home
***
CD-ROM
|
disk
|
FTP
|
other
***
search
/
Club Amiga de Montreal - CAM
/
CAM_CD_1.iso
/
files
/
103.lha
/
SetPri.doc
< prev
next >
Wrap
Text File
|
1986-11-20
|
8KB
|
171 lines
SSSSSS PPPPPP
SS P PP
SS T P PP
SS T P PP
SSSS EEE TTTTT PPPPP R RRRR I
SS E E T P RRR R
SS EEEE T P R I
SS E T P R I
SSSSSS EEE T P R I
Documentation for SetPri V2.1 -- the 'Intuitionized' set priority command.
Versions 1.0 - 1.2 were NOT Shareware; 2.0 and above ARE, owing to the
increased functionality of the program beyond that offered by version
below V2.0
Written By Charles B. Blish, January, 1988 at SoftCircuits, Inc. for the
Shareware Domain. Thanks to Dewi Williams for providing public domain 'c'
code that clearly and concisely detailed how to approach the whole matter
of AmigaDOS priorities.
Enhanced to recognize Workbench tasks January, 1988; Thanks to Andy Finkle
of CBM for pointing the way!
SetPri is Shareware; If you find it useful (I bet you do!) Please send
$5.00 to SoftCircuits, Inc, at the address at the end of this file. If
you have suggestions, you can send those also.
If SetPri Mungs your system, I'm sorry, but you use this program at your
own risk. It seems to be very well behaved, and has caused no problems
here. The configuration of this system is 1.5 mb RAM, four hard drives,
using the C LTD SCSI controller. I typically run 2-3 tasks... I am a
radio amatuer, and I have a program created here called 'PackComm'. This
is essentially a terminal program optimized for use with Amatuer Radio
Packet. It has lots of neat features, like if someone connects to my
system, the window automatically pops to the front (a menu option, but
I leave it on) and the usual function keys and stuff. It's got a neat
option that allows logging to disk or printer only when connected, so
you can monitor whatever's going on and it won't fill up the world with
trash. Anyway, I leave it running... With a nice high priority, now.
That makes it run *very* well... and bothers nobody. I use SetPri to
control the priority mix in the system, and it works quite well for me.
If it doesn't meet your needs, I'd be interested to hear why... perhaps
I can make it better. Now, for the meat;
Docs are for version 2.1; Supercedes versions 1.0, 1.1 and 1.2, which are
compatible subsets of this version. Use this one, please, and toss the
others.
SetPri uses the standard Intuition interface to help you adjust task
priority(s). There are no keystroke commands, other than the standard
Intuition string-gadget editing commands. These include the cursor keys,
Amiga-X to clear the string gadget, the delete key, and the backspace key.
This version of SetPri has four menu entries under the 'Projects' menu.
New Task List: This causes the system to be re-examined for active tasks,
and dumps the old list (along with any changes).
Set Tasks Now!: This causes any changes you have made in the list to be
passed to AmigaDOS; they go into effect at this time.
Information: Makes a small window with text info in it. Revision, etc.
Exit / Quit: Just what it says, and offers you the opportunity to
quit without making changes if you like. If you have not
actually *made* any changes, then it just quits.
In the window that opens when you start the command, there are three
main functional areas; The task list area at the top, the task editing
area, at the center, and a message area, at the bottom.
The task list consists of an 8-entry display that is a window into the
list of tasks. The 8 entries can show up to 8 tasks at once, along with
the priorities of those tasks. There is a proportional gadget by this
list that you can use to scroll the list, if there are more than 8
entries in it. If you would like to change the priority of an item in
the list, you 'hit' (point and click) the small gadget to the left of
that entry with a '>' arrow in it pointing to the entry. This causes the
item in the list to be placed in the task editing area.
In the task editing area, there are four items of importance. First,
there is a copy of the name of the task, just there so you can verify that
you got the correct task. You cannot edit this name -- if you try, SetPri
will tell you 'you can't do that!' The reason string gadgets were used to
display text data is that if the data is longer than the gadget (a very
real possibility in this program) you can scoll the name to see it all.
The next item is a text gadget that shows the priority, and there is also
a proportional gadget that is set to the value of the priority. You can use
either the text gadget, by typing in a new value, which will update the
proportional gadget, or you can use the proportional gadget, which will
update the text gadget. Once you have the item set to the desired priority,
hit the 'SET' button, and the change is made in the list... NOT IN THE
SYSTEM! You can continue changing priorities until you are satisfied that
they are set up as you like, and then you may pass the changes to the
system by either quitting or selecting 'Set Tasks Now!' from the menu.
Why change the tasks in the list and not in the system? Well, if you have
a situation where you have two tasks that are CPU hogs, you really should
set them to the same priority, un less you KNOW that the one with the higher
priority is going to relinquish the CPU eventually; Otherwise, the lower
priority job may never run again. In some circumstances, that may lock up
the system By making the changes in the list, you have the opportunity to
create a set of priorities that you can examine as a group, and verify that
they are set as you intended; If not, you can fix it without a lockup. If
they are, then one menu selection will take care of the job for you.
If you have had SetPri running for a while, you are well advised to choose
"New Task List" from the menu BEFORE attempting to adjust any priorities;
If one of the tasks in an old list has terminated, SetPri will ATTEMPT to
handle the situation; however, it is possible that it will try to set the
priority of a now-nonexistant task.... not a good deal. GURU time, maybe.
The message area can tell you a number of things, here they are:
O.K. (rough, eh?)
You Can't Do That! Like it says. Be nice, ok?
Unknown Gadget Event You should never see this one!
OpenWindow Failed If it can't open the Info window -- no memory?
Unknown Menu Event You shouldn't see this, either...
Priority Change Made in the LIST, not the system
Not A Change! The value you ended up with is = to the original.
You may see the following requesters:
_________________________________________________
| |
| You have altered one or more system priorites:|
| Quit and make changes? Are You Sure? |
| -Yes- - No- |
|_______________________________________________|
________________________________________________
| |
| You have altered one or more system priorites:|
| Activate changes? Are You Sure? |
| -Yes- -No- |
|_______________________________________________|
___________________________________________
| |
| Would you like to return to the program |
| instead of quitting? |
| -Yes- -No- |
|_________________________________________|
Overall, I reiterate - this is a VERY powerful utility in the context of
what it can do to/with your system's performance, and your productivity.
Misuse it, and it'll nuke you, no problem. Use it well, and you'll be SO
happy you have it, you'll send me money just out of the goodness of your
heart. Well, perhaps you'll think about it, anyway. Maybe not. But you'll
be glad you have it. I think. And if not, delete it. Nyah nyah.
And that's about it. Letters should be addressed to:
Charles B. Blish
SoftCircuits, Inc.
701 Nw 13th Street, Suite C4
Boca Raton
33432
305-368-7024