[GRASS5] 5.7: XDRIVER modification - CPU load

[Markus Neteler]

On Thu, Mar 18, 2004 at 06:08:54PM +0000, Glynn Clements wrote:
> 
> Markus Neteler wrote:
> 
> > > The XDRIVER should consume less CPU now when querying maps or
> > > zooming into. I have added a nanosleep of 500 milliseconds.
> > > We have to experiment with this value to find a good one
> > > with respect to CPU power, operating system and sleepyness
> > > of d.what.vect/d.zoom.
> > > 
> > > Let me know. The modified file is indicated below.
> > 
> > Mhh. I just realized that the change is nice for d.what.vect,
> > but makes d.zoom extremely slow. Suggestions welcome.


For now I have reverted the change.

> FWIW (and I accept that's probably next to nothing) I would suggest
> either:
> 
> 1. Reverting the Get_location_with_* functions to the 5.3 versions,
> and just accepting their limitations.
> 
> 2. Getting rid of the Get_location_with_* functions altogether, making
> the "display" API into a *display* API. Use a GUI toolkit if you want
> interaction. [If you got rid of the resize handling at the same time,
> the driver architecture (not just XDRIVER) would become vastly
> simpler, as you wouldn't need to handle X events *at all*.]
> 
> In any case, a busy-wait (repeated non-blocking calls in a loop)
> definitely isn't the solution. The only sensible approach is to use
> select() on both the X descriptor and the driver socket. Get_Xevent()
> already does this; I suggest using it; like 5.0/5.3 do.

Using select() and friends seems to be the (temporal) solution unless
someone writes a new display driver. Unfortunatelty I don't know
how to change that. The reasons why select() etc are not used 
I cannot remember (if it was ever posted).

Markus

-- 
Markus Neteler     <neteler itc it>       http://mpa.itc.it
ITC-irst -  Centro per la Ricerca Scientifica e Tecnologica
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