mirror of
https://git.lyx.org/repos/lyx.git
synced 2024-12-27 06:19:36 +00:00
16bf5dabb7
git-svn-id: svn://svn.lyx.org/lyx/lyx-devel/trunk@38809 a592a061-630c-0410-9148-cb99ea01b6c8
780 lines
39 KiB
HTML
780 lines
39 KiB
HTML
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="iso-8859-1"?>
|
|
<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd">
|
|
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en" dir="ltr">
|
|
|
|
<head>
|
|
<meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1" />
|
|
|
|
<style title="Visual Leak Detector" type="text/css" media="screen,print">
|
|
body {
|
|
margin: 0;
|
|
font-family: verdana, sans-serif;
|
|
}
|
|
|
|
#masthead {
|
|
border-width: 0 0 1px 0;
|
|
border-style: solid;
|
|
border-color: #808080;
|
|
color: #ffffff;
|
|
background-color: #3569cc;
|
|
}
|
|
|
|
#content {
|
|
margin: 1em 1em 1em 1em;
|
|
font-size: 10pt;
|
|
}
|
|
|
|
#toc {
|
|
float: right;
|
|
color: #000000;
|
|
background-color: #ffeda5;
|
|
}
|
|
|
|
h1 {
|
|
margin: 0 0 0 0;
|
|
padding: 0.5em 1em 0 1em;
|
|
text-align: right;
|
|
font-size: 24pt;
|
|
font-family: arial, sans-serif;
|
|
}
|
|
|
|
h2 {
|
|
margin-top: 0;
|
|
border-width: 2px;
|
|
border-style: solid;
|
|
border-color: #3569cc;
|
|
padding-left: 1em;
|
|
font-size: 16pt;
|
|
font-family: "trebuchet ms", sans-serif;
|
|
letter-spacing: -1pt;
|
|
color: #000000;
|
|
background-color: #6599fc;
|
|
}
|
|
|
|
h3 {
|
|
font-size: 11pt;
|
|
}
|
|
|
|
li {
|
|
margin-bottom: 1em;
|
|
}
|
|
|
|
#toc h2 {
|
|
margin: 0;
|
|
border-width: 2px 2px 2px 0;
|
|
border-style: solid;
|
|
border-color: #6599fc;
|
|
text-align: center;
|
|
color: #ffffff;
|
|
background-color: #3569cc;
|
|
}
|
|
|
|
#toc ul {
|
|
margin-left: 0;
|
|
padding: 0;
|
|
list-style: none;
|
|
}
|
|
|
|
#toc li {
|
|
margin: 1em;
|
|
}
|
|
|
|
a {
|
|
color: #0000ff;
|
|
background-color: inherit;
|
|
text-decoration:none;
|
|
}
|
|
|
|
a:hover {
|
|
text-decoration: underline;
|
|
}
|
|
|
|
a:visited {
|
|
color: #0000ff;
|
|
background-color: inherit;
|
|
}
|
|
|
|
.api {
|
|
font-size: 12pt;
|
|
font-weight: bold;
|
|
}
|
|
|
|
.code {
|
|
font-family: "courier new", monospace;
|
|
color: #000000;
|
|
background-color: #e0e0e0;
|
|
}
|
|
|
|
.filename {
|
|
font-style: italic;
|
|
}
|
|
|
|
.function {
|
|
font-style: italic;
|
|
}
|
|
|
|
.note {
|
|
margin-left: 2em;
|
|
}
|
|
|
|
.operator {
|
|
font-style: italic;
|
|
}
|
|
|
|
.option {
|
|
font-size: 10pt;
|
|
font-weight: bold;
|
|
}
|
|
|
|
ul.vcsearchpath {
|
|
border-width: 1px;
|
|
border-style: dashed;
|
|
border-color: #000000;
|
|
color: #000000;
|
|
background-color: #ffeda5;
|
|
list-style: none;
|
|
}
|
|
|
|
ul.vcsearchpath li {
|
|
margin-bottom: 0;
|
|
}
|
|
|
|
#slogan {
|
|
margin-bottom: 0;
|
|
padding: 0 1em 1em 1em;
|
|
border-width: 0 0 1px 0;
|
|
border-style: solid;
|
|
border-color: #404040;
|
|
text-align: right;
|
|
font-size: larger;
|
|
font-style: italic;
|
|
color: #6599fc;
|
|
background-color: inherit;
|
|
}
|
|
|
|
#copyright {
|
|
text-align: right;
|
|
font-family: georgia, serif;
|
|
color: #808080;
|
|
background-color: inherit;
|
|
}
|
|
|
|
#compliance {
|
|
text-align: right;
|
|
}
|
|
|
|
#compliance img {
|
|
border: 0;
|
|
}
|
|
|
|
blockquote {
|
|
font-style: italic;
|
|
}
|
|
|
|
form {
|
|
margin: 20px;
|
|
}
|
|
</style>
|
|
|
|
<title>Visual Leak Detector (Beta)</title>
|
|
|
|
</head>
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<body>
|
|
|
|
<div id="masthead">
|
|
|
|
<h1>Visual Leak Detector 1.9h (Beta)</h1>
|
|
|
|
<p id="slogan">Enhanced Memory Leak Detection for Visual C++</p>
|
|
|
|
</div> <!-- #masthead -->
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<div id="content">
|
|
|
|
<div id="toc">
|
|
|
|
<h2>Table of Contents</h2>
|
|
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li><a href="#intro">Introduction</a></li>
|
|
|
|
<li><a href="#use">Using Visual Leak Detector</a></li>
|
|
|
|
<li><a href="#configure">Configuration Options</a></li>
|
|
|
|
<li><a href="#control">Controlling Leak Detection at Runtime</a></li>
|
|
|
|
<li><a href="#build">Building Visual Leak Detector from Source</a></li>
|
|
|
|
<li><a href="#x64">Windows x64 Support</a></li>
|
|
|
|
<li><a href="#faq">Frequently Asked Questions</a></li>
|
|
|
|
<li><a href="#restrictions">Known Restrictions</a></li>
|
|
|
|
<li><a href="#contibuting">Contributing</a></li>
|
|
|
|
<li><a href="#license">License</a></li>
|
|
|
|
<li><a href="#contact">Contacting the Author</a></li>
|
|
|
|
<li><a href="#help-wanted">Additional Developers Wanted</a></li>
|
|
</ul>
|
|
|
|
</div> <!-- #toc -->
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<h2 id="intro">Introduction</h2>
|
|
|
|
<p>Visual C++ provides built-in memory leak detection, but its capabilities are minimal at best. This memory leak
|
|
detector was created as a free alternative to the built-in memory leak detector provided with Visual C++. Here
|
|
are some of Visual Leak Detector's features, none of which exist in the built-in detector:</p>
|
|
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li>Provides a complete stack trace for each leaked block, including source file and line number information when
|
|
available.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>Detects most, if not all, types of in-process memory leaks including COM-based leaks, and pure Win32 heap-based
|
|
leaks.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>Selected modules (DLLs or even the main EXE) can be excluded from leak detection.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>Provides complete data dumps (in hex and ASCII) of leaked blocks.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>Customizable memory leak report: can be saved to a file or sent to the debugger and can include a variable level
|
|
of detail.</li>
|
|
</ul>
|
|
|
|
<p>Other after-market leak detectors for Visual C++ are already available. But most of the really popular ones,
|
|
like Purify and BoundsChecker, are very expensive. A few free alternatives exist, but they're often too intrusive,
|
|
restrictive, or unreliable. Visual Leak Detector is currently the only freely available memory leak
|
|
detector for Visual C++ that provides all of the above professional-level features packaged neatly in an easy-to-use
|
|
library.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>Visual Leak Detector is <a href="#license">licensed</a> free of charge as a service to the Windows developer
|
|
community. If you find it to be useful and would like to just say "Thanks!", or you think it stinks and would like to
|
|
say "This thing sucks!", please feel free to <a href="mailto:dmoulding@gmail.com">drop me a note</a>. Or, if you'd
|
|
prefer, you can <a href="#contact">contribute a small donation</a>. Both are very appreciated.</p>
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<h2 id="use">Using Visual Leak Detector</h2>
|
|
|
|
<p>This section briefly describes the basics of using Visual Leak Detector (VLD).</p>
|
|
|
|
<p><strong>Important! :</strong> Before using VLD with any Visual C++ project, you must first add the Visual Leak
|
|
Detector include and library directories to the Visual C++ include and library directory search paths:</p>
|
|
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li><strong>Visual C++ 8 and 9</strong>: Go to Tools -> Options -> Projects and Solutions -> VC++ Directories.
|
|
Select "Include files" from the "Show Directories For" drop-down menu. Add the
|
|
<span class="filename">include</span> subdirectory from the Visual Leak Detector installation directory. Move it
|
|
to the bottom of the list. Then select "Library files" from the drop-down menu and add the
|
|
<span class="filename">lib</span> subdirectory from the Visual Leak Detector installation directory. Again, move
|
|
it to the bottom of the list.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li><strong>Visual C++ 7</strong>: Go to Project Properties -> C/C++ -> General -> Additional Include
|
|
Directories and add the <span class="filename">include</span> subdirectory from the Visual Leak Detector
|
|
installation directory. Move it to the bottom of the list. Then select Additional Library Directories and add
|
|
the <span class="filename">lib</span> subdirectory from the Visual Leak Detector installation directory. Again,
|
|
move it to the bottom of the list.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li><strong>Visual C++ 6</strong>: Go to Tools -> Options -> Directories. Select "Include files" from
|
|
the "Show Directories For" drop-down menu. Add the <span class="filename">include</span> subdirectory
|
|
from the Visual Leak Detector installation directory. Move it to the bottom of the list. Then select "Library
|
|
files" from the drop-down menu and add the <span class="filename">lib</span> subdirectory from the Visual Leak
|
|
Detector installation directory. Again, move it to the bottom of the list.</li>
|
|
</ul>
|
|
|
|
<p>To use VLD with your project, follow these simple steps:</p>
|
|
|
|
<ol>
|
|
<li>In at least one C/C++ source file from your program, include the <span class="filename">vld.h</span> header
|
|
file. It should not matter which file you add the include statement to. It also should not matter in what order
|
|
the header is included in relation to other headers. The only exception is
|
|
<span class="filename">stdafx.h</span> (or any other precompiled header). A precompiled header, such as
|
|
<span class="filename">stdafx.h</span>, must always be the first header included in a source file, so
|
|
<span class="filename">vld.h</span> must be included after any precompiled headers.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>If your program contains one or more DLLs that you would also like to check for memory leaks, then also include
|
|
<span class="filename">vld.h</span> in at least one source file from each DLL to be included in leak
|
|
detection.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>Build the debug version of your program.</li>
|
|
</ol>
|
|
|
|
<p class="note"><strong>Note:</strong> Unlike earlier (pre-1.9) versions of VLD, it is now acceptable to include
|
|
<span class="filename">vld.h</span> in every source file, or to include it in a common header that is included by
|
|
many or all source files. Only one copy of the VLD code will be loaded into the process, regardless of how many
|
|
source files include <span class="filename">vld.h</span>.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>VLD will detect memory leaks in your program whenever you run the debug version. When you run the program under the
|
|
Visual C++ debugger, a report of all the memory leaks detected will be displayed in the debugger's output window
|
|
when your program exits (the report can optionally be saved to a file instead, see
|
|
<span class="option">ReportFile</span> under <a href="#configure">Configuration Options</a>). Double-clicking on a
|
|
source file's line number in the memory leak report will take you to that file and line in the editor window,
|
|
allowing easy navigation of the code path leading up to the allocation that resulted in the memory leak.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p class="note"><strong>Note:</strong> When you build release versions of your program, VLD will not be linked into the
|
|
executable. So it is safe to leave <span class="filename">vld.h</span> included in your source files when doing
|
|
release builds. Doing so will not result in any performance degradation or any other undesirable overhead.</p>
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<h2 id="configure">Configuration Options</h2>
|
|
|
|
<p>There are a several configuration options that control specific aspects of VLD's operation. These configuration
|
|
options are stored in the <span class="filename">vld.ini</span> configuration file. By default, the configuration
|
|
file should be in the Visual Leak Detector installation directory. However, the configuration file can be copied to
|
|
the program's working directory, in which case the configuration settings in that copy of
|
|
<span class="filename">vld.ini</span> will apply only when debugging that one program.</p>
|
|
|
|
<dl>
|
|
<dt class="option">VLD</dt>
|
|
<dd>
|
|
<p>This option acts as a master on/off switch. By default, this option is set to "on". To <em>completely
|
|
disable</em> Visual Leak Detector at runtime, set this option to "off". When VLD is turned off using this
|
|
option, it will do nothing but print a message to the debugger indicating that it has been turned off.</p>
|
|
</dd>
|
|
|
|
<dt class="option">AggregateDuplicates</dt>
|
|
<dd>
|
|
<p>Normally, VLD displays each individual leaked block in detail. Setting this option to "yes" will make VLD
|
|
aggregate all leaks that share the same size and call stack under a single entry in the memory leak report.
|
|
Only the first leaked block will be reported in detail. No other identical leaks will be displayed. Instead,
|
|
a tally showing the total number of leaks matching that size and call stack will be shown. This can be useful
|
|
if there are only a few sources of leaks, but those few sources are repeatedly leaking a very large number of
|
|
memory blocks.</p>
|
|
</dd>
|
|
|
|
<dt class="option">ForceIncludeModules</dt>
|
|
<dd>
|
|
<p>In some rare cases, it may be necessary to include a module in leak detection, but it may not be possible to
|
|
include <span class="filename">vld.h</span> in any of the module's sources. In such cases, this option can be
|
|
used to force VLD to include those modules in leak detection. List the names of the modules (DLLs) to be
|
|
forcefully included in leak detection. If you do use this option, it's advisable to also add
|
|
<span class="filename">vld.lib</span> to the list of library modules in the linker options of your project's
|
|
settings.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p class="note"><strong>Caution:</strong> Use this option only when absolutely necessary. In some situations,
|
|
use of this option may result in unpredictable behavior including false leak reports and/or crashes. It's
|
|
best to stay away from this option unless you are sure you understand what you are doing.</p>
|
|
</dd>
|
|
|
|
<dt class="option">MaxDataDump</dt>
|
|
<dd>
|
|
<p>Set this option to an integer value to limit the amount of data displayed in memory block data dumps. When
|
|
this number of bytes of data have been dumped, the dump will stop. This can be useful if any of the leaked
|
|
blocks are very large and the debugger's output window becomes too cluttered. You can set this option to 0
|
|
(zero) if you want to suppress data dumps altogether.</p>
|
|
</dd>
|
|
|
|
<dt class="option">MaxTraceFrames</dt>
|
|
<dd>
|
|
<p>By default, VLD will trace the call stack for each allocated block as far back as possible. Each frame traced
|
|
adds additional overhead (in both CPU time and memory usage) to your debug executable. If you'd like to limit
|
|
this overhead, you can define this macro to an integer value. The stack trace will stop when it has traced
|
|
this number of frames. The frame count may include some of the "internal" frames which, by default, are not
|
|
displayed in the debugger's output window (see <span class="option">TraceInternalFrames</span> below). In
|
|
some cases there may be about three or four "internal" frames at the beginning of the call stack. Keep this
|
|
in mind when using this macro, or you may not see the number of frames you expect.</p>
|
|
</dd>
|
|
|
|
<dt class="option">ReportEncoding</dt>
|
|
<dd>
|
|
<p>When the memory leak report is saved to a file, the report may optionally be Unicode encoded instead of using
|
|
the default ASCII encoding. This might be useful if the data contained in leaked blocks is likely to consist
|
|
of Unicode text. Set this option to "unicode" to generate a Unicode encoded report.</p>
|
|
</dd>
|
|
|
|
<dt class="option">ReportFile</dt>
|
|
<dd>
|
|
<p>Use this option to specify the name and location of the file in which to save the memory leak report when
|
|
using a file as the report destination, as specified by the <span class="option">ReportTo</span> option. If
|
|
no file is specified here, then VLD will save the report in a file named "memory_leak_report.txt" in the
|
|
working directory of the program.</p>
|
|
</dd>
|
|
|
|
<dt class="option">ReportTo</dt>
|
|
<dd>
|
|
<p>The memory leak report may be sent to a file in addition to, or instead of, the debugger. Use this option to
|
|
specify which type of destination to use. Specify one of "debugger" (the default), "file", or "both".</p>
|
|
</dd>
|
|
|
|
<dt class="option">SelfTest</dt>
|
|
<dd>
|
|
<p>VLD has the ability to check itself for memory leaks. This feature is always active. Every time you run VLD,
|
|
in addition to checking your own program for memory leaks, it is also checking itself for leaks. Setting this
|
|
option to "on" forces VLD to intentionally leak a small amount of memory: a 21-character block filled with
|
|
the text "Memory Leak Self-Test". This provides a way to test VLD's ability to check itself for memory leaks
|
|
and verify that this capability is working correctly. This option is usually only useful for debugging VLD
|
|
itself.</p>
|
|
</dd>
|
|
|
|
<dt class="option">SlowDebuggerDump</dt>
|
|
<dd>
|
|
<p>If enabled, this option causes Visual Leak Detector to write the memory leak report to the debugger's output
|
|
window at a slower than normal rate. This option is specifically designed to work around a known issue with
|
|
some older versions of Visual Studio where some data sent to the output window might be lost if it is sent
|
|
too quickly. If you notice that some information seems to be missing from the memory leak report, try turning
|
|
this on.</p>
|
|
</dd>
|
|
|
|
<dt class="option">StackWalkMethod</dt>
|
|
<dd>
|
|
<p>Selects the method to be used for walking the stack to obtain call stacks for allocated memory blocks. The
|
|
default "fast" method may not always be able to successfully trace completely through all call stacks. In
|
|
such cases, the "safe" method may prove to be more reliable in obtaining the full stack trace. The
|
|
disadvantage with the "safe" method is that it is significantly slower than the "fast" method and will
|
|
probably result in very noticeable performance degradation of the program being debugged. In most cases it
|
|
should be okay to leave this option set to "fast". If you experience problems getting VLD to show call
|
|
stacks, you can try setting this option to "safe".</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>If you do use the "safe" method, and notice a significant performance decrease, you may want to consider
|
|
using the <span class="option">MaxTraceFrames</span> option to limit the number of frames traced to a
|
|
relatively small number. This can reduce the amount of time spent tracing the stack by a very large
|
|
amount.</p>
|
|
</dd>
|
|
|
|
<dt class="option">StartDisabled</dt>
|
|
<dd>
|
|
<p>Set this option to "yes" to disable memory leak detection initially. This can be useful if you need to be
|
|
able to selectively enable memory leak detection from runtime, without needing to rebuild the executable;
|
|
however, this option should be used with caution. Any memory leaks that may occur before memory leak
|
|
detection is enabled at runtime will go undetected. For example, if the constructor of some global variable
|
|
allocates memory before execution reaches a subsequent call to <span class="function">VLDEnable</span>, then
|
|
VLD will not be able to detect if the memory allocated by the global variable is never freed. Refer to the
|
|
following section on <a href="#control">controlling leak detection at runtime</a> for details on using the
|
|
runtime APIs which can be useful in conjunction with this option.</p>
|
|
</dd>
|
|
|
|
<dt class="option">TraceInternalFrames</dt>
|
|
<dd>
|
|
<p>This option determines whether or not all frames of the call stack, including frames internal to the heap,
|
|
are traced. There will always be a number of frames on the call stack which are internal to Visual Leak
|
|
Detector and C/C++ or Win32 heap APIs that aren't generally useful for determining the cause of a leak.
|
|
Normally these frames are skipped during the stack trace, which somewhat reduces the time spent tracing and
|
|
amount of data collected and stored in memory. Including all frames in the stack trace, all the way down into
|
|
VLD's own code can, however, be useful for debugging VLD itself.</p>
|
|
</dd>
|
|
</dl>
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<h2 id="control">Controlling Leak Detection at Runtime</h2>
|
|
|
|
<p>Using the default configuration, VLD's memory leak detection will be enabled during the entire run of your program.
|
|
In certain scenarios it may be desirable to selectively disable memory leak detection in certain segments of your
|
|
code. VLD provides simple APIs for controlling the state of memory leak detection at runtime. To access these APIs,
|
|
include <span class="filename">vld.h</span> in the source file that needs to use them.</p>
|
|
|
|
<dl>
|
|
<dt class="api">VLDDisable</dt>
|
|
<dd>
|
|
<p>This function disables memory leak detection. After calling this function, memory leak detection will remain
|
|
disabled until it is explicitly re-enabled via a call to VLDEnable.</p>
|
|
|
|
<pre class="code">void VLDDisable (void);</pre>
|
|
|
|
<h3>Arguments:</h3>
|
|
|
|
<p>This function accepts no arguments.</p>
|
|
|
|
<h3>Return Value:</h3>
|
|
|
|
<p>None (this function always succeeds).</p>
|
|
|
|
<h3>Notes:</h3>
|
|
|
|
<p>This function controls memory leak detection on a per-thread basis. In other words, calling this function
|
|
disables memory leak detection for only the thread that called the function. Memory leak detection will
|
|
remain enabled for any other threads in the same process. This insulates the programmer from having to
|
|
synchronize multiple threads that disable and enable memory leak detection. However, note also that this
|
|
means that in order to disable memory leak detection process-wide, this function must be called from every
|
|
thread in the process.</p>
|
|
</dd>
|
|
|
|
|
|
<dt class="api">VLDEnable</dt>
|
|
<dd>
|
|
<p>This function enables memory leak detection if it was previously disabled. After calling this function,
|
|
memory leak detection will remain enabled unless it is explicitly disabled again via a call to
|
|
VLDDisable().</p>
|
|
|
|
<pre class="code">void VLDEnable (void);</pre>
|
|
|
|
<h3>Arguments:</h3>
|
|
|
|
<p>This function accepts no arguments.</p>
|
|
|
|
<h3>Return Value:</h3>
|
|
|
|
<p>None (this function always succeeds).</p>
|
|
|
|
<h3>Notes:</h3>
|
|
|
|
<p>This function controls memory leak detection on a per-thread basis. See the remarks for
|
|
<span class="function">VLDDisable</span> regarding multithreading and memory leak detection for details.
|
|
Those same concepts also apply to this function.</p>
|
|
</dd>
|
|
</dl>
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<h2 id="build">Building Visual Leak Detector from Source</h2>
|
|
|
|
<p>Because Visual Leak Detector is open source, it can be built from source if you want to tweak it to your
|
|
liking. As of Visual Studio 2008, the source can usually be built out-of-the-box without downloading or installing
|
|
any other tools. If you are using Visual Studio 2008 (or later), you can skip ahead to
|
|
<a href="#exec">Executing Your Built vld.dll</a>.
|
|
|
|
<p>Users with older versions of Visual Studio should continue reading here and follow the instructions in the next
|
|
subsection.</p>
|
|
|
|
<h3>For Older Versions of Visual Studio</h3>
|
|
|
|
<p>The most difficult part about building VLD from source is getting your build environment correctly set up.
|
|
But if you follow these instructions carefully, the process should be fairly painless.</p>
|
|
|
|
<ol>
|
|
<li>VLD depends on the Debug Help Library. This library is part of
|
|
<a href="http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/devtools/debugging/default.mspx">Debugging Tools for Windows</a> (DTfW).
|
|
Download and install DTfW in order to install the required headers and libraries. I recommend installing version
|
|
6.5 of DTfW, or later. Newer versions tend to work fine, but older versions will probably not work. Be sure to
|
|
manually select to install the SDK files during the DTfW installation or the headers and libraries will not be
|
|
installed (they are not always installed with a default installation).</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>Visual C++ will need to be made aware of where it can find the Debug Help Library header and library files.
|
|
Add the <span class="filename">sdk\inc</span> and <span class="filename">sdk\lib</span> subdirectories from the
|
|
DTfW installation directory to the include and library search paths in Visual C++. (See the section above
|
|
on <a href="#use">using Visual Leak Detector</a> on instructions for adding to these search paths).
|
|
</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>VLD also requires a reasonably up-to-date Platform SDK. It is known to work with the latest SDK (as of this
|
|
writing) which is the Windows Server 2003 R2 SDK. It should also work with earlier SDKs, such as the Windows XP
|
|
SP2 SDK or may even work with SDKs as old as the February 2003 SDK. If in doubt,
|
|
<a href="http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=A55B6B43-E24F-4EA3-A93E-40C0EC4F68E5&displaylang=en">update
|
|
your Platform SDK</a> to the latest version.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>Again, Visual C++ will need to know where to find the Platform SDK headers and libraries. Add the
|
|
<span class="filename">Include</span> and <span class="filename">Lib</span> subdirectories from the
|
|
Platform SDK installation directory to the Include and Library search paths, respectively. The
|
|
Platform SDK directories should be placed just after the DTfW directories.</li>
|
|
</ol>
|
|
|
|
<p>To summarize, your Visual C++ include search path should look something like this:</p>
|
|
|
|
<ul class="vcsearchpath">
|
|
<li>C:\Program Files\Debugging Tools for Windows\sdk\inc</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>C:\Program Files\Microsoft Platform SDK\Include</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio\VCx\Include</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>...</li>
|
|
</ul>
|
|
|
|
<p>And your Visual C++ library search path should look like this:</p>
|
|
|
|
<ul class="vcsearchpath">
|
|
<li>C:\Program Files\Debugging Tools for Windows\sdk\lib</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>C:\Program Files\Microsoft Platform SDK\Lib</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio\VCx\Lib</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>...</li>
|
|
</ul>
|
|
|
|
<p>In the above examples, "VCx" could be "VC", "VC7", or "VC98" (or possibly other values) depending on which version of
|
|
Visual Studio you have installed. Also, the name of your Platform SDK directory will probably be different from
|
|
the example depending on which version of the Platform SDK you have installed.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>Once you have completed all of the above steps, your build environment should be ready. To build VLD, just open the
|
|
<span class="filename">vld.sln</span> solution file and do a full build.</p>
|
|
|
|
<h3 id="exec">Executing Your Built vld.dll</h3>
|
|
|
|
<p>When actually running the built project, <span class="filename">vld.dll</span> will expect to find the Debug Help
|
|
Library as a private assembly. The private assembly must be located in the same directory as
|
|
<span class="filename">vld.dll</span> (either the <span class="filename">Release</span> or
|
|
<span class="filename">Debug</span> directory by default). Otherwise, when VLD is loaded, an error message will pop
|
|
up indicating that the program failed to initialize, and you will see a message similar to the following in the
|
|
debugger's output window:</p>
|
|
<blockquote><p>LDR: LdrpWalkImportDescriptor() failed to probe C:\Projects\vld\Release\vld.dll for its manifest,
|
|
ntstatus 0xc0150002</p></blockquote>
|
|
|
|
<p>To ensure that <span class="filename">vld.dll</span> finds the required private assembly, you need to copy
|
|
<span class="filename">dbghelp.dll</span> and <span class="filename">Microsoft.DTfW.DHL.manifest</span> to the
|
|
same directory that <span class="filename">vld.dll</span> is in.</p>
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<h2 id="x64">Windows x64 Support</h2>
|
|
|
|
<p>Currently VLD will not build on x64 due to limitations of the x64 compiler. Some efforts have been undertaken to
|
|
get it working in a 64-bit environment, but have not yet been successful. If you need 64-bit support and run into
|
|
problems trying to build the source in 64-bit mode, please <a href="mailto:dmoulding@gmail.com">let me know</a>.
|
|
I'll be glad to assist in getting the 64-bit code working properly, if at all possible.</p>
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<h2 id="faq">Frequently Asked Questions</h2>
|
|
|
|
<dl>
|
|
<dt>When I try to compile my program with VLD, it fails and the compiler gives this error: <strong>Cannot open include file:
|
|
'vld.h': No such file or directory</strong>.</dt>
|
|
<dd>
|
|
<p>The compiler can't find the header file that VLD installed. This probably means that VLD's include
|
|
subdirectory has not been added to the Visual C++ include search path. See the section above about
|
|
<a href="#use">Using Visual Leak Detector</a> for instructions on how to add VLD's directories to the search
|
|
path.</p>
|
|
</dd>
|
|
<dt>In the memory leak report, the callstack contains many lines that say
|
|
<strong>"File and line number unvailable"</strong> or <strong>"Function name unavailable"</strong>.</dt>
|
|
<dd>
|
|
<p>This may mean that VLD couldn't find the symbol database for your program. The symbol database is ususally in
|
|
a file named <span class="filename">[my-program-name].pdb</span>. If this file is not located in the same
|
|
directory as the program itself, then VLD will probably not find it and can't show any file or function
|
|
names.</p>
|
|
</dd>
|
|
</dl>
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<h2 id="restrictions">Known Restrictions</h2>
|
|
|
|
<p>Known restrictions/limitations in this version of VLD include:</p>
|
|
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li>Memory allocations made through calls to functions loaded from a DLL using delayed loading may not be
|
|
detected.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>Support for programs that use MFC 7.0 or MFC 7.1 is not complete yet. Some memory leaks from such MFC-based
|
|
programs may not be detected. A possible workaround for this restriction is to try forcefully including the MFC
|
|
DLLs in memory leak detection, by setting the <span class="option">ForceIncludeModules</span> configuration
|
|
option to: "mfc70d.dll mfc71d.dll" and explicitly adding <span class="filename">vld.lib</span> as an input file
|
|
on the linker command line (can be added through project settings by adding it to the list of library modules in
|
|
the linker options). This restriction does not apply to programs that use MFC 4.2, MFC 8.0, or MFC 9.0, which are
|
|
all fully supported.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>Visual Leak Detector may report leaks internal to Visual Leak Detector if the main thread of the process
|
|
terminates while other threads are still running.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>On Windows 2000 and earlier operating systems, you may need to manually add the
|
|
<span class="filename">bin</span> subdirectory from the Visual Leak Detector installation directory to the system
|
|
PATH environment variable. Also, <span class="filename">dbghelp.dll</span> will probably need to be manually copied
|
|
to the directory where the program being debugged resides. Otherwise the system may not find the required DLLs when
|
|
running VLD.</li>
|
|
|
|
<li>If more than one copy of the same C Runtime DLL is loaded in the process at the same time, then some leaks may
|
|
go undetected (note that loading more than one copy of the C Runtime DLL at the same time is probably a bad idea
|
|
to begin with).</li>
|
|
</ul>
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<h2 id="contibuting">Contributing</h2>
|
|
|
|
<p>I encourage developers who've added their own features, or fixed bugs they've found, to contribute to the project.
|
|
The full version-controlled source tree is available publicly via Git at the URL below. Feel free to clone from this
|
|
URL and submit patches for consideration for inclusion in future versions. You can also hop onto
|
|
<a href="http://github.com">GitHub</a> (accounts are free) and issue pull requests for changes that you've made and
|
|
would like to share.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>Git Repository URL: git://github.com/dmoulding/vld.git</p>
|
|
|
|
<h2 id="license">License</h2>
|
|
|
|
<p>Visual Leak Detector is distributed under the terms of the
|
|
<a href="http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/lesser.html">GNU Lesser General Public License</a>. This license allows you to
|
|
use the VLD library with your own programs without restriction. However, if you build a program (or another library)
|
|
that is <em>based</em> on the VLD source code, or uses parts of the VLD source code in it, then some restrictions
|
|
will apply. What this means is that you are free to ship and use the distributed version of the VLD DLL with regular
|
|
commercial programs. But if you create a modified version of VLD, that modified version must remain "free software".
|
|
See the <span class="filename"><a href="COPYING.txt">COPYING.txt</a></span> file for details.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>The Debug Help Library (<span class="filename">dbghelp.dll</span>) and Microsoft C Runtime Library
|
|
(<span class="filename">msvcr80.dll</span>) distributed with this software are not part of
|
|
Visual Leak Detector and are not covered under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License. They are
|
|
separately copyrighted works of Microsoft Corporation. Microsoft reserves all its rights to its copyrights in the
|
|
Debug Help Library and Microsoft C Runtime Library. Neither your use of the Visual Leak Detector software,
|
|
nor your license under the GNU Lesser General Public license grant you any rights to use the Debug Help Library or
|
|
Microsoft C Runtime Library in <strong>ANY WAY</strong> (for example, redistributing them) that would infringe upon
|
|
Microsoft Corporation's copyright in the Debug Help Library or Microsoft C Runtime Library.</p>
|
|
|
|
<h3>NO WARRANTY</h3>
|
|
|
|
<p>BECAUSE VISUAL LEAK DETECTOR ("THE SOFTWARE") IS LICENSED FREE OF CHARGE, THERE IS NO WARRANTY FOR THE SOFTWARE, TO
|
|
THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW. EXCEPT WHEN OTHERWISE STATED IN WRITING THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND/OR OTHER
|
|
PARTIES PROVIDE THE SOFTWARE "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT
|
|
LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. THE ENTIRE RISK AS TO THE
|
|
QUALITY AND PERFORMANCE OF THE SOFTWARE IS WITH YOU. SHOULD THE SOFTWARE PROVE DEFECTIVE, YOU ASSUME THE COST OF ALL
|
|
NECESSARY SERVICING, REPAIR OR CORRECTION.</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>IN NO EVENT UNLESS REQUIRED BY APPLICABLE LAW OR AGREED TO IN WRITING WILL ANY COPYRIGHT HOLDER, OR ANY OTHER PARTY
|
|
WHO MAY MODIFY AND/OR REDISTRIBUTE THE SOFTWARE AS PERMITTED BY THE LICENSING TERMS SET FORTH ABOVE, BE LIABLE TO YOU
|
|
FOR DAMAGES, INCLUDING ANY GENERAL, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF THE USE OR INABILITY
|
|
TO USE THE SOFTWARE (INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO LOSS OF DATA OR DATA BEING RENDERED INACCURATE OR LOSSES SUSTAINED
|
|
BY YOU OR THIRD PARTIES OR A FAILURE OF THE SOFTWARE TO OPERATE WITH ANY OTHER SOFTWARE), EVEN IF SUCH HOLDER OR
|
|
OTHER PARTY HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.</p>
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<h2 id="contact">Contacting the Author</h2>
|
|
|
|
<p>Please forward any bug reports, questions, comments or suggestions to me at
|
|
<a href="mailto:dmoulding@gmail.com">dmoulding@gmail.com.</a></p>
|
|
|
|
<p>Donations to help support ongoing development of Visual Leak Detector are very appreciated!</p>
|
|
|
|
<form action="https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr" method="post">
|
|
<div>
|
|
<input type="hidden" name="cmd" value="_s-xclick" />
|
|
<input type="image" src="https://www.paypal.com/en_US/i/btn/x-click-but21.gif" name="submit" alt="Make payments with PayPal - it's fast, free and secure!" />
|
|
<input type="hidden" name="encrypted" value="-----BEGIN PKCS7-----MIIHJwYJKoZIhvcNAQcEoIIHGDCCBxQCAQExggEwMIIBLAIBADCBlDCBjjELMAkGA1UEBhMCVVMxCzAJBgNVBAgTAkNBMRYwFAYDVQQHEw1Nb3VudGFpbiBWaWV3MRQwEgYDVQQKEwtQYXlQYWwgSW5jLjETMBEGA1UECxQKbGl2ZV9jZXJ0czERMA8GA1UEAxQIbGl2ZV9hcGkxHDAaBgkqhkiG9w0BCQEWDXJlQHBheXBhbC5jb20CAQAwDQYJKoZIhvcNAQEBBQAEgYB96070OV1fBDnfqkGvVtR2bQf+WKQk1DquH9rhxL3QPke1DxmckKvbKQwjqYRjZN+FbaFky71Lz75RsdeJHKcxgcJWw6cMYOI2xrmsa4Vjp00iOPjKGpMBE7roPqnnZT7l36wBBVk7Hbnm8A3MHsqTQXN9/S/rbngN57tANCbsRTELMAkGBSsOAwIaBQAwgaQGCSqGSIb3DQEHATAUBggqhkiG9w0DBwQIfRWj6EIw0C+AgYCtBQ3JuPXxq/j/RpOCteLqJqyePyFExF3ic44Doj4py33hRo9EqJrSUTbigQVT2eHkwQWS9Exs8L9aeBQQahsZNbUCyLgqPvXOOG/Zk+5Xj/2m2oBZ5AMW8rdPVCYJ7NhAc92aiU2yObd/I8n4mLGDRf768HhASKwe/LGmZiH2bKCCA4cwggODMIIC7KADAgECAgEAMA0GCSqGSIb3DQEBBQUAMIGOMQswCQYDVQQGEwJVUzELMAkGA1UECBMCQ0ExFjAUBgNVBAcTDU1vdW50YWluIFZpZXcxFDASBgNVBAoTC1BheVBhbCBJbmMuMRMwEQYDVQQLFApsaXZlX2NlcnRzMREwDwYDVQQDFAhsaXZlX2FwaTEcMBoGCSqGSIb3DQEJARYNcmVAcGF5cGFsLmNvbTAeFw0wNDAyMTMxMDEzMTVaFw0zNTAyMTMxMDEzMTVaMIGOMQswCQYDVQQGEwJVUzELMAkGA1UECBMCQ0ExFjAUBgNVBAcTDU1vdW50YWluIFZpZXcxFDASBgNVBAoTC1BheVBhbCBJbmMuMRMwEQYDVQQLFApsaXZlX2NlcnRzMREwDwYDVQQDFAhsaXZlX2FwaTEcMBoGCSqGSIb3DQEJARYNcmVAcGF5cGFsLmNvbTCBnzANBgkqhkiG9w0BAQEFAAOBjQAwgYkCgYEAwUdO3fxEzEtcnI7ZKZL412XvZPugoni7i7D7prCe0AtaHTc97CYgm7NsAtJyxNLixmhLV8pyIEaiHXWAh8fPKW+R017+EmXrr9EaquPmsVvTywAAE1PMNOKqo2kl4Gxiz9zZqIajOm1fZGWcGS0f5JQ2kBqNbvbg2/Za+GJ/qwUCAwEAAaOB7jCB6zAdBgNVHQ4EFgQUlp98u8ZvF71ZP1LXChvsENZklGswgbsGA1UdIwSBszCBsIAUlp98u8ZvF71ZP1LXChvsENZklGuhgZSkgZEwgY4xCzAJBgNVBAYTAlVTMQswCQYDVQQIEwJDQTEWMBQGA1UEBxMNTW91bnRhaW4gVmlldzEUMBIGA1UEChMLUGF5UGFsIEluYy4xEzARBgNVBAsUCmxpdmVfY2VydHMxETAPBgNVBAMUCGxpdmVfYXBpMRwwGgYJKoZIhvcNAQkBFg1yZUBwYXlwYWwuY29tggEAMAwGA1UdEwQFMAMBAf8wDQYJKoZIhvcNAQEFBQADgYEAgV86VpqAWuXvX6Oro4qJ1tYVIT5DgWpE692Ag422H7yRIr/9j/iKG4Thia/Oflx4TdL+IFJBAyPK9v6zZNZtBgPBynXb048hsP16l2vi0k5Q2JKiPDsEfBhGI+HnxLXEaUWAcVfCsQFvd2A1sxRr67ip5y2wwBelUecP3AjJ+YcxggGaMIIBlgIBATCBlDCBjjELMAkGA1UEBhMCVVMxCzAJBgNVBAgTAkNBMRYwFAYDVQQHEw1Nb3VudGFpbi
|
|
BWaWV3MRQwEgYDVQQKEwtQYXlQYWwgSW5jLjETMBEGA1UECxQKbGl2ZV9jZXJ0czERMA8GA1UEAxQIbGl2ZV9hcGkxHDAaBgkqhkiG9w0BCQEWDXJlQHBheXBhbC5jb20CAQAwCQYFKw4DAhoFAKBdMBgGCSqGSIb3DQEJAzELBgkqhkiG9w0BBwEwHAYJKoZIhvcNAQkFMQ8XDTA1MDgwMTE5NDQ0NlowIwYJKoZIhvcNAQkEMRYEFKLDwHJFsU6L329159saLBrfszYcMA0GCSqGSIb3DQEBAQUABIGAe4Mjshnc1RvJU9zF6nL8zPJ+nHO2ct1CbS1WFkQMWvh2NTwlIVSZFWSLJQZ32kNoyseoxUvE587qdBKyMOATXjchDeMr1y815+GWE6Ffqw3rWw/ytfVEtEJd4yUUq0gHqFACul4nWM5zP5A3zkLZEVN3gAmX1eLbMIcSCKuVafM=-----END PKCS7-----" />
|
|
</div>
|
|
</form>
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<h2 id="help-wanted">Additional Developers Wanted</h2>
|
|
|
|
<p>This project is looking for additional developers who have the time, knowledge, and talent, to help make VLD continue
|
|
to be a useful utility for the Windows developer community. If you feel that you or someone you know would be
|
|
interested in becoming an active member of the Visual Leak Detector development team, please let me know.</p>
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<p id="compliance">
|
|
<a href="http://validator.w3.org"><img src="http://www.w3.org/Icons/valid-xhtml10" alt="Valid XHTML 1.0!" height="31" width="88" /></a>
|
|
<a href="http://jigsaw.w3.org/css-validator"><img id="valid-css" src="http://jigsaw.w3.org/css-validator/images/vcss" alt="Valid CSS!" /></a>
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<p id="copyright">Copyright © 2005-2009 Dan Moulding</p>
|
|
|
|
</div> <!-- #content -->
|
|
|
|
</body>
|
|
|
|
</html> |