Crash in Doom Builder 1.67?

I have heard that some people have experienced a (possibly random) crash with Doom Builder 1.67. With version 1.67 I have applied new optimizations to the C++ code parts (builder.dll) so appearently there must be something wrong in there now.

Ofcourse id like to fix it, but I also want as much optimizations as possible. What id like to know is; Can someone tell me a more precise event and situation in which a crash occurs? (and describe it well enough so I can reproduce the error on my machine!)

If I can locate the problem in code I could adjust the code to work with the optimizations. But if the crash is truly random Im afraid I will have to take most optimizations out, if not all :(

i know a few (from 3d mode). Press the Windows key or Alt Enter while in fullscreen 3d mode. Crash. Sometimes it crashes when i try to change a texture on something in fullscreen 3d mode to (i dont accactly know why/when that occures, it seems to do it randomly, allthough that's not possible in coding)

It *is* possible for a program to behave in an arbitrary fashion, by having it accidentally depend on the current contents of memory (ie, uninitialized variable or allocation) or by having it corrupt itself (static, heap, or stack corruption). Any time a crash has happened to me randomly, it was one of the latter problems. Of course it could be none of these, and it may just be an error which is inconsistent, but still predictable given the right input.

a program cant crash randomly unless you really program it that way like using a if randomnumber == 0.2 then *some error, like overflow*. And even a random number can be predicted (some encryptions work that way). In this case i think its based on a certain value of variables, not random.

Yeah, in fullscreen 3d mode, clicking on a surface will sometimes bring up an error instead of the texture window. 'Automation Error' is what it was, then some numbers. It only seems to happen for me when I have had my computer running for a while, and stops after I restart, but will gradually continue happening until -every- time I change try to change a texture it crashes.

robindegen said:

In this case i think its based on a certain value of variables, not random.

You read what Quasar said right? "Random" crashes could be caused by dependence on an uninitialized variable, which, in its uninitialized state, could be pointing to any memory address. It's possible that the majority of times that address does contain the proper value (say, zero), but it's also possible that it doesn't contain the expected value.

Memory errors, either temporary ones caused by ever-present electromagnetic interference, or due to a hardware defect, can also cause even initialized variables to unexpectedly have the wrong state.

I don't know why, but just today I had some problems with the 3D mode with the latest version of DB. I never did before, which is rather curious. I've tried multiple wads, but I keep getting the same error, even after changing resolution, video settings in the config or even from windowed to non-windowed 3D view mode:

Error 6 in 3D mode: overflow

Any ideas?

Is upgrading from DB 1.63 to the new version even worth it with these new errors?

Im talking about memory-leak-alike errors. These are errors that, when occuring, make the program disappear suddenly or give that "general failure" program error dialog. "Nice" error messages like "Error 6 in 3D mode: overflow" are irrelevant in this topic.

Is upgrading from DB 1.63 to the new version even worth it with these new errors?

Saving your map often ensures you wont lose anything, at least not much. AFAIK the errors im talking about only occur very occasionally so I dont think it could be a big frustration.

yea i allways save it before going to 3d mode.

I've had random crashes I've always thought were memory errors for ages, since the really early versions. On large maps they can become pretty frequent, so I've got into the habbit of saving before going to 3D mode. I was guessing it was something idiosyncratic about my computer, or because I always tend to have loads of programs open at once.

Not sure if this is related, but usually when I get random crashes where DB just closes down with no error message, the next time I load up, if I go straight into 3D mode without making any changes (so the BSP isn't rebuild), 3D mode will be completely screwed with black holes everywhere. I have to make some changes to the map and force a new BSP build for it to work properly.

Those who have experienced "random" crashes more than once, please let me know your CPU specs here.

Pentium 3 @ 650 Mhz. 100Mhz FSB.

Amd 64 3200+ 1mb l2 cache (normally 2.2 ghz, but running at 2.4)