Calling Inherited IUnknown::Release() in a destruc

Question

Why does calling the inherited IUnknown::Release() function on a IWICImagingFactory object in a destructor cause a "CXX0030: Error: expression cannot be evaluated" to be shown each entry in the object's virtual function table (__vfptr)?

This is in reference to an earlier question I posted but I've since realized that the problem only occurs in the destructor. The virtual function table appears valid anywhere else I have checked. However, once in the destructor all entries are shown with the CXX0030 error and attempting to call the inherited IUknown::Release() fails.

Edit: Here is some code to demonstrate:

HRESULT DemoApp::CreateDeviceIndependentResources()
{
HRESULT hr;


hr = D2D1CreateFactory(D2D1_FACTORY_TYPE_SINGLE_THREADED, &mpDirect2DFactory);


if (SUCCEEDED(hr))
{
    hr = CoCreateInstance(
        CLSID_WICImagingFactory,
        NULL,
        CLSCTX_INPROC_SERVER,
        IID_PPV_ARGS(&mpWICFactory)
        );
}

//CoCreateInstance returns S_OK.
//Other unrelated code here.
}

HRESULT DemoApp::CreateDeviceResources()
{
HRESULT hr;
//Other unrelated code here for creating device-dependant resources.
//mpBackgroundBitmap is a ID2D1Bitmap*.
    if(SUCCEEDED(hr))
    {
        hr = LoadBitmapFromFile(
            mpRenderTarget,
            mpWICFactory,
            L".\\background.png",
            0,
            0,
            &mpBackgroundBitmap);
    }
}


//The below LoadBitmapFromFile() code is taken directly from an MSDN sample.
//I didn't write it.

HRESULT DemoApp::LoadBitmapFromFile(
ID2D1RenderTarget *pRenderTarget,
IWICImagingFactory *pIWICFactory,
PCWSTR uri,
UINT destinationWidth,
UINT destinationHeight,
ID2D1Bitmap **ppBitmap
)
{
IWICBitmapDecoder *pDecoder = NULL;
IWICBitmapFrameDecode *pSource = NULL;
IWICStream *pStream = NULL;
IWICFormatConverter *pConverter = NULL;
IWICBitmapScaler *pScaler = NULL;

HRESULT hr = pIWICFactory->CreateDecoderFromFilename(
    uri,
    NULL,
    GENERIC_READ,
    WICDecodeMetadataCacheOnLoad,
    &pDecoder
    );

if (SUCCEEDED(hr))
{
    // Create the initial frame.
    hr = pDecoder->GetFrame(0, &pSource);
}
if (SUCCEEDED(hr))
{

    // Convert the image format to 32bppPBGRA
    // (DXGI_FORMAT_B8G8R8A8_UNORM + D2D1_ALPHA_MODE_PREMULTIPLIED).
    hr = pIWICFactory->CreateFormatConverter(&pConverter);

}


if (SUCCEEDED(hr))
{
    // If a new width or height was specified, create an
    // IWICBitmapScaler and use it to resize the image.
    if (destinationWidth != 0 || destinationHeight != 0)
    {
        UINT originalWidth, originalHeight;
        hr = pSource->GetSize(&originalWidth, &originalHeight);
        if (SUCCEEDED(hr))
        {
            if (destinationWidth == 0)
            {
                FLOAT scalar = static_cast<FLOAT>(destinationHeight) / static_cast<FLOAT>(originalHeight);
                destinationWidth = static_cast<UINT>(scalar * static_cast<FLOAT>(originalWidth));
            }
            else if (destinationHeight == 0)
            {
                FLOAT scalar = static_cast<FLOAT>(destinationWidth) / static_cast<FLOAT>(originalWidth);
                destinationHeight = static_cast<UINT>(scalar * static_cast<FLOAT>(originalHeight));
            }

            hr = pIWICFactory->CreateBitmapScaler(&pScaler);
            if (SUCCEEDED(hr))
            {
                hr = pScaler->Initialize(
                        pSource,
                        destinationWidth,
                        destinationHeight,
                        WICBitmapInterpolationModeCubic
                        );
            }
            if (SUCCEEDED(hr))
            {
                hr = pConverter->Initialize(
                    pScaler,
                    GUID_WICPixelFormat32bppPBGRA,
                    WICBitmapDitherTypeNone,
                    NULL,
                    0.f,
                    WICBitmapPaletteTypeMedianCut
                    );
            }
        }
    }
    else // Don't scale the image.
    { 
        hr = pConverter->Initialize(
            pSource,
            GUID_WICPixelFormat32bppPBGRA,
            WICBitmapDitherTypeNone,
            NULL,
            0.f,
            WICBitmapPaletteTypeMedianCut
            );
    }
}
if (SUCCEEDED(hr))
{

    // Create a Direct2D bitmap from the WIC bitmap.
    hr = pRenderTarget->CreateBitmapFromWicBitmap(
        pConverter,
        NULL,
        ppBitmap
        );
}

SafeRelease(&pDecoder);
SafeRelease(&pSource);
SafeRelease(&pStream);
SafeRelease(&pConverter);
SafeRelease(&pScaler);

return hr;
}

//Now I call SafeRelease() in my destructor and the virtual function table entires are showing the error.
DemoApp::~DemoApp()
{
SafeRelease(&mpDirect2DFactory);
SafeRelease(&mpWICFactory); //here is the problem apparently
SafeRelease(&mpDWriteFactory); 
SafeRelease(&mpRenderTarget);
SafeRelease(&mpBackgroundBitmap);

}

//SafeRelease is defined as:
template<class Interface>
inline void SafeRelease(Interface** ppInterfaceToRelease)
{
if(*ppInterfaceToRelease != NULL)
{
    (*ppInterfaceToRelease)->Release();
    (*ppInterfaceToRelease) = NULL;
        }

}

The problem is when I call SafeRelease() on the WICFactory object, I get: First-chance exception at 0x0024e135 in DemoApp.exe: 0xC0000005: Access violation reading location 0x6d5c28f0. Unhandled exception at 0x0024e135 in DemoApp.exe: 0xC0000005: Access violation reading location 0x6d5c28f0.

Answer 1

I struggled with this problem lately too. The problem is that the creation and release of IWICImagingFactory depends on CoInitialize/CoUninitialize being called before and after, respectively. In your application it is likely that CoUninitialize() is called before the IWICImagingFactory is released in the destructor, which causes a crash. Note that ID2D1RenderTarget and such do not seem to be affected and can still be released after CoUninitialize() is called.

Remove the call to CoUninitialize() from RunMessageLoop() or wherever it is and put it after the release call in the destructor and the crash should go away.

Answer 2

Calling virtual functions inside the constructor or destructor does not call the function you assume it will call. It always results in call to the functions of that same class.

You can assume virtual dispatch is disabled in constructor and destructors.

An more appropriate way of saying this is:

During the execution of a constructor or destructor, virtual calls on the object for which the constructor or destructor is run behave as if the dynamic type of the object expression used in the call is equal to the class of the constructor or destructor.

Courtesy: A lengthy discussion in C++ Lounge, Where finally, @JohannesSchaublitb came up with this apt definition, which most of us seemed to agree on.