iOS Abandoned memory VM: Image IO - ios

I have a such kind of problem. I`m developing an iPad application which actually uses a lot of images and core animation stuff. I have no leaks but I have abandoned memory issue. I have a steady memory growth. I have disabled animations that actually use quite a lot of memory but I still have problems with memory growth. For animations I use http://markpospesel.wordpress.com/2012/05/07/mpfoldtransition/. I have replaced implementations of such loading methods in UIImage class as "imageNamed:" etc. Still it does not help.
If anyone has any ideas please help.
Thanks to everybody.
+ (UIImage *)imageNamed:(NSString *)name {
NSString *pathExtension = [name pathExtension];
name = [name stringByDeletingPathExtension];
if ([pathExtension isEqualToString:#""]) {
pathExtension = #"png";
}
NSString *sufix = [BMKAppUtilites isRetina] ? #"#2x" : #"";
name = [name stringByAppendingString:sufix];
name = [name stringByAppendingPathExtension:pathExtension];
name = [[NSBundle mainBundle] pathForResource:[name stringByDeletingPathExtension] ofType:[name pathExtension]];
return [[self alloc] initWithData:[NSData dataWithContentsOfFile:name options:NSDataReadingUncached error:NULL] scale:[BMKAppUtilites scaleFactor]];
}

edit: I just noticed this question is over 6 years old. 😆
—
It looks a lot like something still has a strong reference to your images. I’d say your best bet based on the data you’ve shown us is to just run from Xcode and pause in the memory graph to see what has the strong references. Don’t forget to turn on malloc stack traces in your scheme in order to get traces to where the memory is allocated. Good luck.
This might help a bit if you’ve never used the Xcode memory graph: https://developer.apple.com/documentation/xcode/improving_your_app_s_performance/reducing_your_app_s_memory_use/gathering_information_about_memory_use

Related

iOS: Error and Crash by NSString with C malloc

Was testing some code and found an error with the following lines:
NSString *stringA = #"C99";
NSString *stringB = (__bridge id)malloc(sizeof (stringA));
It is not necessary to alloc a NSString this way, of course, and I am not required to do that. Again I was just testing on something else and I happened to stumble upon this.
The error reads:
Thread 1: EXC_BAD_ACCESS (code=1, address=0x20)
In the console:
(lldb)
To generalize, perhaps I should ask:
Could we alloc Objective-C objects through the use of malloc?
Has someone encountered this before (which I doubt, because I don't think anyone who uses Objective-C would alloc a NSString this way), but rather than shoving it aside and call it a day, I thought I would ask and see if someone knows what the exact cause of this is and why.
It is possible to use custom allocators for Objective-C objects. The problems with your code include:
NSString is a class cluster superclass (similar to an "abstract class") and cannot be instantiated on its own. You would need to use some concrete subclass of NSString. Note that the OS API does not provide any such class.
sizeof(stringA) is the size of the pointer variable, 4 or 8 bytes, which is too small to hold an NSString instance. You would need to use class_getInstanceSize() to compute the size.
+alloc performs work other than the allocation itself which is not present here. You would need to erase the memory and call objc_constructInstance().
ARC forbids the use of the low-level runtime functions that are needed to accomplish the above tasks.
well as far as I found the closest example of allocating NSSTring Clike is like this:
NSString* s4 = (NSString*)
CFStringCreateWithFormat(kCFAllocatorDefault, 0,
(CFStringRef) __builtin___CFStringMakeConstantString("%# %# (%#)"), s1, s2, s3);
ofcourse if you want to go lower and lower levels of this allocations , you should watch the CFStringRef class for its lower allocation .
but I hope this answer will satisfy you
found here, also there is more interesting things
http://www.opensource.apple.com/source/clang/clang-318.0.45/src/tools/clang/test/Analysis/NSString.m
I think the question you should be asking is what purpose that code serves.
Note that sizeof doesn't return the number of bytes in stringA, it simply returns the size of the pointer that is stringA. Who knows what lives in that little block of memory that has been allocated to stringB. Maybe it's a string, maybe not. Life is full of mystery.

why not EXC_BAD_ACCESS?

I've written the following code:
NSString *string = [[NSString alloc] initWithFormat:#"test"];
[string release];
NSLog(#"string lenght = %d", [string length]);
//Why I don't get EXC_BAD_ACCESS at this point?
I should, it should be released. The retainCount should be 0 after last release, so why is it not?
P.S.
I am using latest XCode.
Update:
NSString *string = [[NSString alloc] initWithFormat:#"test"];
NSLog(#"retainCount before = %d", [string retainCount]);// => 1
[string release];
NSLog(#"retainCount after = %d", [string retainCount]);// => 1 Why!?
In this case, the frameworks are likely returning the literal #"test" from NSString *string = [[NSString alloc] initWithFormat:#"test"];. That is, it determines the literal may be reused, and reuses it in this context. After all, the input matches the output.
However, you should not rely on these internal optimizations in your programs -- just stick with the reference counting rules and well-defined behavior.
Update
David's comment caused me to look into this. On the system I tested, NSString *string = [[NSString alloc] initWithFormat:#"test"]; returns a new object. Your program messages an object which should have been released, and is not eligible for the immortal string status.
Your program still falls into undefined territory, and happens to appear to give the correct results in some cases only as an artifact of implementation details -- or just purely coincidence. As David pointed out, adding 'stuff' between the release and the log can cause string to really be destroyed and potentially reused. If you really want to know why this all works, you could read the objc runtime sources or crawl through the runtime's assembly as it executes. Some of it may have an explanation (runtime implementation details), and some of it is purely coincidence.
Doing things to a released object is an undefined behavior. Meaning - sometimes you get away with it, sometimes it crashes, sometimes it crashes a minute later in a completely different spot, sometimes a variable ten files away gets mysteriously modified.
To catch those issues, use the NSZombie technique. Look it up. That, and some coding discipline.
This time, you got away because the freed up memory hasn't been overwritten by anything yet. The memory that string points at still contains the bytes of a string object with the right length. Some time later, something else will be there, or the memory address won't be valid anymore. And there's no telling when this happens.
Sending messages to nil objects is, however, legitimate. That's a defined behavior in Objective C, in fact - nothing happens, 0 or nil is returned.
Update:
Ok. I'm tired and didn't read your question carefully enough.
The reason you are not crashing is pure luck. At first I though that you were using initWithString: in which case all the answers (including my original one (below)) about string literals would be valid.
What I mean by "pure luck"
The reason this works is just that the object is released but your pointer still points to where it used to be and the memory is not overwritten before you read it again. So when you access the variable you read from the untouched memory which means that you get a valid object back. Doing the above is VERY dangerous and will eventually cause a crash in the future!
If you start creating more object in between the release and the log then there is a chance that one of them will use the same memory as your string had and then you would crash when trying to read the old memory.
It is even so fragile that calling log twice in a row will cause a crash.
Original answer:
String literals never get released!
Take a look at my answer for this question for a description of why this is.
This answer also has a good explanation.
One possible explanation: You're superfluously dynamically allocating a string instead of just using the constant. Probably Cocoa already knows that's just a waste of memory (if you're not creating a mutable string), so it maybe releases the allocated object and returns the constant string instead. And on a constant string, release and retain have no effect.
To prove this, it's worth comparing the returned pointer to the constant string itself:
int main()
{
NSString *s = #"Hello World!";
NSString *t = [[NSString alloc] initWithFormat:s];
if (s == t)
NSLog(#"Strings are the same");
else
NSLog(#"Not the same; another instance was allocated");
return 0;
}

What is the fastest way to load a large CSV file into core data

Conclusion
Problem closed, I think.
Looks like the problem had nothing to do with the methodology, but that the XCode did not clean the project correctly in between builds.
It looks like after all those tests, the sqlite file that was being used was still the very first one that wasn't indexed......
Beware of XCode 4.3.2, I have nothing but problems with Clean not cleaning, or adding files to project not automatically being added to the bundle resources...
Thanks for the different answers..
Update 3
Since I invite anybody to just try the same steps to see if they get the same results, let me detail what I did:
I start with blank project
I defined a datamodel with one Entity, 3 attributes (2 strings, 1 float)
The first string is indexed
In did finishLaunchingWithOptions, I am calling:
[self performSelectorInBackground:#selector(populateDB) withObject:nil];
The code for populateDb is below:
-(void)populateDB{
NSLog(#"start");
NSPersistentStoreCoordinator *coordinator = [self persistentStoreCoordinator];
NSManagedObjectContext *context;
if (coordinator != nil) {
context = [[NSManagedObjectContext alloc] init];
[context setPersistentStoreCoordinator:coordinator];
}
NSString *filePath = [[NSBundle mainBundle] pathForResource:#"input" ofType:#"txt"];
if (filePath) {
NSString * myText = [[NSString alloc]
initWithContentsOfFile:filePath
encoding:NSUTF8StringEncoding
error:nil];
if (myText) {
__block int count = 0;
[myText enumerateLinesUsingBlock:^(NSString * line, BOOL * stop) {
line=[line stringByReplacingOccurrencesOfString:#"\t" withString:#" "];
NSArray *lineComponents=[line componentsSeparatedByString:#" "];
if(lineComponents){
if([lineComponents count]==3){
float f=[[lineComponents objectAtIndex:0] floatValue];
NSNumber *number=[NSNumber numberWithFloat:f];
NSString *string1=[lineComponents objectAtIndex:1];
NSString *string2=[lineComponents objectAtIndex:2];
NSManagedObject *object=[NSEntityDescription insertNewObjectForEntityForName:#"Bigram" inManagedObjectContext:context];
[object setValue:number forKey:#"number"];
[object setValue:string1 forKey:#"string1"];
[object setValue:string2 forKey:#"string2"];
NSError *error;
count++;
if(count>=1000){
if (![context save:&error]) {
NSLog(#"Whoops, couldn't save: %#", [error localizedDescription]);
}
count=0;
}
}
}
}];
NSLog(#"done importing");
NSError *error;
if (![context save:&error]) {
NSLog(#"Whoops, couldn't save: %#", [error localizedDescription]);
}
}
}
NSLog(#"end");
}
Everything else is default core data code, nothing added.
I run that in the simulator.
I go to ~/Library/Application Support/iPhone Simulator/5.1/Applications//Documents
There is the sqlite file that is generated
I take that and I copy it in my bundle
I comment out the call to populateDb
I edit persistentStoreCoordinator to copy the sqlite file from bundle to documents at first run
- (NSPersistentStoreCoordinator *)persistentStoreCoordinator
{
#synchronized (self)
{
if (__persistentStoreCoordinator != nil)
return __persistentStoreCoordinator;
NSString *defaultStorePath = [[NSBundle mainBundle] pathForResource:#"myProject" ofType:#"sqlite"];
NSString *storePath = [[[self applicationDocumentsDirectory] path] stringByAppendingPathComponent: #"myProject.sqlite"];
NSError *error;
if (![[NSFileManager defaultManager] fileExistsAtPath:storePath])
{
if ([[NSFileManager defaultManager] copyItemAtPath:defaultStorePath toPath:storePath error:&error])
NSLog(#"Copied starting data to %#", storePath);
else
NSLog(#"Error copying default DB to %# (%#)", storePath, error);
}
NSURL *storeURL = [NSURL fileURLWithPath:storePath];
__persistentStoreCoordinator = [[NSPersistentStoreCoordinator alloc] initWithManagedObjectModel:[self managedObjectModel]];
NSDictionary *options = [NSDictionary dictionaryWithObjectsAndKeys:
[NSNumber numberWithBool:YES], NSMigratePersistentStoresAutomaticallyOption,
[NSNumber numberWithBool:YES], NSInferMappingModelAutomaticallyOption, nil];
if (![__persistentStoreCoordinator addPersistentStoreWithType:NSSQLiteStoreType configuration:nil URL:storeURL options:options error:&error])
{
NSLog(#"Unresolved error %#, %#", error, [error userInfo]);
abort();
}
return __persistentStoreCoordinator;
}
}
I remove the app from the simulator, I check that ~/Library/Application Support/iPhone Simulator/5.1/Applications/ is now removedI rebuild and launch again
As expected, the sqlite file is copied over to ~/Library/Application Support/iPhone Simulator/5.1/Applications//Documents
However the size of the file is smaller than in the bundle, significantly!
Also, doing a simple query with a predicate like this predicate = [NSPredicate predicateWithFormat:#"string1 == %#", string1]; clearly shows that string1 is not indexed anymore
Following that, I create a new version of the datamodel, with a meaningless update, just to force a lightweight migration
If run on the simulator, the migration takes a few seconds, the database doubles in size and the same query now takes less than a second to return instead of minutes.
This would solve my problem, force a migration, but that same migration takes 3 minutes on the iPad and happens in the foreground.
So hat's where I am at right now, the best solution for me would still be to prevent the indexes to be removed, any other importing solution at launch time just takes too much time.
Let me know if you need more clarifications...
Update 2
So the best result I have had so far is to seed the core data database with the sqlite file produced from a quick tool with similar data model, but without the indexes set when producing the sqlite file. Then, I import this sqlite file in the core data app with the indexes set, and allowing for a lightweight migration. For 2 millions record on the new iPad, this migration stills take 3 minutes. The final app should have 5 times this number of records, so we're still looking at a long long processing time.
If I go that route, the new question would be: can a lightweight migration be performed in the background?
Update
My question is NOT how to create a tool to populate a Core Data database, and then import the sqlite file into my app. I know how to do this, I have done it countless times. But until now, I had not realized that such method could have some side effect: in my case, an indexed attribute in the resulting database clearly got 'unindexed' when importing the sqlite file that way.
If you were able to verify that any indexed data is still indexed after such transfer, I am interested to know how you proceed, or otherwise what would be the best strategy to seed such database efficiently.
Original
I have a large CSV file (millions of lines) with 4 columns, strings and floats.
This is for an iOS app.
I need this to be loaded into core data the first time the app is loaded.
The app is pretty much non functional until the data is available, so loading time matters, as a first time user obviously does not want the app to take 20 minutes to load before being able to run it.
Right now, my current code takes 20 min on the new iPad to process a 2 millions line csv file.
I am using a background context to not lock the UI, and save the context every 1,000 records
The first idea I had was to generate the database on the simulator, then to copy/paste it in the document folder at first launch, as this is the common non official way of seeding a large database. Unfortunately, the indexes don't seem to survive such a transfer, and although the database was available after just a few seconds, performance is terrible because my indexes were lost. I posted a question about the indexes already, but there doesn't seem to be a good answer to that.
So what I am looking for, either:
a way to improve performance on loading millions of records in core data
if the database is pre-loaded and moved at first startup, a way to keep my indexes
best practices for handling this kind of scenario. I don't remember using any app that requires me to wait for x minutes before first use (but maybe The Daily, and that was a terrible experience).
Any creative way to make the user wait without him realizing it: background import while going through tutorial, etc...
Not Using Core Data?
...
Pre-generate your database using an offline application (say, a command-line utility) written in Cocoa, that runs on OS X, and uses the same Core Data framework that iOS uses. You don't need to worry about "indexes surviving" or anything -- the output is a Core Data-generated .sqlite database file, directly and immediately usable by an iOS app.
As long as you can do the DB generation off-line, it's the best solution by far. I have successfully used this technique to pre-generated databases for iOS deployment myself. Check my previous questions/answers for a bit more detail.
I'm just starting out with SQLite and I need to integrate a DB into one of my apps that will have a lot of indexed data in a SQLite database. I was hoping I could do some method where I could bulk insert my information into a SQLite file and add that file to my project. After discovering and reading through your question, the provided answer and the numerous comments, I decided to check out the SQLite source to see if I could make heads or tails of this issue.
My initial thought was that the iOS implementation of SQLite is, in fact, throwing out your indices. The reason is because you initially create your DB index on x86/x64 system. The iOS is an ARM processor, and numbers are handled differently. If you want your indexes to be fast, you should generate them in such a way that they are optimized for the processor in which they will be searched.
Since SQLite is for multiple platforms, it would make since to drop any indices that have been created in another architecture and rebuild them. However, since no one wants to wait for an index to rebuild the first time it is accessed, the SQLite devs most likely decided to just drop the index.
After digging into the SQLite code, I've come to the conclusion that this is most likely happening. If not for the processor architecture reason, I did find code (see analyze.c and other meta-information in sqliteint.h) where indices were being deleted if they were generated under an unexpected context. My hunch is that the context that drives this process is how the underlying b-tree data structure was constructed for the existing key. If the current instance of SQLite can't consume the key, it deletes it.
It is worth mentioning that the iOS Simulator is just that-- a simulator. It is not an emulator of the, hardware. As such, your app is running in a pseudo-iOS device, running on an x86/x64 processor.
When your app and SQLite DB are loaded to your iOS device, an ARM-compiled variant is loaded, which also links to the ARM compiled libraries within iOS. I couldn't find ARM specific code associated with SQLite, so I imagine Apple had to modify it to their suit. The could also be part of the problem. This may not be an issue with the root-SQLite code, it could be an issue with the Apple/ARM compiled variant.
The only reasonable solution that I can come up with is that you can create a generator application that you run on your iOS machine. Run the application, build the keys, and then rip the SQLite file from the device. I'd imagine such a file would work across all devices, since all ARM processors used by iOS are 32-bit.
Again, this answer is a bit of an educated guess. I'm going to re-tag your question as SQLite. Hopefully a guru may find this and be able to weigh in on this issue. I'd really like to know the truth for my own benefit.

AFNetworking Error Domain=NSPOSIXErrorDomain Code=12 "The operation couldn’t be completed. Cannot allocate memory

I'm sending a lot of image files via AfNetworking to a Rails server. On edge and sometimes 3G I get this error: Error Domain=NSPOSIXErrorDomain Code=12 "The operation couldn’t be completed. Cannot allocate memory".
This is the code I'm using to send the files: https://gist.github.com/cc5482059ae3023bdf50
Is there a way to fix this?
Online some people suggest that a workaround would be to stream the files. I haven't been able to find a tutorial about streaming multiple files using AFNetworking. How can I do this?
How big are the images? And how many are you trying to send?
I can't seem to find an easy way to implement an NSInputStream using AFNetworking, but there's definitely one thing you should try, which is avoiding putting big objects in the autorelease pool. When you are creating big NSData instances insinde a for loop, and those are going to the autorelease pool, all that memory sticks around for as long as the loop lasts. This is one way to optimize it:
for (int i=0; i<[self.sImages count]; i++) {
NSAutoreleasePool *pool = [[NSAutoreleasePool alloc] init];
NSData *imageData = UIImageJPEGRepresentation([self.sImages objectAtIndex:i], 0.7);
[formData appendPartWithFileData:imageData name:#"pics[]" fileName:#"avatar.jpg" mimeType:#"image/jpeg"];
pool drain];
}
Or, if you're using LLVM3:
for (int i=0; i<[self.sImages count]; i++) {
#autoreleasepool {
NSData *imageData = UIImageJPEGRepresentation([self.sImages objectAtIndex:i], 0.7);
[formData appendPartWithFileData:imageData name:#"pics[]" fileName:#"avatar.jpg" mimeType:#"image/jpeg"];
}
}
I know it's been a while since this question was asked but I just have to give my two cents on the matter.
After spending the better part of the week trying to figure this stuff out here's where I'm at right now:
This issue happens to me on a slightly banged up old iPhone 4 running iOS 5.1.1
Can't seem to reproduce it on a not banged up iPhone 4S running the same iOS 5.1.1
Might be because of faulty networking by the phone hardware itself or might be about the need to throttle the bandwidth (or just a bug in NSURLConnection):
http://aws.amazon.com/articles/0006282245644577
https://forums.dropbox.com/topic.php?id=25351
POSIX error 12 ("Cannot allocate memory") while uploading files from an iPhone
I would have moved to ASIHTTPRequest but it is no longer maintained, so it's now worth implementing. Maybe I should still try AFNetworking, but I'm really starting to think this is an issue which has been fixed in the iOS already (or may be a shoddy iPhone in my case).
But I cannot for the life of me find a simple explanation for this.

Using NSString as variables is causing memory leaks in ios, please suggest a better datatype to use as a variable instead

I am creating a calculator app and this is my first ios app, so i did not care much about memory management, but now that I look back I see some leaks. I know exactly where the leaks are(used Leaks - XCODE), as all the leaks are caused by NSStrings which cannot be modified. Hence, I have been allocating strings even for changing the text of the label:
label.text = [[NSString alloc] initWithFormat: #"%#", number];
where number is another string(which i have to modify a lot and again causing leaks)
Hence, everytime I modify the label, I have a leak.
Can someone please suggest what datatype to use so that I can just use one copy of the object and keep modifying it as I need. OR another way to change the label,number either w/o using alloc or releasing it in time.
I have tried autoreleasing it but it crasehes the app. FYI, along with the leaks, the app works great :)(but i know its wrong, hence)
Please help! Thank You
Assuming your label is UILabel, then your problem is obvious, the text property of UILabel is defined as retain, when you do an alloc it returns an object with retain +1 when you assign to the property the setter increases the retain count by one, therefore you have a +2 retain count, and when u get rid of your label you leak, the thing should look like
label.text = [[[NSString alloc] initWithFormat: #"%#", number] autorelease];
or
label.text = [NSString stringWithFormat: #"%#", number];
You should read up on memory managment guidelines here
-Daniel
try using
label.text = [NSString stringWithFormat: #"%#", number];
For assigning text to a label, use an autoreleased string instead.
By the way... what is number? is it a string or is it an integer?
Later on, you might want to read up on some documentation regarding memory management on the iOS.
Use this instead:
label.text = [NSString stringWithFormat: #"%#", number];
stringWithFormat creates an autoreleased NSString that will be released for you when the autorelease pool is drained.

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