MapTool 1.3 Development Build 50

[trevor]

Hmmm, I had put the pdf doc into a directory that should have been included in the build, but apparently I need to add "pdf" to the include filter, it'll be in the next build.

[jfrazierjr]

The .exe launcher is in the zip with all the other files. Speaking of the launcher, how much memory/stack etc does it allocate by default. Or am I misunderstanding how the launcher works.

It defaults to 256M for memory and doesn't touch the stack. You can increase the memory allocation. Instructions can be found here: http://forums.rptools.net/viewtopic.php ... 226#p80226

Maybe I'm missing something, but if you have to follow all these steps to change memory and whatnot, what's the actual benefit of having an executable?

Well... I don't know if this is how it's coded, but batch files need to know the working directory. With an exe file, if properly built, it already knows where it resides. For example, if you put the maptool files into a subdirectory on the start menu and navigate down to them from the start menu and click the batch file, it won't work since the current working directory at that point is NOT the one you navigated into via the start menu and just the jar file cannot be found. exe's can be build to use the OS API calls to determine where the exe resides and then use that to "set" the current working directory before it tries to access the jar file. At least that's possible, though I have not idea how Phergus built the exe or how much control whatever tool he was using has to be able to do such a thing or not.

[Azhrei]

Hrm, I'll have to look into 64 bit java and work on that.

On my 32-bit Mac, the most I could get was about 2.2GB, but he Mac has a different memory model than Windows. I don't currently have a 64-bit Linux installed (I wanted the option of using 32-bit browser plugins), but the 32-bit Linux JVM tops out at 2.4GB.

[Phergus]

Maybe I'm missing something, but if you have to follow all these steps to change memory and whatnot, what's the actual benefit of having an executable?

Benefits:
* It's not a batch file which many users find to be too arcane.
* It has a pretty icon.
* It is easy to make shortcuts to it that also have the pretty icon.

It is no more difficult to edit a shortcut then it is to edit a batch file. Both are essentially one click operations. Right-click, edit for batch files and right-click, properties for shortcuts. Neither route is optimal but the difference is that I can fairly easily add a dialog to the launcher that will prompt for values which will be easier to understand for the typical user.

[UntoldGlory]

Okay, just checking. I've just been creating shortcuts to the batch file to put on my quicklaunch and whatnot.

Oh, and I should mention that your sample pic which shows how to edit the shortcut does not show the path enclosed in quotes, so it may not be immediatly obvious to some users whether the 1024M goes inside the quotes or outside the quotes.

Which reminds me, when you're actually running maptools, does it say anywhere what the memory allocation is?

[Galyn]

This is awesome guys, in 49 one of my levels ran extremely poorly, I could barely navigate around the map. Now it runs like buttuh. THANKS!

[Phergus]

Oh, and I should mention that your sample pic which shows how to edit the shortcut does not show the path enclosed in quotes, so it may not be immediatly obvious to some users whether the 1024M goes inside the quotes or outside the quotes.

Well it does say to put at the end of the line but I reckon that it could be explicitly stated that it should be after any quotes.

Which reminds me, when you're actually running maptools, does it say anywhere what the memory allocation is?

Nope. It doesn't know exactly what the allocation was. It kind of knows but if the requested allocation was 256M, when you ask the JVM what it was it might come back as 220M. That info could be supplied but it might be confusing to people when the numbers don't match.

[Azhrei]

(I apologize -- the order of the threads in this post have been screwed up. I went to split out two posts into the MapTool forum because they didn't belong here, but somehow I grabbed the wrong two posts! So these two directly above should be much earlier in the thread. The good news is that I've almost gotten used to the new Moderator Panel.

I should probably create a forum and put some threads into it just to practice a little bit, eh? But that'd be much too logical!)

[trevor]

This is awesome guys, in 49 one of my levels ran extremely poorly, I could barely navigate around the map. Now it runs like buttuh. THANKS!

Excellent, you must have been using a lot of colored lights

[Alhazred]

Hrm, I'll have to look into 64 bit java and work on that.

On my 32-bit Mac, the most I could get was about 2.2GB, but he Mac has a different memory model than Windows. I don't currently have a 64-bit Linux installed (I wanted the option of using 32-bit browser plugins), but the 32-bit Linux JVM tops out at 2.4GB.

That's a hard architectural 32 bit x86 limit on the size of virtual memory. In ANY 32 bit OS you won't get around it. The actual limit is 4GB, but BIOS generally sets up virtual memory such that it uses the top 1 gig for memory mapped I/O, and then the OS is doing something with parts of the second gig, so you end up with somewhere just north of 2 gigs as a max process address space.

So it won't help (much) to use 32 bit Linux vs OS X vs 32 bit Windows. Once you start running processes over 2 gigs its time to go 64 bit... On the bright side the majority of Linux browser plugins now have 64 bit versions (like Flash), so life should be better in 64 bit land.

[Azhrei]

(Response post moved to General Discussion.)

[lmarkus001]

Build 50 (1/27/09)

* Save docking layout persistence data to a specific file (makes for easier resetting)

What is this, where might it be, how do I use it?

If I do a Restore Layout, my windows get shuffled all about... how do I then use the layout persistence to recover?

As Azhrei pointed out, the actual file is easy enough to find. What I don't see is what it is doing for the user. I expected some menu items that let me save a layout, and then restore to that saved layout. Right now when you do a Restore Layout you get the standard mess that MapTools starts with...

[Phergus]

As Azhrei pointed out, the actual file is easy enough to find. What I don't see is what it is doing for the user.

Completely covered by Trevor's statement.

* Save docking layout persistence data to a specific file (makes for easier resetting)

Previous it was in the registry under Windows making it more difficult and risky for a user to remove.

[Azhrei]

While there are no options to save/load layouts, it's a file -- just copy it!

If you shutdown MapTool with the settings you like already established, you should be able to copy the file to a new name. Then you can replace it later if things get screwed up.

You might be able to make the file read-only, but I wouldn't count on that working on Windows (due to exclusive opening modes) but it may work on OSX and Linux.

[lmarkus001]

Ah ha! While that is obvious now, my entire group failed to figure that out!