css - Memory usage explodes when using CSSApply within function -

i observed weird behavior when using command cssapply library css inside function.

basically, each time call function, r uses additional 0.5mb of memory. since want use function extract data 20.000 webpages, r crashes because has memory problems.

here sample code reproduces problem:

library(css)  f <- function() {  url <- "http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2049768676/schoolhaus-a4" page.o <- readlines(url) page <- htmlparse(page.o) name <- cssapply(page, "#name", csscharacter) return(name) }  x <- character(200)  (i in 1:length(x)) { x[i] <- f()   print(i) flush.console() } 

first thought using data.frame problem, figured out cssapply problem. if comment out, memory usage stays more or less constant.

if has idea what's problem, appreciate help.

thanks much,

dainis