OS/2 FAQ

>Aha...there's my problem. So, LOWER Priority numbers are HIGHER Priority?

Nope, lower = lower.....;-) Actually the lowest (and default) value is 1, BUT before you start tinkering with this it may be useful to understand what affect the ymay have. Here is an overview of how OS/2 processes are categorised.

OS/2 provides 2 main methods for allowing a PROCESS to control how OS/2 services that processes needs, as a PRIORITY CLASS and a LEVEL within that CLASS, however not all PRIORITIES have levels... Confused? There is a logical reason why...

There are 4 PRIORITY classes for OS/2 programs (lets leave device drivers, etc out of this, we are only talking about applicaitons here). NOTE: Here the term "WINDOW" includes full screen tasks, they are actually "Full Screen Windows" in the system, similar to a Window on the Desktop... In decending order of importance -

• Time Critical
  This is best used for sections of code that require very close interaction with other components within the machine. A good example is a Data communications application for processing FAX messaging, the FAX protocol requires time dependant responses so applications that "talk FAX" need CPU time NOW, so the probably use this PRIORITY. A CLASS 1 FAX puts this processing in the S/W rather than the modem so it is most dependant on getting CPU time. A CLASS 2 FAX puts some of the critical parts back in the modem, so the applicaiton does not need to be so demanding on CPU time. Moral, always go for CLASS 2 capable FAX devices wherever possible.

• Foreground
  When a window on the desktop is the ACTIVE window, then it is at this PRIORITY. IMPORTANT: Because only 1 WINDOW can be the ACTIVE window at a time, there is no point in using a LEVEL value here, and in fact althjough it can be specified, it is ignored whenever the Window is ACTIVE.

• Regular
  Windows that are not the ACTIVE window, normally reside at this priority LEVEL. These applications can select a LEVEL that will be used whenever they are NOT the ACTIVE Window.

• Idle
  Tasks that perform "tidy up" tipe functions and are not dependant on having processor time available. An example here would be an application that displays CPU time usage, to know how much time everything else is using, it would run at the LOWEST possible level and thereby see how much processing power was left over.

So you can see how a LEVEL may or may not affect applications with a different PRIORITY, and LEVEL only applies when that task is NOT the foreground task.

I hope that helps...............pk.