I used the instruments tool and it tells me I have no memory leaks. But I am struggling with the logic behind it. Why wouldn't this be leaky? It appears that some magic is happening behind the scenes and my AppDelegate is using my allocated navController to set the property of the self.navigationController. Without my initialization here, my property is nil.
Shouldn't I be forced to make these instance variables of the delegate and then release them in the dealloc? Why isn't this a leak? Or am I using the instruments tool wrong?
- (BOOL)application:(UIApplication *)application didFinishLaunchingWithOptions:(NSDictionary *)launchOptions {
// two alloc calls which would imply I need a release
UINavigationController *navController = [[UINavigationController alloc] init];
UIViewController *calcController = [[CalculatorViewController alloc] init];
[navController pushViewController:calcController animated:YES];
[window addSubview:navController.view];
[window makeKeyAndVisible];
// can not release here, if i do, no views show up
// [navController release];
// [calcController release];
return YES;
}
...
// NOTE: No dealloc for navController or calcController
- (void)dealloc {
[window release];
[super dealloc];
}
Both navController and calcController exist for the life of the program. When the program terminates, everything is purged, so it doesn't matter. You do have a leak, but an irrelevant one.
Since your app delegate exists for the duration of the application run, you would only see a memory leak right before the application quits. So while there is technically a "leak" it only occurs right before the application is purged from memory.
Related
I've searched for this on Apple's site and can only seem to find documentation using Storyboards or Navigation Controllers, neither of which I'm using. It's an incredibly straightforward question about memory management.
I created a completely blank application. In my AppDelegate's didFinishLaunchingWithOptions function I'm creating an instance of a View Controller which I've built. My design (which itself could be a problem) is to have a 1:1 relationship between View Controllers and Views.
So the main menu of my application, which is a launching pad for everything is in MenuViewController.h/m.
In .h:
MenuViewController *m;
In .m:
- (BOOL)application:(UIApplication *)application didFinishLaunchingWithOptions:(NSDictionary *)launchOptions
{
self.window = [[[UIWindow alloc] initWithFrame:[[UIScreen mainScreen] bounds]] autorelease];
// Override point for customization after application launch.
self.window.backgroundColor = [UIColor whiteColor];
[self.window makeKeyAndVisible];
m = (MenuViewController *)[[MenuViewController alloc] init];
m.window = self.window;
[m doStuff]; // handful of functions, not actually called this
//[m release]; // doesn't make sense to me
return YES;
}
This is where I'm confused. I want this to exist for basically the entirety of the application life cycle. But I'm also under the impression that you should (in the scope of the current function) release anything you allocate. If you need it beyond that, you should retain it elsewhere first. Is this not true?
My fundamental question is...where should I be releasing this View Controller? Is there anything else I've said that seems out of whack?
The initialization is wrong. You don't assign a window to controller, you assign a controller to window:
// window creation code here
...
m = [[MenuViewController alloc] init];
[window setRootViewController:m]; // window does retain for m
[m release]; // so we release it here
[self.window makeKeyAndVisible];
return YES
}
You're right. Generally you should release anything you create in a scope. But in this case you want ownership of the view controller. In this case you need to release the object in the dealloc method of your app delegate:
- (void)dealloc {
[m release];
[super dealloc];
}
Alternatively you could define a #property for your view controller with retain flag and then do this:
MenuViewController *viewController = [[MenuViewController alloc] init];
self.m = viewController;
[viewController release];
Btw, you don't need to cast to MenuViewController in either case.
EDIT: I completely missed that you don't add your view controller to your window. Good point #Eimantas.
In my app I have a UIViewController subclass (VC for short) that I only use in one place in the entire app. In that place, I have been creating and pushing it like this:
MyViewController* VC = [MyViewController new];
[self.navigationController pushViewController:VC animated:YES];
[VC release];
but I was thinking that since this is the only place I am using a view controller of this type, I could do something like this so the settings used won't be reset each time the view controller is pushed onto the stack:
static MapsToSendPicker* VC = nil;
if(!VC) {
VC = [MapsToSendPicker new];
}
[self.navigationController pushViewController:VC animated:YES];
[VC release];
The problem with that code is that in VC's dealloc method, I release all of my instance variables and set them to nil, and finally I call [super dealloc]. This deallocates the static view controller, but the test if(!VC) isn't evaluated to true after (this would defeat the purpose of the whole idea if it were; then I'd have to recreate the view controller each time anyway).
My solution is overriding the dealloc method in MyViewController and not calling [super dealloc] at the end. This works, but the compiler raises a warning. How can I get rid of that warning while maintaining the functionality I gain with this design? Thanks!
Edit:
After a quick Google search, I have found this solution:
- (void)dealloc {
if(NO) {
[super dealloc];
}
}
but I would like something a little bit... cleaner. Any thoughts?
Remove the [VC release]; line and add [super dealloc] back. Everything will work properly and dealloc will never get called. Generally you should consider using NSUserDefaults in order to restore the VC properties instead of keeping the controller in memory all the time.
i was reading this code, where setRegions is called after RootViewController is released : i find it a bit strange : does it mean RootViewController is still accessible, even if it was released and self.navigationController "owns" it ?
- (void)applicationDidFinishLaunching:(UIApplication *)application {
// Create the navigation and view controllers
RootViewController *rootViewController = [[RootViewController alloc] initWithStyle:UITableViewStylePlain];
UINavigationController *aNavigationController = [[UINavigationController alloc] initWithRootViewController:rootViewController];
self.navigationController = aNavigationController;
[aNavigationController release];
[rootViewController release];
[rootViewController setRegions:[Region knownRegions]];
// Configure and display the window
[window addSubview:[navigationController view]];
[window makeKeyAndVisible];
}
Thanks
This is bad code.
An object should retain another object for as long as it cares about it. And in this case that rule is broken. The rootViewController is released, and then as you note, a method is called on it. This can be dangerous.
In this case, it works. This is because rootViewController is passed to another object, which retains it. So when we release it, it still has a positive retain count and is not deallocated. So our reference to it still works, and methods called on it work fine.
But lets say some implementation changed and initWithRootViewController: now no longer retained it's argument for some reason (an assumption you can't really make all the time). Suddenly this all crashes because rootViewController gets deallocated.
To fix this funk, you just need to move [rootViewController release]; to after the last useful reference of that object in this function. Your code then becomes more robust and more correct.
- (void)applicationDidFinishLaunching:(UIApplication *)application {
// Create the navigation and view controllers
RootViewController *rootViewController = [[RootViewController alloc] initWithStyle:UITableViewStylePlain];
[rootViewController setRegions:[Region knownRegions]];
UINavigationController *aNavigationController = [[UINavigationController alloc] initWithRootViewController:rootViewController];
self.navigationController = aNavigationController;
// Release temporary objects since we've now sent them to other other objects
// which may or may not retain them (we don't really care which here)
[aNavigationController release];
[rootViewController release];
// Configure and display the window
[window addSubview:[navigationController view]];
[window makeKeyAndVisible];
}
Last thing to note: release and dealloc are very different things. release does not necessarily destroy objects. It simply decrements the retain count by one. And if that retain count ever gets to zero, only then is the object is deallocated. So this code works because a release happens but without triggering a dealloc.
The above is very dangerous code. It might happen to work, but it's just getting lucky. You should never access a variable after you have released it. In fact, it is best practice to immediately set variables to nil after releasing them if they don't immediately go out of scope. Some people only do this in Release mode, and so create a macro like:
#ifdef DEBUG
#define RELEASE(x) [x release];
#else
#define RELEASE(x) [x release]; x = nil;
#endif
The reason for this is to help catch bugs in debug mode (by having a crash rather than just a silent nil pointer), while being a bit safer in release mode.
But in any case, you should never access a variable after you've released it.
RootViewController *rootViewController = [[RootViewController alloc] initWithStyle:UITableViewStylePlain];
(objectA created, retain count is 1, rootViewController points to it)
UINavigationController *aNavigationController = [[UINavigationController alloc] initWithRootViewController:rootViewController];
(objectB created, retain count is 1, aNavigationController points to it)
(objectA retain count is 2 now, both rootViewController and some property in self.aNavigationController point to it)
self.navigationController = aNavigationController;
(objectB retain count is 2 now, both aNavigationController and self.navigationController point to it; assuming self.navigationController is a retain property)
[aNavigationController release];
(objectB retain count is 1 now, however, both aNavigationController and self.navigationController point to it)
[rootViewController release];
(objectA retain count is 1 now, however, both rootViewController and some property in self.aNavigationController point to it)
[rootViewController setRegions:[Region knownRegions]];
(use rootViewController to access objectA)
(This is not good)
Following is my recommended way:
RootViewController *rootViewController = [[[RootViewController alloc] initWithStyle:UITableViewStylePlain] autorelease];
[rootViewController setRegions:[Region knownRegions]];
UINavigationController *aNavigationController = [[[UINavigationController alloc] initWithRootViewController:rootViewController] autorelease];
self.navigationController = aNavigationController;
Resloved!
Thanks to Lone Gunman, this issue was due to an oversight of not setting the many delegates to nil before releasing them.
This is a strange one... I'm familiar with basic memory management but I think something is unusual about what I am seeing. Here is a little background...
I have a NavigationController that handles the navigation between the following ViewControllers:
Home -> Games -> Game
When running the code it falls down when leaving the Game. Within the GameViewController there is a dealloc method that resembles:
- (void)dealloc
{
[board release];
[opponentsViewController release];
[instructionsViewController release];
[imgPicker release];
[gameView release];
[super dealloc];
}
When the navigation controller goes back to the Games list (from the Game) it throws a EXC_BAD_ACCESS. So I bring up my trusty profiler and check for Zombies. Alas, just as I expected a message is being sent to a deallocated object! Digging deeper I find there to be 3 entries in the object's history:
Board getting alloc'd (called by Game's init method)
Board getting released (called by Game's dealloc method)
Board being Zombie'd (called by Game's dealloc method)
Both calls 2 and 3 are called from UINavigationController setDisappearingViewController.
In my dealloc method I set breakpoints to each release call, when doing so - the [board release] call occurs, then the [opponentsViewController release] call occurs then the [board release] call occurs again. So I'm seeing the dealloc method does not finish completely and calls again.
What might be causing this?
Edit: This is the GameViewController Implementation
Code from the Games controller that adds this game:
-(void) gotoGame:(int)tag {
game = [[GameViewController alloc] init];
[self.navigationController pushViewController:game animated:YES];
[game release];
}
Edit: This is the GameViewController Header
I would try setting all your ivar's delegates to nil (EDIT: in dealloc). I've had a similar problem with a fetched results controller. Failed to set the its delegate to nil in dealloc and the core data stack still had a pointer to it when the view controller was released.
So that's my bet, set ivar delegates to nil in dealloc, although I can't see your header to know what protocols your are conforming to be sure.
EDIT: Explanation
Setting a delegate is actually giving the object that is doing the delegation a pointer (I believe it usually an assigned property).
#property (assign) delegate;
I'll use the problem I had as an example.
So let's say you have a view controller that has a fetchedResultsController as an ivar. When you set the FRCs delegate:
fetchedResultsController.delegate = self;
and the view controller gets released, any object that is using that pointer still thinks it's live. You would think since the FRC is getting released in dealloc as well, you'd be fine(which is why it took me 4 days to figure this out :) ), but sometimes other parts of an implementation use your delegate as well. So the fix is:
-(void)dealloc
{
self.fetchedResultsController.delegate = nil;
[_fetchedResultsController release];
[super dealloc];
}
Note: as soon as the new tools are available to everyone you won't have to worry about this stuff anymore ^ ^;
try
- (void) dealloc {
if(game != nil){
//release here
[game release];
}
[super dealloc];
}
By the way it seems you have declare game in header file and just after pushing you are releasing it and also in dealloc method you are releasing it. Either remove the release call from dealloc method or change you method like this.
-(void) gotoGame:(int)tag {
GameViewController *game = [[GameViewController alloc] init];
[self.navigationController pushViewController:game animated:YES];
[game release];
}
UPDATE
Also you are not using the tag anywhere. Why don't you create your init method like this
GameViewController *game = [[GameViewController alloc] initWithTag:tag];
[self.navigationController pushViewController:game animated:YES];
[game release];
I was wondering something about the app delegate of my app.
Why can't I release like this :
-(BOOL)application:(UIApplication *)application
didFinishLaunchingWithOptions:(NSDictionary *)launchOptions {
RootViewController *controller = [[RootViewController alloc]
initWithNibName:#"RootViewController"
bundle:[NSBundle mainBundle]];
[self.window addSubview:controller.view];
[controller release]; // Here's my question
[self.window makeKeyAndVisible];
return YES;
}
I was almost sure that -addSubview method increase by 1 my retain count. So why do I have crash when I release my controller ? Why is it working in another class but the delegate ?
Thanks !
The other answers are correct, the UIVIewController is not being retained, what I recommend is setting the UIWindows rootViewController (only available iOS 4.0 and later) property which does retain the controller. If your app supports pre iOS 4.0 then you will need to store controller in an instance variable.
-(BOOL)application:(UIApplication *)application
didFinishLaunchingWithOptions:(NSDictionary *)launchOptions {
RootViewController *controller = [[RootViewController alloc]
initWithNibName:#"RootViewController"
bundle:[NSBundle mainBundle]];
//controller will be retained and view will set for you
window.rootViewController = controller;
[controller release];
[self.window makeKeyAndVisible];
return YES;
}
This line
[self.window addSubview:controller.view];
increases the retain count of controller.view not controller. That's why
[controller release];
creates a problem.
If this is the main window, then you don't need to worry about the memory leak, because the window is active for the entire life of the program, and all memory is purged when it terminates.
addSubView increases the retain count of the view inside of the view controller, that is why the app crashes if you release the controller.
in any case, if you don't release it, you will have a leak. the solution is creating an ivar in your class and assigning to it the view controller (instead of a local variable), then release it in dealloc.
When you add view as subview then view gets retained, not its controller. So when you release controller it gets deallocated and its view - not. As result later view try to send messages to its already deallocated controller and app crashes.
This because you are the unique owner of that controller. You just add its view as a subview of the window. Although the view gets retained by the window's view, the controller not.
So, it will get deallocated and any further use of it will make your app crash.