ANSI-only strings in memory? avoiding Unicode conversion to save memory?

[- John of Arc -]

How does one save on memory by avoiding string conversion to UniCode?
Is there a way to do that?

For example, if one is reading from a large text file, operating on the
contents, then writing to a second textfile (using the API file i/o
functions), is there a way to keep everything ANSI so as to half the memory
involved?

Would one use arrays of bytes instead of strings? Is that possible in VB?
StrConv()?
StrPtr()?

Thanks for any suggestions or any URLs that treat on the topic.

[Bill McCarthy]

Hi John,

You could use a byte array. Open the file as binary and dump the contents
into a byte array. Unfortunately VB only has a unicode or OLE string
representation internally. So if you are working with strings, you will
always have to convert from unicode to ansi etc. You can use CopyMemory api
passing the string byval to get an ansi copy, so tasks such as replacing
one part of the file with another string of the same length are relatively
simple with minimal overhead (unless the string being replaced is large
too). Another alternative, is to use memory mapped files for large files.,
or just read the file in chunks rather than all at once.

I would say that the real limiting factor in which approach you take is
dependant on what operations you want to do with the contents. Can you
provide some more details on that, and approx. file sizes ?



"- John of Arc -" <666@666.666> wrote in message
news:3907a87a@news.devx.com...
> How does one save on memory by avoiding string conversion to UniCode?
> Is there a way to do that?
>
> For example, if one is reading from a large text file, operating on the
> contents, then writing to a second textfile (using the API file i/o
> functions), is there a way to keep everything ANSI so as to half the
memory
> involved?
>
> Would one use arrays of bytes instead of strings? Is that possible in VB?
> StrConv()?
> StrPtr()?
>
> Thanks for any suggestions or any URLs that treat on the topic.
>
>
>

[Michael \(michka\) Kaplan]

This is NOT a solution.

COM uses Unicode.... ONLY. VB creates COM components. The notion that you
will save in terms of memory ignores the fact that you will have to convert
back to Unicode for every single operation you would perform with a string.

StrPtr has nothing to do with ANSI strings.... it is in fact the way to keep
string as Unicode when passed to dlls, etc.

--
MichKa
"Cause it's a bittersweet symphony, thats life..." -- The Verve

random junk of dubious value, at the multilingual,
no scripts required, http://www.trigeminal.com/

"- John of Arc -" <666@666.666> wrote in message
news:3907a87a@news.devx.com...
> How does one save on memory by avoiding string conversion to UniCode?
> Is there a way to do that?
>
> For example, if one is reading from a large text file, operating on the
> contents, then writing to a second textfile (using the API file i/o
> functions), is there a way to keep everything ANSI so as to half the
memory
> involved?
>
> Would one use arrays of bytes instead of strings? Is that possible in VB?
> StrConv()?
> StrPtr()?
>
> Thanks for any suggestions or any URLs that treat on the topic.
>
>
>

[Michael \(michka\) Kaplan]

Also, note that resources under Win32 are ALWAYS Unicode also..... even on
Win9x. And there is no way to store strings in your code as ANSI. Therefore,
you have no way to save the space, and the memory/perf hit of adding even
MORE conversions would outweigh any benefits you might think you could
receive by using ANSI strings.

--
MichKa
"Cause it's a bittersweet symphony, thats life..." -- The Verve

random junk of dubious value, at the multilingual,
no scripts required, http://www.trigeminal.com/

"- John of Arc -" <666@666.666> wrote in message
news:3907a87a@news.devx.com...
> How does one save on memory by avoiding string conversion to UniCode?
> Is there a way to do that?
>
> For example, if one is reading from a large text file, operating on the
> contents, then writing to a second textfile (using the API file i/o
> functions), is there a way to keep everything ANSI so as to half the
memory
> involved?
>
> Would one use arrays of bytes instead of strings? Is that possible in VB?
> StrConv()?
> StrPtr()?
>
> Thanks for any suggestions or any URLs that treat on the topic.
>
>
>

[Mike]

Michael

But couldn't you open the file as binary and read it into a byte array. Then
perform any modifications and write it back? Sure this would be a huge hassle,
but possible. A text file seams to be stored as ANSI (by checking its size),
so there would never be an ANSI-UNICODE conversion.

Mike


"Michael \(michka\) Kaplan" <former_mvp@spamfree.trigeminal.nospam.com> wrote:
>Also, note that resources under Win32 are ALWAYS Unicode also..... even
on
>Win9x. And there is no way to store strings in your code as ANSI. Therefore,
>you have no way to save the space, and the memory/perf hit of adding even
>MORE conversions would outweigh any benefits you might think you could
>receive by using ANSI strings.
>
>--
>MichKa
>"Cause it's a bittersweet symphony, thats life..." -- The Verve
>
>random junk of dubious value, at the multilingual,
>no scripts required, http://www.trigeminal.com/
>
>"- John of Arc -" <666@666.666> wrote in message
>news:3907a87a@news.devx.com...
>> How does one save on memory by avoiding string conversion to UniCode?
>> Is there a way to do that?
>>
>> For example, if one is reading from a large text file, operating on the
>> contents, then writing to a second textfile (using the API file i/o
>> functions), is there a way to keep everything ANSI so as to half the
>memory
>> involved?
>>
>> Would one use arrays of bytes instead of strings? Is that possible in
VB?
>> StrConv()?
>> StrPtr()?
>>
>> Thanks for any suggestions or any URLs that treat on the topic.
>>
>>
>>
>
>

[Michael \(michka\) Kaplan]

Sigh... but none of the VB functions for dealing with strings expect ANSI
strings.... so you are working hard to circumvent the very things that VB
would do for you.

In other words, is it possible? YES. Is it stupid? YES.

--
MichKa
"Cause it's a bittersweet symphony, thats life..." -- The Verve

random junk of dubious value, at the multilingual,
no scripts required, http://www.trigeminal.com/

"Mike" <m_culley@one.net.au> wrote in message
news:39083f84$1@news.devx.com...
>
> Michael
>
> But couldn't you open the file as binary and read it into a byte array.
Then
> perform any modifications and write it back? Sure this would be a huge
hassle,
> but possible. A text file seams to be stored as ANSI (by checking its
size),
> so there would never be an ANSI-UNICODE conversion.
>
> Mike
>
>
> "Michael \(michka\) Kaplan" <former_mvp@spamfree.trigeminal.nospam.com>
wrote:
> >Also, note that resources under Win32 are ALWAYS Unicode also..... even
> on
> >Win9x. And there is no way to store strings in your code as ANSI.
Therefore,
> >you have no way to save the space, and the memory/perf hit of adding even
> >MORE conversions would outweigh any benefits you might think you could
> >receive by using ANSI strings.
> >
> >--
> >MichKa
> >"Cause it's a bittersweet symphony, thats life..." -- The Verve
> >
> >random junk of dubious value, at the multilingual,
> >no scripts required, http://www.trigeminal.com/
> >
> >"- John of Arc -" <666@666.666> wrote in message
> >news:3907a87a@news.devx.com...
> >> How does one save on memory by avoiding string conversion to UniCode?
> >> Is there a way to do that?
> >>
> >> For example, if one is reading from a large text file, operating on the
> >> contents, then writing to a second textfile (using the API file i/o
> >> functions), is there a way to keep everything ANSI so as to half the
> >memory
> >> involved?
> >>
> >> Would one use arrays of bytes instead of strings? Is that possible in
> VB?
> >> StrConv()?
> >> StrPtr()?
> >>
> >> Thanks for any suggestions or any URLs that treat on the topic.
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >
> >
>

[Mike]

I was just saying that it was possible.

I also think that in some _rare_ cases it would be useful and not stupid
at all.

Mike


"Michael \(michka\) Kaplan" <former_mvp@spamfree.trigeminal.nospam.com> wrote:
>Sigh... but none of the VB functions for dealing with strings expect ANSI
>strings.... so you are working hard to circumvent the very things that VB
>would do for you.
>
>In other words, is it possible? YES. Is it stupid? YES.
>
>--
>MichKa
>"Cause it's a bittersweet symphony, thats life..." -- The Verve
>
>random junk of dubious value, at the multilingual,
>no scripts required, http://www.trigeminal.com/
>
>"Mike" <m_culley@one.net.au> wrote in message
>news:39083f84$1@news.devx.com...
>>
>> Michael
>>
>> But couldn't you open the file as binary and read it into a byte array.
>Then
>> perform any modifications and write it back? Sure this would be a huge
>hassle,
>> but possible. A text file seams to be stored as ANSI (by checking its
>size),
>> so there would never be an ANSI-UNICODE conversion.
>>
>> Mike
>>
>>
>> "Michael \(michka\) Kaplan" <former_mvp@spamfree.trigeminal.nospam.com>
>wrote:
>> >Also, note that resources under Win32 are ALWAYS Unicode also..... even
>> on
>> >Win9x. And there is no way to store strings in your code as ANSI.
>Therefore,
>> >you have no way to save the space, and the memory/perf hit of adding
even
>> >MORE conversions would outweigh any benefits you might think you could
>> >receive by using ANSI strings.
>> >
>> >--
>> >MichKa
>> >"Cause it's a bittersweet symphony, thats life..." -- The Verve
>> >
>> >random junk of dubious value, at the multilingual,
>> >no scripts required, http://www.trigeminal.com/
>> >
>> >"- John of Arc -" <666@666.666> wrote in message
>> >news:3907a87a@news.devx.com...
>> >> How does one save on memory by avoiding string conversion to UniCode?
>> >> Is there a way to do that?
>> >>
>> >> For example, if one is reading from a large text file, operating on
the
>> >> contents, then writing to a second textfile (using the API file i/o
>> >> functions), is there a way to keep everything ANSI so as to half the
>> >memory
>> >> involved?
>> >>
>> >> Would one use arrays of bytes instead of strings? Is that possible
in
>> VB?
>> >> StrConv()?
>> >> StrPtr()?
>> >>
>> >> Thanks for any suggestions or any URLs that treat on the topic.
>> >>
>> >>
>> >>
>> >
>> >
>>
>
>

[Michael \(michka\) Kaplan]

Yes, in a provincial, US-ENGLISH only situation, where you never need the
second byte, i suppose you could make such an argument. Given my bent these
dys to suggesting that people do the minimal effort to globalize their apps,
using Unicode where it can be done, since it is the basis for strings in COM
and VB, and elsewhere, is what makes the most sense. :-)

--
MichKa
"Cause it's a bittersweet symphony, thats life..." -- The Verve

random junk of dubious value, at the multilingual,
no scripts required, http://www.trigeminal.com/

"Mike" <m_culley@one.net.au> wrote in message
news:39097646$1@news.devx.com...
>
> I was just saying that it was possible.
>
> I also think that in some _rare_ cases it would be useful and not stupid
> at all.
>
> Mike
>
>
> "Michael \(michka\) Kaplan" <former_mvp@spamfree.trigeminal.nospam.com>
wrote:
> >Sigh... but none of the VB functions for dealing with strings expect ANSI
> >strings.... so you are working hard to circumvent the very things that VB
> >would do for you.
> >
> >In other words, is it possible? YES. Is it stupid? YES.
> >
> >--
> >MichKa
> >"Cause it's a bittersweet symphony, thats life..." -- The Verve
> >
> >random junk of dubious value, at the multilingual,
> >no scripts required, http://www.trigeminal.com/
> >
> >"Mike" <m_culley@one.net.au> wrote in message
> >news:39083f84$1@news.devx.com...
> >>
> >> Michael
> >>
> >> But couldn't you open the file as binary and read it into a byte array.
> >Then
> >> perform any modifications and write it back? Sure this would be a huge
> >hassle,
> >> but possible. A text file seams to be stored as ANSI (by checking its
> >size),
> >> so there would never be an ANSI-UNICODE conversion.
> >>
> >> Mike
> >>
> >>
> >> "Michael \(michka\) Kaplan" <former_mvp@spamfree.trigeminal.nospam.com>
> >wrote:
> >> >Also, note that resources under Win32 are ALWAYS Unicode also.....
even
> >> on
> >> >Win9x. And there is no way to store strings in your code as ANSI.
> >Therefore,
> >> >you have no way to save the space, and the memory/perf hit of adding
> even
> >> >MORE conversions would outweigh any benefits you might think you could
> >> >receive by using ANSI strings.
> >> >
> >> >--
> >> >MichKa
> >> >"Cause it's a bittersweet symphony, thats life..." -- The Verve
> >> >
> >> >random junk of dubious value, at the multilingual,
> >> >no scripts required, http://www.trigeminal.com/
> >> >
> >> >"- John of Arc -" <666@666.666> wrote in message
> >> >news:3907a87a@news.devx.com...
> >> >> How does one save on memory by avoiding string conversion to
UniCode?
> >> >> Is there a way to do that?
> >> >>
> >> >> For example, if one is reading from a large text file, operating on
> the
> >> >> contents, then writing to a second textfile (using the API file i/o
> >> >> functions), is there a way to keep everything ANSI so as to half the
> >> >memory
> >> >> involved?
> >> >>
> >> >> Would one use arrays of bytes instead of strings? Is that possible
> in
> >> VB?
> >> >> StrConv()?
> >> >> StrPtr()?
> >> >>
> >> >> Thanks for any suggestions or any URLs that treat on the topic.
> >> >>
> >> >>
> >> >>
> >> >
> >> >
> >>
> >
> >
>

[Bill McCarthy]

Hi John,

You could use a byte array. Open the file as binary and dump the contents
into a byte array. Unfortunately VB only has a unicode or OLE string
representation internally. So if you are working with strings, you will
always have to convert from unicode to ansi etc. You can use CopyMemory api
passing the string byval to get an ansi copy, so tasks such as replacing
one part of the file with another string of the same length are relatively
simple with minimal overhead (unless the string being replaced is large
too). Another alternative, is to use memory mapped files for large files.,
or just read the file in chunks rather than all at once.

I would say that the real limiting factor in which approach you take is
dependant on what operations you want to do with the contents. Can you
provide some more details on that, and approx. file sizes ?



"- John of Arc -" <666@666.666> wrote in message
news:3907a87a@news.devx.com...
> How does one save on memory by avoiding string conversion to UniCode?
> Is there a way to do that?
>
> For example, if one is reading from a large text file, operating on the
> contents, then writing to a second textfile (using the API file i/o
> functions), is there a way to keep everything ANSI so as to half the
memory
> involved?
>
> Would one use arrays of bytes instead of strings? Is that possible in VB?
> StrConv()?
> StrPtr()?
>
> Thanks for any suggestions or any URLs that treat on the topic.
>
>
>

[Michael \(michka\) Kaplan]

This is NOT a solution.

COM uses Unicode.... ONLY. VB creates COM components. The notion that you
will save in terms of memory ignores the fact that you will have to convert
back to Unicode for every single operation you would perform with a string.

StrPtr has nothing to do with ANSI strings.... it is in fact the way to keep
string as Unicode when passed to dlls, etc.

--
MichKa
"Cause it's a bittersweet symphony, thats life..." -- The Verve

random junk of dubious value, at the multilingual,
no scripts required, http://www.trigeminal.com/

"- John of Arc -" <666@666.666> wrote in message
news:3907a87a@news.devx.com...
> How does one save on memory by avoiding string conversion to UniCode?
> Is there a way to do that?
>
> For example, if one is reading from a large text file, operating on the
> contents, then writing to a second textfile (using the API file i/o
> functions), is there a way to keep everything ANSI so as to half the
memory
> involved?
>
> Would one use arrays of bytes instead of strings? Is that possible in VB?
> StrConv()?
> StrPtr()?
>
> Thanks for any suggestions or any URLs that treat on the topic.
>
>
>

[Michael \(michka\) Kaplan]

Also, note that resources under Win32 are ALWAYS Unicode also..... even on
Win9x. And there is no way to store strings in your code as ANSI. Therefore,
you have no way to save the space, and the memory/perf hit of adding even
MORE conversions would outweigh any benefits you might think you could
receive by using ANSI strings.

--
MichKa
"Cause it's a bittersweet symphony, thats life..." -- The Verve

random junk of dubious value, at the multilingual,
no scripts required, http://www.trigeminal.com/

"- John of Arc -" <666@666.666> wrote in message
news:3907a87a@news.devx.com...
> How does one save on memory by avoiding string conversion to UniCode?
> Is there a way to do that?
>
> For example, if one is reading from a large text file, operating on the
> contents, then writing to a second textfile (using the API file i/o
> functions), is there a way to keep everything ANSI so as to half the
memory
> involved?
>
> Would one use arrays of bytes instead of strings? Is that possible in VB?
> StrConv()?
> StrPtr()?
>
> Thanks for any suggestions or any URLs that treat on the topic.
>
>
>

[Mike]

Michael

But couldn't you open the file as binary and read it into a byte array. Then
perform any modifications and write it back? Sure this would be a huge hassle,
but possible. A text file seams to be stored as ANSI (by checking its size),
so there would never be an ANSI-UNICODE conversion.

Mike


"Michael \(michka\) Kaplan" <former_mvp@spamfree.trigeminal.nospam.com> wrote:
>Also, note that resources under Win32 are ALWAYS Unicode also..... even
on
>Win9x. And there is no way to store strings in your code as ANSI. Therefore,
>you have no way to save the space, and the memory/perf hit of adding even
>MORE conversions would outweigh any benefits you might think you could
>receive by using ANSI strings.
>
>--
>MichKa
>"Cause it's a bittersweet symphony, thats life..." -- The Verve
>
>random junk of dubious value, at the multilingual,
>no scripts required, http://www.trigeminal.com/
>
>"- John of Arc -" <666@666.666> wrote in message
>news:3907a87a@news.devx.com...
>> How does one save on memory by avoiding string conversion to UniCode?
>> Is there a way to do that?
>>
>> For example, if one is reading from a large text file, operating on the
>> contents, then writing to a second textfile (using the API file i/o
>> functions), is there a way to keep everything ANSI so as to half the
>memory
>> involved?
>>
>> Would one use arrays of bytes instead of strings? Is that possible in
VB?
>> StrConv()?
>> StrPtr()?
>>
>> Thanks for any suggestions or any URLs that treat on the topic.
>>
>>
>>
>
>

[Michael \(michka\) Kaplan]

Sigh... but none of the VB functions for dealing with strings expect ANSI
strings.... so you are working hard to circumvent the very things that VB
would do for you.

In other words, is it possible? YES. Is it stupid? YES.

--
MichKa
"Cause it's a bittersweet symphony, thats life..." -- The Verve

random junk of dubious value, at the multilingual,
no scripts required, http://www.trigeminal.com/

"Mike" <m_culley@one.net.au> wrote in message
news:39083f84$1@news.devx.com...
>
> Michael
>
> But couldn't you open the file as binary and read it into a byte array.
Then
> perform any modifications and write it back? Sure this would be a huge
hassle,
> but possible. A text file seams to be stored as ANSI (by checking its
size),
> so there would never be an ANSI-UNICODE conversion.
>
> Mike
>
>
> "Michael \(michka\) Kaplan" <former_mvp@spamfree.trigeminal.nospam.com>
wrote:
> >Also, note that resources under Win32 are ALWAYS Unicode also..... even
> on
> >Win9x. And there is no way to store strings in your code as ANSI.
Therefore,
> >you have no way to save the space, and the memory/perf hit of adding even
> >MORE conversions would outweigh any benefits you might think you could
> >receive by using ANSI strings.
> >
> >--
> >MichKa
> >"Cause it's a bittersweet symphony, thats life..." -- The Verve
> >
> >random junk of dubious value, at the multilingual,
> >no scripts required, http://www.trigeminal.com/
> >
> >"- John of Arc -" <666@666.666> wrote in message
> >news:3907a87a@news.devx.com...
> >> How does one save on memory by avoiding string conversion to UniCode?
> >> Is there a way to do that?
> >>
> >> For example, if one is reading from a large text file, operating on the
> >> contents, then writing to a second textfile (using the API file i/o
> >> functions), is there a way to keep everything ANSI so as to half the
> >memory
> >> involved?
> >>
> >> Would one use arrays of bytes instead of strings? Is that possible in
> VB?
> >> StrConv()?
> >> StrPtr()?
> >>
> >> Thanks for any suggestions or any URLs that treat on the topic.
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >
> >
>

[Mike]

I was just saying that it was possible.

I also think that in some _rare_ cases it would be useful and not stupid
at all.

Mike


"Michael \(michka\) Kaplan" <former_mvp@spamfree.trigeminal.nospam.com> wrote:
>Sigh... but none of the VB functions for dealing with strings expect ANSI
>strings.... so you are working hard to circumvent the very things that VB
>would do for you.
>
>In other words, is it possible? YES. Is it stupid? YES.
>
>--
>MichKa
>"Cause it's a bittersweet symphony, thats life..." -- The Verve
>
>random junk of dubious value, at the multilingual,
>no scripts required, http://www.trigeminal.com/
>
>"Mike" <m_culley@one.net.au> wrote in message
>news:39083f84$1@news.devx.com...
>>
>> Michael
>>
>> But couldn't you open the file as binary and read it into a byte array.
>Then
>> perform any modifications and write it back? Sure this would be a huge
>hassle,
>> but possible. A text file seams to be stored as ANSI (by checking its
>size),
>> so there would never be an ANSI-UNICODE conversion.
>>
>> Mike
>>
>>
>> "Michael \(michka\) Kaplan" <former_mvp@spamfree.trigeminal.nospam.com>
>wrote:
>> >Also, note that resources under Win32 are ALWAYS Unicode also..... even
>> on
>> >Win9x. And there is no way to store strings in your code as ANSI.
>Therefore,
>> >you have no way to save the space, and the memory/perf hit of adding
even
>> >MORE conversions would outweigh any benefits you might think you could
>> >receive by using ANSI strings.
>> >
>> >--
>> >MichKa
>> >"Cause it's a bittersweet symphony, thats life..." -- The Verve
>> >
>> >random junk of dubious value, at the multilingual,
>> >no scripts required, http://www.trigeminal.com/
>> >
>> >"- John of Arc -" <666@666.666> wrote in message
>> >news:3907a87a@news.devx.com...
>> >> How does one save on memory by avoiding string conversion to UniCode?
>> >> Is there a way to do that?
>> >>
>> >> For example, if one is reading from a large text file, operating on
the
>> >> contents, then writing to a second textfile (using the API file i/o
>> >> functions), is there a way to keep everything ANSI so as to half the
>> >memory
>> >> involved?
>> >>
>> >> Would one use arrays of bytes instead of strings? Is that possible
in
>> VB?
>> >> StrConv()?
>> >> StrPtr()?
>> >>
>> >> Thanks for any suggestions or any URLs that treat on the topic.
>> >>
>> >>
>> >>
>> >
>> >
>>
>
>

[Michael \(michka\) Kaplan]

Yes, in a provincial, US-ENGLISH only situation, where you never need the
second byte, i suppose you could make such an argument. Given my bent these
dys to suggesting that people do the minimal effort to globalize their apps,
using Unicode where it can be done, since it is the basis for strings in COM
and VB, and elsewhere, is what makes the most sense. :-)

--
MichKa
"Cause it's a bittersweet symphony, thats life..." -- The Verve

random junk of dubious value, at the multilingual,
no scripts required, http://www.trigeminal.com/

"Mike" <m_culley@one.net.au> wrote in message
news:39097646$1@news.devx.com...
>
> I was just saying that it was possible.
>
> I also think that in some _rare_ cases it would be useful and not stupid
> at all.
>
> Mike
>
>
> "Michael \(michka\) Kaplan" <former_mvp@spamfree.trigeminal.nospam.com>
wrote:
> >Sigh... but none of the VB functions for dealing with strings expect ANSI
> >strings.... so you are working hard to circumvent the very things that VB
> >would do for you.
> >
> >In other words, is it possible? YES. Is it stupid? YES.
> >
> >--
> >MichKa
> >"Cause it's a bittersweet symphony, thats life..." -- The Verve
> >
> >random junk of dubious value, at the multilingual,
> >no scripts required, http://www.trigeminal.com/
> >
> >"Mike" <m_culley@one.net.au> wrote in message
> >news:39083f84$1@news.devx.com...
> >>
> >> Michael
> >>
> >> But couldn't you open the file as binary and read it into a byte array.
> >Then
> >> perform any modifications and write it back? Sure this would be a huge
> >hassle,
> >> but possible. A text file seams to be stored as ANSI (by checking its
> >size),
> >> so there would never be an ANSI-UNICODE conversion.
> >>
> >> Mike
> >>
> >>
> >> "Michael \(michka\) Kaplan" <former_mvp@spamfree.trigeminal.nospam.com>
> >wrote:
> >> >Also, note that resources under Win32 are ALWAYS Unicode also.....
even
> >> on
> >> >Win9x. And there is no way to store strings in your code as ANSI.
> >Therefore,
> >> >you have no way to save the space, and the memory/perf hit of adding
> even
> >> >MORE conversions would outweigh any benefits you might think you could
> >> >receive by using ANSI strings.
> >> >
> >> >--
> >> >MichKa
> >> >"Cause it's a bittersweet symphony, thats life..." -- The Verve
> >> >
> >> >random junk of dubious value, at the multilingual,
> >> >no scripts required, http://www.trigeminal.com/
> >> >
> >> >"- John of Arc -" <666@666.666> wrote in message
> >> >news:3907a87a@news.devx.com...
> >> >> How does one save on memory by avoiding string conversion to
UniCode?
> >> >> Is there a way to do that?
> >> >>
> >> >> For example, if one is reading from a large text file, operating on
> the
> >> >> contents, then writing to a second textfile (using the API file i/o
> >> >> functions), is there a way to keep everything ANSI so as to half the
> >> >memory
> >> >> involved?
> >> >>
> >> >> Would one use arrays of bytes instead of strings? Is that possible
> in
> >> VB?
> >> >> StrConv()?
> >> >> StrPtr()?
> >> >>
> >> >> Thanks for any suggestions or any URLs that treat on the topic.
> >> >>
> >> >>
> >> >>
> >> >
> >> >
> >>
> >
> >
>