Category : Windows 3.X Files
Archive   : PCKRT5_A.ZIP
Filename : PERFOR.TXT

Optimizing the Performance of PackRat 5.0

Here are a few things you can do to improve the performance of PackRat 5.0.

DOS/Windows:
The most important thing you can do to optimize the performance of
PackRat 5.0 is optimize the performance of Windows 3.1. Please refer
to your Microsoft Windows 3.1 Documentation for in-depth descriptions
of the following:
1. Set up a RAM Drive (PackRat Reference Guide, Page 389).
2. Write your temp files to the RAM Drive using TEMP= in your
AUTOEXEC.BAT file. See your Windows manual for more information.
3. Use a Hard Disk Cache such as SMARTDRV.EXE. This is also detailed
in your Windows manual.

Also, general Hard-Disk maintenance is suggested (i.e. Norton Speedisk)

PackRat 5.0 requires 2 Mb of RAM for itself. Thus, a configuration
with at least 4 Mb is required. We suggest 8 Mb.

List Viewers:
1. There are 3 levels of sorting for a List Viewer. The fastest way
to view your information is not to sort it at all. In cases where
this is not practical, only sort on 1 or 2 fields. If you do this
for all of your List Viewers, you should see noticable improvements
in the performance of PackRat. You can change the sorting options by
selecting "Customize" from the Instant-Options (tm) Menu and pressing the "Sort..."
button.

2. The Attachments column is another feature that, if you can live
without it in all or some cases, will noticably speed-up your PackRat
5.0 environment. To turn off the Attachments Column, select
"Customize" from the Instant-Options (tm) Menu. Locate the
"** ATTACHMENTS **" entry in the listbox on the RIGHT (if it isn't
there, then you are done). Double-click on the entry to remove it
from this listbox. Click OK to save your changes.

3. List Viewers have the capability of having a default search
associated with them. This means that when the List Viewer first
gets created, it will automatically perform that search. You may turn
off this feature so that you don't have to wait for the search to
complete before you are able to work. You can turn this off by
selecting "Customize" from the Instant-Options (tm) and choosing
"None" in the "Search" list.

Calendars:
1. The Calendar Object now has the ability to display your time-
related items by showing the colors of the associated Forms on the
appropriate days. If this is a feature that you don't use, make sure it is turned
off. Turn it off by unchecking the "Commitments" entry on the
Calendar's Instant-Options (tm) Menu.


Folders/Objects:
1. If there are Objects that appear in the same place on EVERY
Folder, just keep ONE copy of the Object(s) and make them "Float
across Folders". This option is on the Objects Instant-Options Menu.
This approach requires that the Object does not need to be created/
destroyed all the time you are switching Folders.

Action Bars:
1. If there are Action Bars that you don't use, turn them off.

PackRat.ini:
1. [Macro Extension Languages]
Each entry listed in this section gets loaded each time you start
PackRat 5.0. Turn off the entries that are not needed.
NOTE - PRMACRO.MXL IS REQUIRED!

2. [DBMS]
PackRat 5.0 backs up your data files each time you start PackRat.
You may turn this off at your own risk by changing the entry
"bBackup=Y" to "bBackup=N".

PackRat 5.0 allows you to specify the number of characters to
consider when sorting string fields. By modifying the "iSortChars="
entry you can lower the number of characters used for sorting.
Although this will not have a substantial effect, it may be noticable
on some slower machines.