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From: erkyrath@netcom.com (Andrew Plotkin)
Subject: Re: Inform: memory limitation?
Message-ID: <erkyrathE2nAsE.DFu@netcom.com>
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Date: Thu, 19 Dec 1996 05:19:26 GMT
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NNelson334 (nnelson334@aol.com) wrote:
>   im using Inform 6.05 with library 6/2 on a PPC with a lot of RAM. i am
> trying to compile some code that contains 26 properties, all used in one
> object.
>   when i compile this code, i seem to run into some sort of memory wall
> and my computer crashes. this always occurs at the same point in
> compilation (switch xdv5s). i have commented out 3 functions, and 6
> properties, and aside from a few 'declared but not used' warning messages,
> compiles just fine.

Well, it shouldn't be an Inform limitation. If the compiler crashes, it's 
a compiler bug. Hm.

The usual thing to do is start cranking up Inform's memory options until 
the problem goes away. The trick is figuring out which ones to crank up. 
(Inform is supposed to give a clear warning and tell you which one to 
increase, but in my experience this sometimes fails.)

Is this a class you're defining, or an object? If it's a class, maybe 
increase MAX_CLASS_TABLE_SIZE. In any case, try increasing 
MAX_PROP_TABLE_SIZE and MAX_INDIV_PROP_TABLE_SIZE. Be generous; double 
them and see what happens.

You might also consider mailing your source code to Graham Nelson (ask 
first :-), since he'd want to fix the compiler crash in any case.


> this is what it looks like when it compiles 'just fine': [with 6 
properties commented out]

> In:  7 source code files              7370 syntactic lines
>   7431 textual lines                246659 characters
> Allocated:
>   1000 symbols (maximum 6400)       434414 bytes of memory
> Out:   Version 5 (Advanced) story file 49K long containing:
>     10 classes (maximum 64)             40 objects (maximum 511)
>    126 global vars (maximum 233)      1541 variable/array space (maximum
> 4000)
>    124 verbs (maximum 140)             355 dictionary entries (maximum
> 1300)
>     29 prepositions (maximum 240)      133 actions (maximum 150)
>      9 fake actions (unlimited)         32 attributes (maximum 48)
>     57 common props (maximum 62)        25 individual props (unlimited)
>  16787 characters used in text       13590 bytes compressed (rate 0.809)
>      0 abbreviations (maximum 64)      315 routines (unlimited)
>   7173 instructions of Z-code         2108 labels
>  49760 bytes used in Z-machine      212384 bytes free in Z-machine

--Z

-- 

"And Aholibamah bare Jeush, and Jaalam, and Korah: these were the
borogoves..."
