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This site is no longer maintained.
My current weblog.
Monday, April 01, 2002Embedded Visual Hell
Have I ever mentioned that Embedded Visual Basic sucks? Today's problems center around memory leaks. Firstly, the CreateObject function has one. There's a hotfix, but it's one of those limited-availability deals, so I switched to a third-party CreateObject function as a work-around.
Then I find that loading and unloading XMLHTTP leaks. Not much, but MOB is a program that ought to be running all the time, so any leaks are bad. Work-around: put XMLHTTP in a Global variable.
XMLDOM also has leaks, big time at over 10k per shot. I'm not sure if the problem is within certain XMLDOM methods, if a reference counter isn't being decremented properly, or if eVB isn't noticing that all of the references are gone. Here's a sample leak:
Private Sub memoryLeak()
Dim objDOM, objNode' objOSIW32 is a global reference to OSIUtil.Win32
Set objDOM = objOSIW32.CreateObject("Microsoft.XMLDOM")
Set objNode = objDOM.createElement("something")
objDOM.appendChild objNode
Set objNode = Nothing
Set objDOM = Nothing
End Sub
If the objDOM.appendChild line is removed then there is no leak. Unfortunately, I must call that method many times to generate XML-RPC payloads. This is very bad. I've posted a plea for help in an eVB developer forum, hopefully someone else has seen this behavior and can offer a work-around.
Note to self: Follow-up on the Casio BE-300 in a few weeks. Doesn't support eVB at present. An upgrade to CE.NET is due soon, possibly making this the first .NET PDA available.
To be determined: Will using this as a .NET target require that the Compact Framework be available, or will Casio be able to export their own .NET SDK from Platform Builder?
Wireless Blurbs
Compaq launches GSM sled in Europe, pushes back US launch to June [via PocketPCHow2 Log]
Sony-Ericsson showed the P800 at JavaOne last week. There is a video at the bottom of this page, no idea if that page is permanent. It runs Symbian's OS, has a color screen, camera, and Java. Symbian made an announcement with screen shots.
Also on display was Motorola's i95CL. Uses Nextel's iDEN network, clamshell design, has a color screen, Java, no camera, no mention of OS. Video at the link above. Has a proprietary IM app that can send voice messages to a PC. Why?
The Siemens S46 is supposed to launch this month with AT&T Wireless. It's just a regular phone, but it's calendar and contacts can sync with Notes and Outlook. The kicker is that the phone is dual-band TDMA and GSM. Virtually guaranteed to work anywhere on the planet.
And while I'm thinking of roaming... Last November I drove from South Florida to South Jersey / Philly. My GSM phones were almost always on some network, making and receiving many calls. Two years before, roaming in the US with any type of digital cellular phone was sketchy at best.
