What's the way to access argc and argv inside of a test case in Google Test framework?

Question

I’m using Google Test to test my C++ project. Some cases, however, require access to argc and argv to load the required data.

In the main() method, when

Answer 1

The command line arguments to your test executable are for the test framework, not for your tests. With them, you set stuff like --gtest_output, --gtest_repeat or --gtest_filter. A test should first and foremost be reproducable, which it isn't if it is depending on someone using the "right" parameters.

What are you trying to achieve, anyway?

Answer 2

I don't know google's test framework, so there might be a better way to do this, but this should do:

//---------------------------------------------
// some_header.h
extern int my_argc;
extern char** my_argv;
// eof
//---------------------------------------------

//---------------------------------------------
// main.cpp
int my_argc;
char** my_argv;

int main(int argc, char** argv)
{    
  ::testing::InitGoogleTest(&argc, argv);
  my_argc = argc;
  my_argv = argv;
  return RUN_ALL_TESTS();
}
// eof
//---------------------------------------------

//---------------------------------------------
// test.cpp
#include "some_header.h"

TEST(SomeClass, myTest)
{
  // Here you can access my_argc and my_argv
}
// eof
//---------------------------------------------

Globals aren't pretty, but when all you have is a test framework that won't allow you to tunnel some data from main() to whatever test functions you have, they do the job.

Answer 3

If running on Windows using Visual Studio, those are available in __argc and __argv.