Edit :
Nevermind. You can probably disregard the original post. So, if I understand this correctly, the shelve module does not increase RAM for the number of objects being stored? It stores them on the hard drive, but my program will treat them as traditional variables?
Then I would add a layer before the shelf level, where a cache keeps their contents in the RAM?
An off-topic question here: Is there a function that automatically dumps an instance's contents to a binary file, and then reads it right back in with all the types and attributes in tact? If not, I could just quickly write one.
Original Post :
I'm not sure if I'm missing something, or if you're missing something, but to make sure we're on the same page, I should probably clarify:
Once a block has been removed from the RAM, it could still possibly be needed by the program at any time. When I say that 1/8th of the RAM might only be useful, I only mean at the current time. All 8/8ths of the RAM may be looked at at least once in a 24 hour period.
So once it's saved to the file, the program must still know to look at the file and add its contents back to the memory, if it's ever attempted to be accessed.
Is that what you have been assuming? Or why don't I see how this works?