Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!swrinde!sdd.hp.com!hp-pcd!hplsla!davidr
From: davidr@hplsla.HP.COM (David M. Reed)
Newsgroups: comp.os.msdos.desqview
Subject: Re: HELP!  Environment size trouble
Message-ID: <23330002@hplsla.HP.COM>
Date: 21 Jun 91 22:35:04 GMT
References: <1991Jun14.050659.9362@xenitec.on.ca>
Organization: HP Lake Stevens, WA
Lines: 25

There are a couple of "tricks" I have used.  If the window I will open
in DESQview can be started with a BATch file, then I use the "reserve
space" method.  This means that I have declared in AUTOEXEC.BAT something like

SET XX=XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Then, at the beginning of the BATch file I run in DESQview I have the
statement

SET XX=

which will clear that space occupied by the XX environment variable.  If I
have needed a LOT of space I have defined several of these (eg. XX, XY, XZ)
since a DOS command line cannot be longer than 127 characters (each variable
therefore able to "reserve" about 120 characters).

Alternatively, specify in  DESQview Change Program something like:

    Program:     COMMAND.COM
    Parameters:  /E:1024 /C real_program_name

This problem also occurs with MSWindows (and some "menuing" programs).
That is, that a new "DOS shell" only gets for environment space that
which is currently being actually used as environment space, apparently
rounded up to the next paragraph (with a minimum of 160 bytes).