1 Visual Leak Detector (VLD) Version 2.4.0
4 Change Log / Release Notes
7 ----------------------------
9 + VS2013 support added.
10 + Improved usage in C code.
11 + Setup rewrited to InnoSetup, autopatching common props implemented for VS2008-2013.
12 + Called allocation function added to printed callstack.
13 ! Memory leaks count fixed for case static/dynamic linked MFC.
14 ! Release static linked CRT detection improved (VLD_OPT_RELEASE_CRT_RUNTIME define removed).
17 + Memory leaks with static linked CRT fixed for VS2012/2013.
18 + Deadlock fixed and missed memory leaks when dll loading (first appear in version 2.2.2).
21 ----------------------------
23 + Windows 8 support added.
26 + Memory leaks with duplicate thread id fixed (thanks to jlddodger).
28 2.2.3 (15 Febrary 2012)
29 ----------------------------
31 + New option VLD_OPT_RELEASE_CRT_RUNTIME added. Useful only with define VLD_FORCE_ENABLE.
34 + Memory leaks with static linking fixed finally.
36 2.2.2 (18 December 2011)
37 ----------------------------
39 + Memory leaks with static linking fixed.
40 + Visual Studio C++ 2008/2010 Express Edition compilation fixed.
41 + Hang fixed with GetOpenFileName().
43 2.2.1 (22 November 2011)
44 ----------------------------
46 + strdup and _wcsdup functions support added.
47 + Preliminary support for VS 11 added.
50 + Low performance after upgrading from VLD v2.1.
51 + Runtime error R6002 fixed because of wrong memory dump format.
52 + version.h fixed in installer.
53 + Some PVS studio warning fixed.
56 ----------------------------
58 + New functions added: VLDSetReportHook.
61 + Resolved call stack printing fixed.
64 ----------------------------
66 + New functions added: VLDGetLeaksCount, VLDMarkAllLeaksAsReported (see vld.h).
67 + Introduced define called VLD_FORCE_ENABLE that allows one to active VLD even if not running in DEBUG.
68 + Adding Heap Validation.
69 + _aligned... functions and _recalloc support added.
70 + Memory leaks additional statistic added.
73 + Issue fixed with loading wrong version of dbghelp.dll on Windows XP and bellow.
74 + VLDReportLeaks with aggregate duplicate links fixed.
75 + CoTaskMemAlloc memory leak detection fixed.
76 + Rare crash at exit on some platforms fixed.
77 + Asserts in release build disabled.
79 + LoadLibrary crash fixed with some applications like regsrv32.
80 + Callstack hash fixed with ASLR.
81 + VLDGlobalEnable fixed with new threads.
82 + Option VLD_OPT_MODULE_LIST_INCLUDE fixed.
85 ----------------------------
87 + New functions added: VLDGlobalDisable, VLDGlobalEnable, VLDGetOptions,
88 VLDGetReportFilename, VLDSetOptions, VLDSetModulesList,
89 VLDGetModulesList, VLDResolveCallstacks (see vld.h).
90 + Option VLD_OPT_SKIP_HEAPFREE_LEAKS added.
91 + Hash for each leak added
92 + Supported loading symbols from Visual Studio symbol cache directory
95 + Improved LdrLoadDll, GetProcAddress hooking on Windows 7.
96 + "HMODULE not founded" bug fixed.
97 + Bugs fixed when VLD off.
98 + Problem fixed with GetModuleHandleW for SxS dll's (mfc*.dll, msvcr*.dll).
99 + Unicode-to-multibyte conversion fixed.
102 ----------------------------
104 + New functions added: VLDGlobalDisable, VLDGlobalEnable, VLDGetOptions,
105 VLDGetReportFilename, VLDSetOptions, VLDSetModulesList,
106 VLDGetModulesList, VLDResolveCallstacks (see vld.h).
107 + Option VLD_OPT_SKIP_HEAPFREE_LEAKS added.
108 + Hash for each leak added
109 + Supported loading symbols from Visual Studio symbol cache directory
112 + Improved LdrLoadDll, GetProcAddress hooking on Windows 7.
113 + "HMODULE not founded" bug fixed.
114 + Bugs fixed when VLD off.
115 + Problem fixed with GetModuleHandleW for SxS dll's (mfc*.dll, msvcr*.dll).
116 + Unicode-to-multibyte conversion fixed.
118 2.0b (24 August 2010)
119 ----------------------------
121 + Added new commands: VLDReportLeaks, VLDRefreshModules, VLDEnableModule,
122 VLDDisableModule, VLDSetReportOptions (see vld.h).
125 + Problems with MSVC 2008 SP1 fixed. Thanks to Laurent Lessieux for contributing this patch.
128 ----------------------------
130 + Renamed vld dll files.
133 + Problem with MSVC 2010 Unicode library fixed.
136 ----------------------------
138 + Added support to work with 64-bit applications
139 + Added support to work with Visual Studio 2010
141 1.9h beta (24 February 2009)
142 ----------------------------
144 + Added support to work with Visual Studio 2008.
146 Known Bugs/Restrictions:
147 + Same bugs/restrictions as version 1.9f.
150 1.9g beta (16 April 2008)
151 ----------------------------
153 + Another deadlock condition may occur when loading DLLs into the process
154 being debugged. Special thanks to Eric Bissonnette and Kristian Paradis for
155 contributing this patch.
157 Known Bugs/Restrictions:
158 + Same bugs/restrictions as version 1.9f.
161 1.9f beta (18 November 2006)
162 ----------------------------
164 + Deadlocks or access violations may occur when loading DLLs into
165 multithreaded processes.
167 + In multithreaded programs, if the main thread terminates before other
168 threads in the process, then Visual Leak Detector may cause an access
169 violation while generating the memory leak report.
171 Known Bugs/Restrictions:
172 + Memory allocations made through calls to functions loaded from a DLL using
173 delayed loading may not be detected.
175 + Support for programs that use MFC 7.0 or MFC 7.1 is not complete yet. Some
176 memory leaks from such MFC-based programs may not be detected.
178 + Visual Leak Detector may report leaks internal to Visual Leak Detector
179 if the main thread of the process terminates while other threads are still
182 + If more than one copy of the same C Runtime DLL is loaded in the process at
183 the same time, then some leaks may go undetected (note that loading more
184 than one copy of the C Runtime DLL into a process at the same time is
185 probably a bad idea to begin with).
188 1.9e beta (16 November 2006)
189 ----------------------------
190 New Features/Enhancements:
191 + Added a master on/off switch configuration option to vld.ini that can be
192 used to completely disable Visual Leak Detector.
195 + Numerous deadlock situations. The multithread synchronization scheme has
196 been completely re-written which should make deadlocks in VLD much less
199 + An access violation will occur in VLD if GetProcAddress is called to obtain
200 an export's address by ordinal, for certain libraries.
202 + Problems may potentially occur when the program being debugged exits due to
203 the Debug Help Library having been detached from the process too early.
204 Symptoms might include access violation exceptions or other erratic behavior
205 just as the program exits and while VLD is generating the leak report.
207 + The copy of vld.ini installed in VLD's installation directory overrides any
208 other copies of vld.ini that are created, even copies placed in the
209 working directory of the program being debugged.
211 Known Bugs/Restrictions:
212 + Memory allocations made through calls to functions loaded from a DLL using
213 delayed loading may not be detected.
215 + Support for programs that use MFC 7.0 or MFC 7.1 is not complete yet. Some
216 memory leaks from such MFC-based programs may not be detected.
218 + If more than one copy of the same C Runtime DLL is loaded in the process at
219 the same time, then some leaks may go undetected (note that loading more
220 than one copy of the C Runtime DLL into a process at the same time is
221 probably a bad idea to begin with).
224 1.9d beta (12 November 2006)
225 ----------------------------
227 + Failed assertion "freed == TRUE" pops up when running a program with VLD
228 without the debugger attached.
230 + Some, but not all, multithreaded programs that dynamically load and unload
231 many DLLs have been known to experience problems, such as deadlocks or
232 exceptions, when used with VLD.
234 + Failed assertion "exportmodule != NULL" pops up when running some programs
237 + VLD fails to show file names or function names in the memory leak report for
238 some programs that are linked with the dynamic CRT library.
240 + Access violation exceptions are thrown, but caught by the operating system,
241 when running some programs with VLD.
244 1.9c beta (6 November 2006)
245 ---------------------------
246 New Features/Enhancements:
247 + New NSIS installer makes setting up and using VLD much easier.
249 + No need to manually copy dbghelp.dll to the right location, VLD will always
250 find the right version.
252 + MFC 8.0 is now fully supported.
254 + The memory leak report is now written to the output window much faster.
255 Support has been added, through a new configuration option, to slow down
256 the report output for older versions of Visual Studio that have trouble
257 when it is written too quickly.
260 + All known compatibilities with Visual Studio 2005 have been eliminated.
262 + Leaks from calloc may go undetected.
264 + Leaks from vector new operator may go undetected.
266 + VLDDisable and VLDEnable do not work as expected; some memory leaks that
267 should be ignored by VLD due to a previous call to VLDDisable are still
270 + Unloading and reloading a previously loaded module may cause leaks that
271 occur in the module after it was reloaded to go undetected.
273 + If vld.h is included in a release build, then the compiler will generate
274 errors if the VLDEnable or VLDDisable APIs have been used.
277 1.9b beta (26 October 2006)
278 ---------------------------
280 + Source compiles under Visual Studio 2005 and the binaries are compatible
281 with applications that link with the Visual Studio 2005 C Runtime Library
284 Known Restrictions in this Release:
285 + Memory allocations made through calls to functions loaded from a DLL using
286 delayed loading may not be detected.
288 + Support for programs that use MFC 7.0, MFC 7.1, or MFC 8.0 is not complete
289 yet. Some memory leaks from such MFC-based programs may not be detected. A
290 workaround for this restriction is to forcefully include the MFC DLLs in
291 memory leak detection, by setting the "ForceIncludeModules" configuration
292 option to: "mfc70d.dll mfc71d.dll mfc80d.dll" and explicitly adding vld.lib
293 as an input file on the linker command line (can be added through project
294 settings by adding it to the list of library modules in the linker options).
295 This restriction does not apply to programs that use MFC 4.2, which is fully
299 1.9a beta (9 March 2006)
300 ------------------------
301 New Features/Enhancements:
302 + All new leak detection engine detects most, if not all, in-process memory
303 leaks, not just leaks from "new" or "malloc", including COM-based leaks.
305 + Packaged as an easier-to-use DLL. There's no longer any need to carefully
306 decide which modules should be linked with the VLD library. Instead, you
307 just include the vld.h header file in at least one source file from each
308 module (DLL or EXE) to be included in memory leak detection.
310 + Configuration is done from an INI file instead of using preprocessor macros.
311 This allows VLD's configuration to be changed without needing to recompile
314 + Many new configuration options have been added. One of the most often
315 requested option that has been added is the option to save the leak report
316 to a file instead of, or in addition to, the debugger.
319 + The improved design of the new leak detection engine has resolved all of the
320 previously known restrictions in version 1.0.
322 Known Restrictions in this Release:
323 + Memory allocations made through calls to functions loaded from a DLL using
324 delayed loading may not be detected.
326 + Support for programs that use MFC 7.0, MFC 7.1, or MFC 8.0 is not complete
327 yet. Some memory leaks from such MFC-based programs may not be detected. A
328 workaround for this restriction is to forcefully include the MFC DLLs in
329 memory leak detection, by setting the "ForceIncludeModules" configuration
330 option to: "mfc70d.dll mfc71d.dll mfc80d.dll" and explicitly adding vld.lib
331 as an input file on the linker command line (can be added through project
332 settings by adding it to the list of library modules in the linker options).
333 This restriction does not apply to programs that use MFC 4.2, which is fully
339 New Features/Enhancements:
340 + Memory leak detection can now be selectively disabled and enabled at
341 runtime, using provided APIs. This provides a straightforward way of
342 allowing VLD to selectively "ignore" certain allocations. It can also be
343 used to disable VLD altogether at runtime, improving application performance
344 without needing to recompile.
346 + If there are multiple identical memory leaks (i.e. leaks that originate from
347 the same call stack and that leak the same size memory block) then VLD can
348 optionally aggregate all of the repeated leaks, showing only the first such
349 leaked block in detail in the memory leak report. A tally of the total
350 number of leaks that match that particular size and call stack accompanies
351 the information for that leak.
353 + When VLD is initialized at program startup, the library type which was
354 linked-in is displayed. This can help verify that the expected VLD library
355 (either single-threaded static, multithreaded static, or multithreaded DLL)
356 is being linked with your program.
358 + The Visual Leak Detector name is displayed on most messages output to the
359 debugger to easily differentiate VLD's output from the output produced by
360 the built-in memory leak detector.
362 + If any of the compile-time configuration options have been changed from
363 their default values, then the current state of the option is displayed in
364 the debugger when VLD is initialized.
366 + VLD's memory leak self-checking capability (checking for leaks in VLD
367 itself) can be verified using a new preprocessor macro that allows VLD to
368 perform a self-test at runtime.
371 + If the MFC libraries are statically linked to the program being debugged,
372 then MFC will erroneously report memory leaks in the Visual Leak Detector
373 code and may cause an access violation while attempting to report the false
374 memory leaks. These bogus leaks are always reported as "client block at
375 <address>, subtype bf42" and are claimed to be "invalid objects".
377 + VLD will leak a fixed-sized block of memory when the program exits if VLD
378 failed to initialize because the Debug Help library (dbghelp.dll) could not
381 + In multithreaded programs, if the program's main thread terminates before
382 other threads in the same process, then VLD may cause an access violation
383 while freeing resources used internally by VLD.
386 0.9i beta (30 April 2005)
387 -------------------------
388 New Features/Enhancements:
389 + Added support in the source code for x64 architecture. The pre-built
390 libraries will continue to support 32-bit only. If you need 64-bit support
391 you'll need to build 64-bit versions of the libraries from source. Note that
392 x64 is the only 64-bit architecture supported at this time. Itanium (aka
393 IA-64) is NOT currently supported.
396 + VLD does not report memory leaks that are the result of a failure to free
397 memory allocated via a call to realloc().
398 + In multithreaded programs, if the program's main thread terminates before
399 other threads in the same process, then VLD may cause an access violation
400 while checking for memory leaks.
401 + If VLD cannot find the source file and line number information for a program
402 address, the last known file and line number will be repeated in the call
403 stack section of the memory leak report. The correct behavior should be for
404 VLD to print "File and line number not available" for that call stack entry.
407 0.9h beta (22 April 2005)
408 -------------------------
410 + Access Violations occur at random places within the VLD code when using
412 + When using VLD version 0.9g, VLD may fail to report some memory leaks.
415 0.9g beta (22 April 2005)
416 -------------------------
417 New Features/Enhancements:
418 + Replaced the temporary internal search algorithm with a permanent search
419 algorithm that is much faster. Programs that dynamically allocate a large
420 number of memory blocks (tens of thousands or more) will see the most
421 significant performance boost from this version of VLD versus the previous
422 version. Overall, this is the fastest version of VLD released to date.
425 0.9f beta (13 April 2005)
426 -------------------------
427 New Features/Enhancements:
428 + Changed the internal search algorithm to a temporary simpler, but
429 more stable algorithm. A permanent algorithm which should be much
430 more efficient will be in a forthcoming release.
433 + Access Violation at line 319 in vldutil.cpp may occur when running a
434 program linked with the VLD library.
437 0.9e beta (12 April 2005)
438 -------------------------
439 New Features/Enhancements:
440 + VLD no longer uses any STL containers or STL strings. This solves all of the
441 compatibility problems with Visual Studio .NET when using the pre-built
444 + The configuration preprocessor macros now work with C programs without the
445 need to call VLDConfigure from within the program being debugged.
446 Because VLDConfigure is now obsolete, it has been removed.
448 + One new source file (vldutil.cpp) and one new header (vldutil.h) have been
449 added. They contain utility functions and utility classes that replace
450 functionality previously performed by STL containers and strings.
452 + The VisualLeakDetector global class object is now constructed at C runtime
453 initialization (i.e. it resides in the "compiler" initialization area).
454 Because VLD no longer uses any STL components, there is no longer the risk
455 that VLD will conflict with any STL libraries that also are constructed at
456 C runtime initialization. The end result is that VLD starts running earlier
457 and is destroyed later, which leads to more accurate leak detection.
460 + Linking to the VLD 0.9d libraries from the VLD distribution under Visual
461 Studio .NET results in a number of linker "unresolved external symbol"
462 errors. Unresolved symbols include "__declspec(dllimport) void __cdecl
463 std::_Xran(void)" and "__declspec(dllimport) private: void __thiscall
464 std::basic_string,class std::allocator >::_Eos(unsigned int)", among others.
466 + Call stacks do not appear in the memory leak report when linking against
467 release VLD libraries built from source with Visual Studio .NET.
469 + If the preprocessor macro VLD_MAX_DATA_DUMP is defined as 0 (zero), then VLD
470 will get stuck in an infinite loop, repeatedly printing the same information
471 while attempting to display the memory leak report in the debugger's output
475 0.9d beta (30 March 2005)
476 -------------------------
477 New Features/Enhancements:
478 + This version of VLD brings with it some major changes to the way VLD
479 interfaces with programs that use it. Instead of requiring that VLD be built
480 from source and then linked with the application, VLD is now packaged as a
481 pre-built static library. For those who just want to use VLD and are not
482 interested in modifying the source, this eliminates the complexities of
483 building VLD from source. A single header file, vld.h, has been added. To
484 link with the static library, this header needs to be included in one of the
485 program's source files. Please see the README.txt file for details on how
486 these changes affect how to use Visual Leak Detector.
488 + The Microsoft Debug Help Library (dbghelp.dll) version 6.3 is now included
489 with the VLD distribution.
492 0.9c beta (17 March 2005)
493 -------------------------
495 + Compile error, "error C2039: 'size' : is not a member of '_CrtMemBlockHeader'"
496 occurs at line 644 of vld.cpp when building VLD with the VLD_MAX_DATA_DUMP
497 preprocessor macro defined.
500 0.9b beta (15 March 2005)
501 -------------------------
503 + VLD fails to detect memory leaks in class constructors if the objects
504 constructed are global objects.
506 + If a debug executable is built with certain compiler optimizations turned on,
507 specifically frame pointer omission optimization or automatic inlining, then
508 theoretically VLD may produce incomplete or inaccurate stack traces or might
509 fail to produce stack traces altogether.
512 0.9a beta (12 March 2005)
513 -------------------------
514 Initial Public Release