CsharpCodeProvider memory leak

Question

Someone helped me to run some codes in runtime using a timer, but after a while I saw that it is just using memory and not releasing it.

I hear something about AppDomain, but I didn't figure out where to use it.

AppDomain would help me with that memory leak? Anything else would help me then?

PS: GC.Collect() doesn't help. I'm sure that the problem is that, since I made some tests, watching the memory while running the problem, if I disable the Scripter it keep the same ammount(basically), if I start the timer with some codes to execute it keep increasing and can get like 500k+ of memory used after some minutes, so yes, I'm sure that the problem is with the CSharpCodeProvider just using memory.

Here is my actual code, so if someone could help me with this problem would be great.

//It is executed in a timer of 500 ms
private void Run()
{
    foreach (Code ph in codeList)
    {
        Code p = ph;

        new Thread(delegate()
        {
            if (Monitor.TryEnter(p))
            {
                Scripter script = new Scripter();
                script.Compile(p.Code);
                Monitor.Exit(p);
            }
        }) { IsBackground = true }.Start();
    }
}

//That's my compile code
public bool Compile(string script)
{
    CSharpCodeProvider codeprovider = new CSharpCodeProvider();
    ICodeCompiler icc = codeprovider.CreateCompiler();
    CompilerParameters cp = new CompilerParameters();

    cp.ReferencedAssemblies.Add("System.dll");
    cp.ReferencedAssemblies.Add(System.Reflection.Assembly.GetExecutingAssembly().Location);

    cp.TreatWarningsAsErrors = false;

    cp.MainClass = "CodesRun";
    cp.CompilerOptions = "/target:library /optimize";
    cp.GenerateExecutable = false;
    cp.GenerateInMemory = false; //it was true, but same problem

    TempFileCollection tfc = new TempFileCollection(Application.StartupPath, false);
    CompilerResults cr = new CompilerResults(tfc);

    cr = icc.CompileAssemblyFromSource(cp, script);

    if (cr.Errors.Count > 0)
    {
        //Error
    }
    else
    {
        Assembly assembly = cr.CompiledAssembly;
        IScript teste = (IScript)assembly.CreateInstance("CodesRun.Script");
        teste.Run();
    }
    tfc.Delete();
    codeprovider.Dispose();

    return true;
}

Obligatory question: What makes you think you have a memory leak? What tool(s) did you use? And what exactly were the metrics that lead you to this conclusion? — Andrew Barber, Apr 09 '12 at 18:57
I added some informations in the main post, didn't need to use any tools, since it was easy to see "manually". — Kyore, Apr 09 '12 at 19:58
500k of memory is basically not very much at all. You don't have a memory leak. The results of calling `GC.Collect()` is generally not indicative of whether you do or do not have a memory leak. You also haven't said what tool you used - you can't "manually" watch the memory. Do you mean you opened the computer case, and looked at the physical memory? *Of course not*... you used a tool. Perhaps *Windows Task Manager*? (Which is notoriously useless for this sort of thing, by the way) — Andrew Barber, Apr 09 '12 at 20:13
Ok, so maybe I shouldn't use "Memory leak", cuz for me that means that my program is using memory but not releasing it, the program itself keep using like 35.000~40.000k in the task manager, and as I said, if I enable the timer with the code above it keep growing forever, so if it keeps opened for 10 minutes it can reach 500.000k of memory in use(yes, in task manager), if it is one hours, two, all day, it can crash because of the memory usage that just increase. Maybe the term "memory leak" means another thing for you and I used it wrong, I hope it's more clear now. — Kyore, Apr 09 '12 at 20:24
500MB (500.000k) is an entirely different thing from what you put in your post, 500k. **Why didn't you put accurate information in your post?** As I noted, Task Manager is a bad tool to use for judging actual memory usage. But if it's actually crashing due to high memory usage, you do appear to have a problem. Did you try dario_ramos' answer? Also, using a timer for code that spawns multiple threads sounds really wrong... haven't you been told that in a previous question you asked? — Andrew Barber, Apr 09 '12 at 20:46

score 0 · Answer 1 · edited May 23 '17 at 12:27

0

Try disposing your objects as soon as you're done with them with the using directive. For example:

using( Scripter script = new Scripter() ){
   script.Compile(p.Code);
   Monitor.Exit(p);
}

This might not fix your leak, but it should reduce your memory footprint a bit (i.e. you should see memory being reclaimed as soon as possible).

Like @Andrew Barber said, you should use a memory profiling tool to verify the existence of a leak. We use AQTime, but it's paid (not too expensive, though). Free options discussed here.

edited May 23 '17 at 12:27

Community

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1

answered Apr 09 '12 at 19:00

dario_ramos

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Does `Scripter` use unmanaged memory somehow? This definitely should be done, but I'm not sure if it will have any effect on memory used, since Dispose is specifically for things other than managed memory (which is wholly managed by the Garbage Collector) – Andrew Barber Apr 09 '12 at 19:05
Don't know enough about CSharpCodeProvider to answer that, sorry. As per your other remark, it's true, but IIRC, pressure on the GC to collect should be higher compared to not using using (:P). – dario_ramos Apr 09 '12 at 19:11
Sorry about the comment deletion; I'm a little conflicted about this one, because I'm wondering if you are not concretely correct about Dispose() possibly being involved here. It would be easier to guess if the OP had provided some metrics! – Andrew Barber Apr 09 '12 at 19:13
I tried that, but I already have a interface in that classe, so I can't implement the IDisposable. – Kyore Apr 10 '12 at 13:43
@user1179274: You can implement more than one interface in C#. What you can't do is inherit from more than one class. – dario_ramos Apr 11 '12 at 12:40
But the IDisposable should be an interface for the Scripter, shouldn't it? Since that is the class who is compiling the code etc. – Kyore Apr 11 '12 at 20:38

CsharpCodeProvider memory leak

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