_CrtMemDifference

Compares two memory states and returns their differences (debug version only).

Syntax

int _CrtMemDifference(
   _CrtMemState *stateDiff,
   const _CrtMemState *oldState,
   const _CrtMemState *newState
);

Parameters

stateDiff
Pointer to a _CrtMemState structure that is used to store the differences between the two memory states (returned).

oldState
Pointer to an earlier memory state (_CrtMemState structure).

newState
Pointer to a later memory state (_CrtMemState structure).

Return value

If the difference in memory states is significant, _CrtMemDifference returns TRUE. Otherwise, the function returns FALSE.

Remarks

The _CrtMemDifference function compares oldState and newState and stores their differences in stateDiff, which can then be used by the app to detect memory leaks and other memory problems. When _DEBUG isn't defined, calls to _CrtMemDifference are removed during preprocessing.

newState and oldState must each be a valid pointer to a _CrtMemState structure, defined in crtdbg.h, that _CrtMemCheckpoint has filled in before the call to _CrtMemDifference. stateDiff must be a pointer to a previously allocated instance of the _CrtMemState structure. If stateDiff, newState, or oldState is NULL, the invalid parameter handler is invoked, as described in Parameter validation. If execution is allowed to continue, errno, _doserrno, _sys_errlist, and _sys_nerr is set to EINVAL and the function returns FALSE.

_CrtMemDifference compares the _CrtMemState field values of the blocks in oldState to the ones in newState and stores the result in stateDiff. When the number of allocated block types or total number of allocated blocks for each type differs between the two memory states, the difference in states is considered significant. The difference between the largest amount ever allocated at once for the two states and the difference between total allocations for the two states are also stored in stateDiff.

By default, internal C run-time blocks (_CRT_BLOCK) aren't included in memory state operations. The _CrtSetDbgFlag function can be used to turn on the _CRTDBG_CHECK_CRT_DF bit of _crtDbgFlag to include these blocks in leak detection and other memory state operations. Freed memory blocks (_FREE_BLOCK) don't cause _CrtMemDifference to return TRUE.

For more information about heap state functions and the _CrtMemState structure, see Heap state reporting functions. For information about how memory blocks are allocated, initialized, and managed in the debug version of the base heap, see CRT debug heap details.

Requirements

For more compatibility information, see Compatibility.

Libraries: Debug versions of the C runtime libraries only.

See also

Debug routines
_crtDbgFlag