[Serusers] Pkg_malloc

[Greg Fausak]

Jiri,

I have a postgres module stumbling along.
It actually was a lot more work than I thought it would be.
However, it is much less work than it could have been...the layering
is very nice in SER.

One thing I found difficult (probably because I'm getting older and
can't program like I used to) is keeping track of memory.  I've written
too much java, and before that my partner wrote a memory allocation
routines that I have used over the years.  I have discussed it with
him (Andy Fullford) and he said he would donate these routines to your
project if
you deem it appropriate.  Basically, they allow parent/child
memory relationships.  When the parent is freed, all of the children
are freed.  Here is the manual page:

http://dubious.august.com/man/libaug/aug_alloc.htmm

Anyway, there are a couple of issues I have hit with the
Postgres module and database.  First, the column 'user' won't
work in postgres, as it is a reserved word.  So, I went with 'user_id'.
This involved changing many other programs in different modules.

Second, I won't be able to completely test the module.
I have tested it with my ser.cfg file, which just does
subscriber and location table updates.  There are a bunch
of other tables used by other modules that I haven't tested
because I don't use them and don't know how.

Third, I haven't worked in a public project before.  Obviously handing
off the postgres module directory will be easy, but the tiny changes
for 'user' to 'user_id' in the many other files in other modules, how
do I forward those changes, or do you even want them?

Fourth, there are other files that are related to the new database
module that need to be written.  For instance, serctl is wrapped up
in mysql, and there is the database creation script itself.  I will
write these postgres based files, but at a slower pace over the next
month.
If true database portability is desired, then serctl needs an
abstraction
layer that isn't there now.  Also, the database creation gear can be
written
in xml, but that complexity probably isn't warranted.  I simply hacked
my postgres database creation.

---greg



> -----Original Message-----
> From: serusers-admin at lists.iptel.org 
> [mailto:serusers-admin at lists.iptel.org] On Behalf Of Jiri Kuthan
> Sent: Saturday, March 01, 2003 10:37 AM
> To: Greg Fausak; serusers at lists.iptel.org
> Subject: Re: [Serusers] Pkg_malloc
> 
> 
> At 02:08 AM 3/1/2003, Greg Fausak wrote:
> >Is pkg_malloc some sort of memory management thing?
> >I mean, do I have to clean up, or does something come in and clean
> >up behind me?
> 
> It is our own malloc libary. Use malloc to allocate dynamic memory
> and free to give it away then. 
> 
> We are using it rather than stdlib malloc because it has some 
> convenient 
> debugging features, can be very fast, and can be used with shmem too.
> 
> >Is there a parent/child memory mallocator available?  It
> >would make freeing easier.  A single free of the parent
> >rather than keeping track myself.
> 
> We do everything manually. It takes more core but is self-rewarding
> in terms of speed and clarity.
> 
> If you are worried about leaks, turn on the debugging version
> (you need to set the proper defs in Makefile.defs) -- after 
> termination,
> ser will print all unreleased fragments.
> 
> -jiri 
> 
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