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Display Speed Setting / Use memory cache for bitmaps - Question

Fisher8965Fisher8965
in Community Support
I am wanting to know how the "Use memory cache for bitmaps" "Size" works.

The dialogue box can be found under "View" and "Display Speed". The memory cache Size defaults to -1. Which, from what I understand, sets CC3 to use half of the available RAM. Is there a way to bump that up or down? How would you up the amount of RAM to use? -2 or -3 or 1 or what?? I can't find much help in the help files or manual on this function.

Thanks.
~M~
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Comments

  • MonsenMonsen Administrator 🖼️ 81 images Cartographer
    edited March 2010
    Set it to a specific positive value. That will be the amount of RAM to use. For example, to use 500MB, set it to 500. There is no fancy calculation here, -1 is just a special value, meaning "default" (Which causes the value to vary by available memory)
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  • Simon RogersSimon Rogers Administrator, ProFantasy Traveler
    The only downside of increasing this is that the memory is then unavailable for other applications.
    You can see on display speed settings dialog box how much is currently in use.

    Whenever CC3 needs to view an image, either a new symbol, or, if you zoom in, a higher resolution version of an image, it first loads it into memory. This is relatively slow. Then, when it next views that image, it uses the image stored in memory, so as you use CC3, it gets faster and faster. However, it's only really the very high resolution images which take time to open up. When the memory gets full, CC3 discards the least recently used images first. If the memory cache gets full, and you switch to a completely new drawing with a new symbol set, it's a good idea to use "Clear Memory Cache"
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  • Fisher8965Fisher8965
    Thank you for your answers. Why isn't this information in the manual?? Oh well. :-)

    So is there an amount that works best? I'm sure that it would depend on map size but if I set the amount to say, 3 gig, would it actually use it or would I be losing access to that amount for no real reason? I have a total of 4 gig available when using Vista's "Readyboost" and a USB thumbnail drive.

    Thanks again for the very helpful answers!
    Happy mapping.
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  • Simon RogersSimon Rogers Administrator, ProFantasy Traveler
    Posted By: Fisher8965Thank you for your answers. Why isn't this information in the manual?? Oh well. :-)

    So is there an amount that works best? I'm sure that it would depend on map size but if I set the amount to say, 3 gig, would it actually use it or would I be losing access to that amount for no real reason? I have a total of 4 gig available when using Vista's "Readyboost" and a USB thumbnail drive.

    Thanks again for the very helpful answers!
    Happy mapping.
    I suspect it's in the help file, though I don't have it to hand.

    CC3 doesn't grab all the memory and keep it - it just sets a maximum cache size, so you can set it pretty high. If you are doing vector mapping, there is no point. If you are creating large maps with many PNG symbols, and particularly if you are doing lots of printing, then you could set it to 3GB.
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  • RalfRalf Administrator, ProFantasy 🖼️ 18 images Mapmaker
    Yes, it's in the help files under Display Speed Settings. Just click the Help button in the dialog.
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