Re: Object Data and pointer assignments

[Ben Tupper <tupper(at)seadas.bigelow.org>]

David Fanning wrote:

> You don't leak any memory because IDL is managing this
> whole process for you. (Remember, these pointers are
> not real pointers in the C sense. They are really
> glorified variables in the IDL sense.) This is the
> bestest feature of IDL pointers. :-)
>

Thanks for the tips.  It's probably a good thing that I don't know much about
C (no bad habits, eh?)


>
> If you overwrite the pointer like this:
>
>    self.InArray = Ptr_New(newStruct)
>
> you *will* leak memory because now you destroyed the
> only reference to that pointer area of memory. You could
> do this:
>
>

So, if I am following your instruction correctly, I should only see ...

      self.InArray = Ptr_New(newStruct)

once in my code in the INIT function.  Thereafter (in SetProperty for
example) it is simply derefence....

     *self.inarray = newStruct

Thanks again,

Ben



--
Ben Tupper

Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Science
tupper@seadas.bigelow.org

pemaquidriver@tidewater.net