Feature #9725
Updated by nobu (Nobuyoshi Nakada) almost 9 years ago
=begin At least once every few months, we get an error report of JRuby raising a memory error where MRI does not due to `NameError`'s `Message` NameError's Message object holding a reference to an object that's too large to inspect. I propose that this inspection of the target object should only be done in verbose mode. ## Background: `NameError` NameError is raised when a variable-like method call fails to find a defined method. The resulting exception is created with a hidden `NameError::Message` NameError::Message that holds the object in which the method could not be found. When name error needs to render its message, such as when it bubbles out or when `#message` #message is called, it does `to_str` to_str on the `NameError::Message`, NameError::Message, which ends up inspecting the target object. If this object's inspect output is large (or infinite) it can end up consuming a large amount of memory. ## Problems: * If the amount of memory required to render a `NameError` NameError exceeds available memory, a very confusing and misleading memory error can be raised instead. * If the target object is considered sensitive data, it will end up bubbling out through potentially untrustworthy code. It is an encapsulation flaw, basically. * A `NameError` NameError that gets held in memory will also prevent GC of the object it references. ## Solutions: * `NameError` NameError should not capture the target object. * `NameError` NameError should build a message based on the target object *at creation time*, and only include information useful to indicate the type of object. * (Optional) If verbose mode is set, `NameError` NameError can just do what it does now.