Performance

• Replacing dynamic arrays with dimensioned arrays

• Replacing common with named common

• Saving screen images in a variable

Replacing dynamic arrays with dimensioned arrays is especially effective when an item is read from a file and extensively manipulated afterwards. If the number of attributes in the item is known, the matread statement can be used to read the dynamic string into a dimensioned array. If the size is not known or subject to change, read the item into a dynamic array and use the dcount function to get the number of attributes, redimension a dimensioned array to the desired size, and assign the dynamic array to the dimensioned array. For example:

equam to char(254)
readxx from "big.item"
size= dcount(xx,am)
dimstat(size)
stat= xx

Another way to increase speed is using named commons to store data that must be used between various applications. If named commons are used for this purpose, all applications involved must be compiled with either the interpreter or with FlashBASIC.

If an application performs large amounts of screen output, it is suggested that screens be built as large strings at the beginning of the program. This way, a screen refresh prints the string variable.

x=@(-1):@(1,1):"Name:":@(1,2):"Number:":@(1,3)
:"Address:"
printx