🚀 go-pugleaf

In message <6t+Kyk5K8PcM089yn@ozemail.com.au> - robdel@ozemail.com.au (Robert De
Lazzari)Tue, 03 Sep 1996 18:25:30 +1000 writes:
> 
> My EA file is in the order of 22 Megs. I am using a FAT formatted 
> HD and OS2 Warp.

Without knowing the size of the partition or how many files have EAs, it's hard
to say if this is excessive, but my hunch is it's normal.

> Can I safely reduce the size of the EA file? If yes, how and what 
> should I use to achieve this?

It's possible that OS/2's CHKDSK will help some, but probably not by that much. 
Removing EAs from files that don't need them (with the EAUTIL command -- check
OS/2's command reference) may also help, but identifying what files have EAs may
be tricky.  Converting to HPFS is the best way to reduce the amount of disk
space devoted to EAs.

> E-Mail:- robdel@ozemail.com.au

+----------------------------------------------------------------+
| Rod Smith                             Author of:               |
| RSMITH@PSYCH.COLORADO.EDU             "Should I Buy OS/2" FAQ  |
| http://psych.colorado.edu/~rsmith     "OS/2 Soundcard Summary" |
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Roderick W. Smith wrote:
> 
> In message <6t+Kyk5K8PcM089yn@ozemail.com.au> - robdel@ozemail.com.au (Robert De
> Lazzari)Tue, 03 Sep 1996 18:25:30 +1000 writes:
> >
> > My EA file is in the order of 22 Megs. I am using a FAT formatted
> > HD and OS2 Warp.
> 
> Without knowing the size of the partition or how many files have EAs, it's hard
> to say if this is excessive, but my hunch is it's normal.
> 

I have 4 Fat partitions on my system all about 150Mb in size -- the largest 
ea data. sf is 1.6 Mb and the sum for the 4 partitions is less than 3Mb.  I would, 
therefore, suggest that yours is EXCESSIVE!


> > Can I safely reduce the size of the EA file? If yes, how and what
> > should I use to achieve this?
> 
> It's possible that OS/2's CHKDSK will help some, but probably not by that much.
> Removing EAs from files that don't need them (with the EAUTIL command -- check
> OS/2's command reference) may also help, but identifying what files have EAs may
> be tricky.  Converting to HPFS is the best way to reduce the amount of disk
> space devoted to EAs.
> 

Of late I have chosen to ignore the size of these files.  But when I was concerned 
about it the only way I was able to reduce the sixe of them was to backup the 
contents of the partition, (re) format it and then restore the data to it.  

This presumes that your backup program is "OS/2 ea-aware."

 
Steve Behman
<sbehman@ibm.net>

In message <322D04BF.75C5@ibm.net> - Steve Behman <sbehman@ibm.net> writes:
> 
> Roderick W. Smith wrote:
> > 
> > In message <6t+Kyk5K8PcM089yn@ozemail.com.au> - robdel@ozemail.com.au (Robert De
> > Lazzari)Tue, 03 Sep 1996 18:25:30 +1000 writes:
> > >
> > > My EA file is in the order of 22 Megs. I am using a FAT formatted
> > > HD and OS2 Warp.
> > 
> > Without knowing the size of the partition or how many files have EAs,
> > it's hard to say if this is excessive, but my hunch is it's normal.
> 
> I have 4 Fat partitions on my system all about 150Mb in size -- the
> largest ea data. sf is 1.6 Mb and the sum for the 4 partitions is less
> than 3Mb.  I would, therefore, suggest that yours is EXCESSIVE!

This comparison is too simple.  For instance, your four FAT partitions are
rather small, and use 4kB allocation block sizes.  With larger allocation block
sizes, EAs will be stored in larger chunks -- perhaps as high as a multiple of
32kB per file rather than the 4kB you've got.  This difference alone could
account for the difference.  There's also the question of how many files have
EAs attached.

(And yes, on FAT, EAs *ARE* allocated in multiples of the allocation block size,
even though they're stored in a single file.  A few simple experiments with
creating and deleting files with EAs should convince you of this, if you're in
doubt.) 

+----------------------------------------------------------------+
| Rod Smith                             Author of:               |
| rodsmith@indiana.edu                  "Should I Buy OS/2" FAQ  |
| http://psych.colorado.edu/~rsmith     "OS/2 Soundcard Summary" |
+----------------------------------------------------------------+

Roderick W. Smith <rodsmith@indiana.edu> wrote:
>In message <322D04BF.75C5@ibm.net> - Steve Behman <sbehman@ibm.net> writes:
>>Roderick W. Smith wrote:
>>>robdel@ozemail.com.au (Robert De Lazzari) writes:
>>>>
>>>> My EA file is in the order of 22 Megs. I am using a FAT formatted
>>>> HD and OS2 Warp.
>>>
>>>Without knowing the size of the partition or how many files have EAs,
>>>it's hard to say if this is excessive, but my hunch is it's normal.
>>
>>I have 4 Fat partitions on my system all about 150Mb in size -- the
>>largest ea data. sf is 1.6 Mb and the sum for the 4 partitions is less
>>than 3Mb.  I would, therefore, suggest that yours is EXCESSIVE!
>
>This comparison is too simple.  For instance, your four FAT
>partitions are rather small, and use 4kB allocation block sizes.
>With larger allocation block sizes, EAs will be stored in larger
>chunks -- perhaps as high as a multiple of 32kB per file rather than
>the 4kB you've got.  This difference alone could account for the
>difference.  There's also the question of how many files have EAs
>attached.

Furthermore, it will depend on usage.

If you, for instance, run a REXX script to set a WPS attribute (say,
"maintain sorted order") on every directory on the drive, then every
directory will get an EA - meaning at least one disk block in the EA
data file.

If you, perhaps, attach a custom icon to every text file, then the
size of the ICO file will be written to each file's EAs, taking up
more space in the file.

The fact that an EA data file is big doesn't mean anything's wrong
with the system.  It may simply mean that your files have a lot of EAs
attached to them.

---------------------+--------------------------------------------------------+
David Charlap        | The contents of this message are not the opinions of   |
david@visix.com      | Visix Software, nor of anyone besides myself.          |
Visix Software, Inc. +------------------------------------------------+-------+
Member of Team-OS/2  | Vote Dogbert for supreme ruler of the universe |
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