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OS/2 - Technical => Applications => Topic started by: anonymous1243 on 2009.03.26, 20:52:50

Title: A button on the window titlebar giving boost to the process - rumour or truth?
Post by: anonymous1243 on 2009.03.26, 20:52:50
Hi all,

Has OS/2 in any incarnation ever featured any sort of umm... a 'power' button on the window title bar that gave the window owner process a 'boost' - extra resources as in cpu time, priority etc. I was even told it may have looked like your average red retro joystick button or something.

The thing is a teacher once said this to me, but I have never used OS/2 extensively, and those times I did, i never spotted any sort of button like this, in any way. Years have passed, and as I now come to think of it, I would like to know whether it was all bull or not.

Thanks ;-)
Title: Re: A button on the window titlebar giving boost to the process - rumour or truth?
Post by: Radek on 2009.03.27, 10:27:57
There is no such button. Most likely, your teacher meant the "starvation boost" - if a thread is ready to run but without getting a chance to run for a too long time, the system boosts the thread's priority very high, so that the thread shall run next time and stop starving. After getting this high priority time slice, the thread is returned to its usual prioriy (and, possibly, to another starvation).
This way, even low priority threads will run sometimes, even if higher priority threads are run all the time.
Title: Re: A button on the window titlebar giving boost to the process - rumour or truth?
Post by: cyber on 2009.03.30, 17:17:50
But it is possible to make an application with such button. :)
Title: Re: A button on the window titlebar giving boost to the process - rumour or truth?
Post by: Criguada on 2009.03.30, 17:56:54
I think this is a mash-up of several different features/add-ons... it could be that your teacher was a little confused, or that your memory is not perfect ;-)

1) OS/2 gives a priority boost to the application that has window focus, so if you move your mouse pointer to a window, the underlying process will have a boost. This is done to have a more responsive UI, and I find it is a very good idea!

2) see the "starvation-boost" feature cited in a previous message

3) WatchCat is a (third-party) process manager that has several features. It can boost a process priority, kill it, hide its window, etc. etc. WatchCat has several modes of activation: one such mode is the press of a button on your joystick. I have used it for a long time!

Bye
Cris
Title: Re: A button on the window titlebar giving boost to the process - rumour or truth?
Post by: RobertM on 2009.03.30, 18:08:24
Quote from: cyber on 2009.03.30, 17:17:50
But it is possible to make an application with such button. :)

An application of such sorts does exist - though I dont ever recall it being tied to a button on all application windows themselves. I have something similar installed with xCenter's Window List Widget, where right clicking provides (among other things) the "Priority" option. This uses a tool that I believe is available separately.

That aside, it could be a specific application s/he remembers that had such a button. Though I cant remember any in particular, (1) it sounds vaguely familiar, and (2) certain apps did have that feature built in (though none that I recall on the title bar - such as Embellish, where there is a menu option to increase the running thread's priority.

Rob
Title: Re: A button on the window titlebar giving boost to the process - rumour or trut
Post by: aschn on 2009.03.30, 22:15:26
That XCenter widget is called lSwitcher (first char is an L). See also:
http://www.os2usr.org/xcenter/ (http://www.os2usr.org/xcenter/)
Title: Re: A button on the window titlebar giving boost to the process - rumour or truth?
Post by: RobertM on 2009.03.30, 22:43:52
Hmmm... I am now wondering if this may have been an add-on configured with NICE Enhancer or NPSWPS... (for a title bar button)...
Title: Re: A button on the window titlebar giving boost to the process - rumour or trut
Post by: DavidG on 2009.03.31, 03:32:44
I have used both and neither have such a button that I can recall.

David
Title: Re: A button on the window titlebar giving boost to the process - rumour or trut
Post by: RobertM on 2009.03.31, 07:18:15
Quote from: DavidG on 2009.03.31, 03:32:44
I have used both and neither have such a button that I can recall.

David

What about xIt? (It actually wasnt NPSWPS I was thinking of - was xIt and Nice)... so, Nice is off the list anyway...