Re: st: RE: Re: OS memory availability

[Fred Wolfe <fwolfe@arthritis-research.org>]

Using systeminfo my machine reports
Total physical memory:       2047
Available physical memory: 1405

However, Stata refuse to set mem until 1100m:

. set mem 1400m
op. sys. refuses to provide memory
r(909);

. set mem 1300m
op. sys. refuses to provide memory
r(909);

. set mem 1200m
op. sys. refuses to provide memory
r(909);

. set mem 1100m

This is the number allowed by the following updated program:

*! memtest.ado v1.0.2 fw 3/30/04 determines maximum allowable memory
*! and current memory. Allowable value in mb is returned in r(osmem_m)
*! keywords: memory
program define memtest, rclass
   version 8.2
   preserve
   clear
   qui query memory
   local oldmem = `r(memory)'
   local memtest = 2000
   while `memtest' > 100 {
   cap set mem `memtest'm
   if _rc == 0 {
      di in green "Maximum value of memory allowed by OS is " in 
yellow"`memtest'm"
      continue, break
   }
   local memtest = `memtest' - 100
   }
   return scalar osmem_m = `memtest'
   set mem `oldmem'k
   restore
end


which produces the following output:

. memtest
Maximum value of memory allowed by OS is 1100m

Current memory allocation

                    current                                 memory usage
    settable          value     description                 (1M = 1024k)
    --------------------------------------------------------------------
    set maxvar         5000     max. variables allowed           1.733M
    set memory         1100M    max. data space              1,100.000M
    set matsize         800     max. RHS vars in models          4.950M
                                                            -----------
                                                             1,106.682M

. return list

scalars:
           r(osmem_m) =  1100


Fred

At 04:17 PM 3/30/2004, Nick Cox wrote:

> I built a bit on Kevin's useful idea.
> If you don't see the downside of this
> program, don't use it. If you want to
> build on it, feel free.
>
> program systeminfo
>   version 8
>   tempfile file
>   preserve
>   clear
>   shell systeminfo /FO CSV > `file'
>   qui insheet using `"`file'"', comma
>
>   foreach v of var * {
>     di as txt `v'[1] ": " `v'[2]
>   }
> end
>
>
> Nick
> n.j.cox@durham.ac.uk
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: owner-statalist@hsphsun2.harvard.edu
> > [mailto:owner-statalist@hsphsun2.harvard.edu]On Behalf Of Kevin Turner
> > Sent: 30 March 2004 22:40
> > To: statalist@hsphsun2.harvard.edu
> > Subject: st: Re: OS memory availability
> >
> >
> > Fred Wolfe <fwolfe@arthritis-research.org> writes:
> >
> > >Thanks for the comments. I wrote the following program to
> > try to get at the
> > >issue. It reports back the level of memory that does not get
> > an "op. sys.
> > >refuses to provide memory" error.
> >
> > Like Fred, I've placed -set mem- inside of a for loop and
> > captured the highest
> > value that Stata can successfully allocate. I don't know if
> > there is a way to
> > obtain the highest value apart from experimentation because
> > the value is
> > not guaranteed to be constant over time. The reason for this
> > is that, on
> > Windows, it represents the largest _continuous_ free block of
> > memory. As
> > programs request and free up portions of memory, this space
> > can potentially
> > change in size.
> >
> > However, if you want to dynamically find the amount of
> > physical memory (like
> > David was asking) you can get this value using a DOS command.
> >
> > From Stata:
> >
> > . shell systeminfo /FO CSV > systeminfo.csv
> > . insheet using systeminfo.csv, comma
> >
> > This imports a dataset with various system specifications. The first
> > observation contains all the variable names and the second
> > observation contains
> > their values. Get the values you want and then clear the dataset.
> >
> > To prevent thrashing of virtual memory, stay at or below the
> > value in v23 and
> > make sure that Stata is not competing for memory resources
> > with another
> > running program.
> >
> > . list v23 in 2
> >
> > Hope this helps,
> >
> > --Kevin
> > kturner@stata.com
> > *
> > *   For searches and help try:
> > *   http://www.stata.com/support/faqs/res/findit.html
> > *   http://www.stata.com/support/statalist/faq
> > *   http://www.ats.ucla.edu/stat/stata/
> >
>
> *
> *   For searches and help try:
> *   http://www.stata.com/support/faqs/res/findit.html
> *   http://www.stata.com/support/statalist/faq
> *   http://www.ats.ucla.edu/stat/stata/

Fred Wolfe
National Data Bank for Rheumatic Diseases
Wichita, Kansas
Tel (316) 263-2125     Fax (316) 263-0761
fwolfe@arthritis-research.org


*
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