[vtkusers] memory problems

[Bruno]

Hi all,

I'm having a strange problem about memory allocation. I'm using a 
gaussian filter many times in a loop. After some iterations, this loop 
fails and raise following exception, meaning that it can't allocate more 
memory:

"std::bad_alloc with message 'Exception Object Address: 0x6CBBE156"

So, I checked with the task manager of Windows the of  
allocation/deallocation of the memory of my program and I notice that 
when it is performing the gaussian smooth, the consumption of the memory 
increases, as expected. When the next filter (vtkMarchingCubes)  is 
executed, the amount of memory allocated previously by the gaussian 
filter is released, as expected (I'm using the function 
ReleaseDataFlagOn() ). The next command of the pipeline is the 
vtkStripper. I don't delete this object because I intend to use it in 
others functions of my program. After all, the program returns to the 
beginning of the loop and repeats the process. But, after some 
iterations, it raises the exception explained above.

What I can't understand is why VTK can't allocate memory when there are 
a lot of memory available!! Moreover, in the same program, after the 
exception above is raised, I can allocate a huge vector of int like " 
int *a = new int[10000000]  ". How can I, in the same program, allocate 
memory using 'new' and vtk don't?

I'm using vtk 4.4, Borland C++ Builder 6.0 PE and Windows XP SP2. I 
think the problem is caused by Boland Builder. Can anyone confirm that?

If someone want to test this bug, I prepared the following code.

Thanks. Bruno.

#include <vcl.h>
#include "main.h"
#include "vtkImageThreshold.h"
#include "vtkContourFilter.h"
#include "vtkMarchingCubes.h"
#include "vtkImageData.h"
#include "vtkDoubleArray.h"
#include "vtkImageGaussianSmooth.h"
#include "vtkStripper.h"
#include "vtkPointData.h"
#include "vtkPolyData.h"

#pragma resource "*.dfm"
TForm1 *Form1;
//---------------------------------------------------------------------------
__fastcall TForm1::TForm1(TComponent* Owner)
  : TForm(Owner)
{
}
//---------------------------------------------------------------------------

void __fastcall TForm1::Button1Click(TObject *Sender)
{
  vtkImageThreshold *selectIsoValue;
//  vtkContourFilter  *ContourFilter;
  vtkMarchingCubes  *ContourFilter;
  vtkStripper *stripper;
  int dim[3];

  dim[0] =  368;
  dim[1] =  220;
  dim[2] =  176;
  int n=10;

  vtkImageData *vol = vtkImageData::New();
  vol->ReleaseDataFlagOff();
  vol->SetSpacing(1,1,1);
  vol->SetDimensions(dim);
  vol->SetScalarTypeToDouble();
  vtkDoubleArray *scalars = vtkDoubleArray::New();
    scalars->SetNumberOfComponents(1);
    scalars->SetNumberOfTuples(dim[0]*dim[1]*dim[2]);
    scalars->FillComponent(0,15);

  vol->GetPointData()->SetScalars(scalars);

  for (int i=0;i<n;i++){

     vtkImageGaussianSmooth *gaussian = vtkImageGaussianSmooth::New();
     gaussian->SetStandardDeviations(3,3,3);
     gaussian->SetRadiusFactors(1.5,1.5,1.5);
     gaussian->SetInput(vol);
     gaussian->GetOutput()->ReleaseDataFlagOn(); // !! ON !!
     gaussian->Update();

     // selecting an isosurface
     ContourFilter = vtkMarchingCubes::New();
     ContourFilter->SetInput(gaussian->GetOutput());
     ContourFilter->ComputeScalarsOff();
     ContourFilter->ComputeNormalsOff();
     ContourFilter->ComputeGradientsOff();
     ContourFilter->SetNumberOfContours(1);
//     ContourFilter->SetValue(0,10);
     ContourFilter->GetOutput()->ReleaseDataFlagOn();
     ContourFilter->Update();

     // make triangles strips
     stripper = vtkStripper::New();
     stripper->SetInput(ContourFilter->GetOutput());
     stripper->GetOutput()->ReleaseDataFlagOn();
     stripper->Update();

     // cleaning the memory
     gaussian->Delete();
     ContourFilter->Delete();
     //stripper->Delete(); // I don't want to delete Stripper
  }
  vol->Delete();
  scalars->Delete();
}
//---------------------------------------------------------------------------