ACS19@UHUPVM1.BITNET (Mike Vederman) (09/21/86)
What I would assume (after using Thunder!) about releasing the memory is this:
1) If you turn 'off' Thunder!, you do not release its name from the DA menu
so it does not really do anything fancy.
2) Thunder! loads in the dictionary after bootup, by prompting you with an
alert asking if you want to load (or it will do it automatically if you
specify such in the config file which it reads in first).
3) Therefore, I would propose that Thunder! allocates a huge amount of memory
when it gets control after bootup, then simply releases the memory for the
dictionary when you disable it.
4) That is why you cannot reuse Thunder! after releasing it, because of the
memory fragmentation. If it tried to reload, you would not have any usable
amount of memory left on a 512K machine.
If one is adept enough with a memory editor, you can search through memory, and
still see the Thunder! desk accesory program resident in memory.
If you are concerned about running different desk accessories after you have
booted, I would suggest that you post the programming question of:
Could someone in netland write an acc which would load in another acc file
and run it? Or even still, write an acc which would load in programs and keep
them resident so one could use them anytime.
Could these be done? You bet, and they would be far more useful than unloading
an acc. All it takes is an enterprising individual. And if one isn't out
there, then wait, I'll get to it after my current project (read in a year or
so).
Mike