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GDI+ and MFC memory leak detection

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10 Sep 20032 min read 110.1K   1.3K   51   14
GDI+ and MFC memory leak detection

Introduction

When I started to use GDI+ with MFC in VC++ 6.0 I ran into some annoying problems:

  1. Couldn't compile my GDI+ code with MFC without removing the
    DEBUG_NEW 
    macros
  2. Couldn't compile GDI+ code with STL without tweaking my code
  3. Couldn't detect memory leaks

Here is the solution!

How to use

Include GdiplusH.h in stdafx.h:

C++
// GDI+ helper file

#include "GdiplusH.h"

Features

  • GDI+ will be initialized when program starts
  • You can use
    _CrtXXX 
    functions to detect memory leaks, set an allocation breakpoint, save and compare memory states, etc.
  • Memory leak information will be dumped to output window (MSVC IDE)
  • No more compilation problem with DEBUG_NEW
  • No more compilation problem with STL

Memory leak detection

 

GDI+ is using

GdipAlloc 
and GdipFree for allocating memory for GDI+ objects. Probably they have their own memory allocation lists in gdiplus.dll, but unfortunately there is no exported API to get any memory leak information. But GDI+ objects can be located on stack (for example: creating a local variable in a function), so there is no special initialization for these memory regions, so we do not have to use GdipAlloc or GdipFree. If we call the CRT debug version of memory allocation and deletion functions instead of GdipAlloc/Free, we can detect memory leaks very easily using the well known _CrtXXX functions.

 

Miscellaneous defines

 

  • GDIPLUS_NO_AUTO_INIT 
    - 
    GDI+ won't be initialized at program startup. You have to create a GdiPlus::GdiPlusInitialize variable to initialize GDI+ (GDI+ will be uninitialized, when destructor is called for this variable).
  •  
    GDIPLUS_USE_GDIPLUS_MEM 
    - 
    GdipAlloc and GdipFree is used for memory operations. In this case _Crt functions cannot be used to detect memory leaks
  •  
    GDIPLUS_NO_AUTO_NAMESPACE - 
    Gdiplus namespace won't be defined as a used namespace. In this case you have to use Gdiplus:: prefix.

Acknowledgements

License

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Comments and Discussions

 
QuestionGdiPlusH.h Pin
thelvaci22-May-17 2:57
thelvaci22-May-17 2:57 
QuestionTool for searh memory and GDI leaks. Pin
Mast Avalons10-Jan-12 8:02
Mast Avalons10-Jan-12 8:02 
AnswerRe: Tool for searh memory and GDI leaks. Pin
SuperMegaCoder30-Mar-12 10:38
SuperMegaCoder30-Mar-12 10:38 
GeneralRe: Tool for searh memory and GDI leaks. Pin
JohnDepth6-Jun-12 18:08
JohnDepth6-Jun-12 18:08 
GeneralRe: Tool for searh memory and GDI leaks. Pin
Mast Avalons7-Jun-12 11:18
Mast Avalons7-Jun-12 11:18 
GeneralAnother solution (risky) Pin
__stas__14-Jul-10 0:53
__stas__14-Jul-10 0:53 
GeneralThanks alot! Pin
Lars [Large] Werner27-Aug-08 20:03
professionalLars [Large] Werner27-Aug-08 20:03 
GeneralA problem Pin
qqz25-Jan-08 5:33
qqz25-Jan-08 5:33 
GeneralThak you! Pin
skitten9-Mar-07 11:00
skitten9-Mar-07 11:00 
GeneralGood Pin
leibe15-Sep-05 16:34
leibe15-Sep-05 16:34 
GeneralLink errors in release mode Pin
Salvador Dali20-Apr-04 22:58
Salvador Dali20-Apr-04 22:58 
GeneralUse __declspec(selectany) Pin
__stas__14-Jul-10 5:32
__stas__14-Jul-10 5:32 
GeneralUseful stuff Pin
Nish Nishant17-Sep-03 20:51
sitebuilderNish Nishant17-Sep-03 20:51 
GeneralGood Job! Pin
NormDroid11-Sep-03 20:47
professionalNormDroid11-Sep-03 20:47 

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