[fptex] pre-0.6 binaries

[Hans Hagen]

At 09:29 PM 1/27/2002 +0100, Fabrice Popineau wrote:

>I have made a set of binaries using web2c-7.3.7 _plus some extension
>of mine_ . The zip file is available from :
>
>ftp://ftp.dante.de/pub/fptex/0.6/binaries-win32-20020127.zip
>
>It contains the 'bin/' and 'texmf/web2c/' directories. Be careful to
>save your current versions before using this. You need to rebuild the
>format files.
>
>I'd like to hear about stability, performance (better ?). I hope that
>it still runs on every platform.

when processing a 5000 page "hello world" document 30/31 sec pdf and 19/20 
sec dvi using pdfetex there is no significant difference between old and 
new binaries (will try later with more complex doc that opens more files).

since i guess that you have implemented shared kpsea database objects, i 
also did some test with runtime metapost graphics:

100 simple graphics, i.e. 100 times system call for mp:

old programs :  44 sec
new programs : 7-8 sec

when graphics are processed between runs, 5 sec is needed for tex+mp but 
each change in a graphic forces an additional run so for this doc we're 
talking about n*5 sec which is larger than the 7-8 sec

1500 simple graphics, i.e. 1500 times mp call from within tex (indirect 
texexec call):

old programs : 107 sec
new programs :  39 sec

btw, batch mode gives us another 6 seconds; when the dos box (4NT) runs on 
top of an open window, or in full screen mode, writing to the screen (log 
info) significantly slows down processesing (not related to new programs, 
was always the case).

100 simple btex etec graphics, i.e. tex calls mp 100 times with each mp run 
calling tex in turn

old program : 279 sec
new program :  98 sec
--automp    :   7 sec

So, there is a significant improvement in running mp from within tex (and 
tex from within mp)! For everyday jobs (where the number of mp graphics is 
relatively low, say in the order of 100, runtime drops to 20%, which is 
great, and even for simple test runs (or during style development) the gain 
in speed is great (now running between jobs only makes sense for big docs, 
like the metafun manual, with over 1500 graphics; and even there: running 
from scratch in the direct mp processing takes some 3 runs, while in 
between runs will take 5 (due to the fact that the new graphics start 
contributing to the document); so even there, direct processing becomes an 
option.

You did a great job!

Hans

PS. I use a 1000Mhz pentium laptop with 512 meg of mem, os: win2000
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