Re: [NTLK] Killer backdrop app = NiftyDrop

From: Laurent Daudelin (laurent_daudelin_at_fanniemae.com)
Date: Mon Feb 04 2002 - 14:02:28 EST


On 04/02/02 13:19, "Jim Anderson" <jiman_at_microsoft.com> wrote:

> Sune wrote:
>> As for the memory footprint mentioned by Jim Anderson. How do I see=20
>> how much memory it consumes? So far I've tried to verify it using=20
>> "DashBoards" Heap-memory icon. However, my free heap memory goes up=20
>> with 1 k, when I switch from Extras to NiftyDrop as the BackDrop app.
>
> First of all, let me qualify all of this with the cop-out
> ^H^H^H^H^H^H^H^H explanation of what I mean by "large chunk of heap".
> Since most Newts (pre-2100) have around 100K or less heap, I consider
> anything that consumes more than 20% of it could be considered to
> consume a large amount of heap. That would be about 20K. Especially in a
> backdrop, 20K would be consuming a large amount of heap.
>
> Now, here are some lies - I mean statistics, that I've grabbed
> about backdrops and heap. All of these stats were taken from my ump2000
> (which is loaded up with a bunch of packages, mostly frozen). I tested
> Avis Backdrop, Niftydrop, Extras, Notes and NewtMirror (which is just a
> single view which does nothing). In every case, I froze the other
> packages that I was checking (i.e.: when I checked Avis, I froze all the
> Niftydrop packages and NewtMirror). Also, I frequently use all the
> features provided by Avis Backdrop. Because of this, I installed all the
> Niftydrop modules I would need to duplicate this (Agenda, Banner,
> Battery, Calendar, Clock, Heapstatus, Scratchpad and Volume). In real
> life, I could probably dump the Banner, Battery, Clock, Heapstatus and
> Volume modules and be just as happy, so I also tested this
> configuration. Also, I tested Avis Backdrop without a background image.
> All heap stats were collected with the Dashboard heap usage meter.
> Anyway, here are the stats:
>
> Backdrop Free Heap
> _____________________________________________
> NewtMirror 340K
> Avis Backdrop 334K
> NiftyDrop (all) 324K
> NiftyDrop (Agenda, Cal, Scratchpad) 330K
> Extras 326K
> Notes 327K
>
> This was kind of interesting. I remember trying out Niftydrop a
> while ago (with all the modules), and being displeased about the heap
> usage. However, when I only used the Calendar, Agenda and Scratchpad, it
> only uses 4K more heap than Avis Backdrop. And it displays my To Do
> list, which Avis doesn't do.

Jim,

Did you do a soft reset after freezing/thawing the various packages you
tested? If not, then there might have been global variables hanging in main
memory that could more or less affect your results...

I also wish that you had tested Backdrop Plus from Standalone, since that's
the one I'm using right now...

Nevertheless, a nice job that I wouldn't have done myself ;-)

-Laurent.

-- 
=====================================================================
Laurent Daudelin              Developer, Multifamily, ESO, Fannie Mae
mailto:Laurent_Daudelin_at_fanniemae.com             Washington, DC, USA
********************** Usual disclaimers apply **********************
brain dump n.: [common] The act of telling someone everything one knows
about a particular topic or project. Typically used when someone is going to
let a new party maintain a piece of code. Conceptually analogous to an
operating system core dump in that it saves a lot of useful state before an
exit. "You'll have to give me a brain dump on FOOBAR before you start your
new job at HackerCorp." See core dump (sense 4). At Sun, this is also known
as `TOI' (transfer of information).

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