Re: PACK question

From: Gene Wirchenko (genew_at_mail.ocis.net)
Date: 08/23/04 

Date: Sun, 22 Aug 2004 20:00:47 -0700

"emyron" <myron123@adelphia.invalid> wrote:

> You are usually "right on" when you offer an answer to a posting.
>However, I think you missed something in my explanation. In the second
>paragraph I indicated the test case was set up to use the floppy for all
>TMPFILES and the table to be packed as well. Not only did I set TMPFILES in
>the configuration item, but I also made sure it was set up in the
>TOOLS/OPTIONS/FILE LOCATIONS equate. And yes, this is the same value in
>SYS(2023). I also verified there was 0 bytes of free space on the floppy
>disk after I brought up VFP and before running PACK. There is no way the
>temporary files for the PACK command could have been created on the floppy
>disk. As far as the GETENV("%TEMP%") , I believe the correct syntax is
>GETENV("TEMP"), at least it is on my system. Someone else mentioned that
>may be where the temporary files are created. I used a program called
>FILEMON to see if anything was created in that directory . FILEMON showed
>the table I was packing was being read, but oddly enough, it did not show
>any temporary files being created (even though it packed without an error).
>So I'm still in the dark. I need to know where the temporary files are
>created because I get an out of disk space indication when I run pack on a
>very large data table 1.6 GB residing in a 4 GB hard disk partition. That's
>why I set up a test case on a floppy disk to guarantee the temporary files
>weren't created in the same directory as the table.

     Why would pack need to create any temp files at all? If
anything, the table will get smaller or not change size at all. I can
see it working on a big chunk that fits in memory and then writing
that out. Rinse, later, repeat until EOF.

Fromt the VFP 6 On-Line Help:

********** Start of Quote **********
Managing Temporary Files in a Multiuser Environment
In most multiuser environments, you should place temporary files on
the local drive. How you manage the files depends on the amount of
disk space and RAM on the networked computers that run your
application.

If networked computers have sizable hard drives with plenty of free
space, you can improve performance in a multiuser environment by
placing Visual FoxPro temporary work files on local drives.
Redirecting a file to a local drive provides additional speed by
reducing the need to access the network drive and, therefore, reducing
the amount of network traffic.

On small networks, with older networked computers and slow hard
drives, you might experience better performance by leaving Visual
FoxPro temporary files on the file server. When in doubt, direct
temporary files to the local hard drive. When working on large,
heavily used networks, always redirect temporary files to the local
hard drive.

For example, to redirect all temporary files to a directory called
WORK on drive C:, include the following lines in your Config.fpw file:

TMPFILES=c:\work
EDITWORK=c:\work
SORTWORK=c:\work
PROGWORK=c:\work

The SORTWORK directory must be large enough to hold the temporary
files that Visual FoxPro generates during sorting and indexing
activities. When Visual FoxPro handles large tables, these temporary
files can be very large.

By placing all your temporary files in a single directory on a local
drive, you can safely erase the contents of the temporary file
directory before each Visual FoxPro session. This will purge your
system of any temporary files that were created but not erased by
Visual FoxPro due to a system reboot or power loss.
********** End of Quote **********

     Note that this quote mentions sorting and indexing but *not*
packing.

[snipped previous]

Sincerely,

Gene Wirchenko

Computerese Irregular Verb Conjugation:
     I have preferences.
     You have biases.
     He/She has prejudices.

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