Short:    AllocP - BetterAlloc (AllocMem/AllocVec patch) V1.3
Author:   Andreas_Kleinert@t-online.de
Uploader: Andreas_Kleinert@t-online.de
Type:     util/sys

 Sometimes programs fail with a "not enough memory" error,
 but after calling "avail flush" the same operation does
 succeed without problems.

 Obviously AllocMem/AllocVec does not force such a "flush"
 operation *and* tries to allocate memory again. Why ?

 This patch does ensure, that AllocMem/AllocVec won't
 fail unless there's really no memory available, even
 by flushing. This means:

    - less "out of memory" failures
    - less "bad behaviour" of bad programs, which don't
      check results of AllocMem/AllocVec
    - no more need to call "avail flush" by hand
      from the shell
    - thus no more "retry" operations after "avail flush"
    - no more unused libraries/devices consuming memory
      when it is already low

 Additionally, it makes AllocVec aligning its allocations to
 longword boundaries - at the *end* . As you know, the Alloc#?
 functions always return memory starting at longword-aligned
 boundaries. But since Exec just keeps a list of the free
 memory and not the allocated memory, this could mean, that
 the number of 1, 2 or 3 byte chunks (which would never be
 used again unless their predecessors or successors are
 delocated again) could increase drastically. There's no
 way to bypass this for AllocMem, but for AllocVec the
 requested allocation now automatically will include these
 "gaps", with the following side effects:

    - less entries in the free memory list
    - less memory fragmentation
    - less administration overhead
    - a little bit more safety with programs, which
      usually overwrite AllocVec'ed buffers by 1, 2 or
      3 bytes and otherwise might have produced
      MungWall hits ;-)
    - the latter may also be true for some cases where
      programs don't align their Read/WritePixeLine8()
      buffers ;-)


 Note:  Needs V37+ and 68020.
        To be put into s:user-startup, but
        runable anywhere else, too.


 You use this patch at your own risk.
 No guarantee for anything.
 Source code included.

 ---
 All mentioned trademarks are subject to their owners.


============================= Archive contents =============================

Original  Packed Ratio    Date     Time    Name
-------- ------- ----- --------- --------  -------------
     835     390 53.2% 01-Aug-97 10:07:56 +AllocP.info
     162     100 38.2% 01-Aug-97 09:51:40 +smakefile
    2204    1106 49.8% 16-Aug-97 09:06:34 +AllocP.readme
     141     115 18.4% 16-Aug-97 09:12:24 +SCOPTIONS
    3712    2255 39.2% 24-Aug-97 11:58:26 +AllocP
    7448    1665 77.6% 24-Aug-97 11:58:14 +AllocP.c
    1348     824 38.8% 24-Aug-97 11:58:24 +AllocP.o
-------- ------- ----- --------- --------
   15850    6455 59.2% 29-Aug-97 19:43:14   7 files