BufferedImage.getGraphics() resulting in memory leak, is there a fix?
- by user359202
Hi friends,
I'm having problem with some framework API calling BufferedImage.getGraphics() method and thus causing memory leak. What this method does is that it always calls BufferedImage.createGraphics(). On a windows machine, createGraphics() is handled by Win32GraphicsEnvironment which keeps a listeners list inside its field displayChanger. When I call getGraphics on my BufferedImage someChart, someChart's SurfaceManager(which retains a reference to someChart) is added to the listeners map in Win32GraphicsEnvironment, preventing someChart to be garbage collected. Nothing afterwards removes someChart's SurfaceManager from the listeners map.
In general, the summarized path stopping a BufferedImage from being garbage collected, once getGraphics is called, is as follows:
GC Root - localGraphicsEnvironment(Win32GraphicsEnvironment)
- displayChanger(SunDisplayChanger) - listeners(Map) - key(D3DChachingSurfaceManager) - bImg(BufferedImage)
I could have changed the framework's code so that after every called to BufferedImage.getGraphics(), I keep a reference to the BufferedImage's SurfaceManager. Then, I get hold of localGraphicsEnvironment, cast it to Win32GraphicsEnvironment, then call removeDisplayChangedListener() using the reference to the BufferedImage's SurfaceManager. But I don't think this is a proper way to solve the problem.
Could someone please help me with this issue? Thanks a lot!
