"read...until <string>" -- buffer size

[FlexibleLearning.com]

Kay C Lan wrote:

> On Wed, Aug 6, 2014 at 5:16 AM, Alex Tweedly <alex at tweedly.net> wrote:
> 
> > LC is supposed to be an easy to use language/system....
> >
> > "report of a bug due to unacceptable performance", and it
> > should just say something like "Make this work at acceptable speed
> > so it can be used" :-).
> 
> I tend to agree with Alex on this one, but if the route cause is
> buffer size, and it's discovered that it's currently optimised for the
> 400KB Floppies of the HyperCard days then I'd suggest the solution is
> not to manually set the buffer size but to have LC find the optimum
> for you.
> 
> With the current variety of disk sizes, proportion of disk empty, rpm
> and even if it's mechanical or SSD, what ever you discover to be the
> optimum on your machine is unlikely to be the optimum on Richmond's
> heroic G3 tray loading iMac running 10.3. I'd even suggest taht
> whatever you find is the optimum today, may not be the optimum in a
> year. I've bench tested many HDs and there seems to be quite a variety
> of factors that determine the file size that achieves the fastest
> read/write times, and quite a variety in those file sizes, so I'm sure
> whether it's buffer size, something else, or a combinateion, the same
> would be true for 'read from file'.
> 
> Wouldn't it be better if you could, in an openStack or similar:
> 
> get maxReadSpeed()
> --runs a suite of tests to determine the settings that achieves
> maximum read from file speed.
> --then sets these as defaults which will be used by read (and other?)
> functions
> --only needs to run once
> --automatically reset to pre-LC settings when you Quit LC
> 
> And from then on use the standard read functions.
> 
> So a bug report to fix the current speed, then if it's found that
> speed improvements can be had by adjusting system/LC internal
> settings, an enhancement request for an LC function that would
> determine and set these as default. This would ensure whether you're
> running a nearly full 250GB 5400rpm HD or a basically empty 750GB SSD,
> ' read from file tMyFile until CR' will work faster than anything you
> can mangle using multiple lines of LC code.

Nice one, Kay... One step further: Why not automatically "maxReadSpeed()" as
part of the LC's  startup routine? Richard gets his buffer size, Alex gets
his simplicity, and you can have the kudos :)

Hugh Senior
FLCo