Bug #34740 for XML-RAI: [PATCH] XML::RAI::Object leaks memory!

Mon Apr 07 12:52:46 2008 mark [...] glines.org - Ticket created

Subject:	[PATCH] XML::RAI::Object leaks memory!
Date:	Mon, 7 Apr 2008 09:51:53 -0700
To:	bug-XML-RAI [...] rt.cpan.org
From:	Mark Glines <mark [...] glines.org>

Hi, It seems XML::RAI leaks a few thousand scalars every time I run XML::RAI->parse_string(). I am using it in a long-running process, whose memory was noticeably increasing over time, so this is a bad thing. To test it, I wrote the attached test script. It uses XML::RAI to parse the (also attached) rss.xml, and it uses Devel::Leak to show how many new objects were created (and not freed) after 10 invocations of that. Without the patch, I get: % perl test.pl 2>&1 | grep ^new | wc -l 31521 With the patch, I get: % perl test.pl 2>&1 | grep ^new | wc -l 312 Please consider applying this patch, it seems to help a lot. It will also require adding Task::Weaken to the list of dependencies, in Makefile.PL. Thanks, Mark

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Download rss.xml
application/xml 12.7k

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Mon Apr 07 13:13:57 2008 tima [...] cpan.org - Correspondence added

From:

tima [...] cpan.org

What version of XML::Elemental are you running. XML::RAI uses Elemental through XML::RSS::Parser. A couple of months back I found a memory leak in Elemental and repaired it. Could you install the latest version of Elemental and see if that addresses the problem?

Mon Apr 07 13:13:58 2008 The RT System itself - Status changed from 'new' to 'open'

Mon Apr 07 13:25:29 2008 mark [...] glines.org - Correspondence added

Subject:	Re: [rt.cpan.org #34740] [PATCH] XML::RAI::Object leaks memory!
Date:	Mon, 7 Apr 2008 10:25:04 -0700
To:	bug-XML-RAI [...] rt.cpan.org
From:	Mark Glines <mark [...] glines.org>

On Mon, 07 Apr 2008 13:13:59 -0400 "Timothy Appnel via RT" <bug-XML-RAI@rt.cpan.org> wrote: Show quoted text

> > <URL: http://rt.cpan.org/Ticket/Display.html?id=34740 > > > What version of XML::Elemental are you running. XML::RAI uses > Elemental through XML::RSS::Parser. A couple of months back I found a > memory leak in Elemental and repaired it. Could you install the > latest version of Elemental and see if that addresses the problem?

I saw that too, and upgrading to XML::Elemental 2.1 fixed that. (Thanks for repairing that one, by the way.) So now when I use XML::RSS::Parser directly (and XML::Elemental indirectly), I no longer see a leak there. What I'm reporting here is a different leak, and is specific to XML::RAI; some circular references from XML::RAI::Object are preventing garbage collection. My patch seems to fix it; please take a look and see if you agree. Mark

Tue Apr 08 00:18:59 2008 tima [...] cpan.org - Correspondence added

I understand where you are coming from now. I didn't realize you where aware of the Elemental leak and that this was something different. Will put it on my plate for review. Thanks for your time and the patch! <tim/>

Thu Aug 13 03:55:45 2009 tima [...] cpan.org - Correspondence added

This patch has (finally) been committed and released in to CPAN. Thanks.

Thu Aug 13 03:55:48 2009 tima [...] cpan.org - Status changed from 'open' to 'resolved'