Slow to Open OF and Open the Settings [fixed by reducing zip files]
 

I was just wondering if anyone else finds OF very slow to open and once loaded very slow to open the settings?

Takes ~17 sec to open OF on iPhone. (this is straight after starting the phone)
Takes ~ 24 sec to open settings once OF is open.

Is this normal? Is there a way to speed it up or could this be a problem with the iPhone?

From searching around I have tried a couple of things. My database is not very big at the moment (70 actions), I have moved old data to archive and switched off auto-sync.

Cheers,
Steve


(sorry if this has been covered, I couldn't find a specific answer when I searched).

[I][Editor's note: see [URL="http://forums.omnigroup.com/showpost.php?p=63025&postcount=8"]post 8[/URL] below for the resolution of this performance issue: load times were reduced to 3 seconds.][/I]

That does sound pokey, but just how pokey it might be depends on a number of factors that you didn't mention. How many zip files in your database (this is mentioned in the same place where the action count is)? Do you embed files in your database, or lengthy notes with lots of formatting? How large is the database file? Does it take this long if you reboot the iPhone (hold down the button up top until you get the "slide to power off" slider, then do so)? Which model of iPhone do you have?

[QUOTE=whpalmer4;62974]That does sound pokey, but just how pokey it might be depends on a number of factors that you didn't mention. How many zip files in your database (this is mentioned in the same place where the action count is)? Do you embed files in your database, or lengthy notes with lots of formatting? How large is the database file? Does it take this long if you reboot the iPhone (hold down the button up top until you get the "slide to power off" slider, then do so)? Which model of iPhone do you have?[/QUOTE]

Thanks for the reply.

Other information:

- 14 projects, 70 actions, 2116 zip files (that does seem like a lot of zip files!)
- I don't embed things in my database (at least I don't recall doing that).
- Yes, it takes that long after rebooting the phone (those times were from straight after rebooting).
- Using iPhone 3G

Sorry, I am not sure how to find the size of my database - will try and find out in the meantime.

Steve

Okay, that zip file count is most likely your problem. Here's how you fix it. Sync your iPhone. Sync your desktop. Go do something else for 61 minutes. Sync your iPhone again. Sync your desktop again. Sync the iPhone one more time and have a look at the zip file count -- it should be a much smaller number!

Do you typically not having OmniFocus running on your Mac when you are using the iPhone, and vice versa? The auto-compaction code runs when it sees that all the clients have been in sync for an hour (this is protection against a client having a hard time writing out the sync data in a timely fashion, such as an iPhone in a place where reception is marginal). If you always have only one or the other active, there will be fewer occasions when that set of conditions is met, and the zip file count will continue to build up. Each one represents some sort of change to the database, and that history needs to be kept until all the clients using can agree that they are all in sync and none of it might have to be unwound.

You can find the size of your database by looking at the OmniFocus.ofocus file in your Library/Application Support/OmniFocus folder in your home directory. It might just be called OmniFocus depending on your Finder settings. For some more interesting stats, install and run Toadling's excellent Count Database Items script found [URL="http://forums.omnigroup.com/showpost.php?p=52523&postcount=3"]here[/URL].

Great, will give that a go. I have synced both Mac and iPhone, will see what happens in 1hr+.

My database size is only 32kb at the moment. Just wondering - If I have auto-sync off, when I open OF on the iPhone, will the number of zip files affect the time the program takes to open, or is it just when it is trying to sync at startup that it will slow things down? ie. does it just need to open the 32kb database file, or is it more than that?

Hmm, perhaps you need to look at the size of the OmniFocus file on your iDisk instead (defaults to the Documents folder there).

There will be less of an impact if it isn't doing a sync at startup, but there still is an impact because among other things it has to build a representation of all of those transactions in case you do a sync. Performance will be much better once both clients can put all that past history behind them :)

The other thing to do is to check what clients are registered for synching in the OmniFocus (desktop) [B]Preferences>Sync>Show clients[/B] panel. If it is more than what you are expecting, you need to get rid of any stale clients.

[QUOTE=whpalmer4;62980]Okay, that zip file count is most likely your problem. Here's how you fix it. Sync your iPhone. Sync your desktop. Go do something else for 61 minutes. Sync your iPhone again. Sync your desktop again. Sync the iPhone one more time and have a look at the zip file count -- it should be a much smaller number!

Do you typically not having OmniFocus running on your Mac when you are using the iPhone, and vice versa? The auto-compaction code runs when it sees that all the clients have been in sync for an hour (this is protection against a client having a hard time writing out the sync data in a timely fashion, such as an iPhone in a place where reception is marginal). If you always have only one or the other active, there will be fewer occasions when that set of conditions is met, and the zip file count will continue to build up. Each one represents some sort of change to the database, and that history needs to be kept until all the clients using can agree that they are all in sync and none of it might have to be unwound.

You can find the size of your database by looking at the OmniFocus.ofocus file in your Library/Application Support/OmniFocus folder in your home directory. It might just be called OmniFocus depending on your Finder settings. For some more interesting stats, install and run Toadling's excellent Count Database Items script found [URL="http://forums.omnigroup.com/showpost.php?p=52523&postcount=3"]here[/URL].[/QUOTE]
Wow, it worked! Now only have 5 zip files. Loading OF now takes ~ 3s, and going to the Settings is ~1s.

Thanks heaps for your help. Didn't realise how much impact the zip files would have on loading the program. I assumed it would just be the syncing time. It is now very usable.

Cheers,
Steve

Glad to hear it worked! You might want to experiment with having Auto-sync ON now that you've gotten the database compacted. Doing so might make it less likely for you to build up such a big transaction history again.

Only 185 zip files, very slow on iPhone 3GS
 

I have a similar problem, but the app comes up quickly. It's synchronizations that take a long time - sometimes up to a minute. I only have about 180 zip files, and I leave OmniFocus on my Mac on all day every day, and regularly sync my iPhone. Is there something more I need to do to make synchronizing quicker?

If using Bonjour syncing, does it have any effect on OmniFocus (OS X app) performance? I've rebuilt my db, yet with 6 perspectives open, have experience 90 second delays opening a new perspective, or even closing one. I did sync to my iPhone OF, but that didn't speed things up.

Bob

How big is your database (actions and zip files and megabytes)? It definitely slows down as it gets bigger if you have enough stuff in there (intentionally or otherwise).

[QUOTE=jasonclarke;63034]I have a similar problem, but the app comes up quickly. It's synchronizations that take a long time - sometimes up to a minute. I only have about 180 zip files, and I leave OmniFocus on my Mac on all day every day, and regularly sync my iPhone. Is there something more I need to do to make synchronizing quicker?[/QUOTE]
180 is still a fair number of outstanding zip files, enough that you should notice an improvement upon compaction. I would first do the sync both, wait 61 minutes, sync both again procedure and see if that makes an appreciable difference. I would also verify that you have a decent connection when you are syncing, and check the size of your data file. If you have some big attachments or notes (and notes can be much larger than you might expect if they have lots of formatting) that will also slow things down, especially if you are on a slow data connection. Are you syncing with WiFi/Bonjour, or a WebDAV server (incl. MobileMe)?

Solved my slow sync problem
 

For whatever reason I wasn't able to get my number of zip files down, so I finally just nuked all data on my iPhone, deleted the device as a sync client, then re-established the synchronization. All told it took about 3 minutes, and OmniFocus is back to doing relatively snappy syncs on my iPhone. I won't know for sure until I leave it for a few hours and make changes on the desktop, but so far, so good.

whpalmer4 - I sync using WebDAV, and I know my server speed sometimes varies. But it had consistently gotten extremely slow at synchronizing, particularly the first time I open OmniFocus after a few hours. The thing is, sometimes I just want to check something, and I feel like I'm being held hostage by the sync - don't want to close it until it successfully finishes. Is there any danger to regularly closing the iPhone app mid-sync (knowing of course that it won't be completely up-to-date until you let it successfully complete?)

Also, sometimes it seems to hang on my first sync after a few hours of not syncing. If I simply quit back to the home screen and go back in, my due task count is correct, and the subsequent sync takes mere moments. Is it doing something when it's in this apparent hanging state (that I'm interrupting), or is it just sort of lost? If I leave it long enough (2 to 4 minutes, usually) it will eventually come back, but not always.

[QUOTE=jasonclarke;63068]Is there any danger to regularly closing the iPhone app mid-sync (knowing of course that it won't be completely up-to-date until you let it successfully complete?)[/quote]
Not as far as I am aware.

[quote]Also, sometimes it seems to hang on my first sync after a few hours of not syncing. If I simply quit back to the home screen and go back in, my due task count is correct, and the subsequent sync takes mere moments. Is it doing something when it's in this apparent hanging state (that I'm interrupting), or is it just sort of lost? If I leave it long enough (2 to 4 minutes, usually) it will eventually come back, but not always.[/QUOTE]
I believe it is compacting the database when this happens. If you view the information for the synch during this period (tap the i button from the home screen and scroll down until you can view the number of actions and zip files info), you will tend to notice that the number of zip files will drop once the "hang" is completed.

My guess is that the "hang" you are seeing is actually OF trying to compact the database, which involves writing most of that data over the net to the WebDAV server and could conceivably take a minute or two depending on connection speed, database size, etc. Does the little spinning watch dial in the middle of the bottom row of the screen keep turning during the whole time?

I agree with JKT about the general safety of interrupting a sync. If you think about it, the protocol has to be robust in the face of interruptions, because there's really no way to guarantee that someone using an iPhone isn't going to lose their connection at the worst possible moment.

While I do believe that having auto-sync on makes the app behave better for me, if you are constantly getting stuck because a long sync happens when you can't wait for it, you might see if life is better with it turned off. Just be sure to do a manual sync whenever time permits.

[QUOTE=whpalmer4;63072]Does the little spinning watch dial in the middle of the bottom row of the screen keep turning during the whole time?[/QUOTE]

Yes.

Thanks for your suggestions! I will see, maybe it will be better-behaved now that I've erased and reestablished the synchronization.

[QUOTE=whpalmer4;63062]How big is your database (actions and zip files and megabytes)?[/QUOTE]

1.8MB (running on a 2.4 GHz. Intel Core 2 Duo, 2GB RAM). I don't know how to get # of actions and zip files.

I can't use the Archive function as currently implemented, because I have active projects that I need to retain completed actions from in my 'live' file, no matter how long ago the actions have been completed.

I have been manually copying over completed projects to my archive file, which helps some.

If there is/would be a way for me to be able to filter down to actions completed based on completion date, I could focus on my SAL containers, then select those actions, and also move them to my archive. That would reduce the size of my db a lot. But I don't think that filter is available.

Thank you for your help.

Bob

[QUOTE=omnibob;63364]1.8MB (running on a 2.4 GHz. Intel Core 2 Duo, 2GB RAM). I don't know how to get # of actions and zip files.
[/quote]
Didn't you have an iPhone at one point? The settings page will reveal those two numbers. Otherwise, you can install the Count Database Items script Imentioned earlier in this thread.

[quote]
I can't use the Archive function as currently implemented, because I have active projects that I need to retain completed actions from in my 'live' file, no matter how long ago the actions have been completed.

I have been manually copying over completed projects to my archive file, which helps some.
[/quote]
Yeah, I am in a similar situation.
[quote]
If there is/would be a way for me to be able to filter down to actions completed based on completion date, I could focus on my SAL containers, then select those actions, and also move them to my archive. That would reduce the size of my db a lot. But I don't think that filter is available.
[/QUOTE]
Sure it is, it's called the Archive command :)

It should be possible to write an Applescript that takes a selected list of actions and removes everything from the selection that is newer than a specified date. You could then select one of your SAL containers, invoke the script, and drag what's left off to the corresponding spot in the archive, then delete them from the active database. I suspect the script could be enhanced to do the whole job, though I haven't tried moving stuff to the archive in Applescript, or deleting actions from the database.

Hey all, I just wanted to drop back in and mention that my synchronizations have indeed been much faster after dropping and reestablishing the link. Thought it might be worth mentioning, since it's a 3 minute fix instead of a 1 hour one.

[QUOTE=jasonclarke;63367]Hey all, I just wanted to drop back in and mention that my synchronizations have indeed been much faster after dropping and reestablishing the link. Thought it might be worth mentioning, since it's a 3 minute fix instead of a 1 hour one.[/QUOTE]
The main reason I describe the slower method is that a mistake simply means that it doesn't compact, whereas methods involving wiping out the database on one or more clients offer the opportunity to really screw things up.

Good point.

[QUOTE=omnibob;63364]If there is/would be a way for me to be able to filter down to actions completed based on completion date, I could focus on my SAL containers, then select those actions, and also move them to my archive. That would reduce the size of my db a lot. But I don't think that filter is available.
[/QUOTE]

Bob, does this help?

Select Perspectives -> Completed items
Select View -> Grouping -> Completed

You now have a window showing all your completed actions, with the least recently completed items at the bottom. If you enter the name(s) of your single action list(s) into the toolbar search field, that'll hide the vast majority of the actions you want to leave in your database. (If you have a list with a short name like "health", it'll appear in the list.)

Still, it should be possible to do a good chunk of pruning in this view. Maybe save it as a perspective until we're able to implement the archive style that would work better for you?

[QUOTE=whpalmer4;63366]Didn't you have an iPhone at one point?[/QUOTE]

Yes, thanks. 173 projects and 3131 actions stored in 224 zip files.

[QUOTE=whpalmer4;63366]
Sure it is, it's called the Archive command :)

It should be possible to write an Applescript [...] [/QUOTE]

Interesting idea, thanks.

Bob

[QUOTE=Brian;63376]Bob, does this help?

Select Perspectives -> Completed items
Select View -> Grouping -> Completed[/QUOTE]

Yes, thanks, that is very helpful.

[QUOTE=Brian;63376]If you enter the name(s) of your single action list(s) into the toolbar search field, that'll hide the vast majority of the actions you want to leave in your database.[/QUOTE]

I have about 50 SALs, so I'm just looking at them manually. What would help more would be to be able to sort by project/SAL.

[QUOTE=Brian;63376]Bob, does this help?

Select Perspectives -> Completed items
Select View -> Grouping -> Completed[/QUOTE]

Yes, thanks, that is very helpful.

[QUOTE=Brian;63376]Maybe save it as a perspective until we're able to implement the archive style that would work better for you?[/QUOTE]

Done. I'll see how this goes. Thanks again.

Bob