QUestion about FLISTs at SPFLITE startup

Stefan
Administrator

Posts: 989

QUestion about FLISTs at SPFLITE startup Aug 3, 2020 10:15:38 GMT -5

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Post by Stefan on Aug 3, 2020 10:15:38 GMT -5

Hi Guys,

Sorry - I couldn't decide where else to ask this...

What processing do you do at SPFLite startup in relation to each of the files listed - for example - in the FLIST RECENT category?

I noticed that if there is one or more file entries in an FLIST category, which are on network attached devices, and those devices are 'asleep', SPFLite startup is very SLOW.

I have 2 NAS boxes. One is backup to the other, so most of the time, it is ON but the drives are sleeping (not spinning). When I notice the SPFLite startup lethargy, I usually find a file entry to the backup NAS in a FLIST. If I remove it, startup operates normally.

I share the SPFLITE folder across multiple machines (only the CFG file is unique to each machine). So all home systems use the same FILELIST and suffer the same impact when any one of them has caused a 'rogue' entry to appear in a list. In my case it's just one sleeping NAS, but folks with files on remote networks may encounter a similar experience.

I appreciate that if you just issue a file system request to check their presence (or whatever), Windows won't refuse it because the device is available, but you'll incur a delay while the drives spin up.

I guess you could sub-task the request and start a timer to help the code move on if the request for a particular entry takes an extraordinary time to complete, but there's probably a lot going on asynchronously at startup already. Hence I ask - why do you look inside the FLIST categories rather than just load them asis?

I just thought I'd mention it. It still trips me up wondering what's going on when SPFLite doesn't start promptly. Note to self: Write a routine to clear out 'rogue' entries at user logon.

George
Administrator

Posts: 4,055

QUestion about FLISTs at SPFLITE startup Aug 3, 2020 10:27:05 GMT -5

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Post by George on Aug 3, 2020 10:27:05 GMT -5

Stefan: Actually, an FLIST is only accessed if it was the active display when SPFLite shutdown. e.g If you shut down in a FilePath display, no FLIST access would be needed. (Hopefully the FilePath was not pointing at a NAS drive, or ...)

When an FLIST is being loaded, there's really not much else that could be done in parallel anyway, so threading would buy nothing. SPFLite is 99% single thread code.

George

Stefan
Administrator

Posts: 989

QUestion about FLISTs at SPFLITE startup Aug 3, 2020 11:56:18 GMT -5

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Post by Stefan on Aug 3, 2020 11:56:18 GMT -5

George,

99% of the time I can manage perfectly well with the RECENT tab. So that's most likely the 'active' tab at startup. I guess you need to read the file attributes (date modified, size, etc) from the directory to build the display. No way around that. With the RECENT tab active, that can of course include files from all over different devices.

I can work around the issue easily enough with a bit of diligence. I don't use drive mappings to the backup NAS. So if files from there find their way into SPFLite, they were double-clicked or dragged to SPFLite from a File Explorer window. Hence their names stick out because the start with "\\server-name\..."

I guess I could change its power schedule to be OFF except when the backup runs but I'm lazy(!) and don't want to walk upstairs to the other end of the house to turn it on just to peek at a previous file version. Allowing the drives to sleep is a nod to energy efficiency.

George Administrator Posts: 4,055	QUestion about FLISTs at SPFLITE startup Aug 4, 2020 8:57:42 GMT -5 Quote Select Post Deselect Post Link to Post Member Give Gift Back to Top Post by George on Aug 4, 2020 8:57:42 GMT -5 Sleep vs Off is likewise a no-brainer for me, even though the drive is physically within reach. George

QUestion about FLISTs at SPFLITE startup

Post by Stefan on Aug 3, 2020 10:15:38 GMT -5

Post by George on Aug 3, 2020 10:27:05 GMT -5

Post by Stefan on Aug 3, 2020 11:56:18 GMT -5

Post by George on Aug 4, 2020 8:57:42 GMT -5