Shrinking GNAT OS/2 Executables

Shrinking GNAT OS/2 Executables

[busigin]

Recently, I tried out a new freeware EXE and DLL file compression utility
LxLite version 1.01 that I downloaded from http://www.os2.hammer.org/OS2.
The results with both GNAT EXE and DLL files has been very excellent. GNAT
EXE and DLL files compress very well. Using the utility, I've seen 250 KB
executables shrink down to 45 KB. Even the GNAT compiler itself shrinks
from more than 2 MB to just over 1 MB in size. Not only does this save a
lot of disk space, but executables load much faster with much less disk I/O.
I've even compressed all the distributed EMX EXE and DLL files with similar
success. I highy recommend the utility to other GNAT users, and suggest that
future GNAT executables also be distributed in compressed form.

Anthony Busigin
NITEK Corporation
E-mail: busigin@ibm.net

Re: Shrinking GNAT OS/2 Executables

[Robert Dewar]

Anthony said:

"Recently, I tried out a new freeware EXE and DLL file compression utility
LxLite version 1.01 that I downloaded from http://www.os2.hammer.org/OS2.
The results with both GNAT EXE and DLL files has been very excellent. GNAT
EXE and DLL files compress very well. Using the utility, I've seen 250 KB
executables shrink down to 45 KB. Even the GNAT compiler itself shrinks
from more than 2 MB to just over 1 MB in size. Not only does this save a
lot of disk space, but executables load much faster with much less disk I/O.
I've even compressed all the distributed EMX EXE and DLL files with similar
success. I highy recommend the utility to other GNAT users, and suggest that
future GNAT executables also be distributed in compressed form.
"

I do not see that this can have much impact on performance if you are
using emxload, and the performance difference of using or not using
emxload is so dramatic, that my advice is don't eveb consider using
GNAT on OS/2 without it if you can afford the memory. So the critical
question is: is lxLite compatible with emxload.

(I am talking here of performance of the compiler itself)

Re: Shrinking GNAT OS/2 Executables

[John Howard]

On 6 Apr 1996 busigin@ibm.net wrote:
> Recently, I tried out a new freeware EXE and DLL file compression 
> utility LxLite version 1.01 that I downloaded from 
> http://www.os2.hammer.org/OS2.

Alternatively, "RePack" is a compression tool for LX, EXE, and DLL 
files.  It's listed as IBM internally developed software that's provided 
on Developer Connection CD's for OS/2.  But you might find RePack online 
somewhere.

Solution Developer Operations Home Page
http://www.austin.ibm.com/developer

The Developer Connection Home Page
http://www.austin.ibm.com/developer/programs/DevCon.html

IBM Home Page
http://www.ibm.com

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-- John Howard <jhoward@sky.net>               -- Team Ada  Team OS/2 --
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