Technical Q&A

PLAT 20 - Tools for Memory Usage Debugging (15-Feb-96)


Q What tools would you recommend to help track down problems with memory usage- either leaks or misuse of handles and pointers?

A Some tools you may want to check out include:

Debugging Memory Manager, on the Tool Chest Developer CD in the path

:Tool Chest:Testing & Debugging:Memory Management:Debugging Modern Memory Manager

All the tools found on the Tool Chest Developer CD in the path

:Testing & Debugging:Memory Management

There are also some third party tools. Although Apple does not officially recommend third-party products, you may want to investigate some of the following tools:

  • QC by Onyx Technology. QC is a control panel/extension, claims the manufacturer, that "adds the ability to stress-test applications for runtime, memory related errors. QC can be used during development, during testing by in-house and beta testers, and after the product ships (although a little late if errors are detected) by end users to evaluate the stability of a software package. " See the web page at http://www.onyx-tech.com
  • Memory Mine by Adianta. The Memory Mine(TM), says the manufacturer, is "a standalone tool for monitoring heaps and stress testing applications (Purge, Compact, and Zap, as well as on-the-fly Memory Allocation). Heap corruption is flagged when it happens; memory leaks can be seen as they occur."
  • The Debugger by Jasik Designs. This powerful debugger has an arcane interface, but many features not found in other competing debuggers. See the web page at http://www.jasik.com


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