Intel® Inspector User Guide for Windows* OS

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ID 767798
Date 3/31/2023
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Document Table of Contents
Document Table of Contents x
Intel® Inspector User Guide for Windows* OS
Intel® Inspector User Guide for Windows* OS x
Get Started Before You Begin Set Up a Project Collecting Results Investigating Results Testing for Regressions Suppressions Support API Support Troubleshooting User Interface Reference Problem Type Reference Command Line Interface Support MPI Applications Support Appendix Notices and Disclaimers
Get Started x
Dynamic Analysis vs. Static Analysis Key Terminology Sample Applications and Tutorials Workflows-Quick Paths to Maximizing Productivity
Workflows-Quick Paths to Maximizing Productivity x
Analysis Workflow Reporting Workflow Regression Testing Workflow
Before You Begin x
Visual Studio* Integration Standalone Intel Inspector GUI Startup Tasks
Startup Tasks x
Change Result and Result Directory Name Templates Choose Baseline Results for Setting States Display Application Output
Set Up a Project x
Build Your Application Choose Projects Configure Projects
Build Your Application x
Configure Debug Mode for Applications in the Visual Studio* IDE Set Up Applications to Build in Debug Mode in the Visual Studio* IDE
Choose Projects x
Choose Projects in the StandaloneIntel Inspector GUI Choose Projects in the Visual Studio* IDE Create Projects in the StandaloneIntel Inspector GUI Create Solutions/Projects From Applications in the Visual Studio* IDE
Configure Projects x
Binary/Symbol Search and Source Search Locations Choose Data Sets Manage Suppression Rules Search Non-standard Directories Set Project Properties-Advanced Setting Target Application Properties-Basic
Collecting Results x
Configuring Analyses Running Analyses Examining Result Data During Analysis
Configuring Analyses x
Memory Error Analysis Types Threading Error Analysis Types Managing Custom Analysis Types
Running Analyses x
Running Memory Error and Threading Error Analyses Stopping Analyses
Examining Result Data During Analysis x
Finding Memory Leaks On Demand Measuring Memory Growth
Investigating Results x
Viewing Results Choosing Problems Interpreting Result Data and Resolving Issues Investigating Problems Using Interactive Debugging Collaborating on Results Exporting and Importing Files Comparing Results
Viewing Results x
About Viewing Results Managing Help Snippet Displays Opening Results Showing Result Summaries
Choosing Problems x
Deselecting Filter Criteria Refining the Source File Set Selecting Filter Criteria Selecting Problems
Interpreting Result Data and Resolving Issues x
Severity Levels States Accessing Explain Problem Help Changing States Customizing Frame Presentation Customizing Data Columns Editing Source Code
Investigating Problems Using Interactive Debugging x
Intel Inspector Debug Extensions in the Visual Studio* IDE Disabling and Re-enabling Problem Breakpoints Stopping Analyses During Interactive Debugging
Collaborating on Results x
State Merge Merging States Across Results Reporting Result Data
Exporting and Importing Files x
Exporting Archives Importing Archives and Other Files
Testing for Regressions x
Testing for Regressions: Recommended Approach Testing for Regressions: Other Approaches
Suppressions Support x
Suppressions Support Using the GUI Suppressions Support Using Handwritten Suppression Rules Suppressions Support Using Third-party Suppression Rules
Suppressions Support Using the GUI x
Typical Suppressions Usage Model Using the GUI Suppression Rule Reach in the GUI Suppression Rule Examples in the GUI Defining Suppression Rules in the GUI Deleting Suppression Rules Applied to Marked Result Data in the GUI
Suppressions Support Using Handwritten Suppression Rules x
Typical Suppressions Usage Models Using Handwritten Suppression Files Suppression Rule Syntax in Text Format Suppression Rule Examples in Text Format
Suppressions Support Using Third-party Suppression Rules x
Typical Suppressions Usage Models Using Third-party Suppression Files Third-party Suppression Files
API Support x
APIs for Custom Synchronization APIs for Custom Memory Allocation APIs for Collection Control
Troubleshooting x
Troubleshooting Anti-virus Software Issues Troubleshooting Application Crashes Troubleshooting Internal Thread Suspension Attempt Troubleshooting No Problems Detected Troubleshooting No Symbolic Information Troubleshooting OpenMP* Technology Issues Troubleshooting Out-of-memory Conditions Troubleshooting Tamper-resistance Issues Troubleshooting Unexpected Application Behavior During Memory Error Analyses
User Interface Reference x
Context Menus: Problem Details Pane Context Menus: Project Navigator Context Menus: Solution Explorer Context Menus: Sources Window Panes Context Menus: Summary Window Panes Dialog Box: Corresponding inspxe-cl Command Options Dialog Box: Create a Project Dialog Box: Create Suppression Dialog Box: Custom Analysis Dialog Box: Delete Suppressions Dialog Box: Disabled Problem Breakpoints Dialog Box: Export Result Dialog Box: Merge States Dialog Box: Options-General Dialog Box: Options-Result Location Dialog Box: Options-State Management Dialog Box: Problem Report Dialog Box: Project Properties-Binary/Symbol Search Dialog Box: Project Properties-Source Search Dialog Box: Project Properties-Suppressions Dialog Box: Project Properties-Target Dialog Box: Refine Source File Set Dialog Box: Select Stack Frame(s) Dialog Box: View Stack Hot Keys Pane: Analysis Type-Custom Pane: Analysis Type-Memory Errors Configurable Memory Error Analysis Type Settings Memory Error Analysis Type Settings Pane: Analysis Type-Threading Errors Pane: Application Output Pane: Code and Stack Pane: Code Locations Pane: Collection Log Pane: Collector Messages Pane: Compare Results Pane: Filters Pane: Import Result Pane: Launch Application Pane: Problem Details Pane: Problems Pane: Project Navigator Pane: Timeline Toolbar: Command Toolbar: Intel Inspector Toolbar: Navigation Window: Collection Log Window: Compare Results Window: Import Result Window: Sources Window: Summary After Analysis Is Complete Window: Summary During Analysis
Problem Type Reference x
Cross-thread Stack Access Data Race Deadlock GDI Resource Leak Incorrect memcpy Call Invalid Deallocation Invalid Memory Access Invalid Partial Memory Access Kernel Resource Leak Lock Hierarchy Violation Memory Growth Memory Leak Memory Not Deallocated Mismatched Allocation/Deallocation Missing Allocation Thread Exit Information Thread Start Information Unhandled Application Exception Uninitialized Memory Access Uninitialized Partial Memory Access
Command Line Interface Support x
Command Syntax Command Syntax Alternatives and Rules Command Line Output Collecting Result Data from the Command Line Working with Reports from the Command Line Working with Suppressions from the Command Line inspxe-cl Actions, Options and Arguments
Working with Reports from the Command Line x
Reporting Result Data from the Command Line Saving and Formatting Reports from the Command Line Interpreting Result Data from the Command Line
Working with Suppressions from the Command Line x
Creating a Suppress-All File from the Command Line Converting Third-Party Suppression Files from the Command Line Applying Suppression Files from the Command Line Workaround for Disabled Suppressions from the Command Line
inspxe-cl Actions, Options and Arguments x
app-working-dir archive-name baseline-result collect collect-with command convert-suppression-file create-suppression-file csv-delimiter executable-of-interest export filter finalize format help include-snippets include-sources import knob knob-list merge-states module-filter module-filter-mode no-auto-finalize no-summary option-file quiet report report-all report-output result-dir return-app-exitcode search-dir sort-asc sort-desc suppression-file user-data-dir verbose version
MPI Applications Support x
MPI Analysis Workflow Configure Installation Options Collect MPI Performance/Correctness Data Finalize MPI Collected Data View MPI Collected Data MPI Analysis Limitations Support of Non-Intel MPI Implementations Additional MPI Resources
Appendix x
Product Design Sample Code Caveats Intel Inspector Filenames and Locations Notational Conventions Related Information System APIs Supported During Memory Error Analysis System APIs Supported During Threading Error Analysis Evaluation Features
Intel® Inspector User Guide for Windows* OS

Pane: Analysis Type-Memory Errors

Pane position in window

Before Analysis

(One way) To access this Intel Inspector pane:

  • From the Visual Studio* menu, choose Tools> Intel Inspectorversion> New Analysis.... Then choose Memory Error Analysis from the Analysis Type drop-down list.

  • From the Standalone Intel Inspector GUI menu, choose File > New > Analysis.... Then choose Memory Error Analysis from the Analysis Type drop-down list.

Use this pane on the Analysis Type window to:

  • Choose and, if necessary, fine-tune a preset memory error analysis type.

  • Configure a memory error analysis to investigate problems in an interactive debugging session.

TIP:

  • If the combination of analysis type settings in the preset memory error analysis types does not meet your needs at all, try creating a custom memory error analysis type.

  • Intel Inspector does not offer interactive debugging for the Detect Leaks analysis type because memory and resource leaks are determined after an application terminates and therefore cannot be used to halt execution during analysis. However, you can perform a standard debugger attach to a process launched under this analysis type.

During Analysis

To access this pane: Click the Analysis Type button on the Navigation toolbar.

Use this pane to review the analysis type settings for this analysis run.

After Analysis Is Complete

To access this pane: Click the Analysis Type button on the Navigation toolbar.

Use this pane to:

  • Review the analysis type settings for this analysis run.

  • Re-inspect - run another analysis using the same analysis type settings.

Use This

To Do This

Analysis Type drop-down list

Switch to another category of analysis types.

Configuration slider

Choose a preset analysis type (drag slider).

Analysis Time Overhead gauge

Analysis Time gauge

Quickly estimate the time it may take to collect a result using various preset analyses. Time is expressed in relation to normal application execution time.

For example, 2x - 20x is 2 to 20 times longer than normal application execution time. If normal application execution time is 5 seconds, estimated collection time is 10 to 100 seconds.

Memory Overhead gauge

Memory Overhead gauge

The Memory Overhead gauge helps you quickly estimate the memory the Intel Inspector may consume to detect errors using this preset analysis type. Memory is expressed in blue-filled bars.

NOTE:

The gauge does not show memory used by the running application during analysis.

Copy button

Create a new custom analysis type based on the currently selected analysis type.

Analyze without debugger radio button (Detect Memory Problems and Locate Memory Problems analysis types only)

Select to run an analysis without launching an interactive debugging session. Useful for investigating all types of memory and threading problems.

TIP:

You can later use the Debug This Problem function from within a result to launch a new analysis in conjunction with a debugger to stop at problems of interest. The rerun analysis is automatically focused to find the selected problems, making it return to the problems more quickly. The Debug This Problem function is the recommended method for investigating threading errors in an interactive debugging session.

Enable debugger when problem detected radio button (Detect Memory Problems and Locate Memory Problems analysis types only)

Select to allow investigation of every problem detected in an interactive debugging session. Useful for investigating all types of memory problems except memory and resource leaks.

Select analysis start location with debugger radio button (Detect Memory Problems and Locate Memory Problems analysis types only)

Select to allow investigation of problems in a particular area of code during an interactive debugging session. Typical scenario: You need to check for errors in a specific section of application code, but the Intel Inspector does not provide the appropriate granularity to analyze only that code section. This option quickly takes you near that execution point in a debugging session. Useful for investigating all types of memory problems except memory and resource leaks.

Configurable Memory Error Analysis Type Settings

The following list shows the configurable settings (in alphabetical order) for preset memory analysis types. Configurable means you can change the setting without creating a custom analysis type:

  • Analyze stack accesses checkbox (configurable for the Locate Memory Problems analysis type only)

  • Detect leaks at application exit checkbox

  • Detect resource leaks checkbox

  • Detect still-allocated memory at application exit checkbox

  • Enable memory growth detection checkbox

  • Enable on-demand leak detection checkbox

  • Remove duplicates checkbox (configurable for the Locate Memory Problems analysis type only)

  • Stack frame depth drop-down list

Memory Error Analysis Type Settings

Use the Details region to review current analysis type settings. The following table describes the purpose, usefulness, and cost (low, medium, high, or proportional in terms of time and resources) for each memory error analysis type configuration setting. (The settings are listed in alphabetical order.)

Setting

Purpose, Usefulness, and Cost

Analyze stack accesses

Available only if Detect invalid memory accesses is selected.

Select to analyze invalid and uninitialized accesses to thread stacks.

Selecting is useful when:

  • You want as thorough an analysis as possible.

  • An application calls alloca().

High cost.

Recommendation:

  • Select the first time you analyze an application and periodically thereafter.

  • Select to analyze automatic variables.

Defer memory deallocation (previously called Byte limit before reallocation)

Available only if Detect invalid memory accesses and Enable enhanced dangling pointer check are selected.

Select to have the Intel Inspector prevent freed memory blocks from immediately returning to the pool of available memory.

Selecting is useful for discovering if an application tries to use memory after freeing it.

High cost if an application is performing many allocations/deallocations.

Recommendation: Select to improve analysis quality if the cost is not too high.

Detect invalid memory accesses (split from Detect invalid/uninitialized accesses)

Select to detect problems where a read or write instruction references memory that is logically or physically invalid.

Selecting is useful to ensure an application accesses only valid memory.

Medium cost.

Recommendation: Select.

NOTE:

May change application behavior by initializing memory that may normally be uninitialized. If your application reads this normally uninitialized memory, it may:

  • Simply miscalculate a value.

  • Treat the memory as a pointer, deference it, and crash during analysis.

Detect leaks at application exit (previously called Detect memory leaks upon application exit)

Select to report typical memory leaks in which the application allocates a memory block, never releases it, and doesn’t keep a pointer to the block (e.g. unreachable memory blocks).

Selecting is useful when an application:

  • Runs out of memory.

  • Appears to be using more memory than expected.

Extremely low cost – especially if used only with Remove duplicates selected.

Recommendation: Select.

Detect resource leaks

Select to detect open kernel and GDI handles when the application ends. For example, the application may open a file, get its handle, but never close or release that handle until it stops running. On Windows, GDI resources are limited, and the application may experience some drawing issues if it uses more than ~10,000 of these types of handles at once (pen, bitmap, brush, etc.)

Selecting is useful if you see constant growth in acquired kernel and GDI objects in the system task manager for your process.

Low cost.

Recommendation: Select unless you want to focus on memory problems exclusively.

Detect still-allocated memory at application exit (previously called Report still-allocated memory at application exit)

Available only if Detect leaks at application exit is selected.

Select to report typical memory leaks in which the application allocates a memory block, doesn’t deallocate it, but a valid variable still holds a pointer to that block when the application ends (e.g. reachable memory blocks).

Cost is proportional to the number of memory blocks still allocated when the application stops executing.

Recommendation: Select to investigate memory growth.

Detect uninitialized memory reads (split from Detect invalid/uninitialized accesses)

Available only if Detect invalid memory accesses is selected.

Select to detect problems where a read instruction accesses an uninitialized memory location.

Selecting is useful when an application:

  • Exhibits unexpected behavior.

  • Shows evidence of uninitialized values in computations.

High cost.

Recommendation: Deselect.

NOTE:

May change application behavior by initializing memory that may normally be uninitialized. If your application reads this normally uninitialized memory, it may:

  • Simply miscalculate a value.

  • Treat the memory as a pointer, deference it, and crash during analysis.

Enable enhanced dangling pointer check

Available only if Detect invalid memory accesses is selected.

Select to detect if an application is trying to access memory after it was logically freed.

May be higher cost if an application is performing many allocations/deallocations, and the Defer memory deallocation list value is smaller than the amount of memory the application allocates.

Recommendation: Select when an application exhibits unexpected behavior you suspect may be caused by a dangling pointer.

NOTE:

  • Changes application behavior by intercepting calls to deallocators and deferring actual deallocation.

  • Enhanced dangling pointer check is not supported for new/delete and new[]/delete[] allocation/deallocation pairs.

Enable guard zones

Available only if Detect invalid memory accesses is selected.

Use in conjunction with Guard zone size to show offset information if the Intel Inspector detects memory use beyond the end of an allocated block.

Selecting is useful when:

  • An application exhibits unexpected behavior.

  • You need more context about heap allocations to interpret Invalid memory access problems.

Cost is proportional to number of allocations.

Recommendation: Select unless:

  • Intel Inspector runs out of memory.

  • An application becomes destabilized.

NOTE:

  • May change application behavior.

  • Increases the amount of memory the Intel Inspector uses.

  • Intel Inspector creates guard zones only at the end of allocated space, not at the start of allocated space.

Enable memory growth detection (previously called Enable interactive memory growth detection)

Select to enable buttons in the GUI that let you send commands during application execution. This will show you a list of reachable and unreachable memory blocks for a time segment.

Selecting is useful for modeling memory usage patterns and ensuring a transactional application deallocates all memory allocations after a transaction completes.

Use in conjunction with the Reset Growth Tracking and Measure Growth buttons during analysis.

Low cost.

Enable on-demand leak detection (previously called Enable on-demand memory leak detection)

Select to enable buttons in the GUI that let you send “leak” commands. This will show you a list of unreachable memory blocks for a time segment.

Selecting is useful for checking for memory leaks in an application that never exits, or in only the portion of an application for which you are responsible.

Use in conjunction with the Reset Leak Tracking and Find Leaks buttons during analysis.

Cost is proportional to the number of allocations.

Guard zone size (previously called Guard zone byte size)

Available only if Detect invalid memory accesses and Enable guard zones are selected.

Use in conjunction with Enable guard zones to set the number of bytes beyond the allocated block of memory the Intel Inspector reserves to identify Invalid memory access problems related to the allocation.

Setting is useful when:

  • An application exhibits unexpected behavior.

  • You need more context about heap allocations to interpret Invalid memory access problems.

Cost is proportional to number of allocations.

Recommendation: Set unless:

  • Intel Inspector runs out of memory.

  • An application becomes destabilized.

NOTE:

  • May change application behavior.

  • Increases the amount of memory the Intel Inspector uses.

  • Intel Inspector creates guard zones only at the end of allocated space, not at the start of allocated space.

Maximum number of leaks shown in result (previously called Maximum memory leaks)

Use to set the maximum number of leaks the Intel Inspector shows in a result after analysis is complete.

A zero setting shows all detected memory leaks.

Cost is proportional to the number of leaks.

Recommendation: Use the default value unless you want an exhaustive list of all leaks.

TIP:

Even the default value can generate an unmanageable number of leaks. Consider sorting the displayed memory leaks by Object Size, fixing the largest leaks, and then re-inspecting your application. Or use the on-demand leak detection feature to narrow your focus and eat the elephant one bite at a time.

Remove duplicates

Deselect to show all occurrences of a detected problem in the Code Locations pane.

Deselecting is:

  • Useful when you need to fully visualize all threads and problem occurrences in relation to time

  • Low cost in terms of time; however, the number of duplicate errors could crowd out the number of unique errors.

Recommendation: Select.

Revert to previous uninitialized memory algorithm (not recommended)

Available only if Detect uninitialized memory reads is selected.

The current algorithm for detecting uninitialized memory reads decreases false positives but increases analysis time and memory overhead. Select to use the previous version of the algorithm.

Recommendation: Deselect.

Stack frame depth

Use to provide more or less call stack context for detected errors.

A high setting is useful when analyzing highly object-oriented applications.

A higher number does not significantly impact cost.

Recommendation: Use only as large a value as an application requires to display complete call paths.

Parent topic: User Interface Reference

See Also

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