Analyze Process Dumps
Sometimes, for example in case of a production web server, it may be not possible to install dotMemory on a computer and take a regular snapshot for analysis. Typically, your last resort in such a case is a Windows raw memory dump. It can be created by a number of tools, but certainly, the two most popular ones are Task Manager (comes with the operating system) and Process Explorer.
dotMemory allows importing and analyzing raw dumps as regular snapshots: involving all product features like automatic inspections and retention diagrams.
To import a process dump
On the Home page, on the left panel, click Import Dump.
In the opened dialog, select the desired workspace file and click Open.
After this, the imported dump will be converted into a regular dotMemory workspace.
Unreachable objects
Before taking a memory snapshot, dotMemory forces full garbage collection. In contrast, when you get a memory dump with Task Manager or another tool, garbage collection is not performed. As a result, the memory dump will contain objects that are not reachable from GC roots. Typically, these are objects that have been already prepared for garbage collection but have not been collected. In some cases, they may be of interest for analysis. dotMemory lets you open such objects as a separate object set.
To open a set of unreachable objects
Import and open a memory dump.
Open the Inspections view.
In the Heap Fragmentation section, click the link unreachable objects.
