Finding a .NET Memory Leak?

Question

I have created a sample program, with 2 Dialogs. Both Dialogs have a picture box, one calls pictureBox1.Image.Dispose(); in the protected override void Dispose(bool disposing) method and the other doesn't.

When you run the program and use the Task Manager to look at the memory usage, it becomes very obvious that the dialog that does not call pictureBox1.Image.Dispose(); leaks memory really badly.

Does anyone have a suggestion for a tool that would show up the problem in such a clear way?

Is there any way to count memory allocation/deallocation for a particular c# source file? At least this was something I was able to do with unmanaged C++.

You could just try the trial of any .net memory profiler software like from RedGate or Jetbrains. — Pierre-Alain Vigeant, Apr 04 '11 at 18:30
There are lots of good tools for profiling memory. Here's a previous writeup: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/399847/net-memory-profiling-tools — Paul Kearney - pk, Apr 04 '11 at 18:32
@PaulKearney-pk this thread is badly outdated, tools evolved in passed 10 years — Ed Pavlov, Jan 18 '19 at 10:16

score 10 · Answer 1 · edited Aug 11 '17 at 17:04

10

In VS2010 try the Analyze > Launch Performance Wizard menu option and choose the memory option.

In VS2017 it is Analyze > Performance Profiler...

edited Aug 11 '17 at 17:04

Black

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answered Apr 04 '11 at 18:29

Josh M.

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I have tried the profiler built into Visual Studio 2010, did not find it particularly helpful unfortunately. – user691585 Apr 04 '11 at 18:34
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Did you turn on the "Also collect .NET object lifetime data" option? – Edward Brey May 02 '11 at 19:24

score 4 · Answer 2 · answered Apr 04 '11 at 18:29

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Check out Ants Profiler: http://www.red-gate.com/products/dotnet-development/ants-memory-profiler/

There is a 14 day free trial and lots of helpful tutorials to get you started.

answered Apr 04 '11 at 18:29

BrandonZeider

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score 3 · Answer 3 · answered Jan 16 '19 at 18:34

As alternative to the embedded performance profiler of VS, I find Jetbrains' DotMemory practical and easy.

You can see very quickly which objects types, from managed code that are leaking.
You got a dashboard with a view on common problems (string duplicates etc)
You also have a view on the unmanaged memory. The interface is rather complete, complex (you can really dig and understand many things, and find quickly the culprit objects and code). [0] https://www.jetbrains.com/dotmemory/

Finding a .NET Memory Leak?

3 Answers3