Slow response time using designer

[Barsky]

I've noticed that soon after I start up AMS4, it becomes slower and slower in updating the display. It seems to start out okay, but after a short time, it takes up to a minute or so for the screen to update. If I'm running other apps, I can switch to them and use them with no problem. Only AMS4 exhibits this problem on my computer. I've not seen any other mention of this so I was wondering if this is a problem others have had, or if I need to look elsewhere. Could this be related to the AMS4 vs. IE problem I've been reading about in the forum?

Thanks,
Steve

[Brett]

Re: Slow response time using designer

That is due to the way that the undo/redo system works. As your project grows, it takes more time to save the state of the project. The good news is that version 4.0.0.1 will be out next week and has a completely overhauled undo/redo system that makes things very smooth and fast. For now you can go into Preferences and set your undo/redo level to 0. This will speed things up considerably in the short-term.

- Brett

[Barsky]

Re: Slow response time using designer

Hmmm... are you sure? I saw an earlier post that said something about setting undo/redo levels to 0, so I tried it, but nothing changed. What I DID find out is this: AMS4 is constantly looking for or touching all the desktop.ini files in my project parent directory (My Documents by default) and all its subdirectories. I decided to uninstall AMS4 and then reinstall it with a different project directory, one whose parent doesn't have a bunch of subfolders. Viola! Peformance has improved tremendously (i.e., it's usable.) Is this desktop.ini stuff related to the undo/redo fix? If not, there may be more trouble as I add projects.
BTW, thanks for the quick response.

Steve

[Lorne]

Re: Slow response time using designer

desktop.ini files contain folder view settings.

AutoPlay Media Studio as a whole doesn't care about those, but the My Computer Bar and Distribution Folder Bar do.

Those controls are kind of like a window into Windows...since Windows needs to access those files, so do those two bars.

Why do you think AutoPlay Media Studio is touching those files?

You might have unrelated performance issues with those folders.

[Barsky]

Re: Slow response time using designer

I ran a program called filemon.exe that monitors file access and noticed amsdev40.exe hitting (or trying to hit) all these copies of desktop.ini. And I mean it was doing it A LOT! Why do I think AutoPlay Menu is touching those files? I don't know... to get to the other side? ;-)
As I mentioned at the start, no other apps (Delphi 5, InstallShield, etc.) seem to be suffering any performance problems that I can see. It's extremely noticeable in AMS4.

Cheers,
Steve

[Lorne]

Re: Slow response time using designer

Ah...the one from sysinternals.com? [img]/ubbthreads/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

It's interesting that the problem goes away when you choose a different folder for your projects. (BTW, you don't have to reinstall to do that...you can change the folder for new projects in the preferences.)

I'm a bit confused about where all the folders were, though...in My Docs itself, or it the AutoPlay Media Studio Projects folder?

And how many folders are we talking about here, exactly? (Our test monkeys are waiting... [img]/ubbthreads/images/icons/smile.gif[/img])

[Barsky]

Re: Slow response time using designer

Well, your test monkeys will just have to wait... On monday if my memory's (I mean me, not my computer) not completely fried, I'll switch the project folder back and look again. My impression was that the My Documents dir, which was the default home for the AMS project directory, was the parent directory of all the directories that were being searched. I have several subdirs under My Documents, although some of the names being displayed by filemon looked a little strange. My impression is that AMS4 is still doing what it was doing before, but that now the search range is a lot smaller. I can still see a VERY slight performance hit, but nothing really noticeable unless you happen to be looking for it. Anyway, unless you guys are planning to make this your weekend project, we can discuss it on monday. Have a good time!

Cheers,
Steve

[Lorne]

Re: Slow response time using designer

Thanks, you too. [img]/ubbthreads/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

[Barsky]

Re: Slow response time using designer

Okay, I just fired up AMS4, switched the project and load/save directories back to My Documents, loaded up a project and... response time seems okay. I then tried reloading and running all the test projects I'd saved, just to see whether one of those had something to do with this. This response problem didn't start immediately, as I recall. So I guess it's gonna be One of Those problems. If I can get it to recur, I'll let you know. Otherwise, we've got a newpaper to get out here (or whatever the product is my company sells - I need to find out.)

Cheers,
Steve