hi-

this isn't really a question, as i've already resolved the issue, but i'd be interested to know if anyone else has experienced similar problems and i also thought this might make a contribution to the aggregate knowledge base (kinda sounds like sand and gravel, doesn't it?).

i have a script that parses the log created by a agilent lab device and inserts the output into a database. initially running under activestate's perl on win2k, i started experiencing problems with memory leaks ... by commenting out lines i eventually isolated the problem to a line in a function that performed a substring extraction. i redesigned the way that function worked only to run into the problem again with a chomp. at this point, i suspected a problem with activeperl and win2k.

i moved the log and the script to one of my linux boxes, only to run into the same problem. on a hunch, i decided to move the back end database from mysql to postgresql, and this resolved the problem. the striking thing about this is that the database access in this script is rather mundane ... a query determines whether a given set of results have been previously stored rather early in the script and after that it's simply a series of inserts into the three tables that comprise the database. the procedure in which i had the problem had nothing to do with either. it just determines the charactistics of the line read in from the log to marginally add to the predictability of the parse operation (this is a very complex log).

the script uses dbi and the dbd driver for the relevant database.

as i said, i'd be curious to know if anyone here has run into something similar. i posted the problem to the activestate win32 perl users list, and have recieved a couple of reponses from individuals who had similar problems, one of whom was using a different database driver.

it's not always possible to change the database (he said with a wry grin).

Edit: chipmunk 2001-07-01

In reply to memory leaks and mysql by ralphie

Title:
Use:  <p> text here (a paragraph) </p>
and:  <code> code here </code>
to format your post, it's "PerlMonks-approved HTML":


  • Posts are HTML formatted. Put <p> </p> tags around your paragraphs. Put <code> </code> tags around your code and data!
  • Titles consisting of a single word are discouraged, and in most cases are disallowed outright.
  • Read Where should I post X? if you're not absolutely sure you're posting in the right place.
  • Please read these before you post! —
  • Posts may use any of the Perl Monks Approved HTML tags:
    a, abbr, b, big, blockquote, br, caption, center, col, colgroup, dd, del, details, div, dl, dt, em, font, h1, h2, h3, h4, h5, h6, hr, i, ins, li, ol, p, pre, readmore, small, span, spoiler, strike, strong, sub, summary, sup, table, tbody, td, tfoot, th, thead, tr, tt, u, ul, wbr
  • You may need to use entities for some characters, as follows. (Exception: Within code tags, you can put the characters literally.)
            For:     Use:
    & &amp;
    < &lt;
    > &gt;
    [ &#91;
    ] &#93;
  • Link using PerlMonks shortcuts! What shortcuts can I use for linking?
  • See Writeup Formatting Tips and other pages linked from there for more info.