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Re: about memory [message #25145 is a reply to message #25143]

Tue, 22 May 2001 07:30

Med Bennett
Messages: 109
Registered: April 1997

Senior Member

Craig Markwardt wrote:

> Amar Nayegandhi <anayegan@csee.usf.edu> writes:
>
>> This is a general question about memory management.
>> can i free memory allocated to an array if I have finished using it in
>> the program? suppose
>> arr_a = fltarr(10000,10000)
>> if i don't need array arr_a anymore, would
>> arr_a = 0
>> free the memory used by arr_a? I would expect it to now utilize only
>> 2(or 4) bytes of memory.
>
> The answer to the question is "yes," but also "it depends." The
> answer is "yes" because the memory is indeed made available again to
> the same IDL process. I use
>
> A = 0
>
> every day when I am done with a variable. It's totally legit. Hong
> may need go no further than this, although I agree that he's dealing
> with extremely large arrays which might be better suited with a tiled
> or chunked approach.
>
> The answer is also "it depends," because it depends on which platform
> you are using. I believe that under Windows the memory is actually
> returned to the OS. Thus, other programs are able to use the memory
> again. Under Unix this is much less likely, so once the memory is
> allocated to one session of IDL, it stays there until the session ends
> (and is not available to another process). [ I think this is not
> *always* true, but mostly true. ]
>
> Every so often somebody asks, "why is IDL eating all my memory?" It's
> basically unavoidable. Sorry for this diversion.
>
> Craig
>
> --
> ------------------------------------------------------------ --------------
> Craig B. Markwardt, Ph.D. EMAIL: craigmnet@cow.physics.wisc.edu
> Astrophysics, IDL, Finance, Derivatives | Remove "net" for better response
> ------------------------------------------------------------ --------------

Just curious - why not 'delvar,a'? Is this not as effective (or more so) than
'a=0'?

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[Message index]

		Re: about memory By: Craig Markwardt on Tue, 22 May 2001 09:21
		Re: about memory By: davidf on Tue, 22 May 2001 07:52
		Re: about memory By: Med Bennett on Tue, 22 May 2001 07:30
		Re: about memory By: Craig Markwardt on Mon, 21 May 2001 17:08
		Re: about memory By: Amar Nayegandhi on Mon, 21 May 2001 15:38
		Re: about memory By: thompson on Mon, 21 May 2001 15:01
		Re: about memory By: Jaco van Gorkom on Mon, 21 May 2001 14:33

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