Flash profiling of memory after clearing cache of home-made rsl files

Question

I have a question about the flash memory profiling tools.
Once I have completely loaded a swf file into my browser, complete with multiple home-made gigantic RSLs (not flex swzs), the memory footprint of my application is small; I have not instantiated any of the objects in the RSL files.  However, as stated earlier, the RSLs are very big files; full of embedded assets.
If I clear my browser cache, those gigantic RSL files are deleted.
Then, when I use my flash app to create objects from the RSL, flash profiler shows my memory footprint increase.  That makes sense; I just made some large objects.
But from where did flash load those objects? 
I deleted the RSL files.
The flash profiler showed I was using hardly any memory, suggesting that the class files were not loaded into memory already.
Are the files kept in a secondary file cache?  Is there a second memory cache?  Can I profile its size?

Answer 1

1. No. and the main footprint of a bitmap is probably is per-instance so the instance cost is probably what you're interested in.  Anything embedded is also a class and the first time you access the class the Class category should go up by a bit.
2.  When your app requires an RSL, the SWF for the RSL is loaded into memory (in a buffer you can't see from the profiler), expanded and parsed (into even more memory that you can't see from the profiler).  Then as you access classes from the RSL, the profiler should show growth in the Class, Object and Function.  If you statically link just the code you need, the amount of memory to load the SWF and parse it will be smaller since it doesn't need space for classes you won't need, but after that it is the same.  The advantage of the RSL is that most folks end up using 200K or more from the RSLs so that's a download cost you pay the first time you run the app.  The Flex RSLs are pretty well deployed so your chances of having savings is pretty good.  Private RSLs for your app will do no good unless there is another app on the same domain that uses the RSLs.  See the modules presentation on my blog for more info
3.  The profiler does not show System.totalMemory.  Even that number isn't the whole measure.  We're currently fans of PrivateBytes to measure total weight of the app.  But it depends on what problem you're trying to solve.
Alex Harui
Flex SDK Developer
Adobe Systems Inc.
Blog: http://blogs.adobe.com/aharui