Executing QProcess in QThread: memory leak

[sitesv]

@jsulm Local EventLoop was recommended before. Could you please advise something?

[jsulm]

@sitesv You know how many processes you started. So, count how many processes already finished (inside the lambda). And as soon as all processes finished you can check success_count and emit the signal. All this can be done inside lambda.

[KroMignon]

@sitesv said in Executing QProcess in QThread: memory leak:

How to set a timeout for the process execution in this case?

Have you tried to look at ping parameters (ping --help)

And I would only wait once, for all pings to be done:

QStringList ip_list = {"192.168.0.1", "192.168.0.2"};
int success_count = 0;
int pingsToDo = ip_list.count();
QEventLoop l;
foreach(auto ip, ip_list)
{
    QProcess ping;
    ping.setProcessChannelMode(QProcess::MergedChannels);
    connect(&ping,
            QOverload<int, QProcess::ExitStatus>::of(&QProcess::finished),
            [&l, &ping, &success_count, &pingsToDo]() {
                --pingsToDo;
                QString output(ping.readAll());
                if(output.contains("ttl",Qt::CaseInsensitive)) success_count++;
                if(!pingsToDo)
                    l.exit();
            });
    ping.start("/bin/ping", QStringList() << ip << "-c" << "1");
}

// wait all pings done
l.exec();
if(success_count == ip_list.count())
   emit setStatus(true);
else
   emit setStatus(false);
m_timer->start();

[sitesv]

@KroMignon said in Executing QProcess in QThread: memory leak:

And I would only wait once, for all pings to be done:

Wow! Very nice!! Thank you!

@KroMignon
UPD: app is freezing on line l.exec() althought l.exit() is done....

[sitesv]

Guys, how to resolve this?

[KroMignon]

@sitesv said in Executing QProcess in QThread: memory leak:

Guys, how to resolve this?

Hmm, I think it is a tricky issue. I would start with forcing QueuedConnection, to avoid threading issues:

connect(&ping,
            QOverload<int, QProcess::ExitStatus>::of(&QProcess::finished),
            [&l, &ping, &success_count, &pingsToDo]() {
                ...
            }, Qt::QueuedConnection);

[sitesv]

@KroMignon said in Executing QProcess in QThread: memory leak:

connect(&ping,
QOverload<int, QProcess::ExitStatus>::of(&QProcess::finished),
&l, &ping, &success_count, &pingsToDo {
...
}, Qt::QueuedConnection);

'connect' failed again

[KroMignon]

@sitesv Can you show the code you have written

Sorry my fault, should be:

connect(&ping,
        QOverload<int, QProcess::ExitStatus>::of(&QProcess::finished),
        &l, // receiver!
        [&l, &ping, &success_count, &pingsToDo]() {
            ...
        }, Qt::QueuedConnection);

[sitesv]

@KroMignon

QStringList ip_list = {"192.168.0.1", "192.168.0.2"};
    int success_count = 0;
    int pingsToDo = ip_list.count();
    QEventLoop l; // used for passive wait until process finished
    foreach(auto ip, ip_list)
    {
        QProcess ping;
        ping.setProcessChannelMode(QProcess::MergedChannels);
        connect(&ping,
                QOverload<int, QProcess::ExitStatus>::of(&QProcess::finished), &l,
                [&l, &ping, &success_count, &pingsToDo]() {
                    --pingsToDo;
                    QString output(ping.readAll()); // <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< SIGSEGV Segmentation fault
                    if(output.contains("ttl",Qt::CaseInsensitive)){
                        success_count++;
                    }
                    if(!pingsToDo){
                        l.exit();
                    }
                }, Qt::QueuedConnection);
        ping.start("/bin/ping", QStringList() << ip << "-c" << "1");
    }
    l.exec();
    if(success_count == ip_list.count()) emit setLedStatus(0, 0, true);
    else                                 emit setLedStatus(0, 0, false);

    m_timer->start();

There is SIGSEGV Segmentation fault on ping.readAll string. :((

[KroMignon]

@sitesv Sorry but I was a little bit confused when I suggest you this code.
This cannot work, because QProcess is killed/destroyed at end of the for loop!
Should be:

QStringList ip_list = {"192.168.0.1", "192.168.0.2"};
int success_count = 0;
int pingsToDo = ip_list.count();
QEventLoop l;
foreach(auto ip, ip_list)
{
    auto ping = new QProcess();
    ping->setProcessChannelMode(QProcess::MergedChannels);
    connect(ping,
            QOverload<int, QProcess::ExitStatus>::of(&QProcess::finished),
            [&l, ping, &success_count, &pingsToDo]() {
                --pingsToDo;
                QString output(ping->readAll());
                if(output.contains("ttl",Qt::CaseInsensitive))
                    success_count++;
                // free memory
                ping->deleteLater();
                //  exit event loop after all pings done
                if(!pingsToDo)
                    l.exit();
            });
    ping->start("/bin/ping", QStringList() << ip << "-c" << "1");
}

// wait all pings done
l.exec();

[JonB]

@sitesv , @KroMignon
I will say one thing.

You are writing code which will call QEventLoop::exec(), blocking whatever calls it. It relies on hitting the QEventLoop::exit() statement, which you only have in response to the QProcess::finished signal. If for whatever reason that does not get hit, your event loop will never be exited.

I would not write production (or even development) code like this, and certainly not for distribution. It is asking for an "unseen hang" to occur, one day. I would at minimum hook onto QProcess::errorOccurred, maybe stateChanged() too. And I would put in some sort of timer/timeout, so that if something goes badly wrong you get out of the blocking loop (with perhaps an error flag) instead of waiting for Hell to freeze over....

[KroMignon]

@JonB said in Executing QProcess in QThread: memory leak:

I would not write production (or even development) code like this, and certainly not for distribution. It is asking for an "unseen hang" to occur, one day. I would at minimum hook onto QProcess::errorOccurred, maybe stateChanged() too. And I would put in some sort of timer/timeout, so that if something goes badly wrong you get out of the blocking loop (with perhaps an error flag) instead of waiting for Hell to freeze over....

Yes, this is a good advice.

[sitesv]

@JonB said in Executing QProcess in QThread: memory leak:

You are writing code which will call QEventLoop::exec(), blocking whatever calls it. It relies on hitting the QEventLoop::exit() statement, which you only have in response to the QProcess::finished signal. If for whatever reason that does not get hit, your event loop will never be exited.

Maybe my first variant was good (QThread + QProcess)?

if(!myProcess) myProcess = new QProcess(this);
myProcess->start(exe_path, arguments);
myProcess->waitForFinished(500);
output = myProcess->readAll();
output_str = codec->toUnicode(output);
output_strlst = output_str.split("\r\n");
myProcess->close();
...

There is QProcess "waitForFinished" with timeout.
The app wasn't freezing with this approach.

[KroMignon]

@sitesv said in Executing QProcess in QThread: memory leak:

There is QProcess "waitForFinished" with timeout.
The app wasn't freezing with this approach.

Why not, but you have to wait ping finished before starting next.
If it is what you want, then go with it.

[jsulm]

@sitesv I'm still wondering why you think you need a local event loop...

[sitesv]

@jsulm said in Executing QProcess in QThread: memory leak:

@sitesv I'm still wondering why you think you need a local event loop...

Hi! I have done variant as you recommend. It's working!

void PingTester::doPing(){
    QStringList ip_list = {"192.168.0.1", "192.168.0.2"};
    int success_count = 0;
    int pingsToDo = ip_list.count();
    int ipCnt = pingsToDo;
    foreach(auto ip, ip_list)
    {
        QProcess ping;
        ping.setProcessChannelMode(QProcess::MergedChannels);
        connect(&ping,
                QOverload<int, QProcess::ExitStatus>::of(&QProcess::finished),
                [this, &ping, &success_count, &pingsToDo, ipCnt]() {
                    --pingsToDo;
                    QString output(ping.readAll());
                    if(output.contains("ttl",Qt::CaseInsensitive)){
                        success_count++;
                    }
                    if(!pingsToDo){
                        if(success_count == ipCnt) emit setStatus(true);
                        else                       emit setStatus(false);
                        m_timer->start();
                    }
                });
        ping.start("/bin/ping", QStringList() << ip << "-c" << "1" << "-w" << "1");
    }
}

I made another experiment:

1. Created a QThread
2. In QThread::run() method::

• made a QTimer* object,
• set him as "one shot kind",
• ran QTimer, and in final
  * ran QThread::exec() (for run local EventLoop)...

3. There is timer->start() in timeout slot, It executed, but QTimer doesn't start again.

Any ideas?

[JonB]

@sitesv
I don't know how/whether your issue relates this, but in your code: you set off ping.start(), but QProcess ping; is a local variable in your foreach loop and so immediately goes out of scope (not to mention, you also re-use the same local variable for each time round the loop, overwriting/destroying the previous one). Nothing should work (it might actually "crash"), I don't understand how you say it does.

On top of all of this: I think we've said it already here above, but goodness only knows why you are using a thread, with all the complications that involves? If you want to run a QProcess and the main thread to know when it's finished, it's asynchronous anyway, it would be a whole lot simpler not to have any thread. I think I said this earlier, but up to you.

And finally, while I'm on a roll: I think you are just using a /bin/ping in order to read the textual output, parse it, and see whether something is there/alive. In which case I'd be tempted to just write it myself in Qt instead of running some external command, I would have thought it's only a few lines of code. Your "parsing" of the output is beyond hokey, not even sure what you think it tells you....

[KroMignon]

@sitesv said in Executing QProcess in QThread: memory leak:

Hi! I have done variant as you recommend. It's working!

I am not sure this is really working!
I think you have to (re)learn C++ object life cycle.
You create a QProcess local instance in the for loop, this object will be destroyed at loop end.

[sitesv]

@JonB @KroMignon
Agree with you, guys.
But it works...
I can reimplement to QProcess pointers of PingTester class...

[KroMignon]

@sitesv said in Executing QProcess in QThread: memory leak:

But it works...

It don't, "it seems to work" would be the correct answer ;)

If you try to ping a not valid/accessible IP address, I am pretty sure it will not work.

If you want to do it sequentially, you have to be consistent in your choice:

foreach(auto ip, ip_list)
{
    QProcess ping;
    ping.setProcessChannelMode(QProcess::MergedChannels);
    ping.start("/bin/ping", QStringList() << ip << "-c" << "1" << "-w" << "1");
    ping.waitForFinished(5000); // wait up to 5 seconds
    QString output(ping.readAll());
    if(output.contains("ttl",Qt::CaseInsensitive)){
        success_count++;
    }
}