Altap Salamander Support Forums

v.3.07 (x64)

When I'm running document formatting scripts in InDesign 2015, Salamander freezes for the duration until the InDesign script has completed, then it starts to respond again.

I'm wondering if this is a bug? It seems strange not to able to use a file manager whilst another program is running a task.

thanks

Greg

Could you please break frozen Salamander instance from another one? Use menu Help > Task List and Break command. Bug report will be uploaded to our server, please enter your email address and let me know on jan.rysavy@altap.cz. I would like to look at this problem. It looks like something related to shell extension that comes with InDesign.

Hi Jan,

Apologies, I forgot to come back with some feedback. This freezing problem still occurs when running javascripts inside InDesign 2017 and the using latest Salamander x64.

I tried opening another instance of Salamander both "before" and also "during" running javascripts inside InDesign.

Regardless of when I start Salamander, each instance remains frozen for the duration of the running INDD scripts, then reverts back to normal operation once the scripts complete.

Unfortunately, it's not possible to use the Break command as the whole Salamander interface is temporarily frozen.

Hope this helps.

Greg

The test is simple.
Go to http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/shexview.html, download the tool and disable all Indesign related shell extensions.
To be sure, reboot computer and try to run the JS tool. Look if the problem persists.
If this resolves the problem, then its clear - the bug lies within the shell extension.

Thanks for that, I'll go and get the ShellExView tool and try your suggestions.

cheers Greg

Let us know what you've discovered. Thanks.

I ran the shell viewer. The only reference to Adobe InDesign I can see is for an "Icon Handler Plug-in".

I disabled it and rebooted. I also removed all 3rd party plugins.

InDesign took a longer time than usual to start up, but then seemed to work normally. I ran a typical document formatting javascript that takes several minutes to complete.

Unfortunately Salamander still freezes during the script execution period and then recovers once the script completes.

Hope this helps.

cheers Greg

Do any other application exhibit such a behavior like Salamander does?
Can you open websites, e-mail, word/excel documents durin the time of the javascript run?

Yes, a script is actually running whilst I'm typing this response in a Firefox browser. I can launch Word/Excel/Outlook and use them no problem.

I haven't noticed this behaviour on any other apps except Salamander.

I also have Salamander (x32) v2.54 installed on the same machine and it behaves exactly the same. Just locks me out whilst the script executes, then recovers on completion.

I'm wondering if this isn't a case of Salamander actually freezing, rather just ignoring the mouse for some reason?

InDesign has an option to disable screen redraw during script execution which I normally have disabled as it speeds up scripts dramatically.

I tried it with redraw active, but Salamander still behaves the same.

Ok, then one more thing you can do is to run WhatIsHang (yet another one of Nir Sofer's awesome tools) to scan for a hanging application and creating a report.

I launched InDesign, Salamander and WhatIsHang only.

I ran a javascript formatting routine inside InDesign.

During script execution the Salamander interface doesn't respond to the mouse (possibly keyboard too but I can't wake up the Salamander window to test it).

WhatIsHang only reports InDesign and shows it as running iterative loops. This I would expect as the scripts in question are running through a publication and applying formats under script control. This is making me think.

The scripts in question are set up as individual module files on the hard disk. There is a batch script that runs through the document and pulls in whatever module script it needs as it encounters specific content along the way. So the batch script is accessing the hard drive several times during execution.

Could this be causing Salamander some confusion?

As far as I know these scripts can be very I/O intensive, thus causing other application look unresponsive.
Questions:
1) the drive the where the files are located is a HDD or SSD?
2) How many files are in the folder? Data vs scripts
3) Is there a antivirus on the system? What happens if you disable it temporarily?

P.S.> You dont need to switch to the unresponsive application to capture the events of the app with whatishang
P.S.> You can also use ProcessMonitor from sysinternals to monitor salamanders behavior during the hanging period.