Processing... Please Wait

[Thev]

I am having an issue with a few of my older Xara graphics files. Selecting any objects (incl text) on these 'broken' files causes a significant delay in processing (curser changes to: Pointer (then) HourGlass (then) pointer - repeat many times), and a notification in the lower left side of screen "Processing... Please wait". This pause or delay happen on each mouse click. It renders the files fairly useless.

The real PITA is any objects copied from this file and placed on another "clean" file to facilitate editing, brings the 'Processing' error along with it.

This is a fairly old file, probably originally made with Zara v9 or something of similar age (been using Xara since ~2006); however, I have other old files where this is happening as well and they were all made with different versions of Xara. It's not common to one version.

I attached a screen shot - video to demonstrate it, hopefully it'll upload.

Any Help is appreciated as I would like to regain functionality of these broken files and learn how to repair files when this happens again.
Thank you,

[Acorn]

Thev, I've not looked at the video.
Instead, would you upload a clean file with one of your objects and text?

I assume that it does not occur with brand new files?

Acorn

[Daniel]

I think I've seen this before - both when my PC had been very low on memory, and with files with lots (like, thousands or tensof thousands) of objects on a page... especially when they've been imported from an EPS or PDF file. From memory, having selected everything and grouped it all has helped.

What about copying everything from your old document and pasting it into a new one, does that help?

I don't remember it happening recently... like, not since the pandemic. I don't think the type of work I do has changed, but thinking about what might have, I do use the Pro+ software so perhaps it's a bug that has been fixed. I do now have a very fast desktop PC, so perhaps pure processor grunt can overpower the "Processing..." if it still happens.

[Thev]

Thank you for your replies gents,
I think Daniel might be onto the source of the issue. Note, i'm using v20 presently
Due to the frustration with this lag, I rebooted my computer in the hopes of clearing the cache and getting some functionality back. When I opened the old file, it worked as intended with fast clickability. As such, I don't think a clean file will show the same issue Acorn.

I try to avoid these old files when possible due to this lag issue, so it's been a while since I opened one up. I checked my old log files and noted that I used to have this issue all the time a few years ago, and ended up increasing my RAM to 64GB but it did not help. I also replaced my fairly fast computer with a newer, faster computer but this "processing" issue still comes up on these old files.

The one commonality with these "processing" files is they are large and have many objects. Most are grouped, but there is still a lot of objects and the .xar file sizes is over 80MB.

Considering I was able to get functionality back by rebooting, it may be a cache issue. My old logs indicate that the issue would return after rebooting within about 2hrs.

I thought I had a procedure for clearing the XARA cache, but I can't find those instructions (so I'm wondering if I'm remembering correctly). Does anyone know a way to INCREASE the cache? I have 32GB of RAM and my Process Monitor says I am using less than half of this even when I'm experiencing this 'processing' issue. Thus I have spare RAM that could be allocated to Xara if it can be done. The CPU is also only taxed at approx 1-2%.

[Thev]

For future searchers.

To clear cache: Main Menu Ribbon/utilities/options/Internet

[Daniel]

To clear cache: Main Menu Ribbon/utilities/options/Internet

That didn't feel right, so I checked Xara's help: there is a cache control, but it's not that one.

The docs refer to "Cache Control" on the Tune Ups tab of the same main Options window



It defaults to use 25% of the PC's memory, so you could invite it to use more

Cache Control
Complex objects including layers, groups, bevels, shadows, blends, molds, contours, ClipViews and Live Effects can be cached as bitmaps when they are rendered. This means that the next time these objects need to be redrawn, the bitmap can often be used instead of re-rendering the objects, making redraws and object drags very much faster. The difference is particularly noticeable with complex documents.

Since caching involves storing additional bitmaps in memory, it has the potential to increase the amount of memory used by Xara Designer significantly. Therefore in this dialog you can turn caching on and off and you can also control how much memory is used for caching when it's turned on. Increase the percentage memory figure to make Xara cache more objects in your design, generally making redraws and object drags faster at the expense of larger memory usage. Or reduce it to lower the amount of memory that Xara uses for caching. In complex designs, some cacheable objects will not be cached if there is insufficient memory to do so.

[Acorn]

For future searchers. To clear cache: Main Menu Ribbon/utilities/options/Internet

Thev, I doubt this affects your problem. The cache is a store of downloaded items you may be using in a design.
As @Daniel suggests, large number of objects have to be ordered and stacked, one by one. Grouping these greatly reduces the overhead.

Not knowing your file layout, the real killer has been Repeat objects with Links. It occasionally resurfaces with different Xara builds and your v20 may be one of those.
Another reason to offer the file(s) to Xara and if true push for a v20 bug fix.

Acorn

[Thev]

Daniel, Acorn,
Many thank for your assistance and knowledge. When this problem first appeared around 2017 or so, I didn't know if it was the software or my computer. I was running a fairly powerful computer back then. I have since replaced the computer with modern, powerful CPU, upgraded RAM... but the most boost came from replacing the old Spinning Hard Drives with Solid State (replacement justified by this Xara Processing issue). Unfortunately, after replacing and upgrading, I was still having the issues with "processing". Thus I am sure it's not the computer set up. I had assumed that because the issue was present in multiple versions of Xara, that it could be corruption in my file. Not unexpected as some of my files are old, large and have been opened/saved with subsequent versions of Xara. However, the problem abates for a time after rebooting. Hence, I am thinking it's a caching issue or I have reached the maximum size or number of vectors for the software.

In any case, when I experience this issue again, I will be sure to check the "Document Info" to glean any relevant data. If I do find that there is a Xara bug I will report it, If I find that it's something else I will update this thread for future searchers. I'll also keep an eye on repeated objects to see if this might be a source of issues.
Many thanks for your assistance,