cruff@ncar.ucar.edu (Craig Ruff) (10/05/90)
In article <6126@plains.NoDak.edu> bfoushe@plains.NoDak.edu (Bill Foushee) writes: >I'm trying to find out the definitive answer to... Is there a size >limit for a file that can be edited using vi? Vi has a limit based on the size of the pointers used to indicate the start of lines in the temporary file. The size of the pointers can be either 16 or 32 bits in size. The low-order bit is not used as part of the index. The index is shifted left by some configurable amount before being used as the offset in the temporary file. The basic (non-VMUNIX version) handles upto 256Kb. It could be recompiled for up to 512Kb. For versions with VMUNIX defined, the limit is based on available memory and disk space. Note: for those with source, the parameters are in ex_temp.h. -- Craig Ruff NCAR cruff@ncar.ucar.edu (303) 497-1211 P.O. Box 3000 Boulder, CO 80307
bill@bilverbilver.uucp (Bill Vermillion) (10/05/90)
In article <6126@plains.NoDak.edu> bfoushe@plains.NoDak.edu (Bill Foushee) writes: >I'm trying to find out the definitive answer to... Is there a size >limit for a file that can be edited using vi? >I'm using an AT&T 3B2/600g with Sys V 3.2.2, with 32M ram, a ulimit >of 65536, and 21M swap space. >The largest size file I can edit is about 250K. The AT&T hotline >tells me that vi can only handle files less than 200K, It really depends on how you vi was compiled. On an 68000 based system I could get about 200k. On this system a '386 running Esix. I can get about 300-400k. I have 8 megs of real memory and about 20 megs of swap. I just tested it, and it quite just about 400k with 9500+ lines from termcap cat'ed upon itself. I also have a '386 Xenix system with 2 megs of ram and 6 megs of swap. I have edited files over 2 megs long on that machine. I copied it'x executeable over to here (xenix executeable running on a Unix platform) and I just tested and got over a 1 meg file with 22000+ lines, before I decided that was a sufficient test to answer It all depends on the vendor. -- Bill Vermillion - UUCP: uunet!tarpit!bilver!bill : bill@bilver.UUCP
cpcahil@virtech.uucp (Conor P. Cahill) (10/05/90)
In article <6126@plains.NoDak.edu> bfoushe@plains.NoDak.edu (Bill Foushee) writes: >I'm trying to find out the definitive answer to... Is there a size >limit for a file that can be edited using vi? It depends upon whos vi it is. Here is a snippit from the comp.unix.sysv386 FAQ posting that talks about it: 11. Why doesn't vi work on large files? There are two possible problems. The first problem may be that you are running into a ULIMIT problem. See the discussion under question 12 to figure out how to change/correct it. If this is not the probem, you may be running into a bug/feature of some VIs. The problem is that there are compiled in limits as to the number of lines in the data file. This problem is known to exist in the following Unix packages: AT&T System V Rel 3.2 Bell Technologies System V Rel 3.2 (was ok in 3.1) >I'm using an AT&T 3B2/600g with Sys V 3.2.2, with 32M ram, a ulimit >of 65536, and 21M swap space. I think AT&T broke it when they went from 3.1 to 3.2. I had a BT system running SVR3.1 and vi would handle monstrous files (and nice big windows) and when I upgraded to 3.2 it no longer worked (of course I then reloaded the vi that I had on 3.1 and everything was peachy keen. >The largest size file I can edit is about 250K. The AT&T hotline >tells me that vi can only handle files less than 200K, but I know I think they say that their vi can only handle files less than 200k. Under ISC Unix, (which, by the way has a string in it "Version SVR3.1") I routinely edit files larger than 1MB. >computer using BSD 4.3 Unix. Is this a difference in vi on the >two systems, or should I be able to change the size of the file >vi can edit on my 3B2/600g? The system prints the message "Tmp The real problem is that you can't change it. They are compiled into the binary. -- Conor P. Cahill (703)430-9247 Virtual Technologies, Inc., uunet!virtech!cpcahil 46030 Manekin Plaza, Suite 160 Sterling, VA 22170
lied@cbnewsc.att.com (Bob Lied) (10/08/90)
In article <194@camco.Celestial.COM>, bill@camco.Celestial.COM (Bill Campbell) writes: > In article <6126@plains.NoDak.edu> bfoushe@plains.NoDak.edu (Bill Foushee) writes: > :I'm trying to find out the definitive answer to... Is there a size > :limit for a file that can be edited using vi? It depends on the version and how it was compiled. A peek at our sources shows a #define for VMUNIX that will take advantage of virtual memory and let you edit files as large as you can stand the start-up time. If your version tops out around 200K, see if you can get it recompiled. I know this to be true for SV system on VAX, 3B1, and Amdahl. Our vi version is 3.9.