FM7 speed

[ddinisco]

I am just starting to convert a FM6 file to FM7, but have been horribly disapointed by the speed at which FM7 runs. Switching layouts, creating calculations, and even basic functions like replace and set field take a VERY long time. I have downloaded the latest version of FM7 and am running a 1Ghz G4 powerbook with OS10.3. I am afraid of upgrading for fear that no one will use the system if it is too slow. How are people dealing with this and are the folks at Filemaker doing anything to improve this?

Thanks

David

[Vaughan]

Something is wrong, FMP 7 is faster than FMP 6.

Converted code is not necessarily optimised. Best bet is to rebuild from scratch. It can be quicker than converting then trying to optimise.

[ddinisco]

Sorry, I am converting manually...ie I am building the new database from the ground up. What do you think could be wrong? I have tried this on many Macs, all with the latest FM and OS software and the response is the same. I constantly get the colored beach ball telling me to wait for very simple things.

[NRCM]

I

[Deep Thought II]

er, if everything is server-sided... that would require a relatively a good server no?...

i think if u have a relatively large enough database with calculations... say 100 users.... how good the equipment has to be for it with FM7? dual-P4? P5? or QUAD P4?

i guess the more advanced the software... the better equipment it demands...

[ddinisco]

I guess I would be happy if someone at Filemaker were to aknowledge that there was a big speed problem and that they were working on it for a later release. Does anyone now if this is the case?

[Computer Geek]

I am surprised by the postings on the speed issue. I have only experienced the opposite ... much faster, less system resources, and more satisfied users.

The one thing large thing to note is that FM Server 5.5 restricted you to a 40 MB cashe, no matter how large your RAM. With FM 7, you can increase this as a percentage. That made a big difference.

[ddinisco]

I am only discussing the FM7 application at this point. Just going from browse mode to layout in a new database with only one field and no records could take five or six seconds. I am using OSX. Could this be a Mac only issue?

[NRCM]

I will admit on non-served, with basic searches with no complex calculations it is faster than the older versions. But even then it does use more resources, but that is typical with most new

[Computer Geek]

I am an XP and 2000 user. Mine is fast, and I would even say faster then 6.0. Stand alone or server, I am very pleased.

[dmadans]

On our brand new Pentium 4 dual 1 GHZ processor FM7 is so incredibly slow that our old Pentium II 200 GHZ flies runs 10X faster using FM 5. We have 10,000 + records that we access through a pull down list to make work orders. The "pop-up" list is a HUGE wait and with people holding on the phone in this quick age -- this is a problem. FM 's website had identified this problem and said we should use Pop-Up windows. I kind of addressed this in a work around -- but it takes more steps to get there for the user.

2nd, when printing a 50 page summary, what use to take 25 mins in FM5, now takes over 3 hours (I finally left the office & left the printer running). I heard this was due to FM7 converting files to PDF and then printing. Hey, if postscript is 10X faster, why wouldn't they at least give us the option? Even one page takes 10 mins! I feel like I have mud all over my face suggesting that we upgrade our equipment and software to be more proficient. This is NOT good. [color:"green"] [color:"green"]

[DRingdahl]

Have you increased your cache? Also as with most database apps, if you can get away with it, remove your paging file in the OS. Use Real RAM, never increase the cache to more than 50% of your real ram. You dont want your HD thrashing for memory.

Also if you dont use the web publishing, be sure it is off. Uses 20mb of RAM just sitting there.

Also have you DeFraged your HD since the upgrade?

[DRingdahl]

On our brand new Pentium 4 dual 1 GHZ processor

Brand new 1 ghz machine???

[dmadans]

It is a Dell 4600C and to the other post, thanks for the advice on the memory cache - I will try tomorrow and let all know.

[Fenton]

You might want to look at this example file I made. It uses a "filtered" portal instead of a popup list or menu for making choices. Once you're over 10,000 records value lists become pretty sluggish. It is a different interface however.

http://www.fmforums.com/threads/download.php?Number=118628

[Computer Geek]

I found the exact opposite with printing: I have a document that we print out multiple personalized copies of each day. It was really slow ... sometimes upwards of 3 minutes per page to a Xerox Color Phaser 7300. FM 7 does it in about 3-5 seconds per page. The kick is that FM7 Server is running off of a Pentium III 256 MB system.

[Himitsu]

hmm... that is strange. I have been running both server 7 and now just pro 7 to serve it up to all the PCs on our network. I have Windows 2003 and the local machines are XP and not very good ones, but they run, I would say, at least twice as fast as FMP 6, and a whole lot faster than server 5.5. I would check your routers and other things. I was running one dedicated package with AIT.com and they have a serious problem with routing. The speed was slower with them, but the main problem was connecting. It would shut down many times a day. I changed to another provider and everything has run very smooth for some time now. I have even run Illustrator, Photoshop CS while I was running FMP 7 over the network and worked fine. My RAM is only 256 on most of my machines (very crappy for use of Adobe stuff) but it was fine. I would start checking firewall settings, hope you are not using Norton 2003, nothing but problems with that firewall.

Just check your system all the way through.

[ddinisco]

All of these posts lead me to ask..How can some people say FM7 is sloooow and others say it is very fast? Especially since we all have worked with previous versions of Filemaker and are using it as a benchmark. Has Filemaker admitted to any speed issue?

[SpudMan]

Its not a networking issue, there is definitely something thrashing the processor while the screen hesitates to react to simple commands. FM7 while faster with some processes still has some very real problems with speed. The most repeatable example is designing screen layouts where it never fails to hesitate everytime I try to click and move a field. Data entry is slower on both FileMaker and Runtime developer solutions. My clients have complained, forcing me to roll back to previous versions until resloved. I am using a Pentium 4 1.8GHz processor w/ 512MB of ram and 64MB of cache. Setting don't seem to affect the problem. It's the processor that is taking the hit when it would appear that nothing would be going on. I have checked processes to verify that nothing else is happening. It is only happening to FM7, FM6 is still pretty fast.

[Sxeptomaniac]

It does seem odd regarding the speed issues, but I am definitely seeing it.

I have some databases with a large number of repeating fields. The redraw when entering or exiting a field, or when scrolling in 7 is significantly slower than in 6, running on the same machine. Value lists are also much slower to appear, as previously noted. The only difference is that 6 is running files from a server, and 7 is opening the files locally, with sharing disabled.

I'm not quite ready to call it bad software, but I'm hoping these issues will have a fix.

[WMJOBSPINFM]

So if I have a file in 5.0 or 5.5, should I convert it to 7.0 or should I rebuild from scratch completely?

[Tripod]

From what I have read, it seems the transition from v6 to v7 is a lot smoother than a v5 or v5.5 to v7 transition. So now we know why we needed v6, I guess. From the feature set, I figured v6 was one I would skip (especially as a Mac user).

--Tripod

[Oldfogey]

I wonder why our resident FMP Apologist hasn't featured in this thread?

Why is it that large corps will never say "Sorry, there is a problem and we are looking at it."?

I am one of FMP's greatest fans but I am continually amazed at the contempt they show for their supporters.

A thought! They are richer than I am. Maybe next time one of my clients phones and says "Look, function XYZ is producing funny results." I'll just say nothng and then hang up when he/she gets sick of the silence. Maybe I'll get rich too.

[NRCM]

The only speed related issues that FM tech support has admitted to me was the Pop-up list one and a general FM Server file import one.

There was a general comment that went something like "you know this versions engine is so much more complex then the last version that you would expect to see some performance issues" (? but its' suppose to have near SQL speed).

On my end it is not a network or hardware issue, I have systems in place to monitor those and they do not show a problem (with traffic).

Turned off all Antiv and spyware and any other junk and still no improvememt.

It may be somewhat related to OS, seems to run somewhat faster on Win2K vs. XP (sp1). I have not upgraded to XP (sp2) may try that this week after I have a good stiff drink.

[Computer Geek]

Ddinisco -- I just thought of something: I use FM Developer and I optimize my database with the FM optimize tool. This is supposed to help with disk transfers. My database always runs faster after I do this.

[ddinisco]

Ddinisco -- I just thought of something: I use FM Developer and I optimize my database with the FM optimize tool. This is supposed to help with disk transfers. My database always runs faster after I do this.

Sorry I am only running FMPro 7 (not developer). What does the optimize tool do exactly?

[Computer Geek]

It basically reorganizes the storage structure to minimize transfer times. I don't have my book here to quote from it, but that is the basic gist.

If you can afford developer, I would get it. No developer should be without it and I would bet that you wouldn't know what you did without it once you start using it.

[Reed]

With version 7, you also get custom functions and now a developer license to server and advanced server. This is great for small developers who build custom solutions for third parties but don't have the $ to pay for server advanced for themselves. I'm going to use it to learn the new CWP system before I buy advanced server.