A few tips on why MAP INFO operates S L O W L Y
BenM
I just thought I would post a couple of things I have found regarding
general operating of Map Info.
I do this as I sit on my computer waiting for a workspace to open ....
I have found....
1. On the fly thematics slow a workspace down . Particulary if you are
running the thematic based on an expression
For instance a density thematic which is set up on the fly with the
expression Column1 / area(....) puts a huge load on the computer. Its
better to add another coloumn, undertake the analysis and then map
your findings.
2. Having multiple windows visable and open when a workspace is saved
slows down subesquent
opening of the workspace as each window needs to be mapped.
I sometimes turn off heavy layers such as cadastre before I save a
workspace and only turn them on just prior to printing.
3. I believe having alot of large polygons on the cosmetic layer slows
workspace opening, and this is probably the source of my current
bordem...can anyone confirm this?
4....please add any more ideas as sometimes I think ESRI might be the
greener pasture I am looking for....:-)
Roger...@parks.tas.gov.au
From my experience Ben with MapInfo operating slowly comes down to the quality of the hardware you're using and the way you use the software.
Reputable hardware with heaps of RAM, CPU, fast HDD and preferably a quality graphics card will make a big difference.
With the software - making sure the session projection matches the native projection of the layers you have, be reasonable with labelling, understand your data and datatypes, use indexing efficiently, spatial data should not have geometry errors are some tips.
That said there can be performance improvements, but I wouldn't be jumping to ESRI as it has its own set of issues.
Regards
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Tim Rideout
There are some processing operations in MapInfo that can be dramatically affected by one of the following:
The presence of an index. I can’t remember the exact operations that cause an issue, but basically activities which are updating the attributes that are indexed. What is probably happening is that the index gets updated after every alteration. I think I had this recently with a delete on something that had about half a million points. When I started it off deleting a couple of hundred thousand of them the progress bar moved so slowly it looked like it would take all day. I cancelled it, dropped all the indexes and tried it again and it took about 15 mins.
Having a map window open. Some processing tasks cause the map display to be refreshed (you will notice the screen and especially the status bar constantly flickering). Running this task with the map window closed will be much quicker.
Regards
Tim
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Bob Young
I can confirm your question regarding point 3. Its not just polygons - its a
large number of any type of object.
The objects on the cosmetic layer are held as simple mapbasic code in the
workspace and are created "on the fly" when you open the workspace.
I'd recommend saving objects to a table. The objects are then held in binary
and with a very efficient spatial index, so that only those objects that are
on the screen are read.
All objects in the cosmetic layer have to be read, even those not visible on
the screen, before the workspace load is complete.
If you edit your workspace file with a text editor, you will see the object
definitions for your cosmetic layer(s). The workspace size will be
proportional to the number of objects if you really have a lot eg
hundreds/thousands of objects.
Regards
Bob