Re: Forms 4.5.7.1.2 .fmb vs .fmt

In article <5j6vat$4ul_at_info.csufresno.edu>, Steve Cosner <stevec_at_zimmer.csufresno.edu> writes
>In article <861293662.13620_at_dejanews.com>, <squigley_at_sctcorp.com> wrote:
>>In article <5j4rt7$dv7$1_at_orion-fddi.rz.uni-ulm.de>,
>> walter.zimmer_at_rz.uni-ulm.de wrote:
>>>
>>> Hi !
>>>
>>> I have a form in .fmb format which uses 1,236,992 bytes of disc space.
>>> If I convert it to .fmt and back again to .fmb, it only uses 413,696 bytes
>>> which is a third !
>>>
>>> This seems very strange to me and I can think of two answers:
>>>
>>> - Oracle isn't very good in memory management
>>> - The form isn't the same anymore, but I didn't notice anything wrong with
 it.
>>>
>>> Could anyone explain this behaviour ?
>>>
>>> Thanks,
>>> Walter
>>>
>>> walter.zimmer_at_rz.uni-ulm.de
>>> Forms 4.5.7.1.2 developer (Solaris)
>>
>>The difference is that the embedded pcode is discarded when you convert
>>to fmt format and then back. The pcode is saved within the fmb in
>>various ways, one of which is if you issue a compile or compile all
>>command prior to saving the fmb. The pcode should not be saved in the
>>fmb if you will be delivering your fmb's on various platforms since it is
>>not portable.
>
>It's not even useful in your existing environment. Notice how long it
>takes the Forms Designer to open the larger fmb file. It must be
>verifying all that "pcode". But then when you generate it, it's
>really quick.
>
>On the other hand, the small fmb created from the fmt opens very
>quickly, but takes a long time to generate (only the first time).
>Forms Designer has to re-create all that pcode.
>
>But I'd like to know this: If they verify everything when you open the
>form, what good is it to save it all to disk. All the wasted space is
>useless. I wish Oracle would do something to get rid of it.
>
>Anybody...Please correct me if I am wrong.
>
>Steve Cosner
My understanding of this (I think there was an Oracle white paper on it, but I can't find it now) is that to save time, Oracle uses a 'fast save' where changed items are marked as deleted and tagged on the end of the file. Going through the conversion process allows the redundant data to be deleted.

-- 
Jim Smith