What are the correct arguments for overlayarea?

Question

When I compile the following code, pdflatex takes up 100% of one of my CPU and doesn't stop. I'm probably passing wrong arguments to overlayarea, since I have no idea what they should do (the Beamer_Guide doesn't mention them)

\documentclass{beamer}
\begin{document}
\begin{frame}
            \begin{tabular}{c}
                    \begin{overlayarea}{\textwidth}{0cm}
                            \only<1>{hi}
                            \only<2>{there}
                    \end{overlayarea}
            \end{tabular}
\end{frame}
\end{document}

So, why does this clog my CPU and what are the two arguments in overlayarea supposed to do?

Answer 1

The Beamer User Guide sure mentions the two arguments (on Section 9.5 Dynamically Changing Text or Image):

\begin{overlayarea}{⟨area width⟩}{⟨area height⟩} 
⟨environment contents⟩ 
\end{overlayarea}

For the problem mentioned, nest the tabular inside the overlayarea:

\documentclass{beamer}
\begin{document}

\begin{frame}
\begin{overlayarea}{\textwidth}{1cm}
  \begin{tabular}{c}
    \only<1>{hi}
    \only<2>{there}
  \end{tabular}
\end{overlayarea}
\end{frame}

\end{document}