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Workaround FreeString Resources (Set to Nothing)
Posted: Sat Aug 17, 2019 1:50 pm
by mk-soft
Linux x86 not tested...
Code: Select all
;-TOP
; FreeString Helper, by mk-soft, v1.03, 18.08.2019
; *********************************************************
CompilerIf #PB_Compiler_Processor = #PB_Processor_x64
CompilerSelect #PB_Compiler_OS
CompilerCase #PB_OS_MacOS
Macro FreeGlobalString(_string_)
!XOR rsi,rsi
!LEA rdi,[v_#_string_]
!CALL _SYS_FastAllocateStringFree4
EndMacro
CompilerCase #PB_OS_Windows
Macro FreeGlobalString(_string_)
!XOR rdx,rdx
!LEA rcx,[v_#_string_]
!CALL SYS_FastAllocateStringFree4
EndMacro
CompilerCase #PB_OS_Linux
Macro FreeGlobalString(_string_)
!XOR rsi,rsi
!LEA rdi,[v_#_string_]
!CALL SYS_FastAllocateStringFree4
EndMacro
CompilerEndSelect
CompilerElse
CompilerSelect #PB_Compiler_OS
CompilerCase #PB_OS_MacOS
Macro FreeGlobalString(_string_)
!XOr edx,edx
!LEA ecx,[v_#_string_]
!CALL SYS_FastAllocateStringFree
EndMacro
CompilerCase #PB_OS_Windows
Macro FreeGlobalString(_string_)
!XOr edx,edx
!LEA ecx,[v_#_string_]
!CALL SYS_FastAllocateStringFree
EndMacro
CompilerCase #PB_OS_Linux
;TODO
Macro FreeGlobalString(_string_)
!XOr edx,edx
!LEA ecx,[v_#_string_]
!CALL SYS_FastAllocateStringFree
EndMacro
CompilerEndSelect
CompilerEndIf
Macro FreeStructureString(_struct_, _offset_)
ClearStructure(_struct_ + _offset_, string)
EndMacro
; *********************************************************
;
Debug "Free global string"
a.s = "Hello World!"
p.i = 0
CompilerIf #PB_Compiler_Processor = #PB_Processor_x64
!lea rax, [v_a]
!mov qword [v_p], rax
CompilerElse
!lea eax, [v_a]
!mov dword [v_p], eax
CompilerEndIf
Debug "Adress of gobale var (a) = " + p
Debug "Pointer to string = " + PeekI(p)
Debug "String from pointer = " + PeekS(PeekI(p))
Debug "----"
;a = #Null$ ; not work with PB v5.7x
FreeGlobalString(a)
Debug "Pointer to string after free global string = " + PeekI(p)
Debug "********"
Debug "Free single string inside structure"
Structure People
Name$
LastName$
City.s
Age.l
EndStructure
Student.People\Name$ = "Paul"
Student\LastName$ = "Morito"
Student\City = "New York"
Student\Age = 10
Debug "Data 1"
Debug Student\Name$
Debug Student\LastName$
Debug Student\City
Debug Student\Age
Debug "Adress to string = " + PeekI(Student+OffsetOf(People\LastName$))
Debug "String from adress = " + PeekS(PeekI(Student+OffsetOf(People\LastName$)))
;Student\LastName$ = #Null$ ; Not work with PB v5.7x
FreeStructureString(Student, OffsetOf(People\LastName$))
Debug ""
Debug "Data 2"
Debug Student\Name$
Debug Student\LastName$
Debug Student\City
Debug Student\Age
Debug "Adress to string = " + PeekI(Student+OffsetOf(People\LastName$))
Re: Workaround FreeString Resources
Posted: Sat Aug 17, 2019 2:44 pm
by skywalk
Not sure I understand why I have to worry about freeing structured strings?
My use model is to either set them and read them, or set them, read them, then maybe change them.
Why does it matter if PB maintains a string buffer when I set my structured string to \""?
If I later change the \"" to another value like \"something else", does the PB string buffer adapt or stay at some larger allocation? Why do I care? When my app closes, PB frees all its internal memory.
I never understood why setting a \str = #Null$ should be different than \str = #Empty$.
Code: Select all
Macro FreeStructureString(_struct_, _offset_)
ClearStructure(_struct_ + _offset_, string)
EndMacro
Structure udtFoo
iVal.i
sVal$
EndStructure
*mem.udtFoo = AllocateMemory(SizeOf(udtFoo))
*mem\iVal = 100
*mem\sVal$ = "Hello Structured String$"
Debug "-- Before Changes --"
Debug "iVal = " + Str(PeekI(*mem + OffsetOf(udtFoo\iVal)))
Debug "@sVal$ = " + Str(PeekI(*mem + OffsetOf(udtFoo\sVal$)))
Debug "sVal$ = " + *mem\sVal$; + "#EOS"
Debug "-- Space(0) --"
*mem\sVal$ = Space(0)
Debug "iVal = " + Str(PeekI(*mem + OffsetOf(udtFoo\iVal)))
Debug "@sVal$ = " + Str(PeekI(*mem + OffsetOf(udtFoo\sVal$)))
Debug "sVal$ = " + *mem\sVal$; + "#EOS"
Debug "-- #Null$ --"
*mem\sVal$ = #Null$
Debug "iVal = " + Str(PeekI(*mem + OffsetOf(udtFoo\iVal)))
Debug "@sVal$ = " + Str(PeekI(*mem + OffsetOf(udtFoo\sVal$)))
Debug "sVal$ = " + *mem\sVal$; + "#EOS"
Debug "-- #Empty$ --"
*mem\sVal$ = #Empty$
Debug "iVal = " + Str(PeekI(*mem + OffsetOf(udtFoo\iVal)))
Debug "@sVal$ = " + Str(PeekI(*mem + OffsetOf(udtFoo\sVal$)))
Debug "sVal$ = " + *mem\sVal$; + "#EOS"
Debug "-- FreeStructureString() --"
FreeStructureString(*mem, OffsetOf(udtFoo\sVal$))
Debug "iVal = " + Str(PeekI(*mem + OffsetOf(udtFoo\iVal)))
Debug "@sVal$ = " + Str(PeekI(*mem + OffsetOf(udtFoo\sVal$)))
Debug "sVal$ = " + *mem\sVal$; + "#EOS"
Debug "-- ClearStructure() --"
ClearStructure(*mem, udtFoo)
Debug "iVal = " + Str(PeekI(*mem + OffsetOf(udtFoo\iVal)))
Debug "@sVal$ = " + Str(PeekI(*mem + OffsetOf(udtFoo\sVal$)))
Debug "sVal$ = " + *mem\sVal$; + "#EOS"
Debug "-- Use Structure again --"
*mem\sVal$ = "Hello New Structured String$"
Debug "iVal = " + Str(PeekI(*mem + OffsetOf(udtFoo\iVal)))
Debug "@sVal$ = " + Str(PeekI(*mem + OffsetOf(udtFoo\sVal$)))
Debug "sVal$ = " + *mem\sVal$; + "#EOS"
Re: Workaround FreeString Resources
Posted: Sat Aug 17, 2019 3:13 pm
by mk-soft
The problem is, if you work with very large strings, that with "a.s = #Empty$" the requested memory will not be reduced, and therefore too much memory will be lost at runtime.
P.S.
With version PB v5.62 the memory was released with "a.s = #Null$".
Since version PB v5.7x it doesn't work anymore.
Re: Workaround FreeString Resources
Posted: Sat Aug 17, 2019 3:34 pm
by Mijikai
Its really important to be able to handle strings properly - this cant be stressed enough.
It was working until PB 5.70 now it is broken.
Im just hoping this is all - for now i will stay with Version 5.62.
Having unpredicted behaviour and nasty memory leaks is a risk im not willing to take.
I really hope this gets fixed in the next release.
Re: Workaround FreeString Resources
Posted: Sat Aug 17, 2019 3:38 pm
by mk-soft
You can use the workaround wherever you use "#Null$".
For whole structures "ClearStructure" works flawlessly.
Re: Workaround FreeString Resources
Posted: Sat Aug 17, 2019 3:44 pm
by skywalk
I am still confused.
Why is setting \str$ = #Null$ different from \str$ = #Empty$?
They are either 0 bytes or 0 bytes + SizeOf(Character).
You are saying that PB would shrink its memory buffer to zero whenever #Null$ was assigned.
But the memory buffer stays at some maximum value if I changed \str$ = "1"?
Where is the memory leak if PB's string buffer is managed.
I thought Fred said this was done to make strings faster?
Otherwise, every string assignment will require memory allocations.
Re: Workaround FreeString Resources
Posted: Sat Aug 17, 2019 3:50 pm
by Mijikai
mk-soft wrote:You can use the workaround wherever you use "#Null$".
For whole structures "ClearStructure" works flawlessly.
Thx but using a workaround for some core functionality is not for me.
And who knows what else is broken there.
Re: Workaround FreeString Resources
Posted: Sat Aug 17, 2019 3:54 pm
by mk-soft
@skywalk
"#Null$" is a pointer to Nothing (0)
"#Empty$" is a pointer to a string with the length zero.
Re: Workaround FreeString Resources
Posted: Sat Aug 17, 2019 4:04 pm
by chi
Thanks, mk-soft!
For strings inside a procedure I added a "p." in front of "v_#_string_"
Code: Select all
Macro FreeProcString(_string_)
!XOR rdx,rdx
!LEA rcx,[p.v_#_string_]
!CALL SYS_FastAllocateStringFree4
EndMacro
[/size]
Re: Workaround FreeString Resources
Posted: Sat Aug 17, 2019 4:13 pm
by skywalk
I understand the difference of the pointers. I do not understand the memory leak?
Are you saying PB never reduces the size of the memory holding *str$?
Why do I care?
Code: Select all
*str$ = "1"
[address of str$][1][0][0][0]
*str$ = "12"
[address of str$][1][0][2][0][0][0] <-- PB increases string buffer
*str$ = "1"
[address of str$][1][0][0][0][0][0] <-- PB maintains string buffer
<-- Why is this not a BUG?
*str$ = #Empty$
[address of str$][0][0][0][0][0][0] <-- PB maintains string buffer
*str$ = #Null$
[address of str$][0][0][0][0][0][0] <-- PB BUG v571 maintains string buffer
[address of str$][0] <-- PB v562 reduces string buffer
Why does PB not resize the string buffer for all assignments?
Re: Workaround FreeString Resources
Posted: Sat Aug 17, 2019 4:41 pm
by Mijikai
skywalk wrote:I understand the difference of the pointers. I do not understand the memory leak?
...
Allocated memory not just magically dissapears beacause you fill it with zeros...
Re: Workaround FreeString Resources
Posted: Sat Aug 17, 2019 4:46 pm
by skywalk
I did not say it disappears. The pointer stays the same.
A memory leak occurs when the pointer changes but the prior memory is not released.
I do not see PB v571 doing this?
It is just reserving more space than the underlying string requires.
Re: Workaround FreeString Resources
Posted: Sat Aug 17, 2019 5:41 pm
by #NULL
I guess the problem might be, as an example, if you have many elements, all using an temporary large string, you can't get rid of them.
The memory consumption will spike after 3 (at 4), and will only drop again after 6 (at 7).
Code: Select all
MessageRequester("","1")
NewList l.s()
n = 10000
For i=0 To n
AddElement(l())
Next
MessageRequester("","2")
ForEach l()
l() = "a"
Next
MessageRequester("","3")
ForEach l()
l() = Space(100000)
Next
MessageRequester("","4")
ForEach l()
l() = ""
Next
MessageRequester("","5")
ForEach l()
l() = #Null$
Next
MessageRequester("","6")
ClearList(l())
MessageRequester("","7")
Re: Workaround FreeString Resources
Posted: Sat Aug 17, 2019 6:27 pm
by mk-soft
skywalk wrote:I did not say it disappears. The pointer stays the same.
A memory leak occurs when the pointer changes but the prior memory is not released.
I do not see PB v571 doing this?
It is just reserving more space than the underlying string requires.
If you do everything right, there will be no memory leakage
- AllocateStructure -> FreeStructure
- AllocateMemory -> ClearMemory -> FreeMemory.
Re: Workaround FreeString Resources (Set to Nothing)
Posted: Sat Aug 17, 2019 7:40 pm
by skywalk
Yes, so I am asking why Mijikai says PB strings are broken?