.NET (Core and Framework)

29-Jan-06 17:44

hi all,

Recently I devised this bit of code (C#) that works wonders for the memory usage reported in task manager:

Process currentProcess = System.Diagnostics.Process.GetCurrentProcess();
currentProcess.MinWorkingSet = currentProcess.MinWorkingSet;

With one of my more complicated programs, this reduced the initial memory usage (measured once the form loaded completely) from 34690 KB to 8980 KB (!).

I've tried various other solutions, most of which rely on forcing a garbage collection or reducing the process' working set to the minimum working set. I found neither to be very effective. I've never seen this approach anywhere else (small wonder - who would think that setting a value to itself would make such a difference?!).

I haven't had time to research why/how this code works, but this solution changes no values and has an immediate effect (just like minimizing and restoring a .NET program does). Place it in your code after your form initializes and watch your memory usage go down!

Hope this helps someone!

xacc.ide-0.1.2 'Milestone' - includes full source
Now supporting 24 languages including F#, FreePascal/Delphi and VB.NET

leppie29-Jan-06 18:27

leppie

29-Jan-06 18:27

Get the private byte count via PerformanceCounters, thats the only reliable indictor. WorkingSet is how much 'memory' have been reserved for the application.

User 221952029-Jan-06 18:35

29-Jan-06 18:35

And the working set is precisely what I want to reduce, not just the specific amount that the app is actually using but the entire chunk of memory that the runtime reserves. That's what makes a difference from an outside perspective.

Colin Angus Mackay29-Jan-06 21:21

Colin Angus Mackay

29-Jan-06 21:21

Maybe, but how much slower is your application when it needs more memory from somewhere and has to ask for more, rather than just use some from its reserve.

ColinMackay.net
"Man who stand on hill with mouth open will wait long time for roast duck to drop in." -- Confucius
"If a man empties his purse into his head, no man can take it away from him, for an investment in knowledge pays the best interest." -- Joseph E. O'Donnell

User 221952029-Jan-06 21:55

29-Jan-06 21:55

Notice though that the runtime has no problem reducing the memory reserve when you minimize and restore an application, so apparently there is an excess available. As discussed elsewhere , at startup the runtime needs a larger amount of memory, but not so much once everything has loaded, so reducing the working set after initialization is a reasonable solution.

Colin Angus Mackay29-Jan-06 21:23

Colin Angus Mackay

29-Jan-06 21:23

gonzotuna wrote:
who would think that setting a value to itself would make such a difference?!

Because your not. You are setting a property. And a property is just syntactic sugar for a specify style of method(s). The getter and setter of a property actually become the methods get_PropertyName() and set_PropertyName(PropertyType value).

ColinMackay.net
"Man who stand on hill with mouth open will wait long time for roast duck to drop in." -- Confucius
"If a man empties his purse into his head, no man can take it away from him, for an investment in knowledge pays the best interest." -- Joseph E. O'Donnell

User 221952029-Jan-06 22:03

29-Jan-06 22:03

I was actually remarking on the fact that the side effect of setting this specific property to itself would be something so drastic/unexpected, not on the fact that setting a property can have side-effects.

I discovered this memory phenomenon quite by accident as I was experimenting, rather than by deducing what methods to call, etc. I haven't taken the time to dig into what's going on under the covers, but I think it's pretty cool and I'm surprised/glad I stumbled upon it. That's all I meant. Smile | :)

Dave Kreskowiak31-Jan-06 4:47

Dave Kreskowiak

31-Jan-06 4:47

In the modern age of AUTOMATIC memory management, why is this even a concern?????

Never once have I considered the memory reserved by the framework to be a problem. I've had a few customers ask, and with a quick explanation of how the .NET Framework starts out reserving more memory than it actually needs for it's self-tuning performance, and releasing it back to Windows when Windows demands it, the issue is dropped.

RageInTheMachine9532
"...a pungent, ghastly, stinky piece of cheese!" -- The Roaming Gnome

User 221952031-Jan-06 10:44

31-Jan-06 10:44

However, it seems that initially the .NET framework reserves even more memory than it needs to have in reserve for performance reasons. Ever notice how the total memory usage drops dramatically when minimizing and then restoring? If that caused a drop in performance, then we would have to advise everyone using our software that in order to maximize performance they should never minimize the app, explaining that it's just a quirk of the runtime Big Grin | :-D

Is this an important issue? Not really, at least technologically speaking. It's just one of aesthetics. And pretty numbers speak loudly, so if I can provide a product that works, performs well, and has lower apparent memory consumption as well, I'm going to. Especially since I can do it (well, the memory consumption thing at least Smile | :)

) with one line of code.

Dave Kreskowiak31-Jan-06 17:12

Dave Kreskowiak

31-Jan-06 17:12

gonzotuna wrote:
Ever notice how the total memory usage drops dramatically when minimizing and then restoring?

We all have. It also just doesn't matter, since when Windows wants the memory back, the runtime is more than happy to return it.

gonzotuna wrote:
And pretty numbers speak loudly

Only if the numbers actually mean something. If the customer wants an app based on "pretty numbers", that's a customer I don't want. I deal in meeting the customers functionality requirements, not the b/s they think they want and don't really understand. I don't waste my time "lying" to the customer about the memory requirements of their app. If they're equipment is so tight on memory, it usually means their checkbook is just as tight and their payment will show up 6 months late.

RageInTheMachine9532
"...a pungent, ghastly, stinky piece of cheese!" -- The Roaming Gnome

.NET equivalent of CStatic?

Glaxalg31-Mar-06 9:05

Glaxalg

31-Mar-06 9:05

Once you minimize .NET application or set this property, memory swapped to disk which increase page faults and decrease application's performance. Working set is misleading parameter for .NET applications memory usage.
Read this:
How much memory does my .NET application use?

iActiveScript & C#

veeran29-Jan-06 17:01

veeran

29-Jan-06 17:01

I have a Vb Scripting problem with .NET C# application and also

in Asp.NET.

I have written COM component in VC 6.0 , which execute a VBScript

and return a Recordset.

This componet is perfetly working with VC 6 ,VB 6 applications

but it does not work with .Net

the component is which exposes an interface method
GetCustAdoRecordset

{
========= do the script code here
}

CMyScriptSite::public IActiveScriptSite
{
}

..........

iActiveScript->AddNamedItem(L"MyScriptExicuter", SCRIPTITEM_ISVISIBLE

| SCRIPTITEM_ISSOURCE | SCRIPTTEXT_ISPERSISTENT)
.......

this class is my event handling class
CMyScriptExecuter::public CCmdTarget
{

...
...

// here gobal variables are set and passed to the script engine

BEGIN_DISPATCH_MAP(CMyScriptExecuter, CCmdTarget)
//{{AFX_DISPATCH_MAP(CMyScriptExecuter)
DISP_PROPERTY(CMyScriptExecuter, "MycustTime", m_custTime, VT_DATE)
DISP_PROPERTY_EX(CMyScriptExecuter, "TestCount", GetTestCount,

SetNotSupported, VT_I4)
DISP_FUNCTION(CMyScriptExecuter, "mymethod", mymethod, VT_EMPTY,

VTS_BSTR)
...

//}}AFX_DISPATCH_MAP
END_DISPATCH_MAP()

}

The above message map code is not executing while running from .net.

Can u kindly give a solution for this, is it a .net problem or any

thing else

===============================

thomachanpv

Ravi Bhavnani29-Jan-06 11:47

Ravi Bhavnani

29-Jan-06 11:47

This may be a dumb question, but is there a WinForms equivalent of the good old CStatic control used to create lines (and rectangular areas)?

Thanks,

/ravi

My new year's resolution: 2048 x 1536
Home | Music | Articles | Freeware | Trips
ravib(at)ravib(dot)com

xacc.ide-0.1.2 'Milestone' - includes full source
Now supporting 24 languages including F#, FreePascal/Delphi and VB.NET

leppie29-Jan-06 18:29

leppie

29-Jan-06 18:29

IIRC there are none, but I do recall seeing an article here on CP a very long time ago. Smile | :)

Ravi Bhavnani30-Jan-06 1:16

Ravi Bhavnani

30-Jan-06 1:16

Yes, I saw this[^] which looks quite nice. I'm a bit surprised why MS excluded the static frame control in WinForms.

/ravi

My new year's resolution: 2048 x 1536
Home | Music | Articles | Freeware | Trips
ravib(at)ravib(dot)com

malharone1-Feb-06 11:39

malharone

1-Feb-06 11:39

Use a label. Set height (if horizontal line) or width (if vertical line) to 2 or 3. Set style to 3d and this will do the trick.

- Malhar