Why "function search" is soooooo slow

[TiTou]

Hi all,

Does anyone use the "search" oo top-right corner of the function palette ?
I do use it from time to time and I'm always surprised by the time it take to launch !



More than a minute... seriously... sometimes I feel like I could find the function I'm looking for by looking through all the palettes and sub-palettes and the search window wouldn't even be ready !

Why do do I keep using it ? When it is launched it works well
But still... LabVIEW has been growing very fast, the number of palettes and sub palettes keeps increasing, LabVIEW deserves - LabVIEW NEEDS - an efficient and fast search !


Message Edited by TiTou on 12-18-2007 10:33 AM

[tst]

The problem is that when the search window first loads, it seems to do a recursive listing of all the palettes and that takes time.

I know that NI has this on its radar, since Darren presented a prototype of a better way at NIWeek, but with NI's timetables, I wouldn't expect to see it implemented for at least a year.

After seeing Darren's prototype, I decided to write my own, and you can see some results in this thread. I am working on this, but I don't have too much time for it, so it's going slow. I do have a much better version than the most recent one on that thread (posted in reply 31), so I'll see if I can clean it up and post it. The main problem with it is the exact thing that works around the problem you described - it doesn't parse the palettes, so all the listing needs to be handled separately.

[TiTou]

Hello tst,

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@tst wrote:

 NI has this on its radar, since Darren presented a prototype of a better way at NIWeek, but with NI's timetables, I wouldn't expect to see it implemented for at least a year.

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I was not aware of that , good to know !

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@tst wrote:

The problem is that when the search window first loads, it seems to do a recursive listing of all the palettes and that takes time.

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I was assuming so... but what surprised me is that if you launch the search from a subpalette because you know the function you're looking for is inside of it does load faster, I was hopping it would only load the hierarchy of the subpalette from which you launch search and apparently it does not. I think just this simple restriction would make the search more attractive.

Thanks for the link to your thread, II'm pumping into  it !

[LabViewGuruWannabe]

I never really use the search button. What version of LabVIEW are you using?

I see in 8.5 it takes only a couple seconds to bring up the search. In 8.2 (on a different machine) it takes about 10-15 seconds the first time, but only a second or so after that.

B-)

[TiTou]

Hi,

It is quite slow in all the version I work with (from 7.1 to 8.20). My computer is not the most powerfull of the moment (not even a core duo ).
If there is an improvment in 8.5, then well done.

By the way, I'd like to know if, in LV 8.5, it takes less time to load (on a first launch of course) if you launch the search from a subpalette , could you test that please ?

[Jarrod_S.]

LabVIEW 8.5 addresses this problem by loading the palettes in the background after you first start up LabVIEW. Then, when you first use the Search feature, all that work is probably done, rather than you having to wait 10-15 seconds. It doesn't matter at all where you search from (subpalettes, etc).

Theoretically, if you start up LabVIEW and immediately try to search, it will still take some time, because the background process hasn't had time to complete. But it's hopefully the more usual use-case that you'll do a few other things before you first use the search function.

[TiTou]

Good !

Thanks for the explanations ! I'll try to upgrade sooner than planed

[tst]

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@jarrod S. wrote:
LabVIEW 8.5 addresses this problem by loading the palettes in the background after you first start up LabVIEW.

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I don't know about 8.5, but my 7.0 is also configured to load palettes in the background and I still seem to remember that it takes it about 10 to 15 seconds to load when first called, even if I do it after using LabVIEW for a while (I use it rarely, so I can't really remember). I believe the only toolkits I have installed are the RT module, the DB toolkit and the control\PID toolkit. I also have some user.lib VIs, which probably slow this down.

I'm not positive, but I seem to remember that LV (at least 7.0) does not load the user.lib palettes in the background, since opening it takes a few seconds the first time it's done.

[Neil.Pate]

On my laptop (LV8.5, dual core, plenty of ram)  it takes about 16 seconds if you click the search immediately after starting LabVIEW, and it is virtually instantenous after that. LV itself loads in about 10 seconds the first time, and then about 2 seconds after that. Note: the search seems to be cached also, so if you close LabVIEW and open it again you can click on the search and it opens with zero delay!

The only time I use the search is when I am trying to find a function that NI have moved somewhere else between versions!