exec of google crome exe takes 15 seconds

[Harald Oehlmann]

Dear Tcl team,
may I ask a bit desperate unrelated question.

The issue is, that an background invocation call of Google Crome on
Windows 10 64 bit takes sometimes one second and sometimes 15 seconds.
The TCL/Tk starkit is 32 bit.

I have the following code:
set Cmd {exec -ignorestderr -- {C:\Program
Files\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe}
https://mysapmeserver:12345/sapme/template.jsf?WORKSTATION=Z_MY_WS&ACTIVITY_ID=Z_MY_ACTIVITY#
&}

if {[catch { set CmdRes [eval $Cmd] } Err]} {...err } else { ...ok}

This is invoked by a barcode scan connected to a TCL application.

There is a "&" at the end of the command to indicate background
processing. Nevertheless, it takes mostly 1 second, but sometimes 15
seconds.
The client reports, that the delay happens, if it was not used for some
time.

Do you have any hints about that? Do I do something wrong or may I point
direction Crome? Is there a faster way to open an URL on Crome?

Background usage is factory automation with the SAP ME factory
automation workbench presented by a web interface.

Would it help to switch to 64 bit TCL/Tk ?

Thank you all !
Harald

[Michael Soyka]

On 10/27/2023 6:43 AM, Harald Oehlmann wrote:
> Dear Tcl team,
> may I ask a bit desperate unrelated question.
>
> The issue is, that an background invocation call of Google Crome on
> Windows 10 64 bit takes sometimes one second and sometimes 15 seconds.

Is it possible that the 15 second delay is caused by Chrome updating
itself? This occurs to me because I've seen Firefox and Thunderbird
exhibit this behavior when they have previously downloaded a software
update that they later install the next time the program is launched.
During the update a "pardon me while I update" message is not shown.

[et99]

I too am/was experiencing that behavior. However, it had just started with the sometimes 1 second, sometimes 15 seconds (or thereabouts) in the past few days. It happened both by just using a shortcut and also using an exec call from tcl (to the magicsplat doc page). I think it phones home when run.

So, I just updated chrome today after reading your post. Hopefully that will fix the problem and not break anything. So far so good, not delaying, nothing broken I can see after 20 minutes and several uses :)

If the behavior returns, I'll post again.

[Harald Oehlmann]

Hi !
I appreciate your answers. For me, updating would also be the most
logical. There are probably also extensions which do updates.

I was seeking the start parameters to avoid updates:
https://peter.sh/experiments/chromium-command-line-switches/

I only found:

Switch: --check-for-update-interval
Description: How often (in seconds) to check for updates. Should only be
used for testing purposes.
I proposed the client to set this to multiple days...

Thank you all, I appreciate!
Harald

[et99]

Updating seemed to help, but there was 1 startup delay. I did some searching and found an article that said to change system proxy settings, in particular "automatic detect settings" to off, which had been on for me. I still had 1 delay after that. My workaround is to just leave chrome running and minimize it when not using it.

I'll look into your update interval.

[Harald Oehlmann]

Yes, you can also set the proxy settings by the command line.

How do you open URLs (from TCL) in a running Chrome ?

Thank you so much,
Harald

[et99]

My main tcl use is to query Ashok's web manual passing it a search term. My text editor let's me send a selection to a tcl script, then I relay it to the web site with this:

exec C:/PortableApps/GoogleChromePortable/GoogleChromePortable.exe "https://www.magicsplat.com/tcl-docs/docindex.html?search=$data" &

If this portable chrome is already running, the new url opens in a new tab. So far I haven't seen any delays if it's already running. But only time will tell.

If there's only one tab, closing it would exit chrome, so I just minimize it when there's only one tab still open.

And with manual searches, it's handy to have the prior ones still there in a tab. And lots of urls one clicks on in other types of pages open new tabs as well.

[Harald Oehlmann]

Ok, great, thank you for the information.
So, you don't use Active-X or another autmation interface (websocket,
whatever). You just invoke on the command line.

Thank you and take care,
Harald