Tcl_DumpActiveMemory(3)

💖 Tcl_DumpActiveMemory(3) 💖

okay bestie, welcome to the Tcl Library Procedures corner of the group chat — this one's the validated memory allocation interface and it's genuinely such a slay for anyone debugging memory. it's Tcl_DumpActiveMemory, Tcl_InitMemory, and Tcl_ValidateAllMemory, and no cap, they're all about peeking at what your allocator is doing. ✨

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🌸 NAME 🌸

Tcl_DumpActiveMemory, Tcl_InitMemory, Tcl_ValidateAllMemory — the validated memory allocation interface, aka your backstage pass to Tcl's memory debugging tea 🫖

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🎀 SYNOPSIS 🎀

#include <tcl.h>

int
Tcl_DumpActiveMemory(fileName)

Tcl_InitMemory(interp)

Tcl_ValidateAllMemory(fileName, line)

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💅 ARGUMENTS 💅

• Tcl_Interp *interp (in) — the Tcl interpreter where we're gonna add commands. that's it, that's the whole vibe.
• const char *fileName (in) — for Tcl_DumpActiveMemory, this is the name of the file the memory info gets written to. for Tcl_ValidateAllMemory, it's the name of the file the call is being made from (normally __FILE__).
• int line (in) — the line number where the call to Tcl_ValidateAllMemory happens (normally __LINE__).

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🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

so these functions hand you the keys to Tcl's memory debugging info. but listen: they only actually do anything when Tcl has been compiled with TCL_MEM_DEBUG defined at compile-time. when TCL_MEM_DEBUG is not defined, all of these are literally no-ops. nothing. dead. 💀

Tcl_DumpActiveMemory outputs a list of every currently allocated chunk of memory to the file you specify. for each allocated block of memory, the info it spits out is: the starting and ending addresses (excluding the guard zone, important!!), the size, the source file where Tcl_Alloc was called to allocate that block, and the line number in that file. pro move: calling Tcl_DumpActiveMemory after the Tcl interpreter has been deleted? iconic. chef's kiss. 👑

Tcl_InitMemory adds the Tcl memory command to the interpreter given by interp. and fun fact — Tcl_InitMemory is called by Tcl_Main.

Tcl_ValidateAllMemory forces a validation of the guard zones of all currently allocated blocks of memory. normally a block gets validated when it's freed, unless full validation is enabled — in which case validation of all blocks happens whenever Tcl_Alloc and Tcl_Free are called. this function just forces that validation to happen at any point you want. very "I said what I said" energy. 💅

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🌈 SEE ALSO 🌈

• TCL_MEM_DEBUG
• memory

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⭐ KEYWORDS ⭐

• memory
• debug

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and that's the whole page, bestie — stay validated, keep those guard zones safe, and may your dumps always be active. 🧚‍♀️

this was Tcl 8.1 bringing you Tcl_DumpActiveMemory(3) — k bye, love u, mwah 🫶💖