memory allocation failure,when memory is available

Hi,
It seems that Rb in basic has a limit of near 1.2 -1.3 GB of the total memory available that it can use.
tests:
a)
dim a(64000000) : allocation failure

b)
dim c(268435454) :size exceeds implementation limit of 2 power 28 elements

in the first machine:
MAC PPC -32 bits-, 4 GB RAM, MAC OS X client,
used memory RB: 1.2 GB, available near 2.7 GB (source: MAC-Utilities-Memory Management)

then I move to a big machine with more memory, theorically the size of the memory should be increased, no?
the second machine, recently formatted to install RB:
Quad Pro-64 bits-, 16 GB RAM, MAC OSX Server unlimited clients, used memory by RB. 1.2-1.3 GB.
free memory:15 GB
the max possible value for dim seems to be similar, fluctuating between 63,373,737 to 64,566,877.

for each test a new rb window, closing all precedent windows.

dim a(16000000) memory usage 1.03 GB
dim a(32000000) memory usage: 1.15 GB
dim a(64000000) allocation failure....

is there a wat that RB could use all the available memory in the machine?

thanks a lot

happy seasons ;D

Alberto

As I understand it, the way the VisualWorks Smalltalk garbage collector works, it performs differently depending on how large the memory footprint is set. The size is limited in the released version of Run BASIC because of this expectation, but I should be able to make versions available which have larger upper memory limits. For now you're stuck with about 1GB. Do you need more memory than that now. or are you just anticipating a future need?

-Carl

Hi Carl,

Thanks for your answer. I am just anticipating a future need.

;D

I remember in the early 90's Bill Gates said there was no reason anyone would ever need more than 640k of RAM.... ::)