Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!rphroy!caen!uwm.edu!ogicse!unmvax!uokmax!d.cs.okstate.edu!ong
From: ong@d.cs.okstate.edu (ONG ENG TENG)
Newsgroups: comp.os.msdos.apps
Subject: What does EMS in WP5.1 do???
Message-ID: <1991Apr18.194840.4596@d.cs.okstate.edu>
Date: 18 Apr 91 19:48:40 GMT
Organization: Oklahoma State University
Lines: 24

What exactly does WP5.1 do with the EMS memory detected???

I was thinking that it might use it as text buffer space.  But when
I pull in a 750k file and shell out to DOS to look at the \WP51
directory, there is still a 500k temporary file when I have 3meg of EMS
that is detected by the WPINFO program.  What does the EMS do???

ps.
To force the WP5.1 use the RAM as text buffer space, I make my
3meg of EMS/XMS changable memory into XMS and put VDISK to work and
get a 3meg of RAM disk.  Then the first time I run WP51 since powerup, 
the essential files of WP51 are copied to the RAM disk (about 1meg, takes
about 10 second) and WP51 is ran from there.  Subsequent run of WP51 
w/o powerdown does not require the copying.  This forces
the WP51 to use the remaining of the RAM disk as text buffer space,
hence faster editing of large files (large means greater than 200k).

I was forced into doing this because once when I tried to do a 
2k block move within a 800k file, it took *15 minutes* in the 
conventional WP51 setup.  I thought my computer (386SX) hang, 
but than it came back after that long period of time (no doubt it
was thrashing the hard drive, reading and writing, I have a
"silence" hard drive).  With the RAM disk version, it took a few
seconds.