Method and system for automated debugging memory allocation and memory release

• US 9,852,046 B1
• Filed: 05/07/2015
• Issued: 12/26/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 05/07/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cadence Design Systems Incorporated (Cadence Group)
• Original Assignee: Cadence Design Systems Incorporated (Cadence Group)
• Inventors: Melnikov, Rodion, Ashkenazi, Yonatan, Ovadia, Meir
• Primary Examiner(s): Tecklu, Isaac T
• Application Number:
  US14/706,103
• Time in Patent Office: 964 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3636 by tracing the execution of the program
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2201/86 Event-based monitoring
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/70 Software maintenance or management

Abstract

A method and system for debugging memory allocation and memory release may include recording execution events of an execution run of a program including data related to objects pertaining to that program, and data related to object association pertaining to that program at a plurality of points in time. The method may also include receiving via a user interface a user selection of an object of said objects. The method may further include identifying one or a plurality of pointers pointing from one or a plurality of objects at the selected object based on the recorded data related to object association and finding one or a plurality of execution events of said execution events corresponding to assignments of said one or a plurality of pointers. The method may further include distinctly marking a portion of the code, presented to the user on a display device, representing said one or a plurality of execution events that correspond to assignments of said one or a plurality of pointers.

Claims

1. A method for automated debugging memory allocation and memory release, the method comprising:

recording execution events of an execution run of a program including data related to objects pertaining to that program, and data related to object association pertaining to that program at a plurality of points in time during the execution run;

during post-process debugging after the execution run, receiving via a user interface a user selection of an object of said objects;

identifying one or a plurality of pointers pointing from one or a plurality of objects at the selected object based on the recorded data related to object association and finding one or a plurality of execution events of said execution events corresponding to assignments of said one or a plurality of pointers; and

distinctly marking a portion of the code, presented to the user on a display device, representing said one or a plurality of execution events that correspond to assignments of said one or a plurality of pointers.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising performing an automated analysis on the recorded data related to object association and recorded execution events to find one or a plurality of objects of interest and mark a portion of the code, presented to the user on a display device, representing one or a plurality of said execution events that correspond to assignments of one or a plurality of pointers, pointing at said one or a plurality of objects of interest.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising generating an object association graph for the objects from the recorded data related to object association, for one or a plurality of points of time of said plurality of points in time.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising saving object characteristics of the one or a plurality of objects to a database.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the object characteristics are selected from the group of object characteristics consisting of size, cause for non-erasure, object or objects that point at the selected object, and names of fields through which they point at the selected object.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising identifying one or a plurality of objects that have assigned pointers to the selected object and information about fields relating to the pointers in data related to the object association for a given point of time.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising, based on the identified one or a plurality of objects that have assigned pointers to the selected object, identifying one or a plurality of execution events of said execution events corresponding to the assigned pointers relating to a point in time that is same or closest in the past to the given point of time.

8. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium for automated debugging memory allocation and memory release, having stored thereon instructions that when executed by a processor will cause the processor to:

record execution events of an execution run of a program including data related to objects pertaining to that program, and data related to object association pertaining to that program at a plurality of points in time during the execution run;

during post-process debugging after the execution run, receive via a user interface a user selection of an object of said objects;

identify one or a plurality of pointers pointing from one or a plurality of objects at the selected object based on the recorded data related to object association and finding one or a plurality of execution events of said execution events corresponding to assignments of said one or a plurality of pointers; and

distinctly mark a portion of the code, presented to the user on a display device, representing said one or a plurality of execution events that correspond to assignments of said one or a plurality of pointers.

9. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 8, further having stored thereon instructions that when executed by a processor will cause the processor to perform an automated analysis on the recorded data related to object association and recorded execution events to find one or a plurality of objects of interest and mark a portion of the code, presented to the user on a display device, representing one or a plurality of said execution events that correspond to assignments of one or a plurality of pointers, pointing at said one or a plurality of objects of interest.

10. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 8, further having stored thereon instructions that when executed by a processor will cause the processor to generate an object association graph for the objects from the recorded data related to object association, for one or a plurality of points of time of said plurality of points in time.

11. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 10, further having stored thereon instructions that when executed by a processor will cause the processor to save object characteristics of the one or a plurality of objects to a database.

12. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 10, wherein the object characteristics are selected from the group of object characteristics consisting of size, cause for non-erasure, object or objects that point at the selected object, and names of fields through which they point at the selected object.

13. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 8, further having stored thereon instructions that when executed by a processor will cause the processor to identify one or a plurality of objects that have assigned pointers to the selected object and information about fields relating to the pointers in data related to the object association for a given point of time.

14. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 13, further having stored thereon instructions that when executed by a processor will cause the processor to identify, based on the identified one or a plurality of objects that have assigned pointers to the selected object, one or a plurality of execution events of said execution events corresponding to the assigned pointers relating to a point in time that is same or closest in the past to the given point of time.

19. The system of claim 13, wherein the processing unit is further configured to identify, based on the identified one or a plurality of objects that have assigned pointers to the selected object, one or a plurality of execution events of said execution events corresponding to the assigned pointers relating to a point in time that is same or closest in the past to the given point of time.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein the processing unit is further configured to identify, based on the identified one or a plurality of objects that have assigned pointers to the selected object, one or a plurality of execution events of said execution events corresponding to the assigned pointers relating to a point in time that is same or closest in the past to the given point of time.

15. A system for automated debugging memory allocation and memory release, the system comprising:

a storage device; and

a processing unit, coupled to the storage device and configured to;

record execution events of an execution run of a program including data related to objects pertaining to that program, and data related to object association pertaining to that program at a plurality of points in time during the execution run;

during post-process debugging after the execution run, receive via a user interface a user selection of an object of said objects;

identify one or a plurality of pointers pointing from one or a plurality of objects at the selected object based on the recorded data related to object association and finding one or a plurality of execution events of said execution events corresponding to assignments of said one or a plurality of pointers; and

distinctly mark a portion of the code, presented to the user on a display device, representing said one or a plurality of execution events that correspond to assignments of said one or a plurality of pointers.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the processing unit is further configured to perform an automated analysis on the recorded data related to object association and recorded execution events to find one or a plurality of objects of interest and mark a portion of the code, presented to the user on a display device, representing one or a plurality of said execution events that correspond to assignments of one or a plurality of pointers, pointing at said one or a plurality of objects of interest.

17. The system of claim 15, wherein the processing unit is further configured to generate an object association graph for the objects from the recorded data related to object association, for one or a plurality of points of time of said plurality of points in time.

18. The system of claim 16, wherein the processing unit is further configured to save object characteristics of the one or a plurality of objects to a database.