Full Transfer while Smart Transfer enabled

jjames

Since Tech Support is either A) too busy to return emails, or they don't like me anymore - I think it's about time I try to get an answer from people who could at least speculate; maybe if I'm lucky enough, I'll get engineering to chime in.

On occasion, I'll transfer a TP file, and next thing I know, it's deleting the existing file on the panel and transfers everything, graphics and all. (Not system graphics.) I have Smart Transfer enabled, but it just doesn't do it sometimes. When it really aggravates me is when all I had to do was move or replace text on a single button, on a single page and have multiple panels to do.

I'm trying to figure out if it's something I'm doing wrong, or if when the panel & software compare manifests, it wigs out. Ideas?

DHawthorne

Most likely there was a burp in communications and the manifest file was corrupted. Since that is the "master" file that shows what needs to be updated, if that doesn't come through correctly, the entire panel has to get reloaded. I know this has happened to me a few times ... not often, but enough that I was aware of the possibility.

That's assuming, of course, you aren't mistaking a system files update with a full transfer. Those happen every time there is a TPD update (or so it seems), and of course not all your panels get it until you need to revisit them for some reason. It takes nearly as long a s full transfer.

jjames

I unfortunately don't buy this as it happens too frequently. For example, yesterday, I needed to transfer a couple of 10" panels. Both 10" panels were full transfers when it should have been just the two buttons I added. A few days prior to that, the 8400s both had to get full transfers, but the 12" didn't.

If it happened maybe once a month, but this is every other job. And when it takes 10 full minutes per panel, and you've got 4-5 panels to do? Talk about a WASTE of time. Can't download code. Should be editing TP files while this is happening. PITA.

John Nagy

This same thing happens with AMX panels. If the change made affects how the parts "stack" and store, the smart transfer changes into a larger or full transfer. Pull one bitmap, rename a page, simple things can trigger the "smart" analysis to think there is more to do.... things don't align in the manifest as they did, so it starts over.

I found the full transfer on TPD is nearly always faster than a "smart" transfer anyway. Checking for changes takes longer than sending a complete 40 meg project. I don't what's taking 10 minutes per project unless that's the "smart" analysis net time. I go to system settings, click REMOVE USER PAGES, back out, run TPD, it takes about 1 minute to get to its demo page, then start a full transfer. It takes about 30 seconds to move the whole file. Then about two minutes after disconnect to get to operating. But after the one minute connection, I can disconnect and start the next panel.

jjames

John Nagy wrote: »

This same thing happens with AMX panels. If the change made affects how the parts "stack" and store, the smart transfer changes into a larger or full transfer. Pull one bitmap, rename a page, simple things can trigger the "smart" analysis to think there is more to do.... things don't align in the manifest as they did, so it starts over.

I found the full transfer on TPD is nearly always faster than a "smart" transfer anyway. Checking for changes takes longer than sending a complete 40 meg project. I don't what's taking 10 minutes per project unless that's the "smart" analysis net time. I go to system settings, click REMOVE USER PAGES, back out, run TPD, it takes about 1 minute to get to its demo page, then start a full transfer. It takes about 30 seconds to move the whole file. Then about two minutes after disconnect to get to operating. But after the one minute connection, I can disconnect and start the next panel.

Are you on T1 connection?

I'm transferring remotely, hence the longer transfer time. You can't tell me it takes about 30 seconds to transfer a 40MB file remotely - well, you can, I just wouldn't believe it.

John Nagy

My mistake, I thought I was in the TPC thread. Never mind...

The comment about how small changes can void the manifest stand, the bit about emptying and always doing full is wrong (except for TPC on iThings).

jjames

John Nagy wrote: »

My mistake, I thought I was in the TPC thread. Never mind...

The comment about how small changes can void the manifest stand, the bit about emptying and always doing full is wrong (except for TPC on iThings).

No worries. You'd think that having TPD4 out for how long it's been out, they'd be able to have this issue resolved.

John Nagy

As it was explained to me by someone who might or might not really know:

The manifest is like a snapshot, and the content in the file is like a bunch of tetris blocks. If you add a few or remove only certain ones, the snapshot can be compared. If you change just enough that the blocks (memory footprint) reorganizes for compactness, the manifest can't be effectively compared, so it presumes it must do a more complete send to be correct.

Quality of the analogy notwithstanding, this description seems to jive with my experience.

Danny Campbell

Are you running any kind of software that sweeps through and deletes temp files? I used to have this problem quite a bit when I was using some software called "evidence destroyer" or something like that. It would go out and clean up various temp files when I would exit IE or Firefox.

jjames

John - thanks for the theory, which sounds very feasible. It is a shame that it is done that way though.

Danny - I'm not running anything like that. I manually do a clean disk every so often, but doubt that's it.