"Out Of Memory" During CHAIN Using Large COMMON Block (38276)

SUMMARY

The two programs shown below demonstrate that a program can run out of memory when CHAINing to another program if there is insufficient memory to copy the COMMON data. If run from within the QB.EXE environment, the error is simply "Out of memory," while the error message "Out of memory during chain" is produced when the programs are run as .EXE programs. To solve the error, you must use a smaller COMMON block.

This information applies to QuickBasic Versions 4.00, 4.00b, and 4.50, and Microsoft Basic Compiler Versions 6.00 and 6.00b for MS-DOS and MS OS/2.

'chain1.bas
DIM a#(5000)
COMMON a#(), b#(), c#()
 x = FRE(-1) - 1000
 PRINT FRE(-1)
DIM b#(x / 16), c#(x / 16)
PRINT FRE(-1)
CHAIN "chain2"
				

'chain2.bas
DIM a#(5000)
COMMON a#(), b#(), c#()
PRINT FRE(-1)
PRINT "Chain complete"