Objective-c – How to set up NSZombieEnabled in Xcode 4

nszombieobjective cxcodexcode4

How do I set up NSZombieEnabled and CFZombieLevel for my executable in Xcode 4?

Best Answer

In Xcode 4.x press

R

(or click Menubar > Product > Scheme > Edit Scheme)

select the "Diagnostics" tab and click "Enable Zombie Objects":

Click "Enable Zombie Objects"

This turns released objects into NSZombie instances that print console warnings when used again. This is a debugging aid that increases memory use (no object is really released) but improves error reporting.

A typical case is when you over-release an object and you don't know which one:

  • With zombies: -[UITableView release]: message sent to deallocated instance
  • Without zombies: EXC_BAD_ACCESS

This Xcode setting is ignored when you archive the application for App Store submission. You don't need to touch anything before releasing your application.

Pressing R is the same as selecting Product > Run while keeping the Alt key pressed.
Clicking the "Enable Zombie Objects" checkbox is the same as manually adding "NSZombieEnabled = YES" in the section "Environment Variables" of the tab Arguments.