Author Topic: Buggy issues with Photomechanic 4.5  (Read 15134 times)

Offline ginger.creswell

  • Newcomer
  • *
  • Posts: 5
    • View Profile
Buggy issues with Photomechanic 4.5
« on: May 10, 2007, 12:37:55 PM »
I am working on a PC and have upgraded to Photomechanic 4.5. The three main issues I am having are the image window resorts 5-6 times before settling down and allowing me to work again, especially after returning from the Preview window.

Second issue - Photomechanic 4.5 places .dat file in my folders which I must manually delete each time. Can I make this stop.

Third issue - I cannot use keyboard shortcuts to rate with stars in the Preview mode.

I have tried added the beta 4.5.1 and it has not corrected the problems. Any suggestions?
Thanks,
Ginger

Offline Kirk Baker

  • Senior Software Engineer
  • Camera Bits Staff
  • Superhero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 24730
    • View Profile
    • Camera Bits, Inc.
Re: Buggy issues with Photomechanic 4.5
« Reply #1 on: May 10, 2007, 12:55:19 PM »
Ginger,

I am working on a PC and have upgraded to Photomechanic 4.5. The three main issues I am having are the image window resorts 5-6 times before settling down and allowing me to work again, especially after returning from the Preview window.

Do you mean the Contact Sheet?  I haven't ever seen what you're describing.  What kind of sort are you using?  Are you filtering out color classes or ratings?

Quote from: ginger.creswell
Second issue - Photomechanic 4.5 places .dat file in my folders which I must manually delete each time. Can I make this stop.

.pmarrangement.dat is necessary for the storage of your arrangements.  Why do you need to delete it?  We mark it as hidden.

Quote from: ginger.creswell
Third issue - I cannot use keyboard shortcuts to rate with stars in the Preview mode.

I have tried added the beta 4.5.1 and it has not corrected the problems. Any suggestions?

In the 4.5.1 beta, pressing Ctrl-1 through Ctrl-8, and Ctrl-0 sets the Color Class.  Pressing Alt-1 through Alt-5, and Alt-0 sets the Rating.

Otherwise, you can choose how the single number keys are used (either for Color Class or Rating) in the General tab of the Preferences dialog.

HTH,

-Kirk

Offline ginger.creswell

  • Newcomer
  • *
  • Posts: 5
    • View Profile
Re: Buggy issues with Photomechanic 4.5
« Reply #2 on: May 10, 2007, 01:06:36 PM »
Thank you for the quick response.

Yes the contact sheet. I am using sort by capture time, if I then click on one image to preview and then close the preview window, the contact sheet resorts over and over before allowing me to work again.

I know the file is hidden, however, in our work flow we verify counts by checking properties. Even hidden, it shows up as an object and changes our counts by one. We have to see all the files as we get lots of odd things from photographers and deleted images in trashes. etc. So for our workflow we must delete this file.

Thanks for the correction on shortcuts. We had been using ctrl+alt+the numbers.

Ginger

Offline Kirk Baker

  • Senior Software Engineer
  • Camera Bits Staff
  • Superhero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 24730
    • View Profile
    • Camera Bits, Inc.
Re: Buggy issues with Photomechanic 4.5
« Reply #3 on: May 10, 2007, 01:14:43 PM »
Ginger,

Yes the contact sheet. I am using sort by capture time, if I then click on one image to preview and then close the preview window, the contact sheet resorts over and over before allowing me to work again.

I just tried to reproduce the issue on my system and it doesn't re-sort more than one time for me.  What must I do to reproduce the problem on my end?  Do you have multiple folders open in a single contact sheet?

Quote from: ginger.creswell
I know the file is hidden, however, in our work flow we verify counts by checking properties. Even hidden, it shows up as an object and changes our counts by one. We have to see all the files as we get lots of odd things from photographers and deleted images in trashes. etc. So for our workflow we must delete this file.

OK, I'm not sure where else I can put the data that wouldn't be fragile.

-Kirk

Offline ginger.creswell

  • Newcomer
  • *
  • Posts: 5
    • View Profile
Re: Buggy issues with Photomechanic 4.5
« Reply #4 on: May 10, 2007, 01:29:34 PM »
Kirk,
I am beginning to wonder if it is something on this one system. But we are reading the files from a wolverine drive. One folder with up to 4000 image files in one contact sheet.

We will continue to delete the .dat file, just wanted to see if there was another option or preference.
thank you,

Ginger

Offline Kirk Baker

  • Senior Software Engineer
  • Camera Bits Staff
  • Superhero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 24730
    • View Profile
    • Camera Bits, Inc.
Re: Buggy issues with Photomechanic 4.5
« Reply #5 on: May 10, 2007, 01:38:48 PM »
Ginger,

I am beginning to wonder if it is something on this one system. But we are reading the files from a wolverine drive. One folder with up to 4000 image files in one contact sheet.

What is a wolverine drive?

-Kirk

Offline ginger.creswell

  • Newcomer
  • *
  • Posts: 5
    • View Profile
Re: Buggy issues with Photomechanic 4.5
« Reply #6 on: May 10, 2007, 02:03:35 PM »
A wolverine drive is an external drive connected by a usb cable.
Ginger

Offline jimb

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 108
    • View Profile
Re: Buggy issues with Photomechanic 4.5
« Reply #7 on: May 10, 2007, 03:24:44 PM »

Yes the contact sheet. I am using sort by capture time, if I then click on one image to preview and then close the preview window, the contact sheet resorts over and over before allowing me to work again.

I just tried to reproduce the issue on my system and it doesn't re-sort more than one time for me.  What must I do to reproduce the problem on my end?  Do you have multiple folders open in a single contact sheet?


Kirk,
I also experience this problem, but have been hesitant to report it since I can't reproduce it at will. In fact, I'm looking at it right now. I have a contact sheet open with 746 files from a single folder. It is sorted by capture time. Now preview one or more images, then Esc from the preview window. In the status bar the "Sort in progress" message appears, and the progress bar does its thing. On my system (Athlon 64X2 Dual Core 4600 2.4ghz 2gb ram) it takes about 6 seconds until I can do anything with PM. Here's another weird symptom: if I jump back and forth between PM and another program (e.g., to/from Firefox as I am writing up this post) then whenever I return to PM by clicking on its window, the sort operation is again executed! The only thing in common I've found when this problem occurs is that I've been doing extensive work with PM, followed by opening a contact sheet with many images, typically >500. The sort time is proportional to the size of the contact sheet. For example, today I've been sorting, classifying, and cleaning up about 3000 images using PM. The problem showed up when I opened the folder containing 746 images. I typically sort by capture time, caption, and filename; the problem doesn't occur with filename. I've also seen the multiple sort symptom described by Ginger but not in 4.5.1, only in prior versions. Occasionally, shutting down PM and restarting it cures the problem, but more often than not I have to reset my system to make PM usable again with large contact sheets.

My tests were also with a USB drive, so I opened a second large contact sheet (1492 photos) from a folder on the internal C: drive. There is still a delay when exiting the preview window, about half the time, and the sort progress bar quickly flashes. If the first contact sheet (from the USB drive) is closed, then the delay becomes minor, but you can still see the sort progress bar flash by. So it appears that a redundant sort is taking place whenever you return to PM, from either the preview or from another program. And the USB interface might well be contributing to a major delay in that process. There shouldn't be a need to resort every time, should there?
Jim
« Last Edit: May 10, 2007, 03:38:30 PM by jimb »

Offline jimb

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 108
    • View Profile
Re: Buggy issues with Photomechanic 4.5
« Reply #8 on: May 10, 2007, 04:17:33 PM »

Quote from: ginger.creswell
I know the file is hidden, however, in our work flow we verify counts by checking properties. Even hidden, it shows up as an object and changes our counts by one. We have to see all the files as we get lots of odd things from photographers and deleted images in trashes. etc. So for our workflow we must delete this file.

OK, I'm not sure where else I can put the data that wouldn't be fragile.


Regarding this issue, even though they are hidden many of us have hidden files turned on in Windows Explorer, so they show up. And they become a nuisance when doing DVD archives, creating CDs, etc. I never do a custom arrangement, but these files still show up in every directory that PM touches. It might help if the files were only created when a user actually did a custom arrangement.

 

Offline Kirk Baker

  • Senior Software Engineer
  • Camera Bits Staff
  • Superhero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 24730
    • View Profile
    • Camera Bits, Inc.
Re: Buggy issues with Photomechanic 4.5
« Reply #9 on: May 10, 2007, 04:27:37 PM »
Jim,


Yes the contact sheet. I am using sort by capture time, if I then click on one image to preview and then close the preview window, the contact sheet resorts over and over before allowing me to work again.

I just tried to reproduce the issue on my system and it doesn't re-sort more than one time for me.  What must I do to reproduce the problem on my end?  Do you have multiple folders open in a single contact sheet?


Kirk,
I also experience this problem, but have been hesitant to report it since I can't reproduce it at will. In fact, I'm looking at it right now. I have a contact sheet open with 746 files from a single folder. It is sorted by capture time. Now preview one or more images, then Esc from the preview window. In the status bar the "Sort in progress" message appears, and the progress bar does its thing. On my system (Athlon 64X2 Dual Core 4600 2.4ghz 2gb ram) it takes about 6 seconds until I can do anything with PM. Here's another weird symptom: if I jump back and forth between PM and another program (e.g., to/from Firefox as I am writing up this post) then whenever I return to PM by clicking on its window, the sort operation is again executed! The only thing in common I've found when this problem occurs is that I've been doing extensive work with PM, followed by opening a contact sheet with many images, typically >500. The sort time is proportional to the size of the contact sheet. For example, today I've been sorting, classifying, and cleaning up about 3000 images using PM. The problem showed up when I opened the folder containing 746 images. I typically sort by capture time, caption, and filename; the problem doesn't occur with filename. I've also seen the multiple sort symptom described by Ginger but not in 4.5.1, only in prior versions. Occasionally, shutting down PM and restarting it cures the problem, but more often than not I have to reset my system to make PM usable again with large contact sheets.

My tests were also with a USB drive, so I opened a second large contact sheet (1492 photos) from a folder on the internal C: drive. There is still a delay when exiting the preview window, about half the time, and the sort progress bar quickly flashes. If the first contact sheet (from the USB drive) is closed, then the delay becomes minor, but you can still see the sort progress bar flash by. So it appears that a redundant sort is taking place whenever you return to PM, from either the preview or from another program. And the USB interface might well be contributing to a major delay in that process. There shouldn't be a need to resort every time, should there?

First let me say that Capture Time sorting is by far the slowest sort (initially: once cached, it is no slower than filename sorting).  Second, each time you switch back into PM, it will rescan all open folders for new files, followed by a sort.

The issue related to sorting after using the Preview window, I will have to look into...

-Kirk

Offline bddorsey

  • Newcomer
  • *
  • Posts: 23
    • View Profile
Files copied by PM to a NAS end up Hidden - but drag and drop is fine
« Reply #10 on: August 09, 2017, 09:10:56 AM »
Was there a solution here?  I am having the same problem.
If i use the PM Copy command to copy an item to my QNAP NAS then the file copies by ends up being hidden.
If I drag and drop the file in PM to that same folder then it ends up copying normally.

Any idea what this means?

Offline Kirk Baker

  • Senior Software Engineer
  • Camera Bits Staff
  • Superhero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 24730
    • View Profile
    • Camera Bits, Inc.
Re: Files copied by PM to a NAS end up Hidden - but drag and drop is fine
« Reply #11 on: August 09, 2017, 11:24:15 AM »
Was there a solution here?  I am having the same problem.
If i use the PM Copy command to copy an item to my QNAP NAS then the file copies by ends up being hidden.
If I drag and drop the file in PM to that same folder then it ends up copying normally.

Any idea what this means?

No.  But I can tell you that the way PM copies files has changed over the years and PM 4.5 is rather old and is no longer being updated.  Are you using PM 4.5 or something much newer like PM5?  What OS are you running Photo Mechanic on?

-Kirk

Offline bddorsey

  • Newcomer
  • *
  • Posts: 23
    • View Profile
Re: Buggy issues with Photomechanic 4.5
« Reply #12 on: August 09, 2017, 11:40:40 AM »
Hi Kirk -

I'm actually on V5.  I just found that thread that had the exact same issue I was asking.
It's just so weird that the menu in PhotoMechanic copies files one way and a drag and drop does something else.
Especially hard since i really don't trust drag and drops as a way to copy critical data.
FWIW, this DID begin when we installed a new NAS so that's definitely part of the equation too.

Thanks for your help!

Offline Kirk Baker

  • Senior Software Engineer
  • Camera Bits Staff
  • Superhero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 24730
    • View Profile
    • Camera Bits, Inc.
Re: Buggy issues with Photomechanic 4.5
« Reply #13 on: August 09, 2017, 01:06:10 PM »
I'm actually on V5.  I just found that thread that had the exact same issue I was asking.
It's just so weird that the menu in PhotoMechanic copies files one way and a drag and drop does something else.

Drag and drop does indeed use a different mechanism for the copy (we make the system do it for us on Windows.)

Especially hard since i really don't trust drag and drops as a way to copy critical data.
FWIW, this DID begin when we installed a new NAS so that's definitely part of the equation too.

Tell me more about what happens when you use the Copy dialog.  Do the files copy correctly (other than being hidden)?  Are any errors reported?  If you get properties on the copied file is there anything odd about them?

-Kirk

Offline bddorsey

  • Newcomer
  • *
  • Posts: 23
    • View Profile
Re: Buggy issues with Photomechanic 4.5
« Reply #14 on: August 09, 2017, 01:16:12 PM »
The files that are copied seem to be fine other than they are marked as hidden.  If i go and 'unhide' them through the windows explorer window (win10), they are fine.
But for instance, when you have PM automatically open the tab that the files were just copied to, it looks like they "aren't there".  Even though you just saw the windows copy dialogue show you the transfer.  That's what made it so confusing.  PM just copied something that it can't see itself.
It was solely by chance that we learned that drag and dropping continued to work correctly.