* bug - spontaneous exit (navigating w/ diagram?)

[kmh]

Version 2.1.8:

This was the first occurrence of the problem:
Clicked Events tab (in the Properties dialog).
Clicked Add Event button. -> Add Event dialog did not appear.
Closed the Diagram.
Clicked Add Event button again. -> Add Event dialog appeared but with some of its controls missing.
Continued similar activity for probably less than a minute. -> FH spontaneously exited.

There is no clear way to reproduce this problem, but circumstantial evidence suggests that it has something to do with using the Diagram for navigation between individuals, rather than the Record view or just the Properties dialog; it has occurred about half a dozen times when using the Diagram for an hour or two, and never when using alternatives for as long or longer.  There is nothing special about the Events dialog; there was at least one instance when the Add Spouse or Add Child dialog did not appear.  When using the Diagram for navigation, I may refresh it, or expand or contract nodes, or switch back and forth between Diagram and Notes, but mostly I just pan around and click on individuals to display them in the Properties dialog.  I have not attempted anything systematic to narrow down the cause.

The first time, I lost work that I should have had the sense to save at the first sign of trouble.  Now that I know, I save more frequently, and as soon as a dialog doesn't appear, I save, then exit and restart FH, which is annoying but harmless.  So the spontaneous exit actually occurred only once and I am simply assuming that it would occur again if I let it.

(I should stress that I am a very happy new user, and consider this just a minor glitch in an overall excellent product.)



ID:164

[kmh]

This problem occurs regularly, so I opened Task Manager to see whether it would track anything useful.  I ran some experiments:

1 Start FH, open GED file.  Note memory usage and GDI objects.
2 Select individual, click Descendant Diagram button.
3 Click X to close Diagram.  Note memory usage and GDI objects.
4 Repeat steps 2 & 3.
-> Memory usage increases by 8K or more each round.
-> GDI objects increase by 4 each round.
5 Select individual, click Descendant Diagram button.
6 Double click on different individuals repeatedly (or just alternate between two individuals).  (Single click doesn't have the same effect.)
-> Memory usage increases by about 8K each round.

[Jane]

I will pass on the additional information to Calico, just to note they do not normally put any comment in until they have found the problem

[SimonOrde]

I've looked into this but without so far locating the source of the problem.  Its tricky trying to determine what is happening with memory because Microsoft's internal memory manager will not necessarily free up allocated memory if it thinks there is no need to do so (i.e. if it thinks that you have enough unused memory that it makes no difference).  However clearly something is going wrong.  Could you let me know:
(a) which operating system you are running
(b) how much memory you have in your PC.
(c) How you are measuring the memory used by F.H. (and how much is it).

Also, do your diagrams show pictures?  If so, do you have lots of them?  Are they large?  Are you using any complex text expressions (esp. ones using functions?).  Sorry to be asking so many Qs.  I'm afraid I'm fishing, because as I say, I don't at this point know what the problem is.

[kmh]

I'm perfectly happy to answer questions if I can provide useful information.  I'm not sure that I can add much, but here is as much detail as I can manage just now.

I'm running Windows XP Pro SP 1, w/ 512 MB memory.
When I start FH, FH.exe memory usage is about 6250 K, GDI objects 235.
When I load my GED file, FH.exe memory usage is about 9250 K, GDI objects 236.
I'm getting memory usage and GDI objects from the Processes section of Task Manager.

Task Manager is not necessarily the best tool for this issue, but FH had been getting into trouble nearly every time I used it, so I ran Task Manager out of curiosity.  Initially I just let it sit as I went about my work, and at the first sign of trouble (dialog missing controls) I looked at it and noticed that both memory usage and GDI objects were way more than they had been initially (about 50% increase as I recall, but I don't have the numbers), which didn't seem so good, because typically these things fluctuate and don't just grow steadily upward, so I ran a few experiments to see which of the things I do frequently might be causing this.  Largely in ignorance, because I don't know what's going on internally, but graphics tend to be a culprit in these matters.  I have been in data entry mode for a couple of weeks, and it generally takes two or three hours before there is any sign of trouble.  I am new to both genealogy and FH, so it is entirely possible that I am doing something that isn't standard (and I assume that I must be or other people would have mentioned this problem), but I'm not doing anything radical either.

There are no pictures involved.
I was using the default Descendants Diagram, recently tweaked it a bit to add marriage date, but nothing more.

A typical session has been:
* Insert Unrelated Individual. -> Properties dialog opens.
* Click Source button to show Source section of Properties dialog.
* Enter name of individual.
* Select , click Add Citation button, select source, enter text to Where Within Source, click Copy Citation.
* Select the individual in the Records view.
* Click the Descendant Diagram button. -> Descendant Diagram appears with one individual.
* Enter names of spouse and children in Properties dialog w/o other data.
* Select original ancestor, click Descendant Diagram button. -> Tree expands to include children.  (It automatically expands to include spouse.)
* Double click each new entry in turn (although with pinning, one click will get the individual into the Properties dialog, it takes a double click to activate the Properties dialog so that tabbing will work), tab twice to get to the Sex combo box and thus display the source list, click the Paste Citation button.  (I belatedly realized that Automatic Source Citation will do this for me, so I can skip this step in the future.)
* Double click each new entry in turn again, tab to or click in birth and death fields and enter data; often click Events tab, click Add Event button, enter event data.
* Repeat for subsequent generations.
* Occasionally rather than enter a spouse or child, link to an existing individual.
* Occasionally minimize the Diagram, maximize the Records view, enter a Note or look in the Individuals list.

(This is all for the purpose of roughing in an extended family with many entangled branches, which happens to be well documented back to the beginning of time (by American standards).  It is easier for me to grasp the relationships if I enter reams of data and look at them in diagrams, than if I see them on pages in a book, and you have provided enough tools that I will be able to fill in and prune in the future.)

When I first began this project, I had not discovered the visualization advantages of the Diagram, so was just using the Go To/Forward/Back buttons in the Properties dialog to navigate, and never had trouble, but the Diagram is more efficient so I've been able to enter more data in less time, which could be a factor.

[SimonOrde]

Thank you for that helpful information.  Sorry for the long delay in replying.  I have logged everything and will be investigating this further.