[Rd] optim/vmmin and R_alloc

[Göran Broström]

On Thu, Dec 30, 2004 at 08:01:41AM -0800, Thomas Lumley wrote:
> On Thu, 30 Dec 2004, [iso-8859-1] Göran Broström wrote:
> >
> >However, and that is my question/suggestion: Why not use Calloc+Free
> >instead of R_alloc in vmmin (and maybe in other places)? I made the
> >changes in 'optim.c' in the functions 'vmmin' and 'Lmatrix'. Then I rebuilt
> >and reinstalled R-2.0.1. The result was great! My function ran very fast 
> >and
> >without any memory problems.
> >
> >So why not? Or will this change create other problems?
> 
> Memory will leak permanently if the functions are interrupted or an error 
> occurs.  This may be less serious now than it was in the past, since R can 
> be interrupted in fewer places.

Ok, I see. Is there any alternative solution, except for calling  .C  2000
times with only one call to vmmin each time?

Does this also mean that Calloc+Free should be avoided in contributed
packages? I use it exclusively in mine, and a quick search shows that it is
used in at least some recommended packages.

Göran
-- 
 Göran Broström                    tel: +46 90 786 5223
 Department of Statistics          fax: +46 90 786 6614
 Umeå University                   http://www.stat.umu.se/egna/gb/
 SE-90187 Umeå, Sweden             e-mail: gb at stat.umu.se