V8 is slow

[pharry]

I have a brand new computer with lots of processing power and memory, but V8 is still really slow. I have about 5200 products now. All have both thumbnails and enlargements. When I delete a product, it is taking 15 to 20 seconds to complete the task. I do not use the page view pane - it just takes way too long to be useful. But offline page views take forever, too.

Are 5200 products too many?

[MASTERforge]

Actinic V8 uses MS access database for almost everything. They are good and very stable up to a limited number of products. Beyond that things get slower.

MS access is free and is easier to use than the other leading database products out there. Using it keeps costs down. Most sites wouldn't have your large number of products so never need the scalability.

Perhaps buying some more RAM for your computer might compensate for the slowing of the database?

[RuralWeb]

Are 5200 products too many

Not really - try compacting your database. There are some other threads on this subject.

[fleetwood]

MS access is free

I think Microsoft might suggest otherwise!
Its actually one of the pricier elements of Microsoft Office, and in many ways isn't really up to the job for the way Actinic has grown. It is however cheaper to licence than a lot of others, which keeps the price of the Actinic software down.

Access does have the advantage of being relatively simply to use, although all database apps are relatively complex when compared with things such as wordprocessor or spreadsheet apps.

It does have the downside that it suffers speedwise as the database size grows, and needs periodic attention to keep the database 'clean'.

Act 8 uses more database space than before simply because as we ask more
of it, so more fields are added to each record to accomodate. This does slow things down moreso than earlier versions, although it shouldn't be that noticeable.

You should make a point of regularly purging and compacting (see Housekeeping), to get rid of old deleted records, and regain used space.

A healthy wedge of RAM will help (for the number of products you are handling, I would go for a min of 1GB, although 2GB wouldn't be wasted - RAM is relatively cheap these days). The RAM helps when Access performs indexing related jobs, which take large amounts of data, and shuffles it around.

[pharry]

I spent 20 years in information technology at Texas Instruments. I don't have fond memories of MS Access. (And it definitely isn't free!).

I'm running Windows XP Pro, Intel Xeon 2G, 3G RAM, RAID.

I delete my orders from Actinic daily, purge, and compress the database daily. Which I can't do any more if I'm going to use the Best Sellers, Also Bought lists.

I don't know what else I can do on my end to make things run better. I keep getting told that Actinic can handle my volume. "Can handle" should include speed, and not just whether or not it can complete a task without crashing. (Which it can't for the New Products!!)

If I need to go to something else, tell me. I keep sticking in there with Actinic, but I don't want to hold onto something that isn't really suitable for my volume. I just purchased V8. Wise decision? Or should I go back to V7?

[RuralWeb]

I keep getting told that Actinic can handle my volume. "Can handle" should include speed, and not just whether or not it can complete a task without crashing

Have you tried it on another PC to see of the problem still exists.

[pharry]

No, this is a new computer - two months old. It is a big effort to try it on another. Maybe when I have some spare time (ha!), I'll try it on my prior machine. But V8 is signicantly slower on my new machine than V7.

[Rich-MLandS]

This might sound stupid, but what version of Actinic v8 are you running?

[pharry]

I just downloaded on Friday. I'm running 8.0.4.1.0.0.GMVA. Not sure how much of that is needed to identify the version.

I'm also running the US version since I'm in the US. (I think it is a different version than the UK version, right?)

[BPJSURF]

As we have catalogs with 10,000 products and 15,000 products or more I doubt that the fact that you have 5500 products is the issue. Given that your just upgrading the database from an older version I would first look at configuration and other aspects before condemning Actinic because the db seems slow.

Purging the database of all deleted items will help. Next try closing Actinic and locate the db ActinicCatalog.mdb in the /site1? directory. Open in access and upgrade the db to Access version 2003. When completed run the microsoft Access DB tools on the database.

then open again in actinic and see if this improves the performance.

If not then you probably have an issue related too the upgrade. In which case I would contact support and make a snapshot available so they can download the file and test it out.

[dave_finlayson]

Brian,

So does that mean there is no issues upgrading the database to Access 2003?

[pharry]

As we have catalogs with 10,000 products and 15,000 products or more I doubt that the fact that you have 5500 products is the issue. Given that your just upgrading the database from an older version I would first look at configuration and other aspects before condemning Actinic because the db seems slow.
==> Brian, it doesn't "seem" slow. It "is" slow. I am in no way condemning Actinic. It was an honest question - is 6000 products too many?

Purging the database of all deleted items will help.
==> Already did this.

Next try closing Actinic and locate the db ActinicCatalog.mdb in the /site1? directory. Open in access and upgrade the db to Access version 2003. When completed run the microsoft Access DB tools on the database.
==> I don't have MS Access. If this is a requirement (owning Access) in order to maintain an Actinic site, I think that it should be clearly stated as a requirement. When I purchased Actinic (way back when), I was not told that I needed this.

If not then you probably have an issue related too the upgrade. In which case I would contact support and make a snapshot available so they can download the file and test it out.
==> You have I have tried NUMEROUS times to get you a copy of my .mdb file in the past, and have never been able to do it. I'm still living with a problem from a couple of years ago because you could not get my file. Do you now have a way for me to get my file to you?

[BPJSURF]

Pat,
It seems a bit petty here. Your not required to own a copy of access to run an actinic site. However if you have access then using the tools in access can help you with your website and in this case may help fix the issue with speed. Your not required to own dreamweaver, however if you do you can deploy a much more graphically pleasing site.

I have no knowledge of a lingering problem you have with your database. We help many cleints from all over. If you have troubles sending a backup file too us then there are many methods to exchange files, I have never been in a situation where I was unable to help someone because I could not get a file.
You can FTP a file too Sure Solutions. You can also try using yousendit.com which is an easy way to send large files. If your files are that large I would have to guess your having other issues in the db which should be addressed.


I should note that there is an issue with 8.04 with Best sellers and new items where if the variables are used in certain templates it could cause the database to close. This is addressed in 8.05 and we are testing the beta now.

All in all it would guess you have a few issues which should be resolved each independant of the other. I would suggest that you open support tickets to resolve each issue as it will progress the problem faster for you then trying to resolve these upgrade / deployment issues through the community

[@Peter]

Hi,

Are you still having speed issues? I've been having speed issues with making changes, especially if the Preview window was open or in the Design mode, and Actinic's support answer was "upgrade to v8.0.5". I was pretty sure that wouldn't fix it, as I knew it should be better than it was, and indeed I'd had it running fine in the past (before a hard-disk rebuild). I was also having issues with other applications that use HTML-based windows (eg MSN, Outlook, etc). After a little digging around and reading of event logs, I traced it to the Windows Script Debugger. As soon as I ticked the "Disable Script Debugging (other)" box in Control Panel > Internet Options > Advanced tab, all my speed issues went away!

Anyway, it may be completely unrelated, but I thought it would be worth mentioning, just in case.

[pharry]

I already have that box ticked. My database is with Sure Solutions right now. They are (hopefully) working some magic!