Memory tracking tool

• US 20040230763A1
• Filed: 05/15/2003
• Published: 11/18/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 05/15/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Schwartz, Eyal, Cohen, Shy, Spivey, John T.
• Granted Patent: US 6,965,978 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 711/170
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3466 Performance evaluation by tracing or monitoring
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3476 Data logging G06F11/14, G06F11/2205 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 12/023 Free address space management
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2201/865 Monitoring of software

Abstract

A method, medium, and computer-program product is provided for tracking memory-usage characteristics of an application. The invention includes a suite of tools to evaluate memory usage of uninstrumented binaries by tracking memory allocations, de-allocations, and in-memory-presence attributes at the module level. Memory-manipulation function calls (not limited to allocations and deallocations) are hijacked to code segments that annotate and log then-current memory characteristics. Processing is reverted back to its from-hijacked position and allowed to continue. In-memory presence of allocated memory and labels for certain points at time are tracked as well. The tracked data is logged so that algorithms can be run to extract desired information, which can be presented in various reports.

Claims

1. One or more computer-readable media having computer-useable instructions embodied thereon for performing a method of evaluating memory usage of an application comprising a plurality of modules to be run on a computing device, said method comprising:

tracking function calls related to memory manipulations of said application; and

analyzing said tracked memory manipulations.

2. The computer-readable media of claim 1, wherein said memory manipulations include memory allocations, deallocations, and in-memory-presence attributes.

3. The computer-readable media of claim 2, wherein tracking memory manipulation includes rerouting a plurality of memory-manipulation calls of said application and logging a plurality of memory characteristics associated with said application.

4. The computer-readable media of claim 3, wherein logging said plurality of memory characteristics includes outputting said memory-manipulation characteristics to a log.

5. The computer-readable media of claim 4, wherein said memory-manipulation characteristics include stack data related to a call stack associated with each of said memory manipulations.

6. The computer-readable media of claim 5, wherein said call stack is a portion of memory of said computing device having a designated top and bottom.

7. The computer-readable media of claim 6, wherein analyzing said tracked memory manipulations includes subjecting the memory characteristics to a plurality of algorithms that yield a plurality of prescribed data representations.

8. The computer-readable media of claim 7, wherein said plurality of algorithms includes a first algorithm that counts memory allocation towards one of said modules at the top of said stack.

9. The computer-readable media of claim 7, wherein said plurality of algorithms includes a second algorithm that, from a list of said modules, attributes allocations to the first module in said list.

10. The computer-readable media of claim 7, wherein said plurality of algorithms includes a third algorithm that counts memory allocation towards one of said modules whose address is at the top of said stack when a module from a module list is inclusively within said stack top and bottom.

11. The computer-readable media of claim 7, wherein said plurality of algorithms includes a fourth algorithm that, from a list of said modules, determines said top of said stack from said list and counts memory allocation towards said determined top of said stack.

12. The computer-readable media of claim 7, further comprising generating one or more reports based on said tracked memory characteristics.

13. The computer-readable media of claim 12, wherein said one or more reports includes a graphical depiction of a portion of said tracked memory characteristics.

14. The computer-readable media of claim 13, wherein said graphical depiction comprises one or more of the following:

a per-module report of memory usage at certain point in time for memory allocations made by or on behalf of one or more of said modules;

a per-module report of memory usage over time for memory allocations made by or on behalf of one or more of said modules;

a first report depicting one or more stacks by number of appearances;

a second report depicting a hierarchy of functions ordered by frequency of calls that manipulate memory;

a third report depicting memory-usage behavior of said application; and

a peak-allocation report.

15. The computer-readable media of claim 14, further including a comparison chart that compares application- or module-specific data from different runs of the application to measure improvements or regressions.

16. The computer-readable media of claim 15 wherein types of allocations are reported that include heap, virtual, memory-mapped files, page files, and code-related allocations.

17. A system for enhancing the performance of a software application to run on a computing device containing physical memory, said method comprising:

means for evaluating how said application uses said physical memory; and

means for minimizing an amount of physical memory needed to execute said application.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein said means for evaluating how said application uses said physical memory comprises:

means for tracking memory-usage characteristics of said application;

means for deriving from said memory-usage characteristics memory-usage data; and

means for storing all or a portion of said memory-usage data in a computer-readable media.

19. The system of claim 18, wherein said means for tracking memory-usage characteristics comprises means for examining said physical memory at a plurality of stages of execution of said application.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein said means for examining said physical memory comprises means for examining said physical memory incident to said application calling a memory-manipulation function.

21. The system of claim 20, wherein said memory-manipulation function includes a function related to one or more of a memory allocation, a memory deallocation and an in-memory presence attribute.

22. The system of claim 21, wherein said means for examining said physical memory comprises means for rerouting said memory-manipulation function from a first target to a second target, wherein said second target includes computer-useable instructions that examine said physical memory and then return processing to said first target.

23. The system of claim 22, further comprising means for analyzing said memory-manipulation data.

24. The system of claim 23, wherein said means for analyzing said memory-manipulation data comprises means for determining characteristics related to how said application uses said memory, which can include a stack having a top and a bottom.

25. The system of claim 24, wherein said means for determining memory behavior of the application includes means for subjecting said memory-manipulation data to one or more analysis algorithms.

26. The system of claim 25, wherein said one more analysis algorithms accomplishes one or more selections from the following:

attributes memory allocation to one of said plurality of modules at the top said stack;

from a first list of said plurality of modules, attributes memory allocations to the first module in said list found on the stack;

attributes memory allocation towards one of said plurality of modules whose address is at the top of said stack if a module from a second module list is inclusively within said call stack; and

from a list of said plurality of modules, determines said top of stack from said third list and counts memory allocation towards said determined top of said stack.

27. One or more computer-readable media comprising computer-useable instructions implementing the system recited in claim 17.

28. One or more computer-readable media having computer-useable instructions embodied thereon for performing a method of evaluating memory usage of an application, which may include a plurality of modules, to run on a computing device, said method comprising:

tracking memory operations of said application;

logging memory-manipulation data from said tracking process;

analyzing said memory-manipulation data, wherein analysis results can be provided; and

reporting results from analyzing said memory-manipulation data.

29. The computer-readable media of claim 28, wherein said memory operations include memory allocations and memory deallocations associated with the execution of said application.

30. The computer-readable media of claim 29, wherein logging memory-manipulation data from said tracking process includes logging a plurality of memory states associated with plurality of application-execution points.

31. The computer-readable media of claim 30, wherein logging a plurality of memory states comprises rerouting a plurality of function calls from a first target to a second target, wherein said target begins one or more code segments that examine a then-current memory state to generate said memory-manipulation data.

32. The computer-readable media of claim 31, wherein logging memory-manipulation data includes outputting to a log said memory-manipulation data

33. The computer-readable media of claim 32, wherein analyzing said memory-manipulation data includes one or more of:

analyzing said memory-manipulation data as it is being collected; and

/or

analyzing the memory-manipulation data within said log.

34. The computer-readable media of claim 33, wherein analyzing said memory-manipulation data comprises determining characteristics related to how said application uses said memory, which can include a stack having a top and a bottom.

35. The computer-readable media of claim 34, wherein determining memory behavior of the application includes subjecting said memory-manipulation data to one or more analysis algorithms.

36. The computer-readable media of claim 35, wherein said one more analysis algorithms accomplishes one or more selections from the following:

attributes memory allocation to one of said plurality of modules at the top said stack;

from a first list of said plurality of modules, attributes memory allocations to the first module in said list found on the stack;

attributes memory allocation towards one of said plurality of modules whose address is at the top of said stack if a module from a second module list is inclusively within said call stack; and

from a list of said plurality of modules, determines said top of stack from said a third list and counts memory allocation towards said determined top of said stack.

37. The computer-readable media of claim 36, wherein said one more analysis algorithms receives an ignore list specifying a list of program modules to exclude from said analysis algorithms.

38. The computer-readable media of claim 37, wherein reporting results includes presenting one or more of the following on a human-readable media:

said results in a graphical format;

said results in a tabular format;

said results in an internet-browser-readable format;

said results in a file-readable format, wherein said file-readable format includes one or more of a text file, a delimited file, and a comma-separated-variable (CSV) file;

per-module memory usage over time;

per-module memory usage at certain points in time;

per-module memory usage over time and at certain points in time;

a comparison of similar results over time depicting improvements and/or regressions;

peak-memory allocations over time;

page faults over time; and

memory stacks by number of appearances.

39. A method for observing memory usage of a first computer-program product having a plurality of memory-manipulation function (MMF) calls, said method comprising:

rerouting one or more of said MMF calls from an entry point of a respective MMF to a second computer-program product;

logging information about a call stack associated with said memory in a log, wherein logging said information comprises analyzing a call stack associate with said memory;

returning said rerouted MMF call(s) to said entry point of said respective function;

recording page-in and page-out operations and including labels associated with execution points of the first computer-program product; and

analyzing said log by exposing the data within said log to one or more analysis algorithms.

40. The method of claim 39, wherein analyzing said log comprises determining characteristics related to how said application uses said memory, which can include a stack having a top and a bottom.

41. The method of claim 40, wherein said one more analysis algorithms accomplishes one or more selections from the following:

attributes memory allocation to one of said plurality of application components at the top of said stack;

from a first list of said plurality of modules, attributes memory allocations to the first module in said list on the stack;

attributes memory allocation towards one application component whose address is at the top of said stack if an application component from a second application component list is inclusively within said call stack; and

from a list of a plurality of application components, determines said top of stack from said third list and counts memory allocation towards said determined top of said stack.

42. One or more computer-readable media comprising computer-useable instructions for performing the method as recited in claim 39.

43. One or more computer-readable media comprising computer-useable instructions for performing the method as recited in claim 41.

44. A memory-tracking application that evaluates memory usage of a target application that may include a plurality of modules, said memory-tracking application comprising:

a tracking component that enables said target application to have its memory usage tracked;

a controlling component that creates log of said memory usage;

an execution component that communicates with said tracking component and said controlling component to direct an examination of memory-usage characteristics of said target application; and

a parsing component that parses said log to create memory-usage reports.

45. The memory-tracking application of claim 44, wherein said tracking component enables tracking of uninstrumented binary code.

46. The memory-tracking application of claim 45, wherein tracking said uninstrumented binary code comprises tracking memory manipulations.

47. The memory-tracking application of claim 46, wherein memory manipulations include memory allocations, deallocations and in-physical-memory presence attributes.

48. The memory-tracking application of claim 44, wherein said controlling component comprises an annotating component that provides labels related to specific execution points.

49. The memory-tracking application of claim 44, wherein said reports comprise one or more of the following:

a per-module report of memory usage at certain point in time for memory allocations made by or on behalf of one or more of said modules;

a per-module report of memory usage over time for memory allocations made by or on behalf of one or more of said modules;

a first report depicting one or more stacks by number of appearances;

a second report depicting a hierarchy of functions ordered by frequency of calls that manipulate memory;

a third report depicting memory-usage behavior of said application; and

a peak-allocation report.