Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!yale!husc6!wjh12!djb
From: djb@wjh12.harvard.edu (David J. Birnbaum)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.programmer
Subject: Re: releasing the environment in tsrs
Message-ID: <490@wjh12.harvard.edu>
Date: 9 May 90 19:48:56 GMT
References: <489@wjh12.harvard.edu> <1191@abvax.UUCP>
Reply-To: djb@wjh12.UUCP (David J. Birnbaum)
Organization: Harvard University, Cambridge MA
Lines: 27

In article <1191@abvax.UUCP> reh@icd.ab.com (Robert E. Hodge) writes
(in response to my inquiry about releasing the environment block while
loading a tsr):

>It was my understanding that DOS won't allocate that memory to
>later tasks, anyway, so why bother?  Have you demonstrated
>conclusively some real use for that block?  (Other than special
>use you might put it to in custom apps.)

I assumed, with no particular justification, that dos would allocate
the first block of memory that was of adequate size when it needed to
allocate memory.  The block freed by the environment would likely be
too small for any program, but might reasonably be used for the en-
vironment of subsequently loaded programs.  Additionally, when a pro-
gram expands its initial memory it is guaranteed that the expanded
amount will be contiguous, but if it simply requests an additional
block, it may be separate.  I have demonstrated none of this conclusively.
Can anyone out there help?

Thanks,

David

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David J. Birnbaum      djb@wjh12.harvard.edu [Internet]
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