If you launch Eclipse MAT and get following error
java.lang.IllegalStateException: The platform metadata area could not be written: /private/var/folders/9q/zhpkyd3s4y9d5t1nv_5hszww0000gp/T/AppTranslocation/DF264CA5-4EEF-4916-A3FA-881B111294E5/d/mat.app/Contents/MacOS/work/.metadata. By default the platform writes its content under the current working directory when the platform is launched. Use the -data parameter to specify a different content area for the platform.
Then you should open the MemoryAnalyzer.ini in your favorite editor and add the -data argument as shown below.
The location of MemoryAnalyzer.ini depends on your platform. If you are using Mac, then it is inside the app folder like mat.app/Contents/Eclipse/MemoryAnalyzer.ini
-startup ../Eclipse/plugins/org.eclipse.equinox.launcher_1.5.0.v20180512-1130.jar -data /Users/shekhargulati/dev/tmp/mat --launcher.library ../Eclipse/plugins/org.eclipse.equinox.launcher.cocoa.macosx.x86_64_1.1.700.v20180518-1200 -vmargs -Xmx4096m -Dorg.eclipse.swt.internal.carbon.smallFonts -XstartOnFirstThread
Shekhar Gulati 