Memory / RAM usage

STH
STH Global Mapper UserTrusted User
edited February 2008 in Suggestion Box
Would GlobalMapper benefit of an option on how much RAM it could use in some kind of settings? Ie a slow computer could only give 128MB of RAM to GlobalMapper, while others would give all of the 4GB?

Comments

  • global_mapper
    global_mapper Administrator
    edited February 2008
    Global Mapper typically already uses a minimum amount of RAM if possible. Adding some kind of setting for how much RAM to use would be pretty nasty internally and in most cases unnecessary.

    Thanks,

    Mike
    Global Mapper Support
    support@globalmapper.com
  • STH
    STH Global Mapper User Trusted User
    edited February 2008
    Thanks for the answer. I see that GlobalMapper uses next to zero memory. However I thought that increasing memory would help for instance when creating ECW files from a large number of files. I will try to create a large ECW (Q=25) from GeoTIFF files (uncompressed) from a total of 250 GB and will post the results here in the forum regarding time spent etc.

    I also see that GlobalMapper is capable of creating larger ECW files than the free version of ERMapper, perhaps a feature to enhance when promoting GlobalMapper?
  • global_mapper
    global_mapper Administrator
    edited February 2008
    For most situations like this increasing memory won't help much. Global Mapper sets up the caches so that at least several entire rows of an export should be cached when reading in chunks of a file, thus making it cache misses pretty rare without using too much memory. Increasing the size of the cache doesn't really significantly help in this case and can in fact make things slower by making it take longer to search the cache due to its increased size.

    We do promote the ability to generate ECW files of basically unlimited size with Global Mapper. The problem is there are so many different features that are important to different users that most things end up just being a list of features.

    Thanks,

    Mike
    Global Mapper Support
    support@globalmapper.com
  • STH
    STH Global Mapper User Trusted User
    edited February 2008
    Yes, I really understand the problem that GM contains too many features and how to display all the abilities. One suggestion may be to for instance present the most important features dependent on different users.

    For instance you can have the:
    - User that just look at the data: Most common use is to open a lot of different vector and raster data and just view them and the attributes of vector data
    - User that converts data: Can convert and reproject between different systems.

    etc...

    Or it may be divided into categories. For instance it would be nice with a thread on GlobalMapper where each user may explain in which field of work they are using GlobalMapper and the most important features for them. In this way it is possible to collect some of the typical "users" and perhaps write down the most important features for them.
  • global_mapper
    global_mapper Administrator
    edited February 2008
    Users are free to start any threads that they want here on the forum to discuss such things. In reality Global Mapper is selling so well that I am starting to have trouble keeping up, so I'm not in a big hurry to promote it even better for fear of being swamped!

    Thanks,

    Mike
    Global Mapper Support
    support@globalmapper.com
  • STH
    STH Global Mapper User Trusted User
    edited February 2008
    I`m happy to hear you finally get something back from great support to customers!
  • PaulTocknell
    PaulTocknell Forum Administrator Unconfirmed
    edited February 2008
    Hi STH,

    Maybe I could set up a thread or sub-forum where people can share how they use Global Mapper. That is a good idea.

    Paul.
  • Roger Edrinn
    Roger Edrinn Global Mapper User Trusted User
    edited February 2008
    global_mapper wrote: »
    In reality Global Mapper is selling so well that I am starting to have trouble keeping up
    This is great news!!!

    Now you'll have to consider, long and hard, the possibility of expanding the staff. Never an easy decision.
  • global_mapper
    global_mapper Administrator
    edited February 2008
    I am dreading having to make that decision given the huge headache that additional help causes with taxes and getting people up to speed. Eventually I may have to do something though, especially for tech support, to free me up for more development work and, more importantly, free time!

    Thanks,

    Mike
    Global Mapper Support
    support@globalmapper.com

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