"Getting metadata for 0 of n selected items" freezes PM6+

[DavidHoffmanuk]

I am frequently getting the attached dialog after a search and other operations, seemingly at random. The 'abort' button does nothing and the progress bar never moves from zero. Nothing can be done while the dialog is open and it cannot be dismissed so I have to force quit. This can happen a dozen times in a day.

Is there anything I can do to fix this?

Thanks
David Hoffman

[Kirk Baker]

David,

I am frequently getting the attached dialog after a search and other operations, seemingly at random. The 'abort' button does nothing and the progress bar never moves from zero. Nothing can be done while the dialog is open and it cannot be dismissed so I have to force quit. This can happen a dozen times in a day.

What build of Photo Mechanic Plus are you using?

-Kirk

[DavidHoffmanuk]

Hi Kirk

This was with 6.0, build 6026 (6de4c1a) but I just saw a new version - 6.0, build 6097 (85d1687) - flagged up and installed it a couple of hours ago so it'll be tomorrow before I'll know if that's fixed it.

David

[Kirk Baker]

David,

This was with 6.0, build 6026 (6de4c1a) but I just saw a new version - 6.0, build 6097 (85d1687) - flagged up and installed it a couple of hours ago so it'll be tomorrow before I'll know if that's fixed it.

I doubt that it will be fixed.  Can I have you turn on some logging so that if the problem happens, I'll have better info?

In Photo Mechanic Plus, go to the "Help" menu and choose "Edit Debug Settings...".  Look for an item named "METADATA_PRELOAD_LOGGING".  If it is already there, set its checkbox.  If it is not in the list, then click in the "New debug setting:" field and copy and paste the following:

METADATA_PRELOAD_LOGGING

and click the "Add" button.  Then find "METADATA_PRELOAD_LOGGING" in the list and set its checkbox.  Click the "Close" button.  Restart Photo Mechanic Plus.  When the problem happens again and you force-quit the application, restart Photo Mechanic Plus and go to the "Help" menu, and choose "Reveal Support Data..." and moments later a Finder window will come forward with the zipped log file selected.  Use the 'Attachments and other options' link when you're composing your reply to this message and there you'll be able to upload your zipped PM log file.

Thanks,

-Kirk

[DavidHoffmanuk]

Hi Kirk - you were quite right. It hasn't fixed it.

I was just now removing an image from a sub-collection. The image remained in the contact sheet & the 'getting metadata' dialog popped up & all ground to a halt. I did notice that the count of items in the collection had been reduced by 1 and when I restarted, the image had been removed and all appeared fine.

I've set the logging, will get back to you after the next occurrence.

David

[DavidHoffmanuk]

This is the first time that I've used the PM6+ collections since my last post here and the problem appeared the first time I tried to remove an item from a collection. I've attached the zipped log.

I don't know if there's any connection with another problem but I'll mention it briefly here in case it sheds some light. Quick sync runs OK but shows the number of added files as higher than I think it should. If I run it shortly after the previous run it still shows a larger number of files added than have been produced since that run. When full sync comes to an end it shows 0 files in the catalog, 0 missing, 0 offline, 0 scanned in catalog, 0 new files added, 0 files updated - this is after the metadata has been updated for 100 or so files, some deleted and some new files made. I've not done detailed tests yet but something is wrong. I've attached a screenshot from a recent run.

[DavidHoffmanuk]

I can't se any attachments in that last post, trying again here...
David

[Kirk Baker]

David,

Thanks for the log files.  At what time did the hang occur and at what time did you terminate the app?

When working with the collection, is the sort type "Arrangement"?

Thanks,

-Kirk

[DavidHoffmanuk]

Hi Kirk

I didn't note the time but I made the zip log file as soon as I restarted. That has a creation time of 12:53 BST so I think that the hang would have occurred at about 12:48 ± a couple of minutes. I'd have force quit within a minute or so once I'd seen that the 'abort' button didn't work. The hang happens reliably every time I remove an item from a collection so I could recreate a hang and time the events precisely if that would help.

I use various sort types but for this job I'm mostly using 'arrangement' so that would very probably have been the one I was using. Are arrangements robust? If I flip between different arrangements, quit/force quit or do searches will the arrangement always be preserved? It does seem to persist but is that reliable?

David

[DavidHoffmanuk]

I took your arrangement question as a hint and find that when I sort by filename removing an image from a collection does NOT cause this hang. It's far from ideal as I am working with specific arrangements but it's a big improvement so thanks for that insight.

Is there a way to have 2 separate windows open - not tabs in a single window? That would make working when sorted by filename easier as I could see and select images in a search panel while also seeing the collection.

David

[DavidHoffmanuk]

I wrote that Filename sort was an improvement but it's less of an improvement than I'd hoped!

That sort order does avoid the hang - but when I've done removing and select the arrangement sort I immediately get the same 'getting metadata...' dialog and the same hang.

Answering my own earlier question - the arrangement sort order is not robust enough to survive the Filename sort order -> arrangement sort order -> hang -> force quit - restart PM6+ so I have lost the arrangement in that collection although the other collections have retained their order.

David

[Kirk Baker]

David,

I use various sort types but for this job I'm mostly using 'arrangement' so that would very probably have been the one I was using. Are arrangements robust? If I flip between different arrangements, quit/force quit or do searches will the arrangement always be preserved? It does seem to persist but is that reliable?

That's the intent.  But if there's a bug that ends up either corrupting that data or causes you to have to force quit while the data is in an unknown state then it won't be reliable.  Fixing the hang problem should eliminate that.

-Kirk

[Kirk Baker]

David,

Is there a way to have 2 separate windows open - not tabs in a single window? That would make working when sorted by filename easier as I could see and select images in a search panel while also seeing the collection.

Yes.  Use the New Window command on the File menu.

-Kirk

[Kirk Baker]

David,

Good news.  Now that I understand what leads to the problem (Removing an item from a Collection while in Arrangement sort mode), I am able to reproduce the problem locally.

I am now investigating and I'll get it fixed as soon as possible.

Thank you!

-Kirk

[DavidHoffmanuk]

Appreciate your speed!

David