<UseSmallInternalThreadStacks> Element

Requests that the common language runtime (CLR) reduce memory use by specifying explicit stack sizes when it creates certain threads that it uses internally, instead of using the default stack size for those threads.

<configuration> Element
  <runtime> Element
    <UseSmallInternalThreadStacks> Element

<UseSmallInternalThreadStacks enabled="true|false" />

Attributes and Elements

The following sections describe attributes, child elements, and parent elements.

Attributes

Attribute

Description

enabled

Required attribute.

Specifies whether to request that the CLR use explicit stack sizes instead of the default stack size when it creates certain threads that it uses internally. The explicit stack sizes are smaller than the default stack size of 1 MB.

enabled Attribute

Value

Description

true

Request explicit stack sizes.

false

Use the default stack size. This is the default for the .NET Framework version 4.

Child Elements

None.

Parent Elements

Element

Description

configuration

The root element in every configuration file used by the common language runtime and .NET Framework applications.

runtime

Contains information about assembly binding and garbage collection.

Remarks

This configuration element is used to request reduced virtual memory use in a process, because the explicit thread sizes that the CLR uses for its internal threads, if the request is honored, are smaller than the default size.

Important noteImportant

This configuration element is a request to the CLR rather than an absolute requirement. In the .NET Framework 4, the request is honored only for the x86 architecture. This element might be ignored completely in future versions of the CLR, or replaced by explicit stack sizes that are always used for selected internal threads.

Specifying this configuration element trades reliability for smaller virtual memory use if the CLR honors the request, because smaller stack sizes could potentially make stack overflows more likely.

Example

The following example shows how to request that the CLR use explicit stack sizes for certain threads that it uses internally.

<configuration>
   <runtime>
      <UseSmallInternalThreadStacks enabled="true" />
   </runtime>
</configuration>

See Also

Reference

Runtime Settings Schema

Other Resources

Configuration File Schema for the .NET Framework