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1 VRAM Version 4.21 User's Guide 2 Copyright This VRAM documentation and the software are copyrighted with all rights reserved. Under the copyright laws, neither the documentation nor the software may be copied, photocopied, reproduced, translated, or reduced to any electronic medium or machine-readable form, in whole or in part, without the prior written consent of Biologic, except in the manner described in this manual. The unregistered version of VRAM and accompanying documentation may be freely copied and distributed. Copyright (C) Biologic 1986-1991. All rights reserved. First edition printed 1986. Printed in the United States. Software License Notice Your license agreement with Biologic, which is included with the product, specifies the permitted and prohibited uses of the product. Any unauthorized duplication or use of VRAM in whole or in part, in print, or in any other storage and retrieval system is forbidden. Licenses and Trademarks DESQview is a registered trademark of Quarterdeck Office Systems, Inc. 1-2-3 and Symphony are registered trademarks of Lotus Corporation. MS-DOS, Excel, and Windows are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. PC- DOS is a registered trademark of International Business Machines, Inc. Quattro is a registered trademark of Borland International, Inc. VRAM is a registered trademark of Biologic. WordPerfect is a registered trademark of WordPerfect Corporation. Biologic 7950 Blue Gray Circle Manassas, VA 22110-2829 USA 703-368-2949 3 Contents License Agreement and Disclaimer of Warranty 4 Introduction 5 Condensed Instructions 8 Installation 9 Examples 10 Command Reference 11 Notes about specific software packages 14 Error Messages 17 Notes 18 Site License 19 Your Turn 20 4 License Agreement and Disclaimer of Warranty License agreement Disclaimer of warranty License agreement The terms of this license agreement apply to you and to any subsequent licensee of this VRAM software. Biologic retains the ownership of this copy of VRAM software. This copy is licensed to you for use under the following conditions. You may use the VRAM software on any compatible computer, provided the VRAM software is used on only one computer and by one user at a time. You may not provide use of the software in a computer service business, network, timesharing, multiple CPU or multiple user arrangement to users who are not individually licensed by Biologic, except that you may designate any employee to use such products on a one employee per license basis. You may not disassemble or decompile the VRAM software. Disclaimer of warranty Biologic excludes any and all implied warranties, including warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose. Biologic does not make any warranty of representation, either express or implied, with respect to this software program, its quality, performance, merchantability, or fitness for a particular purpose. Biologic shall not have any liability for special, incidental, or consequential damages arising out of or resulting from the use of this program. 5 Introduction Description Expanded Memory Extended Memory Overview Highlights VRAM vs. Expanded Memory Requirements Contents of the VRAM disk Description VRAM creates up to 32 megabytes of memory by using disk space or extended memory to simulate expanded memory. Expanded Memory Expanded memory was introduced so that programs such as Lotus 1-2-3 could have access to memory above the 640K conventional memory limit. Although the 8088 microprocessor cannot support more than 1 megabyte, a way was developed to let programs use large amounts of memory by paging in sections of memory as they are needed.1 Memory that is not in use is stored as deactivated pages on an expanded memory board. The original expanded memory specification, LIM EMS version 3.2, was developed jointly by Lotus, Intel, and Microsoft. Soon after, AST and Ashton-Tate developed a similar, but enhanced, specification called EEMS. These two specifications were replaced by LIM EMS version 4.0, which incorporated features of both specifications.2 Extended Memory Extended memory is memory above 1 megabyte that can be accessed when the 80286 or 80386 chip is in protected mode. Since the DOS operating system runs in real mode and cannot execute programs in extended memory, the utility of this memory is limited.3 Overview VRAM breaks the 640K memory barrier--creating up to 32 megabytes of expanded memory--by using disk space or extended memory to simulate expanded memory. No add-on memory boards are required. Instead of storing deactivated pages on an expanded memory board, as actual expanded memory managers do, VRAM stores them in a temporary file on your hard disk or in extended memory and copies them to conventional memory as needed, giving ____________________ 1The 80286 and 80386 processors are limited to 1M of memory in real mode. 384K is reserved for video buffers and ROM. 2Programs written for LIM 3.2 are compatible with LIM 4.0. 3The DOS program, vdisk.sys, can be used to turn extended memory into a ram disk. 6 applications the illusion that they have more memory than actually exists in your computer. Except for an occasional disk read/write, applications will operate just as if an expanded memory board is present. VRAM can be loaded as a memory resident program or loaded temporarily while using a program that requires expanded memory. Optional command line parameters allow you to specify the expanded memory size and whether to use disk space or extended memory as expanded memory. Highlights Compatible with almost all programs that support any version of the Lotus/Intel/Microsoft expanded memory specification. Allows the creation of very large worksheets in Lotus 1-2-3, Symphony, Quattro, Excel, and other software. Compatible with windowing software such as Microsoft Windows and DESQview. Supports version 4.0 of LIM EMS. All functions are supported, not just a subset. Runs on any PC that uses PC-DOS or MS-DOS. Supports all fixed disk drive types, including network drives. Occupies memory only while in use. Allows placement of the page frame in unused memory above the 640K DOS limit. VRAM vs. Expanded Memory VRAM costs less than expanded memory. VRAM is slower that expanded memory. Expanded memory boards use bank switching to swap pages between expanded and conventional memory almost instantaneously; VRAM must read and write your disk or perform extended memory block moves. VRAM may have to allocate a 64K page frame in conventional memory into which it swaps expanded memory pages. Expanded memory boards use a page frame located above video memory and do not use conventional memory. You can avoid using conventional memory for the page frame if you have 64K of 7 unused memory above the DOS limit.4 Requirements IBM Personal Computer Disk Operating System (PC-DOS) or Microsoft Disk Operating System (MS-DOS) version 2.0 or greater. Minimum 256K of conventional memory. VRAM uses 25K of memory and may allocate 64K for the page frame. You must have enough memory left over to load any software you are using with VRAM. Fixed disk or network disk. Disk free space must be equal to or greater than the amount of simulated expanded memory. (required only if disk space is used to simulate expanded memory). Contents of the VRAM disk The following files are included in the root directory of the distribution disk. vram.exe read.me There may also be a \freeware directory which contains unregistered versions of our other software products. ____________________ 4Read about the /b option in the Command Reference section. 8 Condensed Instructions The following instructions briefly describe the installation and use of VRAM. If you are a knowledgeable computer user, you should be able to get VRAM working by following these steps. More detailed information can be found in the sections, Installation, Examples, and Command Reference. 1. Copy the file, vram.exe, to the directory that has your utility programs. 2. To load VRAM temporarily while using a program that requires expanded memory, use the format vram [parameters] program [program parameters] 3. To load VRAM as a memory resident program, use the format vram [parameters] /m 4. Use the /s parameter to specify the amount of expanded memory desired. For example, [vram /s512 /m] (don't type the brackets). 5. Specify the /e parameter to use extended memory as expanded memory. Or, if you have loaded the himem.sys driver in your config.sys file, use the /x parameter. If you do not use /e or /x, disk space will be used to simulate expanded memory. 9 Installation The file, vram.exe, should be copied to the directory on your hard disk you use for utility programs. You should have a command in your autoexec.bat file which includes this directory in your path so that your utility programs, including VRAM, can be executed from any directory on your hard drive.5 The following installation procedure assumes you have a directory called \util in the root directory of drive C. 1. Put the distribution disk in drive A. 2. Type [copy a:*.* c:\util] (don't type the brackets). ____________________ 5Read about the path command in your DOS manual. 10 Examples The following example instructs VRAM to create 512K of expanded memory using disk space, and execute Lotus 1-2-3. When you exit 1-2-3, VRAM will unload itself from memory. vram /s512 123 The following command will temporarily load VRAM, turn 384K of extended memory into expanded memory, and execute 1-2-3. vram /s384 /e 123 The following example runs Excel after creating 1024K of expanded memory from disk space. The /d parameter tells VRAM to put the paging file on drive D. vram /s1024 /dd: excel The following example loads VRAM as a memory resident program and creates 512K of expanded memory from disk space. This expanded memory will be available to all programs until your PC is rebooted. vram /s512 /m The following example turns 512K of extended memory into expanded memory. WordPerfect is loaded and it retrieves the file, letter.wp, for editing. The /r parameter tells WordPerfect to store part of itself in expanded memory. vram /s512 /e wp letter.wp /r 11 Command Reference Format Parameters Format The format of the VRAM command is VRAM [parameters] [program] [program parameters] where [parameters] specifies the optional VRAM parameters described in the following section. [program] specifies the program you want to run with VRAM if you are not installing VRAM as a memory resident program. [program parameters] specifies the parameters for the program you are running with VRAM if you are not installing VRAM as a memory resident program. Parameters The following parameters can appear in the VRAM command. /? Display help. /dd:path Drive/path for paging file. This parameter specifies the location of the paging file, vram0000.dat, when using disk space to simulate expanded memory. If you omit this parameter, the paging file is placed in the root directory of the default drive. For example, this parameter places the paging file in the root directory of drive D, [/dd:]. If you need to put the file in a directory other than the root, you can specify a path also. For example, [/dd:\private\]. /e Use extended memory. With this parameter, extended memory is used to simulate expanded memory. If this parameter is omitted, disk space is used instead. /f Erase paging file when exiting. This parameter instructs VRAM to erase the paging file when it exits. In normal use, you should not use this parameter so that VRAM won't have to create the file every time it starts. You can also delete the paging file with the DOS ERASE command. 12 /x Use XMS memory. With this parameter, XMS memory is used to simulate expanded memory. XMS memory is extended memory that is under the control of the device driver, himem.sys. If you load himem.sys in your config.sys file, you should use the /x option instead of /e. /m Install as a memory resident program. This parameter tells VRAM to install itself permanently in memory. The expanded memory created by VRAM will be available to all programs until your PC is rebooted. If you do not specify this parameter, VRAM will remain loaded only while you run the program you entered on the VRAM command line and, therefore, will not occupy memory when not in use. /skbytes Expanded memory size. This parameter specifies the amount of simulated expanded memory in 1K increments. 128K of expanded memory is created if this parameter is omitted. For example, 1024K of expanded memory would be specified by [/s1024]. Advanced Parameters The following options are provided to increase flexibility only and are not required. It is not necessary that you know how to use them. /bsegment Page frame base address. segment specifies the hexadecimal segment address of the start of the page frame. The page frame is a 64K buffer into which expanded memory pages are swapped. If you omit this parameter, VRAM allocates 64K of conventional memory for the page frame. This parameter is useful only if you have 64K of unused memory between 640K and 1M, such as memory that is provided on expansion boards for ram disks. VRAM does not test if this memory exists or if it is unused. For example, to use a block of memory immediately above 640K, use the parameter [/bA000]. /c Map conventional memory. This parameter instructs VRAM to allow mapping of expanded memory pages into all of conventional memory--not just the page frame. Use this parameter only if an application requires it. 13 /g Ignore dos critical flag. This parameter instructs VRAM to ignore the DOS critical flag when using DOS to read and write the paging file. It must be specified when using VRAM in a DESQview window. Since DOS is not re-entrant and may fail if processing more than one request at a time, VRAM checks the DOS critical flag before performing a mapping request and will return a busy status if it finds that DOS is already running.6 This will occur only when using a memory resident program that utilizes expanded memory or when using windowing software that performs multitasking. Although DESQview may interrupt DOS while allocating processing time between applications, it is done intelligently, making it safe for VRAM to call DOS. /h align page frame on multiple of 200h. This parameter is ignored if /b is used. /i simulate lim 3.2. With this option, VRAM supports version 3.2 of the Lotus/Intel/ Microsoft Expanded Memory Specification instead of version 4.0. Use this option when running VRAM with Microsoft Windows. ____________________ 6VRAM does not use DOS when using extended memory to simulated expanded memory and does not check the DOS critical flag. 14 Notes about Specific Software Packages7 Lotus 1-2-3 and Symphony Quattro Excel DESQview Windows WordPerfect Lotus 1-2-3 and Symphony VRAM works exceptionally well with 1- 2-3 and Symphony. Although simulated memory is slower than actual expanded memory, most operations, such as moving around a worksheet and entering data, are accomplished in a comparable amount of time. To see if 1-2-3 is utilizing expanded memory, use the 1-2-3 command [/ worksheet status]. In Symphony the command is [services settings]. 1-2-3 and Symphony must use conventional memory to store particular parts of a worksheet. Therefore, it is possible to run out of conventional memory, and receive the Out of Memory error, even though expanded memory is available. Do not copy many rows in one operation while using VRAM. If you need to copy a range with a large number of rows, copy a few rows of the range at a time. When copying ranges, Lotus 1-2-3 and Symphony allocate memory for new cells in columnwise order. If you copy a large number of rows in one operation, adjacent cells along each row may be located in different pages of expanded memory. Since 1-2-3 and Symphony perform many operations, such as copying ranges and saving worksheets, in rowwise order, this may cause an excessive amount of memory paging. It is suggested that you experiment with copying large ranges to learn how many rows can be copied without causing a problem. For the reason discussed above, do not recalculate in columnwise order. Create enough expanded memory so that you always have plenty of memory available. 1-2-3 and Symphony tend to do more paging when running out of expanded memory. ____________________ 7VRAM is compatible with almost all programs, not just the ones listed in this section. 15 Do not sort a database while running VRAM. Sorting causes a large amount of memory paging and may take a very long time. When using Lotus HAL with VRAM, turn undo off. With the undo feature on, HAL will do more paging. Although VRAM will work fine with undo on, 1-2-3 will take more time to respond to your keystrokes. Lotus HAL will ignore expanded memory if it is less than 256K. Quattro Same as Lotus 1-2-3 and Symphony. Excel Same as Lotus 1-2-3 and Symphony. DESQview VRAM can be run in a DESQview window to give a single application simulated expanded memory. VRAM should not be executed before starting DESQview and used for program swapping. Specify the /g parameter. Details about this parameter can be found in the Command Reference section. For example, to run Lotus 1-2-3 with 512K of simulated expanded memory, select the DESQview Change a Program option and set the configuration as follows:8 Program...: c:\util\vram.exe Parameters: /s512 /g 123 Directory.: c:\util If you'd like to run 1-2-3 in a window, you can specify the DESQview loader for 1-2-3 on the parameters line: Parameters: /s512 /g ls-load \123\123.com It is not beneficial to load VRAM before starting DESQview and use simulated memory as a program swap area. DESQview already provides the ability to swap programs to disk space, either to a hard disk or to an extended memory ram disk. Do not install VRAM as a memory resident program. Don't run VRAM in more than 1 window. ____________________ 8This example assumes that 1-2-3 is in a directory named \123 on drive C and that vram is in a directory named \util on drive C. The directory, \123, must be in your path. 16 Windows VRAM can be used to supply expanded memory for applications programs within Windows; it cannot be used for multitasking. Specify the /i parameter so that VRAM simulates LIM 3.2 memory. Windows will not show any expanded memory in the status window although it is available to applications. WordPerfect WordPerfect is capable of storing overlay files and documents in expanded memory or on a disk. Therefore, VRAM provides a performance advantage only when turning extended memory into expanded memory. Use the WordPerfect /r parameter if you want to load overlay files into expanded memory. 17 Error Messages /s option not allowed with unregistered version The default expanded memory size of 128K cannot be adjusted with the unregistered version. Read the file vram1.doc for information on obtaining a registered version. can't get dos critical flag address VRAM was not able to obtain the address of the DOS Critical Flag which indicates whether or not DOS is in use. can't install VRAM can't be installed on your system. invalid expanded memory size Expanded memory size is specified in 1K increments and must be between 64 and 32768. invalid parameter At least one of the parameters on the command line is invalid. Read the section, Command Reference. not enough disk space You do not have enough disk space to create the paging file. Free space on your disk must be equal to or greater than the expanded memory size. not enough extended memory There is not enough extended memory to simulate the amount of expanded memory requested. If you specified an extended memory address with the /a parameter, there is not enough extended memory following that address. not enough memory There is not enough conventional memory for VRAM. Read about memory requirements in the section, Introduction. program not found The program specified on the VRAM command line was not found in the current directory or in the path. The program name you specified must be an exe or com file. If you use a batch file to execute a program, put the vram command in the batch file. vram is already installed VRAM is already installed as a memory resident program. 18 Notes VRAM uses DOS to read and write your hard disk. This greatly improves its reliability and its compatibility with non-IBM PCs and non-standard hard disks at a cost of a small reduction in speed. For this reason, VRAM is not compatible with memory resident programs that use expanded memory while interrupting DOS. 19 Site License VRAM can be licensed on a per location basis which allows a company to use it on a network or use multiple copies of VRAM without purchasing them individually. Pricing is dependent on the number of copies and is very reasonable. Please contact Biologic for further information. 20 Your Turn We value you opinions. Please let us know what you like and dislike about the VRAM program and documentation. We're dedicated to developing the most innovative and useful software available- and selling it at reasonable prices. Your support helps make this possible. Please send all comments and suggestions to Biologic P.O. Box 1267 Manassas, VA 22110 USA THANK YOU.