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.. _module-pw_allocator:
------------
pw_allocator
------------
This module provides various building blocks
for a dynamic allocator. This is composed of the following parts:
- ``block``: An implementation of a linked list of memory blocks, supporting
splitting and merging of blocks.
- ``freelist``: A freelist, suitable for fast lookups of available memory
chunks (i.e. ``block`` s).
Heap Integrity Check
====================
The ``Block`` class provides two sanity check functions:
- ``bool Block::IsValid()``: Returns ``true`` is the given block is valid
and ``false`` otherwise.
- ``void Block::CrashIfInvalid()``: Crash the program and output the reason
why sanity check fails using ``PW_DCHECK``.
Heap Poisoning
==============
By default, this module disables heap poisoning since it requires extra space.
User can enable heap poisoning by enabling the ``pw_allocator_POISON_HEAP``
build arg.
.. code:: sh
$ gn args out
# Modify and save the args file to use heap poison.
pw_allocator_POISON_HEAP = true
When heap poisoning is enabled, ``pw_allocator`` will add ``sizeof(void*)``
bytes before and after the usable space of each ``Block``, and paint the space
with a hard-coded randomized pattern. During each sanity check, ``pw_allocator``
will check if the painted space still remains the pattern, and return ``false``
if the pattern is damaged.
Heap Visualizer
===============
Functionality
-------------
``pw_allocator`` supplies a pw command ``pw heap-viewer`` to help visualize
the state of the heap at the end of a dump file. The heap is represented by
ASCII characters, where each character represents 4 bytes in the heap.
.. image:: doc_resources/pw_allocator_heap_visualizer_demo.png
Usage
-----
The heap visualizer can be launched from a shell using the Pigweed environment.
.. code:: sh
$ pw heap-viewer --dump-file <directory of dump file> --heap-low-address
<hex address of heap lower address> --heap-high-address <hex address of heap
lower address> [options]
The required arguments are:
- ``--dump-file`` is the path of a file that contains ``malloc/free``
information. Each line in the dump file represents a ``malloc/free`` call.
``malloc`` is represented as ``m <size> <memory address>`` and ``free`` is
represented as ``f <memory address>``. For example, a dump file should look
like:
.. code:: sh
m 20 0x20004450 # malloc 20 bytes, the pointer is 0x20004450
m 8 0x2000447c # malloc 8 bytes, the pointer is 0x2000447c
f 0x2000447c # free the pointer at 0x2000447c
...
Any line not formatted as the above will be ignored.
- ``--heap-low-address`` is the start of the heap. For example:
.. code:: sh
--heap-low-address 0x20004440
- ``--heap-high-address`` is the end of the heap. For example:
.. code:: sh
--heap-high-address 0x20006040
Options include the following:
- ``--poison-enable``: If heap poisoning is enabled during the
allocation or not. The value is ``False`` if the option is not specified and
``True`` otherwise.
- ``--pointer-size <integer of pointer size>``: The size of a pointer on the
machine where ``malloc/free`` is called. The default value is ``4``.
Note, this module, and its documentation, is currently incomplete and
experimental.