Freeing Protobuf generated class causes a a segment fault - c++11

Hi I am utilizing Protobuf for my personal project about neural networks.
Here is my Protobuf definitions:
syntax = "proto3";
package NGNET;
message InputLayer {
string name = 1;
uint32 size = 2;
}
message ComputeLayer {
string name = 1;
uint32 size = 2;
repeated LayerLink inputs = 3;
}
message LayerLink {
InputLayer il_input = 1;
ComputeLayer cl_input = 2;
uint32 output_size = 3;
repeated float weights = 4;
}
message NNET {
string name = 1;
repeated ComputeLayer outputs = 3;
}
The network is created like this:
ComputeLayer output1 = ComputeLayer(10, "output1");
ComputeLayer output2 = ComputeLayer(10, "output2");
ComputeLayer hidden = ComputeLayer(100, "hidden");
InputLayer input1 = InputLayer(784, "input1");
InputLayer input2 = InputLayer(784, "input2");
output1.link(&hidden);
output2.link(&hidden);
hidden.link(&input1);
hidden.link(&input2);
hidden.link(&extra);
The link functions are defined as:
void ComputeLayer::link(ComputeLayer* to_link) {
NGNET::LayerLink* link = new NGNET::LayerLink();
link->set_output_size(internal->size());
link->set_allocated_cl_input(to_link->getInternal());
internal->mutable_inputs()->AddAllocated(link);
}
void ComputeLayer::link(InputLayer* to_link) {
NGNET::LayerLink* link = new NGNET::LayerLink();
link->set_output_size(internal->size());
link->set_allocated_il_input(to_link->getInternal());
internal->mutable_inputs()->AddAllocated(link);
}
Note: The getInternal() function returns a NGNET::ComputeLayer or NGNET::InputLayer
Then the outputs are liked to a NNET with:
nnet->mutable_outputs()->AddAllocated(output1->getInternal());
nnet->mutable_outputs()->AddAllocated(output2->getInternal());
When nnet is deleted the program crashes with a segment fault.
I believe this is due to the hidden layer gets deleted twice. Is there any way I can safely free the memory that was allocated ?
Thanks.

The add_allocated_*() and set_allocated_*() methods take ownership of the pointer they are given. This means that you have to make sure that no other code will delete those pointers later, because the Protobuf implementation will delete them when the message is destroyed.
If you don't want Protobuf to take ownership of these objects, you should make copies instead:
link->mutable_il_input()->CopyFrom(*to_link->getInternal());
nnet->mutable_outputs()->Add()->CopyFrom(*output2->getInternal());
Generally, unless you are doing intense memory allocation optimizations, you probably never want to call the "allocated" protobuf accessors.

Related

Protobuf use repeated oneof message vs many empty fields

I'm designing a protobuf to represent an event, where each event can hold extra fields.
There are a lot of possible extra fields (~100), but only a small portion of them will be used in each message (~3)
Each extra field will be used only once, but multiple of them can exist, therefore I would like to have a concept of an anyof message type, but unfortunately, there is no such thing in protobuf.
So to try and mock this behavior, and as mentioned in this discussion I thought I can put all my extra fields in a oneof, wrap it with a message, and use this message as repeated in my event:
message ExtraField {
oneof extra_field_value {
string extraData1 = 1;
uint64 extraData2 = 2;
....
SomeOtherMessage extraData100 = 100;
}
}
message MyEvent {
uint64 timestamp = 1;
string event_name = 2;
string some_other_data = 3;
...
repeated ExtraField extra_fields = 8;
}
Even though this solution is more explicit for my understanding, it isn't the most memory effective, and the repeated message with oneof implementation allows to add the same extra field more than once (unwanted behavior)
I can also just write all the extra fields as-is in an inner message, but most of them will be empty all the time
message ExtraFields {
string extraData1 = 1;
uint64 extraData2 = 2;
....
SomeOtherMessage extraData100 = 100;
}
message MyEvent {
uint64 timestamp = 1;
string event_name = 2;
string some_other_data = 3;
...
extraFields extra_fields = 8;
}
If I understand correctly, using empty fields in a message isn't going to make my serialized data larger, and therefore the second protobuf design is the preferred practice
Am I correct?
Is there another protobuf design for my needs?

Encoding repeated entries in pbtools

I have a protobuf schema with a bunch of repeated structures. Something like
syntax = "proto3";
package My
message TopLevel
{
string swVersion = 3;
string reportMac = 4;
string reportSsid = 6
}
message Temperature
{
required uint64 ts = 1;
required uint32 source = 3;
repeated sint32 readings = 4;
}
message MyMessage
{
required TopLevel topLevel = 1;
repeated Temperature temperature = 2;
}
I compile with pbtools and get the structures and functions for Temperature and readings. However I am having a hard time figuring out how to add "Temperature" entries dynamically.
Or am I out of luck and pbtools requires telling it ahead of time how many entries I have. One problem is data is encoded as it is generated and I do not know how many of what I will have for each report.
I attached the generated code.
pbtools requires the length before adding any items.

How to get slice of concrete type (not pointers) in go protobuff

For protofile:
syntax = "proto3";
package messagepb;
import "github.com/gogo/protobuf/gogoproto/gogo.proto";
option (gogoproto.marshaler_all) = true;
option (gogoproto.sizer_all) = true;
option (gogoproto.unmarshaler_all) = true;
option (gogoproto.goproto_getters_all) = false;
service KV {
// Put puts the given key into the store.
// A put request increases the revision of the store,
// and generates one event in the event history.
rpc Put(PutRequest) returns (PutResponse) {}
}
message PutRequest {
bytes key = 1;
bytes value = 2;
}
message ResponseHeader {
repeated PutRequest l = 3;
}
I get the following proto struct:
type ResponseHeader struct {
L []*PutRequest `protobuf:"bytes,3,rep,name=l" json:"l,omitempty"`
}
But how do I get following protostruct:
type ResponseHeader struct {
L []PutRequest `protobuf:"bytes,3,rep,name=l" json:"l,omitempty"`
}
That is I want having data locality (and thus slices of contig data, not pointers to spread out stuff)
I needed to use: [(gogoproto.nullable) = false]
as in:
repeated PutRequest l = 3 [(gogoproto.nullable) = false];
And got:
L []PutRequest `protobuf:"bytes,3,rep,name=l" json:"l"`

sum and max values in a single iteration

I have a List of a custom CallRecord objects
public class CallRecord {
private String callId;
private String aNum;
private String bNum;
private int seqNum;
private byte causeForOutput;
private int duration;
private RecordType recordType;
.
.
.
}
There are two logical conditions and the output of each is:
Highest seqNum, sum(duration)
Highest seqNum, sum(duration), highest causeForOutput
As per my understanding, Stream.max(), Collectors.summarizingInt() and so on will either require several iterations for the above result. I also came across a thread suggesting custom collector but I am unsure.
Below is the simple, pre-Java 8 code that is serving the purpose:
if (...) {
for (CallRecord currentRecord : completeCallRecords) {
highestSeqNum = currentRecord.getSeqNum() > highestSeqNum ? currentRecord.getSeqNum() : highestSeqNum;
sumOfDuration += currentRecord.getDuration();
}
} else {
byte highestCauseForOutput = 0;
for (CallRecord currentRecord : completeCallRecords) {
highestSeqNum = currentRecord.getSeqNum() > highestSeqNum ? currentRecord.getSeqNum() : highestSeqNum;
sumOfDuration += currentRecord.getDuration();
highestCauseForOutput = currentRecord.getCauseForOutput() > highestCauseForOutput ? currentRecord.getCauseForOutput() : highestCauseForOutput;
}
}
Your desire to do everything in a single iteration is irrational. You should strive for simplicity first, performance if necessary, but insisting on a single iteration is neither.
The performance depends on too many factors to make a prediction in advance. The process of iterating (over a plain collection) itself is not necessarily an expensive operation and may even benefit from a simpler loop body in a way that makes multiple traversals with a straight-forward operation more efficient than a single traversal trying to do everything at once. The only way to find out, is to measure using the actual operations.
Converting the operation to Stream operations may simplify the code, if you use it straight-forwardly, i.e.
int highestSeqNum=
completeCallRecords.stream().mapToInt(CallRecord::getSeqNum).max().orElse(-1);
int sumOfDuration=
completeCallRecords.stream().mapToInt(CallRecord::getDuration).sum();
if(!condition) {
byte highestCauseForOutput = (byte)
completeCallRecords.stream().mapToInt(CallRecord::getCauseForOutput).max().orElse(0);
}
If you still feel uncomfortable with the fact that there are multiple iterations, you could try to write a custom collector performing all operations at once, but the result will not be better than your loop, neither in terms of readability nor efficiency.
Still, I’d prefer avoiding code duplication over trying to do everything in one loop, i.e.
for(CallRecord currentRecord : completeCallRecords) {
int nextSeqNum = currentRecord.getSeqNum();
highestSeqNum = nextSeqNum > highestSeqNum ? nextSeqNum : highestSeqNum;
sumOfDuration += currentRecord.getDuration();
}
if(!condition) {
byte highestCauseForOutput = 0;
for(CallRecord currentRecord : completeCallRecords) {
byte next = currentRecord.getCauseForOutput();
highestCauseForOutput = next > highestCauseForOutput? next: highestCauseForOutput;
}
}
With Java-8 you can resolved it with a Collector with no redudant iteration.
Normally, we can use the factory methods from Collectors, but in your case you need to implement a custom Collector, that reduces a Stream<CallRecord> to an instance of SummarizingCallRecord which cotains the attributes you require.
Mutable accumulation/result type:
class SummarizingCallRecord {
private int highestSeqNum = 0;
private int sumDuration = 0;
// getters/setters ...
}
Custom collector:
BiConsumer<SummarizingCallRecord, CallRecord> myAccumulator = (a, callRecord) -> {
a.setHighestSeqNum(Math.max(a.getHighestSeqNum(), callRecord.getSeqNum()));
a.setSumDuration(a.getSumDuration() + callRecord.getDuration());
};
BinaryOperator<SummarizingCallRecord> myCombiner = (a1, a2) -> {
a1.setHighestSeqNum(Math.max(a1.getHighestSeqNum(), a2.getHighestSeqNum()));
a1.setSumDuration(a1.getSumDuration() + a2.getSumDuration());
return a1;
};
Collector<CallRecord, SummarizingCallRecord, SummarizingCallRecord> myCollector =
Collector.of(
() -> new SummarizinCallRecord(),
myAccumulator,
myCombiner,
// Collector.Characteristics.CONCURRENT/IDENTITY_FINISH/UNORDERED
);
Execution example:
List<CallRecord> callRecords = new ArrayList<>();
callRecords.add(new CallRecord(1, 100));
callRecords.add(new CallRecord(5, 50));
callRecords.add(new CallRecord(3, 1000));
SummarizingCallRecord summarizingCallRecord = callRecords.stream()
.collect(myCollector);
// Result:
// summarizingCallRecord.highestSeqNum = 5
// summarizingCallRecord.sumDuration = 1150
You don't need and should not implement the logic by Stream API because the tradition for-loop is simple enough and the Java 8 Stream API can't make it simpler:
int highestSeqNum = 0;
long sumOfDuration = 0;
byte highestCauseForOutput = 0; // just get it even if it may not be used. there is no performance hurt.
for(CallRecord currentRecord : completeCallRecords) {
highestSeqNum = Math.max(highestSeqNum, currentRecord.getSeqNum());
sumOfDuration += currentRecord.getDuration();
highestCauseForOutput = Math.max(highestCauseForOutput, currentRecord.getCauseForOutput());
}
// Do something with or without highestCauseForOutput.

node.js c++ addon - afraid of memory leak

first of all I admit I'm a newbie in C++ addons for node.js.
I'm writing my first addon and I reached a good result: the addon does what I want. I copied from various examples I found in internet to exchange complex data between the two languages, but I understood almost nothing of what I wrote.
The first thing scaring me is that I wrote nothing that seems to free some memory; another thing which is seriously worrying me is that I don't know if what I wrote may helps or creating confusion for the V8 garbage collector; by the way I don't know if there are better ways to do what I did (iterating over js Object keys in C++, creating js Objects in C++, creating Strings in C++ to be used as properties of js Objects and what else wrong you can find in my code).
So, before going on with my job writing the real math of my addon, I would like to share with the community the nan and V8 part of it to ask if you see something wrong or that can be done in a better way.
Thank you everybody for your help,
iCC
#include <map>
#include <nan.h>
using v8::Array;
using v8::Function;
using v8::FunctionTemplate;
using v8::Local;
using v8::Number;
using v8::Object;
using v8::Value;
using v8::String;
using Nan::AsyncQueueWorker;
using Nan::AsyncWorker;
using Nan::Callback;
using Nan::GetFunction;
using Nan::HandleScope;
using Nan::New;
using Nan::Null;
using Nan::Set;
using Nan::To;
using namespace std;
class Data {
public:
int dt1;
int dt2;
int dt3;
int dt4;
};
class Result {
public:
int x1;
int x2;
};
class Stats {
public:
int stat1;
int stat2;
};
typedef map<int, Data> DataSet;
typedef map<int, DataSet> DataMap;
typedef map<float, Result> ResultSet;
typedef map<int, ResultSet> ResultMap;
class MyAddOn: public AsyncWorker {
private:
DataMap *datas;
ResultMap results;
Stats stats;
public:
MyAddOn(Callback *callback, DataMap *set): AsyncWorker(callback), datas(set) {}
~MyAddOn() { delete datas; }
void Execute () {
for(DataMap::iterator i = datas->begin(); i != datas->end(); ++i) {
int res = i->first;
DataSet *datas = &i->second;
for(DataSet::iterator l = datas->begin(); l != datas->end(); ++l) {
int dt4 = l->first;
Data *data = &l->second;
// TODO: real population of stats and result
}
// test result population
results[res][res].x1 = res;
results[res][res].x2 = res;
}
// test stats population
stats.stat1 = 23;
stats.stat2 = 42;
}
void HandleOKCallback () {
Local<Object> obj;
Local<Object> res = New<Object>();
Local<Array> rslt = New<Array>();
Local<Object> sts = New<Object>();
Local<String> x1K = New<String>("x1").ToLocalChecked();
Local<String> x2K = New<String>("x2").ToLocalChecked();
uint32_t idx = 0;
for(ResultMap::iterator i = results.begin(); i != results.end(); ++i) {
ResultSet *set = &i->second;
for(ResultSet::iterator l = set->begin(); l != set->end(); ++l) {
Result *result = &l->second;
// is it ok to declare obj just once outside the cycles?
obj = New<Object>();
// is it ok to use same x1K and x2K instances for all objects?
Set(obj, x1K, New<Number>(result->x1));
Set(obj, x2K, New<Number>(result->x2));
Set(rslt, idx++, obj);
}
}
Set(sts, New<String>("stat1").ToLocalChecked(), New<Number>(stats.stat1));
Set(sts, New<String>("stat2").ToLocalChecked(), New<Number>(stats.stat2));
Set(res, New<String>("result").ToLocalChecked(), rslt);
Set(res, New<String>("stats" ).ToLocalChecked(), sts);
Local<Value> argv[] = { Null(), res };
callback->Call(2, argv);
}
};
NAN_METHOD(AddOn) {
Local<Object> datas = info[0].As<Object>();
Callback *callback = new Callback(info[1].As<Function>());
Local<Array> props = datas->GetOwnPropertyNames();
Local<String> dt1K = Nan::New("dt1").ToLocalChecked();
Local<String> dt2K = Nan::New("dt2").ToLocalChecked();
Local<String> dt3K = Nan::New("dt3").ToLocalChecked();
Local<Array> props2;
Local<Value> key;
Local<Object> value;
Local<Object> data;
DataMap *set = new DataMap();
int res;
int dt4;
DataSet *dts;
Data *dt;
for(uint32_t i = 0; i < props->Length(); i++) {
// is it ok to declare key, value, props2 and res just once outside the cycle?
key = props->Get(i);
value = datas->Get(key)->ToObject();
props2 = value->GetOwnPropertyNames();
res = To<int>(key).FromJust();
dts = &((*set)[res]);
for(uint32_t l = 0; l < props2->Length(); l++) {
// is it ok to declare key, data and dt4 just once outside the cycles?
key = props2->Get(l);
data = value->Get(key)->ToObject();
dt4 = To<int>(key).FromJust();
dt = &((*dts)[dt4]);
int dt1 = To<int>(data->Get(dt1K)).FromJust();
int dt2 = To<int>(data->Get(dt2K)).FromJust();
int dt3 = To<int>(data->Get(dt3K)).FromJust();
dt->dt1 = dt1;
dt->dt2 = dt2;
dt->dt3 = dt3;
dt->dt4 = dt4;
}
}
AsyncQueueWorker(new MyAddOn(callback, set));
}
NAN_MODULE_INIT(Init) {
Set(target, New<String>("myaddon").ToLocalChecked(), GetFunction(New<FunctionTemplate>(AddOn)).ToLocalChecked());
}
NODE_MODULE(myaddon, Init)
One year and half later...
If somebody is interested, my server is up and running since my question and the amount of memory it requires is stable.
I can't say if the code I wrote really does not has some memory leak or if lost memory is freed at each thread execution end, but if you are afraid as I was, I can say that using same structure and calls does not cause any real problem.
You do actually free up some of the memory you use, with the line of code:
~MyAddOn() { delete datas; }
In essence, C++ memory management boils down to always calling delete for every object created by new. There are also many additional architecture-specific and legacy 'C' memory management functions, but it is not strictly necessary to use these when you do not require the performance benefits.
As an example of what could potentially be a memory leak: You're passing the object held in the *callback pointer to the function AsyncQueueWorker. Yet nowhere in your code is this pointer freed, so unless the Queue worker frees it for you, there is a memory leak here.
You can use a memory tool such as valgrind to test your program further. It will spot most memory problems for you and comes highly recommended.
One thing I've observed is that you often ask (paraphrased):
Is it okay to declare X outside my loop?
To which the answer actually is that declaring variables inside of your loops is better, whenever you can do it. Declare variables as deep inside as you can, unless you have to re-use them. Variables are restricted in scope to the outermost set of {} brackets. You can read more about this in this question.
is it ok to use same x1K and x2K instances for all objects?
In essence, when you do this, if one of these objects modifies its 'x1K' string, then it will change for all of them. The advantage is that you free up memory. If the string is the same for all these objects anyway, instead of having to store say 1,000,000 copies of it, your computer will only keep a single one in memory and have 1,000,000 pointers to it instead. If the string is 9 ASCII characters long or longer under amd64, then that amounts to significant memory savings.
By the way, if you don't intend to modify a variable after its declaration, you can declare it as const, a keyword short for constant which forces the compiler to check that your variable is not modified after declaration. You may have to deal with quite a few compiler errors about functions accepting only non-const versions of things they don't modify, some of which may not be your own code, in which case you're out of luck. Being as conservative as possible with non-const variables can help spot problems.

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