SDL_ttf throws an exception after 4 minutes

SDL Development
1

Hi everyone. I have been working on a small project, however I am having one particular issue. After 4 minutes of debugging, sdl2_ttf.dll throws an exception. The exception is being thrown at this particular line

SDL_Surface* tSurface = TTF_RenderText_Solid(tfont, Score.c_str(), colour);

Visual Studio gives this error

Exception thrown at 0x7120212B (SDL2_ttf.dll) in SDL2FlappyBird.exe: 0xC0000005: Access violation reading location 0x00000004.

The source code is as follows:

void Game::render() {
TTF_Init();
TTF_Font* tfont = TTF_OpenFont(“PixelGameFont.ttf”, 24);
const std::string Score = std::to_string(score_);

SDL_SetRenderDrawColor(renderer, 0, 0, 0, 0xff);
SDL_RenderClear(renderer);

const SDL_Color colour = { 0xff, 0xff, 0xff, 0xff };
SDL_Surface* tSurface = TTF_RenderText_Solid(tfont, Score.c_str(), colour);
SDL_Surface* skySurface = IMG_Load("FlappySky.png");
SDL_Surface* texSurface = IMG_Load("Flappy.png");

SDL_Texture* texScore = SDL_CreateTextureFromSurface(renderer, tSurface);
SDL_Texture* sky = SDL_CreateTextureFromSurface(renderer, skySurface);
SDL_Texture* tex = SDL_CreateTextureFromSurface(renderer, texSurface);

SDL_Rect rSky = { 0, 0, 720, 720 };
SDL_Rect fSky = { 20.f, y_ + 720 / 2, 40.f, 40 };
SDL_Rect tSky = { 0, 0, 64, 64 };

SDL_RenderCopy(renderer, sky, nullptr, &rSky);


pipeA.draw(renderer);
pipeB.draw(renderer);
pipeC.draw(renderer);

gameCheck(pipeA);
gameCheck(pipeB);
gameCheck(pipeC);

SDL_RenderCopy(renderer, tex, nullptr, &fSky);
SDL_RenderCopy(renderer, texScore, nullptr, &tSky);

SDL_DestroyTexture(tex);
SDL_DestroyTexture(sky);
SDL_DestroyTexture(texScore);

SDL_FreeSurface(tSurface);
SDL_FreeSurface(skySurface);
SDL_FreeSurface(texSurface);

SDL_RenderPresent(renderer);

}

One important detail to note is that this was coded the same way another project was, which does not have the same issue.

2

I’ve figured out that the problem is there is a memory leak, but I am unsure as to why. I am freeing my surfaces and destroying my textures so there is no reason for there to be a memory leak but there is.

3

You’re initializing the TTF library (by calling TTF_Init()) and also loading a font (by calling TTF_OpenFont()) every time Game::render() is called, which I assume is every single frame. You will probably understand why that’s a problem.

The initialization of the TTF library and loading of font file(s) should happen at the startup/loading phase of your program/game only.
Then, at program/game shutdown or during some unloading phase, at a scene change for example, the TTF font should be unloaded/destroyed by calling TTF_CloseFont() and, if needed, shutdown/unload/destroy the TTF library by calling TTF_Quit().
During the runtime of the program/game, no initializing or loading of files should occur, if it’s not totally necessary.