Breaking on a memory allocation

I keep forgetting to write this down, so it's going on the good ole weblog for searching later.

If you have your code setup to do heap allocation tracking, _CTRDBG_LEAK_CHECK_DF and you'd like to break on a specific allocation, here's what you do once you've started debugging.

Add the following to the watch window.

_crtBreakAlloc

Set the value to the allocation you'd like to break on. Now, if you're using the multi-threaded DLL runtime you'll have to provide a better context to the debugger. Like this.

{,,msvcr90d.dll}_crtBreakAlloc

So, if I'd like to see who allocated a hunk of memory, they were the 1000th caller, and they didn't free said memory, set the value to 1000, and the debugger will stop on allocation 1000.

Handy, big time handy.

Article on MSDN with more details, How to: Set Breakpoints on a Memory Allocation Number.

Labels: C++, Development, How To, Microsoft, Tricks and Tips, Visual Studio, Windows

New blogger on the street

Jerry Fahrni: "This time of year always comes with a lot of requests for medication usage data from the Pharmacy Clinical Coordinator. This year has been no exception. The most recent request was for a report identifying all medications in the pharmacy drug master that were used less than ten times in 2008. Seemed simple enough. Right." - Yes, Jerry, or Jay as the family knows him, is my brother. Jay has a PharmD from UCSF, and an insatiable need to solve Pharmacy problems using technology. He's the IT Pharmacist for Kaweah Delta District Hospital is sunny Visalia, California.

If you're into Pharmacy Informatics, you should be following Jay, he's one of the smartest people I know, and he knows how to make your hospital pharmacy operate to its' fullest potential. I'm subscribed out of curiosity.

You can also follow him on Twitter, @jfahrni.

Labels: How To, Technology, Weblogging