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!Speed/!Help
This website contains an archive of files for the Acorn Electron, BBC Micro, Acorn Archimedes, Commodore 16 and Commodore 64 computers, which Dominic Ford has rescued from his private collection of floppy disks and cassettes.
Some of these files were originally commercial releases in the 1980s and 1990s, but they are now widely available online. I assume that copyright over them is no longer being asserted. If you own the copyright and would like files to be removed, please contact me.
Tape/disk: | Home » Archimedes archive » Archimedes World » AW-1996-12.adf |
Filename: | !Speed/!Help |
Read OK: | ✔ |
File size: | 0657 bytes |
Load address: | FFFFFF47 |
Exec address: | 109D4265 |
Duplicates
There is 1 duplicate copy of this file in the archive:
- Archimedes archive » Archimedes World » AW-1996-12.adf » !Speed/!Help
- Archimedes archive » Archimedes World » AW-1996-12.adf » !Speed_Speed » !Speed!/!Help
File contents
SpeedTimer by N. Douglas and Clares Micro Supplies SpeedTimer is a simple utility designed to allow you to see what effect loading Speed! has on your machine. Simply run it after installing Speed! and click on the 'Measure' button whenever you want a newer reading. Upon doing this (and also on startup) the hourglass appears and the mouse pointer is rooted to one spot (this is to prevent disturbing the desktop and so affecting timings). Do not press any keys or indeed move the mouse intentionally while the hourglass is present as this will affect the readings. Once the 'Measure' operation is complete, the results are shown and the bar graph updated. The graph indicates how many times faster the machine is, with each darker median being an increment of one. You may well find on heavily loaded machines or machines with a lot of memory that the graph isn't big enough as Speed! speeds up your computer by three times or more. There is also an allowance for negative increases in speed. This may happen in certain circumstances due to the Switcher and Measure applications. In reality this is due to the fact that the computer is lightly loaded and the timings will be so quick that any very small variation can show a dramatic effect. We could have disallowed this but we do not want to appear to be 'fiddling' the timings. Another point is that the timer can only show average gains. There are many instances where Speed! can provide an instantaneous speed increase of seven times or so, and to fully appreciate Speed! you should really use the machine with it installed for a while. N. Douglas. 14-09-1996
00000000 53 70 65 65 64 54 69 6d 65 72 0a 0a 62 79 20 4e |SpeedTimer..by N| 00000010 2e 20 44 6f 75 67 6c 61 73 20 61 6e 64 20 43 6c |. Douglas and Cl| 00000020 61 72 65 73 20 4d 69 63 72 6f 20 53 75 70 70 6c |ares Micro Suppl| 00000030 69 65 73 0a 0a 53 70 65 65 64 54 69 6d 65 72 20 |ies..SpeedTimer | 00000040 69 73 20 61 20 73 69 6d 70 6c 65 20 75 74 69 6c |is a simple util| 00000050 69 74 79 20 64 65 73 69 67 6e 65 64 20 74 6f 20 |ity designed to | 00000060 61 6c 6c 6f 77 20 79 6f 75 20 74 6f 20 73 65 65 |allow you to see| 00000070 20 77 68 61 74 20 65 66 66 65 63 74 0a 6c 6f 61 | what effect.loa| 00000080 64 69 6e 67 20 53 70 65 65 64 21 20 68 61 73 20 |ding Speed! has | 00000090 6f 6e 20 79 6f 75 72 20 6d 61 63 68 69 6e 65 2e |on your machine.| 000000a0 20 53 69 6d 70 6c 79 20 72 75 6e 20 69 74 20 61 | Simply run it a| 000000b0 66 74 65 72 20 69 6e 73 74 61 6c 6c 69 6e 67 20 |fter installing | 000000c0 53 70 65 65 64 21 20 61 6e 64 0a 63 6c 69 63 6b |Speed! and.click| 000000d0 20 6f 6e 20 74 68 65 20 27 4d 65 61 73 75 72 65 | on the 'Measure| 000000e0 27 20 62 75 74 74 6f 6e 20 77 68 65 6e 65 76 65 |' button wheneve| 000000f0 72 20 79 6f 75 20 77 61 6e 74 20 61 20 6e 65 77 |r you want a new| 00000100 65 72 20 72 65 61 64 69 6e 67 2e 0a 0a 55 70 6f |er reading...Upo| 00000110 6e 20 64 6f 69 6e 67 20 74 68 69 73 20 28 61 6e |n doing this (an| 00000120 64 20 61 6c 73 6f 20 6f 6e 20 73 74 61 72 74 75 |d also on startu| 00000130 70 29 20 74 68 65 20 68 6f 75 72 67 6c 61 73 73 |p) the hourglass| 00000140 20 61 70 70 65 61 72 73 20 61 6e 64 20 74 68 65 | appears and the| 00000150 20 6d 6f 75 73 65 0a 70 6f 69 6e 74 65 72 20 69 | mouse.pointer i| 00000160 73 20 72 6f 6f 74 65 64 20 74 6f 20 6f 6e 65 20 |s rooted to one | 00000170 73 70 6f 74 20 28 74 68 69 73 20 69 73 20 74 6f |spot (this is to| 00000180 20 70 72 65 76 65 6e 74 20 64 69 73 74 75 72 62 | prevent disturb| 00000190 69 6e 67 20 74 68 65 20 64 65 73 6b 74 6f 70 20 |ing the desktop | 000001a0 61 6e 64 0a 73 6f 20 61 66 66 65 63 74 69 6e 67 |and.so affecting| 000001b0 20 74 69 6d 69 6e 67 73 29 2e 20 44 6f 20 6e 6f | timings). Do no| 000001c0 74 20 70 72 65 73 73 20 61 6e 79 20 6b 65 79 73 |t press any keys| 000001d0 20 6f 72 20 69 6e 64 65 65 64 20 6d 6f 76 65 20 | or indeed move | 000001e0 74 68 65 20 6d 6f 75 73 65 0a 69 6e 74 65 6e 74 |the mouse.intent| 000001f0 69 6f 6e 61 6c 6c 79 20 77 68 69 6c 65 20 74 68 |ionally while th| 00000200 65 20 68 6f 75 72 67 6c 61 73 73 20 69 73 20 70 |e hourglass is p| 00000210 72 65 73 65 6e 74 20 61 73 20 74 68 69 73 20 77 |resent as this w| 00000220 69 6c 6c 20 61 66 66 65 63 74 20 74 68 65 0a 72 |ill affect the.r| 00000230 65 61 64 69 6e 67 73 2e 0a 0a 4f 6e 63 65 20 74 |eadings...Once t| 00000240 68 65 20 27 4d 65 61 73 75 72 65 27 20 6f 70 65 |he 'Measure' ope| 00000250 72 61 74 69 6f 6e 20 69 73 20 63 6f 6d 70 6c 65 |ration is comple| 00000260 74 65 2c 20 74 68 65 20 72 65 73 75 6c 74 73 20 |te, the results | 00000270 61 72 65 20 73 68 6f 77 6e 20 61 6e 64 20 74 68 |are shown and th| 00000280 65 20 62 61 72 0a 67 72 61 70 68 20 75 70 64 61 |e bar.graph upda| 00000290 74 65 64 2e 20 54 68 65 20 67 72 61 70 68 20 69 |ted. The graph i| 000002a0 6e 64 69 63 61 74 65 73 20 68 6f 77 20 6d 61 6e |ndicates how man| 000002b0 79 20 74 69 6d 65 73 20 66 61 73 74 65 72 20 74 |y times faster t| 000002c0 68 65 20 6d 61 63 68 69 6e 65 20 69 73 2c 20 77 |he machine is, w| 000002d0 69 74 68 0a 65 61 63 68 20 64 61 72 6b 65 72 20 |ith.each darker | 000002e0 6d 65 64 69 61 6e 20 62 65 69 6e 67 20 61 6e 20 |median being an | 000002f0 69 6e 63 72 65 6d 65 6e 74 20 6f 66 20 6f 6e 65 |increment of one| 00000300 2e 20 59 6f 75 20 6d 61 79 20 77 65 6c 6c 20 66 |. You may well f| 00000310 69 6e 64 20 6f 6e 20 68 65 61 76 69 6c 79 0a 6c |ind on heavily.l| 00000320 6f 61 64 65 64 20 6d 61 63 68 69 6e 65 73 20 6f |oaded machines o| 00000330 72 20 6d 61 63 68 69 6e 65 73 20 77 69 74 68 20 |r machines with | 00000340 61 20 6c 6f 74 20 6f 66 20 6d 65 6d 6f 72 79 20 |a lot of memory | 00000350 74 68 61 74 20 74 68 65 20 67 72 61 70 68 20 69 |that the graph i| 00000360 73 6e 27 74 20 62 69 67 0a 65 6e 6f 75 67 68 20 |sn't big.enough | 00000370 61 73 20 53 70 65 65 64 21 20 73 70 65 65 64 73 |as Speed! speeds| 00000380 20 75 70 20 79 6f 75 72 20 63 6f 6d 70 75 74 65 | up your compute| 00000390 72 20 62 79 20 74 68 72 65 65 20 74 69 6d 65 73 |r by three times| 000003a0 20 6f 72 20 6d 6f 72 65 2e 0a 0a 54 68 65 72 65 | or more...There| 000003b0 20 69 73 20 61 6c 73 6f 20 61 6e 20 61 6c 6c 6f | is also an allo| 000003c0 77 61 6e 63 65 20 66 6f 72 20 6e 65 67 61 74 69 |wance for negati| 000003d0 76 65 20 69 6e 63 72 65 61 73 65 73 20 69 6e 20 |ve increases in | 000003e0 73 70 65 65 64 2e 20 54 68 69 73 20 6d 61 79 20 |speed. This may | 000003f0 68 61 70 70 65 6e 0a 69 6e 20 63 65 72 74 61 69 |happen.in certai| 00000400 6e 20 63 69 72 63 75 6d 73 74 61 6e 63 65 73 20 |n circumstances | 00000410 64 75 65 20 74 6f 20 74 68 65 20 53 77 69 74 63 |due to the Switc| 00000420 68 65 72 20 61 6e 64 20 4d 65 61 73 75 72 65 20 |her and Measure | 00000430 61 70 70 6c 69 63 61 74 69 6f 6e 73 2e 20 49 6e |applications. In| 00000440 0a 72 65 61 6c 69 74 79 20 74 68 69 73 20 69 73 |.reality this is| 00000450 20 64 75 65 20 74 6f 20 74 68 65 20 66 61 63 74 | due to the fact| 00000460 20 74 68 61 74 20 74 68 65 20 63 6f 6d 70 75 74 | that the comput| 00000470 65 72 20 69 73 20 6c 69 67 68 74 6c 79 20 6c 6f |er is lightly lo| 00000480 61 64 65 64 20 61 6e 64 20 74 68 65 0a 74 69 6d |aded and the.tim| 00000490 69 6e 67 73 20 77 69 6c 6c 20 62 65 20 73 6f 20 |ings will be so | 000004a0 71 75 69 63 6b 20 74 68 61 74 20 61 6e 79 20 76 |quick that any v| 000004b0 65 72 79 20 73 6d 61 6c 6c 20 76 61 72 69 61 74 |ery small variat| 000004c0 69 6f 6e 20 63 61 6e 20 73 68 6f 77 20 61 20 64 |ion can show a d| 000004d0 72 61 6d 61 74 69 63 0a 65 66 66 65 63 74 2e 20 |ramatic.effect. | 000004e0 57 65 20 63 6f 75 6c 64 20 68 61 76 65 20 64 69 |We could have di| 000004f0 73 61 6c 6c 6f 77 65 64 20 74 68 69 73 20 62 75 |sallowed this bu| 00000500 74 20 77 65 20 64 6f 20 6e 6f 74 20 77 61 6e 74 |t we do not want| 00000510 20 74 6f 20 61 70 70 65 61 72 20 74 6f 20 62 65 | to appear to be| 00000520 0a 27 66 69 64 64 6c 69 6e 67 27 20 74 68 65 20 |.'fiddling' the | 00000530 74 69 6d 69 6e 67 73 2e 0a 0a 41 6e 6f 74 68 65 |timings...Anothe| 00000540 72 20 70 6f 69 6e 74 20 69 73 20 74 68 61 74 20 |r point is that | 00000550 74 68 65 20 74 69 6d 65 72 20 63 61 6e 20 6f 6e |the timer can on| 00000560 6c 79 20 73 68 6f 77 20 61 76 65 72 61 67 65 20 |ly show average | 00000570 67 61 69 6e 73 2e 20 54 68 65 72 65 20 61 72 65 |gains. There are| 00000580 20 6d 61 6e 79 0a 69 6e 73 74 61 6e 63 65 73 20 | many.instances | 00000590 77 68 65 72 65 20 53 70 65 65 64 21 20 63 61 6e |where Speed! can| 000005a0 20 70 72 6f 76 69 64 65 20 61 6e 20 69 6e 73 74 | provide an inst| 000005b0 61 6e 74 61 6e 65 6f 75 73 20 73 70 65 65 64 20 |antaneous speed | 000005c0 69 6e 63 72 65 61 73 65 20 6f 66 20 73 65 76 65 |increase of seve| 000005d0 6e 0a 74 69 6d 65 73 20 6f 72 20 73 6f 2c 20 61 |n.times or so, a| 000005e0 6e 64 20 74 6f 20 66 75 6c 6c 79 20 61 70 70 72 |nd to fully appr| 000005f0 65 63 69 61 74 65 20 53 70 65 65 64 21 20 79 6f |eciate Speed! yo| 00000600 75 20 73 68 6f 75 6c 64 20 72 65 61 6c 6c 79 20 |u should really | 00000610 75 73 65 20 74 68 65 20 6d 61 63 68 69 6e 65 0a |use the machine.| 00000620 77 69 74 68 20 69 74 20 69 6e 73 74 61 6c 6c 65 |with it installe| 00000630 64 20 66 6f 72 20 61 20 77 68 69 6c 65 2e 0a 0a |d for a while...| 00000640 4e 2e 20 44 6f 75 67 6c 61 73 2e 20 31 34 2d 30 |N. Douglas. 14-0| 00000650 39 2d 31 39 39 36 0a |9-1996.| 00000657