[erlang-questions] Deterministic destruction of NIF resources

[Roger Lipscombe]

Assuming I'm tracing correctly (see below), that's not the cause. I
see the 'exit' trace events fairly soon after the process dies, but I
don't see the resource destructor being called until later, and
usually in a clump:

Alloc wrapper resource 0x2b038eb01620
sup <0.2167.0> spawned <0.3013.0>
Alloc wrapper resource 0x2b038ec80328
<0.3013.0> exit {timeout,moo}
sup <0.2167.0> spawned <0.3049.0>
Alloc wrapper resource 0x2b038ec801e0
Free wrapper resource 0x2b038ec80328
Free wrapper resource 0x2b038eb01620
<0.3049.0> exit {timeout,moo}
sup <0.2167.0> spawned <0.15256.0>
Alloc wrapper resource 0x2b038ea80c70
<0.15256.0> exit {timeout,moo}
sup <0.2167.0> spawned <0.17734.0>
Alloc wrapper resource 0x2b038eac7de0
<0.17734.0> exit {timeout,moo}
sup <0.2167.0> spawned <0.18825.0>
Alloc wrapper resource 0x2b038eb48098
<0.18825.0> exit {timeout,moo}
sup <0.2167.0> spawned <0.19267.0>
Alloc wrapper resource 0x2b038eb00260
<0.19267.0> exit {timeout,moo}
sup <0.2167.0> spawned <0.19616.0>
Alloc wrapper resource 0x2b038ea80b88
<0.19616.0> exit {timeout,moo}
sup <0.2167.0> spawned <0.20068.0>
Alloc wrapper resource 0x2b038eac2930
<0.20068.0> exit {timeout,moo}
sup <0.2167.0> spawned <0.20424.0>
Alloc wrapper resource 0x2b038eac1328
<0.20424.0> exit {timeout,moo}
sup <0.2167.0> spawned <0.20649.0>
Alloc wrapper resource 0x2b038eac2aa0
<0.20649.0> exit {timeout,moo}
sup <0.2167.0> spawned <0.20663.0>
Alloc wrapper resource 0x2b038ea84118
Free wrapper resource 0x2b038eac2aa0
Free wrapper resource 0x2b038eac1328
Free wrapper resource 0x2b038eac2930
Free wrapper resource 0x2b038ea80b88
Free wrapper resource 0x2b038eb00260
Free wrapper resource 0x2b038eb48098
Free wrapper resource 0x2b038eac7de0
Free wrapper resource 0x2b038ea80c70
Free wrapper resource 0x2b038ec801e0
<0.20663.0> exit {timeout,moo}
sup <0.2167.0> spawned <0.20679.0>
Alloc wrapper resource 0x2b038ea80b88

The "... wrapper resource ..." lines are from the NIF; the other lines
are from tracing:

SupPid = whereis(agents_sup).

TFun = fun TFun(State) ->
        receive
            {trace, ByPid, spawn, Pid, _} when ByPid =:= SupPid ->
                io:format("sup ~p spawned ~p~n", [ByPid, Pid]),
                State2 = [Pid | State],
                TFun(State2);
            {trace, Pid, exit, Reason} = M ->
                case lists:member(Pid, State) of
                    true ->
                        io:format("~p exit ~p~n", [Pid, Reason]);
                    _ ->
                        ok
                end,
                TFun(State);
            Other ->
                TFun(State)
        end
    end.
TPid = spawn(fun() -> TFun([]) end).
erlang:trace(all, true, [procs, {tracer, TPid}]).


On 15 July 2016 at 15:53, Lukas Larsson <garazdawi@REDACTED> wrote:
> How do you know when the process dies?
>
> If you aren't already you should use the trace flag 'exiting'
> (http://erlang.org/doc/man/erlang.html#trace-3) to figure out when a process
> actually has died. ERTS will delay process death after you send it a
> termination signal for various reasons.
>
> On Fri, Jul 15, 2016 at 4:39 PM, Roger Lipscombe <roger@REDACTED>
> wrote:
>>
>> Sorry, let me rephrase: they're not garbage collected *when* that
>> process dies. The destructor is sometimes called immediately, and
>> sometimes at some point in the future. Can I make this deterministic?
>>
>> And, no, the resource has not been sent to another process or stored in
>> ETS.
>>
>> On 15 July 2016 at 15:10, Sergej Jurečko <sergej.jurecko@REDACTED> wrote:
>> >
>> > On 15 Jul 2016, at 15:57, Roger Lipscombe <roger@REDACTED>
>> > wrote:
>> >
>> > because they're not garbage collected when that
>> > process dies.
>> >
>> >
>> > Then there is an outstanding reference to the resource. Has it been sent
>> > to
>> > another process or stored in an ETS?
>> >
>> >
>> > Sergej
>> _______________________________________________
>> erlang-questions mailing list
>> erlang-questions@REDACTED
>> http://erlang.org/mailman/listinfo/erlang-questions
>
>