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+++ b/liboctave/oct-locbuf.cc
@@ -0,0 +1,104 @@
+/*
+
+Copyright (C) 2008 Jaroslav Hajek <highegg@gmail.com>
+
+This file is part of Octave.
+
+Octave is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
+under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the
+Free Software Foundation; either version 3 of the License, or (at your
+option) any later version.
+
+Octave is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT
+ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or
+FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU General Public License
+for more details.
+
+You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+along with Octave; see the file COPYING.  If not, see
+<http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+
+*/
+
+#ifdef HAVE_CONFIG_H
+#include <config.h>
+#endif
+
+#include <iostream>
+#include "oct-locbuf.h"
+
+// Query for configured chunk size, and if not defined, set it to 32 MB.
+// FIXME: 32MB is hard-coded. Maybe we could use something better, like
+// querying for available physical memory.
+#ifndef OCTAVE_LOCBUF_CHUNKSIZE_MB
+#define OCTAVE_LOCBUF_CHUNKSIZE_MB 32
+#endif
+
+// Each chunk will be at least this big. 
+const size_t octave_chunk_buffer::chunk_size = 
+  static_cast<size_t> (OCTAVE_LOCBUF_CHUNKSIZE_MB) << 20;
+
+char *octave_chunk_buffer::top = 0, *octave_chunk_buffer::chunk = 0;
+size_t octave_chunk_buffer::left = 0;
+
+octave_chunk_buffer::octave_chunk_buffer (size_t size) : cnk (0), dat (0) 
+{
+  // Alignment mask. The size of double or long int, whichever is greater.
+  // All data will be aligned to this size. If it's not enough for a type,
+  // that type should not be declared as POD. 
+  static const size_t align_mask = (sizeof (long) < sizeof (double)
+                                    ? sizeof (double)
+                                    : sizeof (long)) - 1;
+
+  if (! size) return;
+  // Align size. Note that size_t is unsigned, so size-1 must correctly
+  // wrap around.
+  size = ((size - 1) | align_mask) + 1;
+
+  if (size > left)
+    {
+      // Big buffers (> 1/8 chunk) will be allocated as stand-alone and
+      // won't disrupt the chain.
+      if (size > chunk_size >> 3)
+        {
+          // Use new [] to get std::bad_alloc if out of memory. Could as
+          // well be std::malloc and handle that ourselves.
+          dat = new char [size];
+          return;
+        }
+
+      dat = new char [chunk_size];
+      chunk = top = dat;
+      left = chunk_size;
+    }
+
+  // Now allocate memory from the chunk and update state.
+  cnk = chunk;
+  dat = top;
+  left -= size;
+  top += size;
+}
+
+octave_chunk_buffer::~octave_chunk_buffer (void)
+{
+  if (cnk == chunk)
+    {
+      // Our chunk is still the active one. Just restore the state.
+      left += top - dat;
+      top = dat;
+    }
+  else if (! cnk)
+    {
+      // We were a stand-alone buffer.
+      delete [] dat;
+    }
+  else
+    {
+      // Responsible for deletion.
+      delete [] chunk;
+      chunk = cnk;
+      top = dat;
+      // FIXME: This will only work if chunk_size is constant.
+      left = chunk_size - (dat - cnk);
+    }
+}