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AllocMaster documentation
AllocMaster: V1.16 5/28/89
written 3/25/89; enhanced to V1.0 3/31/89
by JDGJr (aka) John Gerlach, Jr
bix: jgerlachjr 3615 Barcroft View Terr. #104
Plink: jgerlachjr Falls Church, VA 22041
V1.xx
AllocMaster is the ultimate controller of ram allocations (wasteful
ones, anyway). The initial inspiration for this thing came from Nick
Sullivan's 'Reserve' article in Amiga Transactor V2.1 p. 64. I've
added:
1. a useful & complete Intuition interface;
2. complete control over Chip and Fast memory wasting;
3. - yes, this includes partial freeing;
4. a memory-availability snapshot feature.
As noted in the article mentioned above, testing applications in low-
memory situations is very important. Using AllocMaster, it is possible
to control the amount of both Chip and Fast memory. The user determines
the amount of system memory by adjusting AllocMaster's proportional
slider gadgets.
One major difference between AllocMaster and 'Reserve' is that Alloc-
Master will not put the system into a no-memory situation unless
so directed: IT DOES NOT NORMALLY ALLOCATE ALL AVAILABLE MEMORY.
Reserve allocates all system memory and then frees the amount actually
requested. AllocMaster is smart enough to never touch 'Free' memory.
Memory Wasting:
The main intent of AllocMaster is to steal memory (legally) from the
system so others cannot use it. AllocMaster presents a slider gadget for
both classes of system memory; Chip and Fast. With each gadget, the
amount of memory available is displayed in black on the left, and the
amount of memory stolen is displayed in red to the right. These are
K-values (1024, NOT 1000!!!). Approx. every second, AllocMaster
determines the amount of memory available, updating values in needed.
If AllocMaster is holding any memory, the position of the slider gadget
will be updated to reflect the relation between the amount held and the
amount available.
Memory can be taken from, or returned to the system by positioning
the slider knobs. Sliding the knob to the right takes memory from the
system; sliding to the left returns memory to the system. Note: When the
amount of memory held is to be decreased, version 1.xx returns all memory
to the system and re-allocates.
Snap Shot:
This feature was tacked on late in the evening 'cause I thought
it would be VERY handy. As many will recognize, the idea was stolen
directly from Commodore's Drip command. I'm SOOOO tired of loosing/
gaining 336 bytes (loading the command from disk) that it has shown up
in AllocMaster; But, this one reports differences in Chip and Fast
memories individually!
The SnapShot gadgets front registers for storing the amount of memory
currently available. Second and subsequent activations display any
difference from the previous values. If the value remains constant,
the 'OK' message is displayed in black, otherwise the loss/gain is
displayed in red.
Version 1.16 adds two 'delta' gadgets, one below each SnapShot. These
report differences from the SnapShots above without modifying the
internal register. Restating the differences: the 'SSn' gadgets check
the current memory availablity against thier last values, and then
update the registers. The 'dn' gadgets display differences with the
associated registers, but do not modify them.
The rest of it ...
AllocMaster may be distributed [for non-comercial purposes only] by
anyone and everyone AS LONG AS the following conditions are met:
1. The executable and documentation remain together and unchanged;
2. The program, and any use thereof, be proclaimed to be independent
and un-associated with any political, religious, or social assoc-
iation or organization unless its use is detrimental to the goals
and intent of that body in general. In clarification, this may be
use by any computer user for any purpose (the restriction will
probably be met anyway).
Any Salutations, Congradulations and/or Contributions may be forwarded
to me at the above address.
Programmer Needed:
As of June 1, 1989, IMSATT Corporation of Falls Church, Va. is looking
for an Amiga C programmer to join a team dedicated to making the
Amiga a leader in the future of MultiMedia communication.
IMSATT Corporation has been a leader in interactive video and MultiMedia
presentation software. We are currently bringing our background to the
Amiga computer and have an opening for an experienced Amiga programmer.
Interested individuals may contact me as noted above, or by mail:
IMSATT Corporation
105 West Broad Street
Suite 301 George Mason Square
Falls Church, VA 22046