Often times the users is unawareof the fact that, having the Element Info dialog opencan bethe cause of apparently slow responses from MicroStation.
For example:
If you have the Element Info dialog open when you select a large number of elements, or large element such as a mesh with millions of facets, you have to wait for the Element Info dialog to populate before you can do anything else (including canceling the selection process). This can take a very very very long time.
I propose the following options for the Element Info tool so it has less impact on productivity.
Limit the amount of time Element Info is allowed to monopolize the system. After a user-definable time limit (perhaps 10 seconds) Element Info would suspendprocessing of the selection forInfo and allow the selection to become active for other uses. If the user then decides the Element Info is needed theuser can then manually initiate the processing of the selection.
Addtheoptionto require the user to manually initiate the processing ofa selection for Info. This would allow the dialog to remain open without impacting productivity until info is desired by the user.
Since many user like to keep the Element Info dialog open and/or docked, implementing the above ideas would greatly reduce the frustration caused by having to wait for the Element Info dialog to processevery new selection.
We are working on improving the performance of the properties pane when a large numbers of elements are selected and we are evaluating different possibilities, including the ones suggested in this thread. We hope to be able to include this in one of the next MicroStation releases.
Jan Šlegr over 2 years ago
Even though I agree Properties dialog (Element information is the name used in V8i, not in CE ;-) has to be reworked and its performance is critical issue, I do not agree with the proposed ideas, because they are not real solutions, but only workarounds on top of wrongly designed and written code.
To limit the amount of time is only acceptance of the fact of poor the dialog performance, not a solution of the problem.
To pass "a responsibility to refresh content" is ugly in my opinion and does not streamline and simplify a workflow and usage.
As I mentioned in this discussion, there are standard software development tools and best practices how to solve this situation (generalized: it's about a source emmiting data and how receiver reacts to the constantly updated stream of changes). This problem is not unique and specific to MicroStation, but it exists in any GUI where a lot data has to be represented in some structure (e.g. a tree of source files in Visual Studio, where there are projects with tens of thousands of files).
In my opinion (based on my developer's experience), both communication / processing of changes (a user selects, potentially a lot, elements) and how the dialog itself work (what data and in what amount are always stored in the dialog) has to be reworked and changed. The solution is strictly asynchronous code with reactive communication and delayed (on demand) loading data into the dialog.
Regards,
Jan
Carl Myhill over 3 years ago
This Idea has also been linked to Defect 931504.
Daniel Clark over 2 years ago
Would this just be for one of the SS versions? I have not noticed the issue since I have moved to Connect.
f.mandoki over 2 years ago in reply to Daniel Clark
It's still there in Connect CE10. A selection of 10-20k elements can still take up to 10, 15 seconds to be loaded when Element Info is active.
Daniel Clark over 2 years ago in reply to f.mandoki
10-20k? that is a huge number of features. I feel like even 20 seconds isn't bad at that number. However, if they can make that faster, I am for it.
Grant Wood over 2 years ago in reply to Daniel Clark
I regularly create models with well over 2000 some times 10,000 elements and have to make drawings with 10-20 of these models attached. I've crushed the memory limit cap in V8i more times then i can count. 10-20k is peanuts. Hell the job I'm working on right now is well over a GB of total 3D models (drawings not included).
Daniel Clark over 2 years ago in reply to Grant Wood
Oh... I just checked your profile. Mechanical Engineer. Say no more...
Daniel Clark over 2 years ago in reply to Grant Wood
If you really want to fix your issue...
Connect Edition.
Grant Wood over 2 years ago in reply to Daniel Clark
We've been actively testing and working on CE from launch 2 years ago waiting for key issues to get fixed we're all crossing our fingers that it'll be stable enough to move too "soon".
TZM over 2 years ago
I agree, they could just add a "Refresh" button to the Element Info dialog so a use can leave it docked and not have it read information until the user hits the refresh button.
TZM over 2 years ago in reply to TZM
This would be extremely helpful change for OpenPlant as well.
f.mandoki over 3 years ago
Or add the capability to switch on/off the element info dialog via CTRL+I just as the view attributes can be switched on/off via CTRL+B. Btw, this also works when opened as a tab.
(Just in case you never came across it: if level display is docked, you can draw the element info and view attributes onto the top bar of the level display. Then they will be opened in tabs like an excel spreadsheet and can be triggered by CTRL+E (level display), CTRL+I (element info), CTRL+B (view attributes).)