Runtime Checking Application Programming Interface

Both leak detection and access checking require that the standard heap management routines in the shared library libc.so be used. This is so that RTC can keep track of all the allocations and deallocations in the program. Many applications write their own memory management routines either on top of malloc-free or from scratch. When you use your own allocators (referred to as private allocators), RTC cannot automatically track them, thus you do not learn of leak and memory access errors resulting from their improper use.

However, RTC provides an API for the use of private allocators. This API allows the private allocators to get the same treatment as the standard heap allocators. The API itself is provided in a header file rtc_api.h and is distributed as a part of WorkShop. The man page rtc_api(3x) details the RTC API entry points.

Some minor differences may exist with RTC access error reporting when private allocators do not use the program heap. The error report will not include the allocation item.