Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!cornell!calvin.spp.cornell.edu!richard
From: richard@calvin.spp.cornell.edu (Richard Brittain)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.programmer
Subject: Re: releasing the environment in tsrs
Message-ID: <1990May10.015327.1985@calvin.spp.cornell.edu>
Date: 10 May 90 01:53:27 GMT
References: <489@wjh12.harvard.edu> <1191@abvax.UUCP>
Reply-To: richard@calvin.spp.cornell.edu (Richard Brittain)
Organization: Cornell Space Plasma Physics Group
Lines: 19

In article <1191@abvax.UUCP> reh@icd.ab.com (Robert E. Hodge) writes:
>>I recently added a routine to a tsr to release the environment
>>memory block before terminating.
>
>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.)

At least with dos 4.01, the lowest available block large enough is allocated,
and I have often noticed that environment blocks get allocated in "holes"
caused one way or another.  I've seen at least one "setenv" type program that
broke when it's environment block didn't immediately precede it in memory, but
that has never been guaranteed behaviour as far as I know.

Richard Brittain,                   School of Elect. Eng.,  Upson Hall   
                                    Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853
ARPA: richard@calvin.spp.cornell.edu	
UUCP: {uunet,uw-beaver,rochester,cmcl2}!cornell!calvin!richard