ADOBE® FLEX® BUILDER™ 3: USING ADOBE FLEX BUILDER 3

ADOBE FLEX BUILDER 3

Using Adobe Flex Builder 3

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The following example shows the Allocation Trace table in the Object References view:

The following table describes the columns in the Allocation Trace table:

You can only view data in this table when you enable allocation traces when you start the profiler.

You can open the source code of the selected class by double-clicking a class in this table.

Using the Allocation Trace view

The Allocation Trace view shows which methods were called between two memory snapshots and how much

memory was consumed during those method calls. To open the Allocation Trace view, you select two memory

snapshots, and then click the View Allocation Trace button. For information on recording a memory snapshot, see

“Using the Memory Snapshot view” on page 168.

The result of the memory snapshot comparison is a list of methods that Flash Player executed between the two

memory snapshots. For each of these methods, the profiler reports the number of objects created in that method.

You can use this information to optimize performance. After you identify methods that create an excessive number

of objects, you can optimize those hot spots.

To use the Allocation Trace view, you must enable allocation traces when you start the profiler. The default is

disabled.

Column Description

Method The top-level method in this table is the method that created the instance of the class that is listed in the Instances

table.

You can expand the method to show the stack trace of the method. This can help you determine where the call stack

began.

Location The file where the method is defined.

Line The line number in the file.

ADOBE FLEX BUILDER 3

Using Adobe Flex Builder 3

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The following example shows the Allocation Trace view:

The following table describes the columns in the Allocation Trace view:

When recording methods during sampling intervals, the profiler also records internal Flash Player actions. These

actions show up in the method list in brackets and appear as

[mouseEvent] or [newclass] or with similar names.

For more information about internal Flash Player actions, see “How the Flex profiler works” on page 157.

To open the Object Statistics view, click a row in the Allocation Trace table. This view provides details about the

objects that were created in the method that you selected. It also lets you drill down into the objects that were created

in methods that were called from this method. For more information, see “Using the Object Statistics view” on

page 172.

You limit the data in the Allocation Trace view by using the profiler filters. For more information, see “A b o u t p r o f i l e r

filters” on page 183.

Column Description

Method The method that was called during the snapshot interval. This column also contains the class whose instance

called this method.

Package The package that each class is in. If the class is not in a package, then the value of this field is the file name that

the class is in. The number following the dollar sign is a unique ID for that class.

If the Package field is empty, the class is in the global package or the unnamed package.

Cumulative Instances The number of objects instantiated in this method and all methods called from this method.

Self Instances The number of objects instantiated in this method. This does not include objects that were instantiated in

subsequent method calls from this method.

Cumulative Memory The amount of memory, in bytes, used by the objects instantiated in this method and all methods called from

this method.

Self Memory The amount of memory, in bytes, used by the objects instantiated in this method. This does not include the

memory used by objects that were instantiated in subsequent method calls from this method.