NULLFILL will allow programs to execute much more quickly than usual
on STs with the original ROMs (any machines with roms that don't have
the so called MEGA-ROMS).  This is because when programs are started
up, the OS cleans out all free memory (fills it with nulls).  The way
in which it does so may go down in history as the slowest machine 
code ever written.  This program makes the OS skip the nullfiling 
altogether except for a few strategic spots where it does it itself
more quickly than the OS.  

I have used this program for a couple of months and have found it 
refreshing to press a button from a shell and have an editor pop up
instantly (from ramdisk) instead of having a 1 or 2 (or more) second
wait.  A few programs have problems with NULLFILL though because they
do not follow decent programing practice.  Since I do not think doing
things legally is a terminally fatal programing sin (what fun would
programing be otherwise), I have made a few additions to the 
original code to allow NULLFILL to be disabled.  I also added an 
indicator to let the user know NULLFILL is active.  Both of these
routines were (of course) written using nasty hacks to lovely 
undocumented variables in memory and so require the old roms for the 
program (and the computer) to work properly.

NULLFILL can be disabled by holding Shift, Control, Alternate, or
having the Caps locked keys held down while the program is loaded.  
If the Caps lock key is set to capitals, NULLFILL will be disabled as
long as the Caps lock is, well, locked.  Very few programs have 
trouble with NULLFILL.  One is the GFABASIC interpreter (sometimes). 
There are more, so if a program acts up when you first run it,
disable NULLFILL when executing it the next time.  

When NULLFILL is active, a bar will flash on the top part of the 
screen (where the menus drop from) when the program is loaded.  The
flash is brief.  You need to look for it.  When NULLFILL is disabled
the bar will not flash.

To use NULLFILL, put it in your AUTO folder (booting up is much 
faster if it is the first program to execute) or execute if from 
the desktop.

The speed increase can best be seen with alot of memory free (1040 ST
witout a ramdisk for example) and with a hard disk or ramdisk.  


This program was originally written by Leo de Wit in June of 88
and posted to the INFO-A16 news group on BITNET.

Lovely cutesy modifications by me:    John Zafiris   9/17/88


Enjoy...until the new ROMS come along and make this program obsolete