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SET CLIPPER
Runtime configuration of CA-Clipper-compiled programs
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Environment Variable:
SET CLIPPER=
[//BADCACHE]
[//CGACURS]
[//DYNF:<nHandles>]
[//E:<nExpandedKBytes>]
[//F:<nHandles>]
[//INFO]
[//NOIDLE]
[//SWAPK:<nBytes>]
[//SWAPPATH:'<path>']
[//TEMPPATH:'<path>']
[//X:<nKBytes>]
Note: If you link your application with CA-Clipper/Exospace, you
can specify application environment settings using an environment
variable name other than CLIPPER. See the EXOSPACE EXECUTABLE CLIPPER
command in the "Protected Mode Linker" entry in this database for a
list of these settings.
Application Command Line:
C><app> [//<setting> ... ] [<app arguments>]
The following rules apply when specifying environment settings,
regardless of whether they are specified on the application command
line or in the CLIPPER environment variable.
. Preface each setting with a double-slash
. Place a single blank space between settings
. Place a colon between setting and argument, with no intervening space
It is possible to specify a setting twice, once in the CLIPPER
environment variable and then again on the application command line. If
you do this, settings on the command line override like settings in the
environment variable. This feature provides an easy way to define those
settings that are more or less permanent using the CLIPPER environment
variable and to override those settings on an application-by-application
basis.
Description
CA-Clipper provides runtime configuration control of CA-Clipper-
compiled programs with a number of settings. You can specify settings
in the DOS environment variable CLIPPER or on the command line used to
invoke an application. You can enter the CLIPPER variable at the DOS
prompt or include it in the AUTOEXEC.BAT file. If the user will be
accessing the application from a network, you can also add the SET
CLIPPER command to the user's login script.
Settings that you specify on the application program command line must
precede application arguments. If you wish to use the command line
method instead of the CLIPPER environment variable but want to hide the
complexity from your end user, use an application batch file to invoke
the application with the configuration settings.
Settings
BADCACHE causes the Virtual Memory Manager (VMM) to preserve and
restore the state of the EMM page frame before and after every EMM
access (the EMM page frame is an area in real address space through
which EMM data is accessed). This setting can be used to correct
problems when there are conflicts with other programs that use EMM.
Note that on some EMM systems, the BADCACHE setting may adversely
affect VMM performance. It should be used only if you experience disk
or file corruption because of a conflict with a disk cache or other
resident software.
CGACURS prevents the use of the extended cursor capability of the
EGA/VGA. Specifying this setting may preclude some cursor modes by
some display adaptors. CGACURS prevents the cursor weirdness when a
CA-Clipper program is executed in some multitasking and TSR
environments.
DYNF:<nHandles> specifies the number of file handles the dynamic
overlay system is allowed to use. Valid settings range from 1 to 8,
inclusive. If not specified, the default is 2.
E:<nExpandedKBytes> restricts the amount of expanded memory
automatically allocated to <nExpandedKBytes>. CA-Clipper-compiled
programs can use expanded memory to speed up processing, as well as
some disk-based operations. CA-Clipper can use memory configured as
expanded memory according to the Lotus-Intel-Microsoft (LIM) Expanded
Memory Specification (EMS) version 4.0 or higher.
Expanded memory is automatically allocated in its entirety at startup;
there is no dynamic allocation as execution proceeds. The maximum
amount allocated is limited by four factors:
. The amount of expanded memory available
. The //E:<nExpandedKBytes> environment setting
. A theoretical maximum of 32 MB
. The amount of conventional memory available
The E parameter can be used to restrict the amount of expanded memory
automatically allocated to <nExpandedKBytes>. For example, specifying
the following E parameter restricts the expanded memory CA Clipper will
allocate to 2 MB:
SET CLIPPER=//E:2000
Note that a certain amount of conventional memory must be used to
contain management tables for the virtual memory system--the more total
memory (both conventional and expanded), the more space taken up by
this control information. The amount of expanded memory used may be
less than the amount available if there is insufficient conventional
memory to hold the tables.
F:<nHandles> is used in combination with the value specified with
the FILES setting in CONFIG.SYS to inform CA-Clipper of the maximum
number of file handles to use. This setting is only valid for
application programs using more than 20 files and running under DOS
3.3 or greater. When specified, CA-Clipper determines the number of
files that can be opened using the smaller of the F setting and the
CONFIG.SYS FILES setting. For example, if the FILES command is set to
120 and the F parameter is set to 50, the maximum number of files that
can be opened is 50. The ideal <nHandles> is an odd number that is 5
less than specified with the FILES settings.
INFO Provides the following information about CA-Clipper's memory
usage at application startup.
. The first line describes the general product version, revision,
and international version.
. DS=<offset>:0000 is the address for the data segment or DGROUP.
. DS avail=<memory>KB reflects the amount of DGROUP available.
. OS avail=<memory>KB represents the amount of conventional
memory available for VMM swap space.
. EMM avail=<EMM memory>KB shows the amount of EMM (expanded
memory) allocated to the current application.
. Fixed Heap=<fixed heap>KB/<number of fixed segments> shows the
size of the fixed heap in kilobyte increments in addition to the
number of fixed segments.
NOIDLE prevents CA-Clipper from detecting and taking advantage of idle
time during execution of compiled applications.
If NOIDLE is not specified, CA-Clipper detects idle states (for example,
keyboard wait states) during execution of compiled applications. When
an idle condition is detected, the system uses the slack time to perform
garbage collection, file updates, and other routine housekeeping duties.
This increases system performance by performing this work while the
application is waiting for user input.
Note: NOIDLE is provided for applications in which idle time processing
is unacceptable. Since it reduces overall system performance, its use
is generally not recommended.
SWAPK:<nBytes> specifies the maximum allowable size of the disk
swap file used for the virtual memory (VM) system. Settings are
specified in KB increments. Valid settings range from 256 to 65,535,
inclusive. If this setting is not specified, the default is 16,384
(16 MB).
Note: Swap space is only allocated as needed--a particular setting
does not guarantee that the swap file will get that big. Suppressing or
restricting disk swapping may cause an application to fail.
SWAPPATH:'<path>' specifies the location of the virtual memory swap
file. If not specified, the swap file is created in the current DOS
drive and directory.
TEMPPATH:'<path>' controls the placement of temporary files created
during sorting and indexing. By default these files are placed in
the current DOS directory or in the directory specified by the SET TMP
environment variable, if it is defined.
Note: Temporary files created during sorting and indexing can be quite
large. Setting TEMPPATH to a small volume (for example, a ram disk) may
cause these operations to fail. In general, the volume where these
temporary files will be written should have an available capacity at
least twice the size of the largest index to be created or database file
to be sorted.
X:<nKBytes> specifies the amount of memory to exclude from being
allocated, except for the RUN command. Specified in kilobytes, valid
values range from zero to 64, inclusive. If not specified, the default
value is zero.
Note: If you link your application with CA-Clipper/Exospace, there
are several additional runtime environment settings that you can use to
control the VM system. See the EXOSPACE EXECUTABLE CLIPPER command in
the "Protected Mode Linker" entry in this database for a list of these
settings.
Examples
This example shows a series of settings using the CA-Clipper
environment variable:
SET CLIPPER=//F:50 //DYNF:4 //SWAPK:4096 //NOIDLE
This example shows how the same settings can be used on the
application's command line:
ACCOUNTS //F:50 //DYNF:4 //SWAPK:4096 //NOIDLE
See Also:
Protected Mode Linker
Real Mode Linker
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