FIX: VBS 2.0 String Formatting Functions Leak Memory (171365)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Visual Basic, Scripting Edition 2.0
  • Microsoft Active Server Pages
This article was previously published under Q171365

SYMPTOMS

Applications that use the Visual Basic Scripting (VBS) version 2.0 string formatting functions, such as FormatNumber and FormatCurrency, may experience memory leaks. The increased resource usage caused by these memory leaks is particularly important when VBS is used in the Active Server Pages (ASP) environment due to the high volume nature of Web servers.

CAUSE

There are known code defects in the following VBS 2.0 functions, which promote resource leaks:

  • Filter
  • FormatCurrency
  • FormatDateTime
  • FormatNumber
  • FormatPercent
  • Replace

RESOLUTION

In VBS version 2.0, there are two workarounds for this problem:
  • Avoid using these functions, especially in high-volume environments such as ASP.
  • Create your own string formatting functions to replace those provided by VBS. In the case of ASP, this would best be done by creating a server-side component (COM object) that exposes the appropriate formatting methods.

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a bug in the Microsoft products that are listed at the beginning of this article. This bug was corrected in Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.
Modification Type:MajorLast Reviewed:10/24/2003
Keywords:kbbug kbfix kbie500fix KB171365
©2003 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.