[HarryPotter]

ArrayList.Clear Method

PHP Code:

test.sp

ArrayList g_aArrayList;
public void OnPluginStart()
{
    g_aArrayList = new ArrayList();

    for(int i = 0; i <= 1000000; i++)
    {
        g_aArrayList.Push(i);
    }
    
    g_aArrayList.Clear();

    ServerCommand("sm_dump_handles test.cfg");
} 


You can see it will not FREE the memory

Handle    	Owner               	Type                	Memory    	Time Created                  
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
0x6410051c	test.smx            	CellArray           	4194324   	01/24/2024 - 06:40:50

CloseHandle Method

PHP Code:

test.sp

ArrayList g_aArrayList;
public void OnPluginStart()
{
    g_aArrayList = new ArrayList();

    for(int i = 0; i <= 1000000; i++)
    {
        g_aArrayList.Push(i);
    }

    delete g_aArrayList;
    g_aArrayList = new ArrayList();

    ServerCommand("sm_dump_handles test.cfg");
} 


It will FREE the memory

Handle    	Owner               	Type                	Memory    	Time Created                  
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
0x6420051c	test.smx            	CellArray           	20        	01/24/2024 - 06:47:20

Same thing happens to StringMap, ArrayStack I believe

Edit: Solved, See #7 Reply

[LinLinLin]

look like it just only set the size to zero but not free the data.
In CellArray.h

PHP Code:

CellArray(size_t blocksize) : m_Data(NULL), m_BlockSize(blocksize), m_AllocSize(0), m_Size(0)
    {
    }

    ~CellArray()
    {
        free(m_Data);
    }

    /**
    * @brief Creates a cell array object.
    *
    * @param blocksize  The number of cells each member of the array can
    *                   hold.  For example, 32 cells is equivalent to:
    *                   new Array[X][32]
    * @return            A new ICellArray object.
    */
    static ICellArray *New(size_t blocksize)
    {
        return new CellArray(blocksize);
    }

    /**
    * @brief Releases a cell array's resources.
    *
    * @param pack        An ICellArray object to release.
    */
    static void Free(ICellArray *arr)
    {
        delete arr;
    }

    // ICellArray
public:
    size_t size() const
    {
        return m_Size;
    }
/*...*/
    void clear()
    {
        m_Size = 0;
    } 


in smn_adt_array.cpp

PHP Code:

static cell_t ClearArray(IPluginContext *pContext, const cell_t *params)
{
    CellArray *array;
    HandleError err;
    HandleSecurity sec(pContext->GetIdentity(), g_pCoreIdent);

    if ((err = handlesys->ReadHandle(params[1], htCellArray, &sec, (void **)&array))
        != HandleError_None)
    {
        return pContext->ThrowNativeError("Invalid Handle %x (error: %d)", params[1], err);
    }

    array->clear();

    return 1;
} 


maybe those memory are reserved after create so that it doesn't need create again to hold the new data.

[HarryPotter]

Originally Posted by LinLinLin maybe those memory are reserved after create so that it doesn't need create again to hold the new data.

Then I guess programmer has to consider delete instead of Clear() everytime to prevent from high memory usage

[Marttt]

Good to know, thank you for the info, going to apply this on my future plugins updates.
Would be good if they could create some wrapper that do both Clear and delete as well.

[3ipKa]

So, have I to delete a global array every time and create it again and again!?

[Bacardi]

Originally Posted by 3ipKa So, have I to delete a global array every time and create it again and again!?

If you create adt_array, stringmap or similiar, what return a handle.
- you can use it long time and clear it when need.
- if you create new adt_array what return new handle for same purpose, delete old handle also, or those remain in memory until plugin unload.

sm_dump_handles handles.txt


https://wiki.alliedmods.net/Handles_...losing_Handles

[Earendil]

Spoiler

Originally Posted by HarryPotter ArrayList.Clear Method PHP Code: test.sp ArrayList g_aArrayList; public void OnPluginStart() {     g_aArrayList = new ArrayList();     for(int i = 0; i <= 1000000; i++)     {         g_aArrayList.Push(i);     }          g_aArrayList.Clear();     ServerCommand("sm_dump_handles test.cfg"); }  You can see it will not FREE the memory Handle Owner Type Memory Time Created --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 0x6410051c test.smx CellArray 4194324 01/24/2024 - 06:40:50 CloseHandle Method PHP Code: test.sp ArrayList g_aArrayList; public void OnPluginStart() {     g_aArrayList = new ArrayList();     for(int i = 0; i <= 1000000; i++)     {         g_aArrayList.Push(i);     }     delete g_aArrayList;     g_aArrayList = new ArrayList();     ServerCommand("sm_dump_handles test.cfg"); }  It will FREE the memory Handle Owner Type Memory Time Created --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 0x6420051c test.smx CellArray 20 01/24/2024 - 06:47:20 Same thing happens to StringMap, ArrayStack I believe

All those things you are mentioning are Objects, once initialized with "new" a memory space is asigned to the object, using clear() will not free that memory space since objects still exist even if its content is removed.

Using delete causes to remove the assigned memory space, freeing it, but at a cost that you are required to initialize them again.

If you need to empty/fill an ArrayList multiple times, is better to use clear because is faster to skip the memory assignment. In the other hand is better to destroy objects and then initialize them if the data they are storing is big enough and is not required again.

Since SP has no garbage collector, allways delete handles once you don't need to use them anymore and always delete handles once you ended them in a code block. If not you will have memory leaks that will only be cleared after plugin unload.

And yeah, SourcePawn is not Object Oriented, but I imagine the lower layers of SM will work with objects, and ArrayLists and the other things are basically SM objects that we access via Handles.

[HarryPotter]

Originally Posted by Earendil All those things you are mentioning are Objects, once initialized with "new" a memory space is asigned to the object, using clear() will not free that memory space since objects still exist even if its content is removed. Using delete causes to remove the assigned memory space, freeing it, but at a cost that you are required to initialize them again. If you need to empty/fill an ArrayList multiple times, is better to use clear because is faster to skip the memory assignment. In the other hand is better to destroy objects and then initialize them if the data they are storing is big enough and is not required again. Since SP has no garbage collector, allways delete handles once you don't need to use them anymore and always delete handles once you ended them in a code block. If not you will have memory leaks that will only be cleared after plugin unload. And yeah, SourcePawn is not Object Oriented, but I imagine the lower layers of SM will work with objects, and ArrayLists and the other things are basically SM objects that we access via Handles.

Thank you, good to know, I will be more careful in the future.