Re: Optimization Question

[Keith Thompson <kst@cts.com>]

dvdeug@my-deja.com writes:
> I'm trying to write a program similar to the Unix utility strings, as my
> copy of strings refuses to run a 17GB file. It seems to work, but it's
> about 10x slower than strings, and rough calculations puts running time
> on that 17GB file at 10 hours.

I was going to suggest using GNU strings, until I realized you were
already using it.  If it has problems with a 17GB file, it's probably
because it uses 32 bit file offsets, limiting the size to 2GB or 4GB.

Depending on your OS and compiler, it may be possible to recompile, or
possibly modify, the GNU strings program to handle huge files
properly.  If this is possible, it's likely to be easier than
re-implementing it from scratch.  (GNU strings is part of the binutils
package; the latest sources are at
<ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/binutils/binutils-2.10.1.tar.gz>.)

Try the gcc and binutils documentation; if that's not illuminating,
try a GNU or Linux newsgroup.

-- 
Keith Thompson (The_Other_Keith) kst@cts.com  <http://www.ghoti.net/~kst>
San Diego Supercomputer Center           <*>  <http://www.sdsc.edu/~kst>
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