on 07/11/02 22:11, Scott Clitheroe at scott_at_clitheroe.ca wrote:
> I'm into the second week of using my Newton 120, and still loving it. The
> Palm is begining to gather dust :) Anyways, I was curious about heap usage,
> as I understand it can be an issue on Newtons. I've learned that applications
> can be "frozen" to minimize or remove their heap allocations, and that leads
> me to a few questions:
>
> - what actually (technically) happens when you freeze an app?
> - I installed an app called BatterBuddy, from Tactile systems, which allows me
> to freeze apps. Do all app freezers work the same? Is one better than
> another, in terms of stability, features, whatever?
> - I check my free RAM before and after freezing a few small apps, and saw no
> difference. Are heap allocations counted against available RAM? If not, are
> there third party apps that can tell me how much heap is used/available?
I'm not sure what happens in details when you freeze an app. I know that all
memory relating to the app is regained, but I don't know the actual details
of what happens to it.
There is a free freezing utility from Standalone which, in addition to let
you freeze apps, can retain the icon of the app but put a snowflake on it.
You can also set the preferences so that you can tap a frozen app and the
utility will thaw it and then launch it. When you close the app, the utility
will re-freeze it automatically. So, it's very transparent and just takes a
bit more time launching apps, but you can keep all of them frozen.
What did you check your heap with after freezing? Any kind of backdrop? You
have to remember that the Newton does garbage collection in the memory and
if the free memory is not needed, gc won't happen immediately and you won't
see a difference. There are some backdrop applications that let you tap
somewhere to force garbage collection, so that any portion of memory that is
marked for use will be added to the free heap.
-Laurent.
-- ============================================================================ Laurent Daudelin AIM/RV: LaurentDaudelin <http://nemesys.dyndns.org> Logiciels Nemesys Software mailto:laurent.daudelin_at_verizon.netFUBAR n.: The Failed UniBus Address Register in a VAX. A good example of how jargon can occasionally be snuck past the suits; see foobar, and foo for a fuller etymology.
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