Painting Memory
Your program may be using memory either before it is initialized or after it is deallocated. TotalView can help identify these kinds of problems by initializing allocated or deallocated memory to a bit pattern. This is called painting. Recognizing this bit pattern can help more quickly identify the problem.
Painting memory blocks is useful in:
Identifying the use of uninitialized or deallocated memory. The bit pattern immediately tells you that memory is either allocated or deallocated.Ensuring consistency for multiple users, i.e., if a program works for some users and not for others, it will be clear if uninitialized or deallocated memory is the problem.Changing your program’s behavior if it is not using memory correctly, which can help in identifying the problem. In addition, it may correct the problem so that the program doesn’t appear to fail.Forcing an error such as a crash to occur, which can in turn help you identify the problem.Finding initialized memory by searching for the bit pattern to ensure all memory was correctly initialized.NOTE: You can separately enable allocations and deallocations, and you can turn painting on and off without restarting your program.
