You are the man!
Standing by.
Thank you.
Oliver
Are you only using DA on your live system, which I understand is running on AWS? The FM Perception/DDR combination is presumably local on your computer storage? Have you tested DA on a local copy of your file(s)?
I have seen occurrences of DA getting ‘stuck’ on certain scripts within the workspace if searching on all scripts. I’m never quite sure whether this is something to do with the contents of a specific script or some other reason. In this case,, I will often use the Esc key to abandon, which is usually fairly instant. I may then skip a script, or search within the script in question and then resume on the search through all scripts. My primary use is searching within a specific script, but not always.
Since the Windows rewrite, it does seem to have more regular failures to identify a TO in the relationship graph, although I’ve seen less of that recently.
FM Perception has tended to be very reliable, although I’ve had it unexpectedly quit a few times, but I am currently running it on an M1 MacBook Pro.
The core CRM for the systems we support has been in evolution for over 10-years, so fairly complex, although file size of systems vary significantly depending on the client. All are data separated, with very little logic in the 3 or 4 data files.
I’m archaic. I save the DDR as pdf and do searches and comparative searches. Although manual, the method is pretty fast.
I actually believe that there is a lot of value in doing these types of things manually, at times. There is the potential to learn a lot by doing so.
For many of us, I think there comes a time when we just want a tool to do what we learned how to do manually, and at that point there's the decision of whether to build or purchase a tool (or both). And, with this decision, too, I see great value in both the build and the purchase options.
But, yes -- I rather like having the starting point of using manual approach. The insights that I've learned, I am very grateful for them...
I was wondering if the local copy of the client's solution would be faster if hosted on the local computer, but due to the sensitive data I cannot copy that file. Therefore, @jormond graciously offered to help by doing a test tomorrow to see if his large solution will bog down or just go through using DA.
I like the way DA works when I need to actually do some changes. I also like the way FM Perception works for the awesome analysis you can do for other changes.
You are nor finished scratching your head ! I had a project where and old system whose development started around FMP 7 needed to be redone - at the tome v 17 was current. I used FMPerception to get a map of the linked files - system was multifiles. The plot was to keep data and rebuild the interface. Among other things, these are yabadabadou:
- identifying orphan objects like Layouts, fields or else unused
- identifying external data sources that were not in use anymore, helps to clean the Relationship diagram
- having a graphic of 'linked scripts': what scripts are called by a specific script / what scripts call a specific script
I also exported list of fields for tables that needed to be refactored. For example I had a table with 450 fields, and some were repeating fields. I exported those lists as CSV and imported into Excel. Then I was able to plan refactoring, repeating fields that would be replaced by a referenced tables, etc.
It's the best in the west !
And that is why both of these tools are permanently in our toolbox
Along with Todd's CustomFunctionChecker. It identifies Custom Functions ( pulled out of FMPerception's list ) from multiple files, and compare them for differences.
Assuming you rely on the HTML output for this, I would advise against it. The HTML version of the DDR is far from telling us everything it should. That can be very misleading. I would not make a "delete or keep" decision based on the HTML output.
Hi Andy, a bit out of the topic, could you tell me where I could find the AppleScript from John?
Hi Sam
Not off topic at all. There is a download link in: Quickly Running DDRs - FMPerception
All the best
Andy
Thank you very much
What I do is put a button on my main screen that runs an MBS function.
MBS has a cool function to generate the DDR quickly for you:
MBS( "FM.RunDataDesignReport"; 1; "<some_path_for_ddr_on_your_computer>" )
I have modified the apple script which suit in Japanese environment, if anyone needs, please tell me.
So far, no issues with having DA running. I can't say I've used it a ton, but after a full day, no noticeable slow downs. I will keep testing since I have the 30 day trial anyway.
Interesting.
If you're done a search and "searched all scripts" and it went from top to bottom of your scripts with no slow downs -- on your large solution -- then something is up with my client's.
FWIW, my client's stuff is on AWS and I'm searching via FMP connected to the remote host.
Yes. I did test that. And it kept working after.
Try making a clone of the files, see if it works fine with no data in it.
Then recover that set of copies and see if anything shows up in them.
Then try running the DDR through DamageDetector. DamageDetectoR - Geist Interactive
It's possible the plugin is getting hung up on a strange character, or incomplete node, or malformed XML.
I did run it though the damage detector and that did find a couple of minor issues so that could be something. It gets hung up over and over, after a certain point, but I'll try the clone idea.
I'm also working with the DA developer who sent me a special debug version so I could send him log info.
More to follow.
Thanks Josh for helping me eliminate some variables.
Glad to hear they are helping pinpoint the problem.
And honestly, as I use it more, it's becoming more handy. Which is a big part of why I offered to test it... I figured I must be missing something if some many people use it. LOL
That's funny and mirrors almost exactly my journey starting to use FM Perception.