Re: XY and Memory Weirdness

["Bob Brody" rabrody@xxxxxxxx]

On 27 Jan 97 at 9:10, Stephen A. Carter wrote:

> And just to keep this post marginally Xy-related: I've never
> been able to figure out how to get XyWrite III+ to make direct
> use of memory over 1 MB. My workaround has been to make a 2- or
> 3-MB RAM disk (plenty for my usual needs) and make that XyWrite's
> default directory (with "df DR="), but I'd love to learn about a
> more elegant technique, if there is one.

I don't think there is. I seem to recall in addition to RAM
drive, the only other use of additional memory for III+ was
ability to load most of the spell dictionary into expanded memory
(EMS, not extended memory, XMS) but that this was far from
perfected by XyQuest at that time. The setting was MX in your
defaults file.

df mx=8

for instance would, if EMS is available, load all but about 8K of
the speller into EMS (about 112K or something, I don't recall
exactly) assuming you had that much EMS available. "MX" being
"Memory eXclusion" thus excluding all but 8K of the speller from
loading into conventional memory. "8" being the minimum setting.
 You could use other settings albeit not lower than 8. A setting
of 112 or higher would have the same effect as having no MX
setting; i.e., higher than 112 and none of the speller would be
loaded into EMS (the same as not using the MX setting at all).

This MX business was very iffy at the time and caused problems
for some. Print drivers (and I think help frames) might not work
or worked erratically. Some had better luck with using a mid
range setting rather than maxing out. E.g., df mx=16, or 32, etc.

Since I never kept the speller in memory except when I used it
and then immediately removed it from memory when not using it, I
never explored the MX setting myself but recall reports of
problems when attempting to use MX. (I can't confirm these
reports nor the system setup or apptitude of the respective users
so I'm only recalling the discussions from when MX first surfaced
as existing in XyIII+). XyQuest was in the process of supporting
expanded memory and you'll notice on your Memory Usage screen in
III+ (function call ME) there is a column to the right that says
"Expanded" but as far as I know, only the speller was able to use
EMS (and imperfectly) at the time.

Bob