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BUG: Memory Leaks When Using Bitmaps in Visual C++ Macintosh 4.0b 68K Applications

Article ID: 199540

Article Last Modified on 10/16/2002

Microsoft Visual C++ 4.0 Cross Development Edition for Macintosh

This article was previously published under Q199540

SYMPTOMS

When selecting a bitmap into a device context, SelectObject may return NULL.

CAUSE

When a bitmap is deleted, the memory allocated for it is not released from the application heap space. This problem occurs only for bitmaps that are not read-only (see SetBitmapReadOnly) and only with 68K applications developed using Visual C++ for Macintosh 4.0b.

RESOLUTION

Following are five different resolutions:

Set the bitmaps as read-only using SetBitmapReadOnly(hBitmap, BRO_READONLY) before selecting them into the DC.
Reuse the same bitmap object.
Develop using Visual C++ for Macintosh 4.0.
Call the undocumented internal function _FreeGWorldCache().
Increase memory requirements.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed at the beginning of this article.

MORE INFORMATION

When a bitmap is created and selected into a device context on the Macintosh using the Windows Portability Library (WPL), a new GWorld object is created (if needed) and stored in a cache of four GWorlds. This cache is also used when deleting bitmap objects. Unfortunately the cache is filled but never automatically cleared. Additionally QuickDraw allocates memory for each GWorld, which is also not released.

One workaround involves clearing the cache (which also clears the QuickDraw overhead information) using _FreeGWorldCache(). When using this function manually, enter the function prototype:

   void _FreeGWorldCache(void);

Sometimes the problem can be reduced by using CreateBitmapIndirect() instead of CreateBitmap() when creating the bitmap.

As a debugging aid, the Macintosh application's heap space can be viewed using ZoneRanger, which can be obtained from Metrowerk's web site:

http://www.metrowerks.com

REFERENCES

(c) Microsoft Corporation 1999, All Rights Reserved. Contributions by Adam Kim, Microsoft Corporation.

Additional query words: DeleteObject Bitmap SelectObject leak CreateBitmap CreateBitmapIndirect

Keywords: kbbug kbgraphic KB199540