Kazimir and Steve, The bug found by Kazimir's program is a C stack overflow. The stack size at the crashpoint is almost exactly the stack size as reported by the getrlimit() system call, and calling setrlimit() to raise the C stack size pushes the crash away indefinitely. On some systems (UNIXes) you can raise the limits from the shell, but others would need to compile a larger stack size into the virtual machine to solve this issue.
I used to think Linux and other UNIXes automatically grew their C stacks as needed, but I guess they have a limit in order to keep runaway processes from bringing the whole system to a grinding halt. The number on my Linux seems to be 8.3MB by default but can be raised by an ordinary system call. On Windows I believe we have been using a relatively puny 768K C stack, and I am not sure whether the Ming gcc on Windows supports setrlimit() to raise the limit dynamically, or not; I will find out. I believe a "fix" will now be relatively straightforward; thanks again Kazimir for packaging the problem up so nicely! The good news about all this is that for many years we have just been shrugging our shoulders and saying "C stack overflow, can't help it", about most reported Icon and Unicon virtual machine crashes. But from this exercise it appears that we can do something to alleviate this on many or most platforms. Like the BLKSIZE discussion earlier, one of the big issues is how to select an appropriate C stack size, based on the system memory, such that users don't need environment variables or flags to set it to a non-default value. Cheers, Clint ------------------------------------------------------- This SF.Net email sponsored by: Free pre-built ASP.NET sites including Data Reports, E-commerce, Portals, and Forums are available now. Download today and enter to win an XBOX or Visual Studio .NET. http://aspnet.click-url.com/go/psa00100003ave/direct;at.aspnet_072303_01/01 _______________________________________________ Unicon-group mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/unicon-group
