# HG changeset patch # User Richard M. Stallman # Date 1122073095 0 # Node ID cf0f927b0ecc7b06194971c1e5ef93d263012ec3 # Parent a0a53728d812db045414e22a5ad5b97cf8479576 (Garbage Collection): Clarify previous change. diff -r a0a53728d812 -r cf0f927b0ecc lispref/internals.texi --- a/lispref/internals.texi Fri Jul 22 18:53:02 2005 +0000 +++ b/lispref/internals.texi Fri Jul 22 22:58:15 2005 +0000 @@ -369,15 +369,14 @@ @end defopt @defopt gc-cons-percentage -The value of this variable is the minimum portion of the heap that -should be allocated before a garbage collection takes place. It is -used only if the specified size is larger than -@code{gc-cons-threshold}. +The value of this variable specifies the amount of consing before a +garbage collection occurs, as a fraction of the current heap size. +This criterion and @code{gc-cons-threshold} apply in parallel, and +garbage collection occurs only when both criteria are satisfied. As the heap size increases, the time to perform a garbage collection -increases, so in order to compensate, this variable tries to -correspondingly reduce the frequency of collection by letting Emacs -allocate more memory between each collection. +increases. Thus, it can be desirable to do them less frequently in +proportion. @end defopt The value returned by @code{garbage-collect} describes the amount of