Memory leak in WPF app due to DelegateCommand.

Question

I just finished desktop apps written in WPF and c# using MVVM pattern. In this app I used Delegate Command implementation to wrap the ICommands properties exposed in my ModelView. The problem is these DelegateCommands prevent my ModelView and View from being garbage collected after closing the view. So it stays larking until I terminate the whole application. I profile the application I find it’s all about delegatecommand that keeping the modelview in memory. How could I avoid this situation and is this in nature of mvvm pattern, or it’s about my implantation of the pattern?. Thanks.

Edit: this is small but complete portion of how i implement MVVM pattern

First: CommandDelegte class

class DelegateCommand:ICommand
{
    private Action<object> execute;
    private Predicate<object> canExcute;
    public DelegateCommand(Action<object> execute, Predicate<object> canExecute)
    {
        if (execute == null)
        {
            throw new ArgumentNullException("execute");
        }
        this.execute = execute;
        this.canExcute = canExecute;
    }
    public bool CanExecute(object parameter)
    {
        if (this.canExcute != null)
        {
            return canExcute(parameter);
        }
        return true;
    }

    public event EventHandler CanExecuteChanged
    {
        add { CommandManager.RequerySuggested += value; }
        remove { CommandManager.RequerySuggested -= value; }
    }


    public void Execute(object parameter)
    {
        this.execute(parameter);
    }
}

Second: ModelView Class

public class ViewModel:DependencyObject, INotifyPropertyChanged
{
    private DelegateCommand printCommand;

    public ICommand PrintCommand
    {
        get
        {
            if (printCommand == null)
            {
                printCommand = new DelegateCommand(Print, CanExecutePrint);
            }
            return printCommand;
        }
    }
    void Print(object obj)
    {
        Console.WriteLine("Print Command");

    }
    bool CanExecutePrint(object obj)
    {
        return true;
    }


    public event PropertyChangedEventHandler PropertyChanged;
    private void OnProeprtyChanged(string propertyName)
    {
        if (PropertyChanged != null)
        {
            PropertyChanged(this, new PropertyChangedEventArgs(propertyName));
        }
    }
}

Third: Window code behind

public MainWindow()
    {
        InitializeComponent();
        base.DataContext = new ViewModel();
    }

Forth: My XAML

<Window x:Class="WpfApplication1.MainWindow"
    xmlns="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml/presentation"
    xmlns:x="http://schemas.microsoft.com/winfx/2006/xaml"
    Title="MainWindow" Height="350" Width="525">
<Window.InputBindings>
    <KeyBinding Key="P" Modifiers="Control" Command="{Binding Path=PrintCommand}"/>
</Window.InputBindings>
<StackPanel>
    <Button Content="Print - Ctrl+P" Width="75" Height="75" Command="{Binding Path=PrintCommand}"/>
</StackPanel>

Answer 1

Without seeing any code it's very difficuilt give a proper answer. Please show us your implementation and usage of the delegate command.

Answer 2

I've not used WPF etc. before or used the MVVM pattern, but if you're trying to avoid memory leaks you should see : http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ee658248.aspx. Specifically see the section about event handling causing leaks.

Answer 3

In your case, what contains a reference to what?

1. DelegateCommand contains a reference to ViewModel - its execute and canExecute properties contain references to a methods of the ViewModel instance.

2. ViewModel contains a reference to DelegateCommand - its PrintCommand property.

3. The view contains any number of references to the ViewModel.

4. The CommandManager contains a reference to DelegateCommand in its RequerySuggested event.

That last reference is a special case: CommandManager uses a WeakReference in its RequerySuggested event, so despite the fact that DelegateCommand registers for that event, it can still be garbage-collected.

Given all this, you shouldn't be having a problem. If the view gets disposed, neither the ViewModel nor the DelegateCommand should be reachable.

You say you've profiled the application and DelegateCommand is holding a reference to ViewModel. It seems to me that the logical next question should be: what's holding a reference to DelegateCommand? It shouldn't be CommandManager. Do you have something else in your application that's referencing your commands?