Re: lynx-dev lynx2.8.2dev.7

[dickey]

> > 1998-11-23 (2.8.2dev.7)
> > * add/use new functions HTAA_UidToName(), HTAA_NameToUid(), HTAA_GidToName()
> >   and HTAA_NameToGid() to hide details of code which uses pwd.h and grp.h,
> >   as well as to cache the returned user/group names, improving performance
> >   in the dired screen - TD
> HTAAProt.c fails to build with DJGPP (probably no groups on DOS?) -
> lines 688,713,717, etc - "redefining pointer to incomplete type"

ok (I missed the NOUSERS ifdef).
 
> > * modify HTCheckForInterrupt() to check for interrupt no more than one per
> >   second, since this check is comparatively slow - TD
> 
> I usually test lynx on slow 386: no difference in speed detected,
> but 1 sec delay while scrolling in partial mode is annoying (with any CPU).

well, on the unix side, it's a big hit (probably slows Lynx down by a
factor of 2-3 when just reading a directory).  I noticed that it was
slow starting up, and (as usual ;-) compared it to 2.7.2, then ran both
with strace.  About half of all the system calls were being made as
as result of the interrupt-check.  (This also slows down retrieval of
files).

I would think that a 1 second delay in stopping output wouldn't be
a bad thing - it's a cheap solution (and the alternatives all appear
expensive).

At the same time, I saw that on Linux (and SunOS) at least, each of those
calls to getpwnam, etc., caused the system to reread the whole /etc/passwd
(or /etc/group).  Probably Solaris caches the information.  (We may make
the caching by Lynx of user and group info an optional feature - it's a
simple ifdef).

-- 
Thomas E. Dickey
address@hidden
http://www.clark.net/pub/dickey