Dozens of “profiling:invalid arc tag” when running code coverage in Xcode 5

Question

When running my Test target with code coverage enabled in Xcode 5, I get dozens of the following message in the build output:

profiling:invalid arc tag (0x..         


        

Answer 1

I have spent some time trying to figure out how to get rid of those ugly and annoying messages:

profiling: /Users/appfactory/Desktop/WORK/App/trunk/ObjectiveC.gcda: cannot merge previous GCDA file: corrupt arc tag (0x00000000)

It seemed like an Xcode 7 issue that was not fixed in the current Xcode 7.1 beta 2.

The problem is caused by failing to merge the existing .gcda coverage files with the current results.

What I tried:

1. Remove those .gcda files with RunScript - does not work in my case

echo "Delete .gcda files" echo "${OBJECT_FILE_DIR_normal}/${CURRENT_ARCH}"

Attention: the ObjectiveC.gcda file may be at a different location!

2. Set the following build settings to YES - also not helping

   • Enable Code Coverage Support to YES

   • Generate Legacy Test Coverage Files to YES

   • Instrument Program Flow to YES

3. The solution in my case:

Set the following build settings for the main target

• Enable Code Coverage Support to YES

• Generate Legacy Test Coverage Files to YES

• Instrument Program Flow to NO

Set the following build settings for the test target (and any other targets)

• Enable Code Coverage Support to NO

• Generate Legacy Test Coverage Files to NO

• Instrument Program Flow to NO

Hope it helps!