Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!bonnie.concordia.ca!uunet!mcsun!ukc!axion!delluk!tim From: tim@delluk.uucp (Tim Wright) Newsgroups: comp.unix.admin Subject: Re: Sys 5.3 vi file-size limit? Message-ID: Date: 14 Jan 91 13:01:23 GMT References: <447@minya.UUCP> Sender: usenet@delluk.uucp (Usenet posting login) Organization: Dell Computer Corp., Bracknell, UK Lines: 43 In <447@minya.UUCP> jc@minya.UUCP (John Chambers) writes: >Does anyone know if it's possible to do something about vi's absurdly >small file-size limit? This is an ESIX system, but I've stumbled >across the same problem on an assortment of other systems, so maybe >there's information to be learned about them, too. On the other hand, >this problem does seem to be specific to Sys/V; I've often edited >multi-Mbyte files on Suns and DECstations. >For instance, this machine has 16 Mbytes of memory, and has around >12 Mbyte free in the root partition, which should be sufficient to >edit some rather large files. But vi absolutely refuses to deal >with files over about 1/2 Mbytes; it says they're too big. This >isn't a ulimit problem; I've verified that vi (like all the rest >of my applications) has the largest ulimit that I've convinced >the system to accept, much large than half a Mbyte. >At the moment, I've sort of kludged my way around it by writing a >little program that breaks a big file up into little pieces, but of >course, doing it that way is a pain in several parts of the anatomy. >I have this suspicion that the size is hard-coded into vi, but I'd >be happy to learn how abysmally ignorant I am. "RTFM" would be quite >welcome, if someone can point out where in TFM this is described. You are correct in that the limit is effectively hard-coded. Vi has a define VMUNIX to say whether you're on a Vax or a pdp11, whoops, sorry this is 1991 :-) On the 3b2 and others (as you correctly point out), VMUNIX was not defined when vi was built hence the ridiculous limit. I'm surprised that ESIX has this error. The answer ? 1) Run vip-mode in GNU-emacs 2) better - run GNU emacs native and edit any file (including binaries) 3) get stevie (vi clone) 4) moan and get vi fixed for ESIX. Tim -- Tim Wright, Dell Computer Corp. (UK) | Email address Bracknell, Berkshire, RG12 1RW | Domain: tim@dell.co.uk Tel: +44-344-860456 | Uucp: ...!ukc!delluk!tim "What's the problem? You've got an IQ of six thousand, haven't you?"