File Size

By default, all the sources in a project are aligned either to their original UPP, if this exists on the Project Ruler, or to the next lower UPP on the ruler. The size of a file that is aligned to a lower UPP increases according to the following formula:

Thus a large source file, which has been aligned to a lower UPP than its original value, can dramatically increase the size of the final MPT file. For example, consider the source file with a UPP of 0.4 in the above diagram. If the original file is 20 MB, after alignment to the 0.25 UPP level, the file increases to 50 MB. Though the original source file did not change, this 20 MB file will have the same influence on the size of the MPT file as a 50 MB file.

If disk space is a critical issue, you can determine the best Project Ruler by taking the UPP for each source file, in turn, and calculating the total file size using this UPP value as the base for the Project Ruler.

In practice, if you have several source files, you should use the UPP of the file or files that have the largest size, as your Project Ruler.

If you want TerraBuilder to find a reasonable compromise Project Ruler, use the Calculate Automatic Ruler function. See “Setting the Project Ruler” in the “Project Management” chapter for more information. TerraBuilder checks all the source files, and sets the Project Ruler according to the most frequent UPP. Of course, this is not necessarily the optimum choice.