Hello Jesse!
18 Oct 97 03:43, Jesse Dooling wrote to All:
 JD>        Will JAR32 ever use more than 8megs to compress?
Jesse, JAR can already use more than 8MB; I suggest you read the docs, 
especially the part about "32MemoryLimit=".  But, at the same token, what 
would be the point of using, let's say, 20 or 30 MB???
 JD>        I love JAR but I'm afraid it's not as fast as it is boasted to
 JD> be, either the 16 or 32-bit versions.
In most cases, there's a trade-off between compression and speed.  Obviously, 
you have to compare apples with apples, meaning solid with solid archivers.  
As such, depending on content, JAR is _generally_ considerably faster than 
RAR _and_ provides better compression.
Now, if it's speed you want, why would you ask if JAR32 would ever use more 
than 8Mb???  The only time JAR would take advantage of this amount of memory 
would be for maximum compression, meaning _slower_ operation.  Faster 
operation = less compression = less memory requirement.  Again, I suggest you 
read the docs, especially the part about dictionary sizes, and I quote:
     What is difference between these methods? JAR uses a greatly
     improved LZ family algorithm.  "-m1"  matches strings at
     short distances (comparable with PKZIP - about 32Kbytes). "-m2"
     searches for strings at large distances (about 500K-1000Kbytes and
     sometimes more) depending on the memory amount used. "-m3" method
     works like "-m2" but does a more exhaustive slower search. "-m4"
     matches strings at even larger distances and like "-m3" uses an
     exhaustive search.
Notice the message "Using up to x.xM for compression" when JAR starts out 
with a compression level of -m2 or higher?  Notice how the amount of memory 
increases when you specify -m3 and -m4?
Perhaps you thought that if JAR were to use more memory it would be faster? 
Now you know that it's exactly the opposite; for the faster default level 
-m2, it requires only about 1 Meg., for the slower -m3 it might use 3.5 Meg. 
or more, and for -m4 it might use 4 Meg. or more.
Cheers, Hans
... "Frankly my Dear, I don't give a download." -- Rhett SysOp
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