System options

Use the option in the System tab to control how memory is used for sorting and indexing operations.

Use Additional System Resources for Sorting and Indexing

When this option is selected, sorting and indexing operations can be faster, depending on the size of the file being sorted or indexed, and the available memory on your computer.

Selecting the option allows Analytics to use a memory mapped file for sorting and indexing operations. Using a memory mapped file can speed up the sorting or indexing of files that exceed the available RAM on your computer. For example, a 500-MB file might take the same length of time to sort regardless of how the option is set, but a 3-GB file might sort significantly faster if you enable the option.

Similar to sorting smaller files, sorting very large files of multiple gigabytes may not show any improvement in speed when the option is enabled. If you routinely sort very large files and performance is an issue, you should consider increasing your computer’s RAM, increasing the Windows paging file size, or both.

Additional information

• If Analytics is unable to determine the number of records in a file being sorted or indexed, a memory mapped file is not used for the operation, even if Use Additional System Resources for Sorting and Indexing is selected.
• Using additional system resources for sorting and indexing may slow down other tasks while sorting or indexing is in progress.
• Unlike all other options in the Options dialog box, the setting for this option is not stored in the Analytics preferences file. The option applies only to the computer on which it is set.

  For more information about options stored in the preferences file, see How Analytics preferences files work.