[vtkusers] ReleaseDataFlag vs Delete to cure suspected memory limitations, and how can these be detected?

[Tim Thornton]

Hello,

We have a fairly complex system with multiple actors, and for each actor
there are multiple transformations down its pipeline.

It looks as though we are running into memory limitations as, when we turn
on more than 3 or 4 actors, we end up with the image not being rendered
properly. This manifests itself as a rendering of a plane being a fixed
colour instead of using the LUT, or strange values in the output of a
contoured grid, or nothing being displayed, whereas with fewer actors
switched on everything is fine.

 

First question: is there any way that issues like this can be detected
programmatically? This would allow us to tell users to simplify their
options, or to implement memory management transparently to them.

 

Now we're looking at doing some memory management to improve things a bit,
and the option seems to be between deleting components in the rendering
chain, or freeing up memory with ReleaseDataFlag, and I'm weighing up the
pros and cons of each one. ReleaseData has the benefit of keeping the
network intact, whereas with Delete we need to delete redundant components
once rendered, and then recreate the network if the input data changes or
other relevant parameters change. If we use Delete, does it free up much
more memory than ReleaseData? Is it any slower, with the extra processing
involved in recreating the network? Are there any other relevant issues I
should consider?

 

We are using VTK 4.2.2 within a VS2005 .Net environment.

 

Many thanks for any help.

Tim

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