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1988-04-25
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VRAM
Version 2.0
Documentation
VRAM 2.0 Documentation
(c) Copyright 1987 Biologic Company
All Rights Reserved
Biologic Company
P.O. Box 1267
Manassas, VA 22110
703-368-2949
Disclaimer of Warranty
Biologic company 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.
Introduction
VRAM lets you break the 640K memory
barrier without additional memory boards
or other hardware. When used in
conjunction with applications programs
that support the Lotus/Intel/Microsoft
Memory Specification (e.g., Lotus 1-2-3
release 2.0 and Symphony release 1.1) VRAM
provides 8 megabytes of memory by using a
hard disk or a RAM disk to simulate an
expanded memory board.
Since VRAM can use a RAM disk to simulate
expanded memory, and PC AT extended memory
can be used as a RAM disk (and not very
much else), it provides a convenient way
to turn extended memory into expanded
memory.
Introduction to Expanded Memory
Expanded memory was introduced so that
programs such as Lotus 1-2-3 could access
more than 640K of memory. Although the
8088 microprocessor cannot address more
than 1 megabyte, a way was developed to
let programs access large amounts of
memory by paging in sections of memory as
they are needed. Memory that is not in
use is stored as deactivated pages on an
expanded memory board.
How It Works
When started, VRAM sets up a simulated (or
virtual) expanded memory board and creates
a temporary file to hold data that is
paged in and out of RAM. It then loads
and executes your program. Except for an
occasional disk read/write, your program
will operate just as if an expanded memory
board is present. When you exit your
program, VRAM will delete the temporary
file and return you to DOS.
Registration
VRAM is distributed as User Supported
Software. Please make copies of the
unregistered version of this program and
share it with others. Although the
unregistered version cannot create more
than 128K of expanded memory, it is
identical to the registered version in
every other way. If you find it useful,
the registered version, which will allow
the creation of up to 8 megabytes of
expanded memory, can be purchased for $49.
We encourage contributions by providing
quality support now and in the future.
Our products are revised continually to
correct bugs and to introduce new
features. All updates can be obtained
for $10 to cover the cost of postage, etc.
In addition, we're available to answer
questions from registered users by phone.
Please call us if you're having problems
getting VRAM to work or if you'd like to
discuss ways of improving its performance.
Requirements
o VRAM will work with all IBM personal
computers, including the PS/2 series,
and all compatible computers.
o VRAM takes up about 70K of memory.
You'll need enough memory to load
VRAM and the program you are running
with it.
o If you are using a disk drive to
simulate an expanded memory board, it
is suggested, although not necessary,
that it be a hard disk. Some
operations may require a lot of
memory paging, which translates into
a lot of disk reads and writes.
Hard disks are faster.
o If you are using VRAM with a RAM
disk, you'll need a RAM disk program
that can use extended memory, such as
DOS VDISK (good name) or AST
SuperDrive. VRAM is compatible with
all of them.
o Since VRAM creates a temporary file
to hold data that is paged in and out
of memory, your disk free space must
be equal to or greater than the
amount of expanded memory you specify
on the VRAM command line. In other
words, if you instruct VRAM to create
1 megabyte of expanded memory, you
must have 1 megabyte of free space on
your disk. This space will remain in
use until you exit your program and
VRAM.
Installing VRAM
To install VRAM, copy the file vram.exe
from the distribution disk to an
appropriate directory on your hard disk.
If you're going to use VRAM with Lotus
1-2-3, for example, you should copy
vram.exe to the directory that contains
your 1-2-3 program files.
Procedure
Step 1. Put the distribution disk in
drive A.
Step 2. Make the directory the contains
your Lotus 1-2-3 program files the current
directory. For example, if your 1-2-3
files are in \123 type cd\123 and press
Enter.
Step 3. Type copy a:vram.exe c: and
press Enter.
Step 4. Repeat this procedure for each
program you'll be using with VRAM.
(note: You may want to put vram.exe in a
directory for utilities and include this
directory in the DOS path. That way
you'll avoid having multiple copies of
VRAM on your hard disk. Read your DOS
manual for more information on the Path
command.)
Starting VRAM
Format
Begin by typing vram followed by optional
parameters. The last entry on the command
line should be the command you normally
use to start your program, including any
parameters.
Example
To use VRAM with Lotus 1-2-3, type vram,
any optional parameters, and 123:
VRAM (optional parameters) 123
Parameters begin with a hyphen and a
lower-case letter; the corresponding
upper-case letter will have no effect.
All parameters are optional and can be
entered in any order. If a parameter is
omitted, a default value is used.
The complete format of the command line
is:
VRAM [-s<memory size>] [-d<d:>] [-u]
<program>
(note: <program> must be an EXE or COM
file; it cannot be a batch file. If you
have been using a batch file to start your
program, insert the VRAM command line in
the batch file.)
Parameters
-s Specifies amount of expanded memory
to create in 16K increments. Memory
size must be greater than 4 (64K).
Don't create more expanded memory
than you need since VRAM is more
efficient with smaller memory sizes.
If this parameter is omitted, a
default value of 8 (128K) is used.
Example
To use Lotus 1-2-3 with 512K of
expanded memory, type:
VRAM -s32 123
-d Specifies the drive where VRAM
should put its temporary file. Free
space on this drive must be equal to
or greater than the amount of
expanded memory requested on the
VRAM command line. Include a colon
after the drive letter. Omit this
parameter if you want to use the
current drive.
Example
If you have set up a RAM disk
designated as drive D, indicate this
drive on the VRAM command line:
VRAM -dd: 123
-u Displays help screen.
VRAM and Extended Memory
Using VRAM with extended memory involves
setting up a RAM disk and then using it
with VRAM to simulate expanded memory.
This provides an easy way to use extended
memory as expanded memory.
Example
Suppose you have a PC AT with 512K of
extended memory and would like to use the
extended memory as expanded memory so you
can create larger worksheets with Lotus
1-2-3.
Step 1. Copy the RAM disk program
vdisk.sys, included with the DOS operating
system, to the root directory of your hard
disk.
Step 2. Add the following line to your
DOS configuration file, config.sys:
device=\vdisk.sys 512/e
This will instruct DOS to load vdisk.sys
and create a 512K RAM disk, utilizing
extended memory.
(note: Read the chapter, "Configuring Your
System", in the DOS manual for more
information on config.sys and vdisk.sys.)
Step 3. Press Ctrl-Alt-Del to reboot your
computer.
Step 4. Make the directory that has your
Lotus 1-2-3 program files the current
directory. For example, cd\123.
Step 5. Start VRAM, instructing it to
create 496K of expanded memory (the RAM
disk will have slightly less than 512K of
free space) and use drive D, your RAM
disk, to store data:
VRAM -s31 -dd: 123
(note: This example assumes that your RAM
disk is designated as drive D. If your
disk is identified by another drive
letter, substitute that letter in the
command above.)
VRAM With 123 or Symphony
VRAM works exceptionally well with Lotus
1-2-3 and Symphony. Although memory
paging with VRAM is slower than paging
performed by an actual expanded memory
board, most operations are accomplished in
a reasonable amount of time.
There are, however, a few points to
remember:
o Do not Copy large ranges of cells in
one operation while using VRAM. If
you need to Copy a large range, Copy
a few rows of the range at a time.
It is also important to Move large
ranges a few rows at a time.
When copying ranges, Lotus 1-2-3 and
Symphony allocate memory for new
cells in columnwise order. This
means that adjacent cells along each
row may be located in different pages
of memory. Since 1- 2-3 and Symphony
save worksheets in rowwise order,
this may cause a disk read/write to
occur for every cell when saving a
worksheet. If you find that
recalculating or saving your
worksheet takes a long time, you
should copy fewer rows at a time when
copying or moving large ranges.
o Set the recalculation order to
Natural. Do not recalculate in
columnwise order when using VRAM.
Set the recalculation method to
manual. If possible, do not
recalculate the entire worksheet.
You can recalculate sections of your
worksheet by copying a cell or range
to itself.
o Do not sort a database while running
VRAM. Sorting causes a large amount
of memory paging and may take a very
long time.
Notes
o When Using Lotus 1-2-3 or Symphony,
it is possible to get the Out of
Memory error even when expanded
memory is not full because 1-2-3 and
Symphony use conventional memory for
pointers to the data in expanded
memory. You may run out of
conventional memory before expanded
memory.
o When using Lotus HAL with VRAM, turn
UNDO off. With the UNDO feature on,
HAL tends to do a lot of memory
paging. Although VRAM will work fine
with UNDO on, 1-2-3 will take much
more time to respond to your
keystrokes.
o Lotus HAL will ignore expanded memory
if it is less than 256K.
o Do not use VRAM with memory resident
print spoolers or other memory
resident utilities that use expanded
memory.
----------------end-of-author's-documentation---------------
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