Date: Sat, 15 Sep 2001 11:07:49 +0300
From: "Eli Zaretskii" <eliz AT is DOT elta DOT co DOT il>
Sender: halo1 AT zahav DOT net DOT il
To: "Dykstra Sean" <Sean_Dykstra AT maxtor DOT com>
Message-Id: <2950-Sat15Sep2001110749+0300-eliz@is.elta.co.il>
X-Mailer: Emacs 20.6 (via feedmail 8.3.emacs20_6 I) and Blat ver 1.8.9
CC: "djgpp AT delorie DOT com"
	<68C4CF842BD2D411AC1600902740B6DA02CDC5B7 AT mcoexc02 DOT mlm DOT maxtor DOT com>
	(Sean_Dykstra AT maxtor DOT com)
Subject: Re: FW: Various spawns
References:  <68C4CF842BD2D411AC1600902740B6DA02CDC5B7 AT mcoexc02 DOT mlm DOT maxtor DOT com>
Reply-To: djgpp AT delorie DOT com

> From: "Dykstra, Sean" <Sean_Dykstra AT maxtor DOT com>
> Date: Fri, 14 Sep 2001 17:08:03 -0600
> 
> system ("");  //This function will give you a dos prompt very quickly, you
>               //can then say dir and you get a very quick response
> 
> and you can write a program that does:
> 
> system ("dir");  //This function call will take a really, really, really,
> really long time.  

A lot is going on under the hood when you invoke system("dir").  In
particular, the function `system' tries to find whether there is a
program called `dir.exe', `dir.com', etc. somewhere on your PATH,
which involves searching several directories (depending on how long is
your PATH).  Searching directories without a disk cache can be slow.

Try system("c:/dos/command.com /c dir") and I think you might see a
much faster execution time.  (This assumes COMMAND.COM is in the
C:\DOS directory on your machine.)

Anyway, why do you insist on running without a disk cache?  It doesn't
make sense, IMHO, particularly on a fast machine.

> My DPMI host is configured as follows:
> Paging disabled

??? Why did you disable paging?

> My config.sys
> Device=himem.sys
> device=emm386.exe RAM NOEMS
> dos=high,umb
> buffershigh=10
> 
> There is nothing in my autoexec.bat

Please see section 3.9 of the DJGPP FAQ list, it includes advice about
optimal system configuration.