Hi, sure you do not need multitasking to have gunzip and untar modules cooperate in a RAM saving manner, but we actually do not know if the author of UNTGZ has taken the effort to use ANY sane "process data per block" method (which would cut down the RAM consumption to code + one block + memory for the gunzip status table, as the rest would be written to disk at once, as you said). Maybe we should halt this discussion until somebody has read the UNTGZ sources, but I do not have time to do so this month.
By the way, premptive multitasking is not needed at all in THIS case: The write call of gunzip will jam when the pipe buffer is full, and then (un)tar can get some CPU time, until it has to halt because the pipe buffer is empty, and so on. As you have pointed out, if you program a pipe buffer by hand and make gunzip and untar both part of the same DOS program, no multi- tasking at all is needed. The routines would just be run in turn by main and return to the caller when their buffer runs full/empty, of course they have to remember where they paused until main calls them again with some new data available... But yes, you can program such things even in DOS :-)). Eric. ---------- list options/archives/etc.: http://www.topica.com/lists/fd-dev unsubscribe: send blank email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ==^================================================================ This email was sent to: [email protected] EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?bz8Rv5.bbRv4l.YXJjaGl2 Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================
