PhysiCell::Cell_Definition possibly memory leaking

[elmbeech]

I get a Segmentation fault (core dumped), if I try to generate a second instance of a Cell_Definition.
Reading up on this, this potentially points to a memory leaking.

Minimal example:

1. rest to a fresh PhysiCell installation.

make clean reset
make template

2. add the following line to custom_modules/custome.cpp.

PhysiCell::Cell_Definition cell_defaults_two;

3. compile and run the template project.

make 
./project

I will have to study the code in deep and use a debugger to resolve this issue.

[rheiland]

Your reason for wanting to create a second instance of a Cell_Definition escapes me, but just as an academic exercise, I took a closer look and created a repo to demonstrate. Do NOT do a make reset, just make and run project. Take a look at the modified/simplified main.cpp and the custom.cpp. Bottom line: the cell_defaults instance (in core/PhysiCell_cell.cpp) is quite special and has a long history which includes how cell definitions have evolved. Nevertheless, hopefully this repo is instructive: https://github.com/rheiland/second_cell_defaults_instance

Having said that, yes, I encourage you (and anyone else) to use a debugger to track down where segfaults occur. In this case, it's not a memory leak.

[elmbeech]

this is very helpful!