JuliaPlots/Plots.jl

Clean up temporary files, avoid leaking file handles

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#645 opened on Jan 14, 2017

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 (6 comments) (0 reactions) (0 assignees)Julia (1,943 stars) (381 forks)batch import
good first issue

Description

Many of the backends create temporary files and/or open file handles with open without cleaning up either. While GC will eventually deal with the file handles, some OS's require you to close handles before you're allowed to delete a file. And accumulating an unbounded number of files over time isn't a nice thing to do to users' temporary directories.

Contributor guide

Tech stack
None
Domain
backendperformance
Issue type
bug
DifficultyEstimated implementation difficulty for a new contributor, from 1 for very small changes to 5 for expert-level work.
2
Estimated timeA rough time range for an experienced contributor to investigate, implement, test, and prepare a pull request.
half day
Activity statusHow available the issue appears right now: fresh, active, stale, blocked, or waiting on maintainer input.
stale
ClarityHow clearly the issue explains the expected change, acceptance criteria, and next step.
clear
Prerequisites
Basic Julia syntaxUnderstanding of file I/O
Newbie friendlinessA 1-100 score estimating how approachable this issue is for first-time contributors.
70
Research direction
Look at the backend implementations in Plots.jl, particularly those that create temporary files or open file handles. Check the source code for `open` calls and ensure corresponding `close` calls exist. Consider using a try finally block or a resource management pattern. The issue has comments suggesting possible approaches; review those for guidance. Files to examine include the backend modules in src/backends/ directory.