Updating browse information

[Marpel]

Every now and then (sometimes often), when I open PWP (ver 5??) and try to open a folder of images in the browser window, the window will show a bunch of blank thumbnails with "Loading" written across each and a message "Updating browse information" in the work area. Depending on the number of images in the particular folder, it can take an incredible amount of time to load all the images before being able to access an image. I always close PWP and turn off the computer after each session and prior to doing so, am able to go between folders without this issue (and I rarely process more than four/five images in a session). Of course, on other occasions, I can open PWP and folders with no issue for a number of weeks/months.

Does anyone know if this issue is specific to PWP or is a Windows issue (I have XP Home)? And if it is PWP related, can anyone advise why this happens, and what I can do to avoid it.

Thanks in advance,

Marv

[ksinkel]

PWP caches thumbnails in a .browseinfo file in each folder. Before using the cache file, it checks to make sure the file is up to date. If so, it displays the thumbnails directly. If not, it regenerates the file and displays the thumbnails. I believe that in PWP 5 there were some cases where the regeneration was more conservative than it needed to be, so moving to PWP 6 should result in better browse performance.

Kiril

[mjdl]

Kiril,

Is there any chance PWP might develop the option to move the browseinfo files to a duplicate user folder hierarchy under %USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\PictureWindowPro (or whatever the profile folder for PWP is called)? I don't like the browseinfo files cluttering up my picture folders.

I also think the update algorithm is still very conservative: adding a couple of images to a folder which contains >100 still triggers an occasionally slow update. Is the entire browseinfo file being rewritten on each update? Maybe making each browseinfo file into a light-weight compact database file (e.g. SQLite) would reduce rewriting.

[ksinkel]

Generally only changed images are updated. Moving browseinfo files to the applications folder would be impractical since there are many such files (one per image folder), including on offline media such as USB and CD drives.

Kiril

[mjdl]

Good point about files on removable media, I hadn't thought of that.

[JvdW]

I also think the thumbnail browser is a bit annoying when used in folders with many images. Is there an option to show filenames only instead of thumbs? And is it possible to use a mask like *.tif?

John

[ksinkel]

You can sort images on extension, but all images are still displayed. You can display the history tab instead of thumbnails. Also, of course you can close the browser window if you like.

Kiril

[Dieter Mayr]

John,

When working with folders with many files in it I like to use the browser as a seperate window, not pinned as its standard.
Just right click with the mouse in the top bar of the browser (the one with the 2 lines in it) and draw it to the center of the main window, and voila, you have a browser window you can make big, and minimize it after you made your selection.

[JvdW]

Dieter,

Thanks for the tip, I will give it a try.

John

[ksinkel]

You can dock the browse window at any of the four edges plus, as Dieter suggests, in the center as a regular window in the main workspace. To dock it to a different edge, just drag the window by its title bar.

Also in PWP 6, thumbnail refresh is carried on in the background. You can work on your images while it is taking place.

Kiril