QUESTION
 My image has grown significantly in size, yet I have added little to
 it.  At the same time, performance seems to degrade.  Why is this
 happening, and can I fix this ?

ANSWER
 Close all VisualAge windows except the transcript.  Type

                      Dependents

 in your transcript, select and inspect it.  If more than self
 and Behavior is in the leftmost pane, Type

             Object abeReinitializeDependents

 in your transcript, select and execute it.  Then save your image.
 The size of you image should have reduced back to where it was.

 Object abeReinitializeDependents frees up the resources associated
 with any existing dependents.  When you use a part that is not
 subclassed from AbtObservableObject, and you establish connections
 to this part (so that other parts are notified when this part
 changes), you will create dependents.

 Here's something else to check.  From the transcript, select
 Smalltalk Tools->Open Debugger.  Then, from the debugger, select
 Processes->Debug Other.  Typically, there are two.  If there
 are many more, select and terminate them.

 If you try these things and your image is still quite large,
 try this from the System Transcript: (Save parts and close
 all windows first!!)

 EmSystemConfiguration new abtScrubImage

 This reinitializes dependents, removes and terminates active
 processes, and reinitializes common widgets.
 It closes all VisualAge windows and returns the System Transcript
 window back to its default message.