are not added to CI.

Closes #2948
</pre>
</div>
</content>
</entry>
<entry>
<title>Clear unscoped messages lazily</title>
<updated>2025-07-21T19:50:51+00:00</updated>
<author>
<name>Martin Hořeňovský</name>
</author>
<published>2025-07-21T17:45:43+00:00</published>
<link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='https://git.progmasoft.com/catch3/commit/?id=5aa8d113215bd9a97ecc1a2f3fc9506947a2fa57'/>
<id>5aa8d113215bd9a97ecc1a2f3fc9506947a2fa57</id>
<content type='text'>
This improves the fast path performance for successful assertions
by about 7%, at the cost of potentially keeping around the message
allocation longer.
</content>
<content type='xhtml'>
<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'>
<pre>
This improves the fast path performance for successful assertions
by about 7%, at the cost of potentially keeping around the message
allocation longer.
</pre>
</div>
</content>
</entry>
</feed>
