henges@ingr.com (John Hengesbach) (09/08/89)
I am using Transkel, TransEdit, et al. and I have a couple of questions.
1) Why is there a hard coded limit of 32K for a file to be editted? I
hvae seen this on DA's such as MockWrite (only its 28K there). Is
this just a "lazier" way of not worrying about whether there will
be enough memory? Shouldn't SetHandleSize() work for arbitrary
lengths of memory, with some method for checking is it worked
correctly? Certainly it is possible to edit files (for instance)
that are greater than some arbitrary limit near this 32K boundary.
2) On the same thread of thought, once memory is allocated for the
file in a text window, when/how does it get freed up again?
John (my eventLoop is anxiously awaiting) Hengesbach
--
John Hengesbach
..!uunet!ingr!henges Intergraph
henges@ingr.com 1 Madison Industrial Park
(205)772-2000 Huntsville, Alabama 35807earleh@eleazar.dartmouth.edu (Earle R. Horton) (09/09/89)
In article <6383@ingr.com> henges@ingr.com (John Hengesbach) writes: > >I am using Transkel, TransEdit, et al. and I have a couple of questions. > >1) Why is there a hard coded limit of 32K for a file to be editted? TransEdit uses TextEdit for editing text. TextEdit uses short integers in places that guarantee a serious error if the text being edited is more than 32k characters in length. When the average amount of RAM in a Mac was 128k, and when 32k was a HUGE chunk of memory, then you might have scraped by using TextEdit as the base for a RAM-based text editor. Now, however, things are different and TextEdit is only useful as a support module for the Dialog Manager. **************************************************************************** * In my opinion, those who attempt to use TextEdit as the base for a * * serious text editor perpetuate the myth that the Mac is a toy. Out of * * eighteen Sample Code packages on apple.com, three are attempts at a text * * editor using TextEdit. Phhht! * **************************************************************************** There is no rule that says you cannot write your own text handling package. Many people have done so. >2) On the same thread of thought, once memory is allocated for the > file in a text window, when/how does it get freed up again? Wrfhf Shpxva Puevfg, lookit the code, willya? It's in Clobber() in TransEdit.c. Earle R. Horton
omh@brunix (Owen M. Hartnett) (09/12/89)
In article <6383@ingr.com> henges@ingr.com (John Hengesbach) writes: >1) Why is there a hard coded limit of 32K for a file to be editted? I > hvae seen this on DA's such as MockWrite (only its 28K there). Is > this just a "lazier" way of not worrying about whether there will > be enough memory? Shouldn't SetHandleSize() work for arbitrary > lengths of memory, with some method for checking is it worked > correctly? Certainly it is possible to edit files (for instance) > that are greater than some arbitrary limit near this 32K boundary. The 32K limit is a limitation of TextEdit, Apple's text editing routines. Think (Symantec) used to sell a variation of TextEdit called Capps' which overcame the limit, but it's been discontinued (sob!). Right now, the only solution to overcome this is to write your own textediting routines or patch Apple's. Patching Apple's routines has been done by a few people, but is not recommended, because every now and then they change TextEdit and break your code. (Unfortunately, they still can't overcome the 32K barrier! Also, they don't support tabs. This would be one of the first things I'd fix in System 7.0. Really, when you think of the Macintosh philosophy (the user should have control!) and then you look at TE (the user is limited to a 32K file. User: What does 32K mean?) and it would be rather simple to put it right, at least as simple as multitasking.) >2) On the same thread of thought, once memory is allocated for the > file in a text window, when/how does it get freed up again? > You can free it up with a TEDispose toolbox call. -Owen Owen Hartnett Brown University Computer Science omh@cs.brown.edu.CSNET