Conference azur::mcc

634.0. "Performance problem using backdrops." by NSSG::R_SPENCE (Nets don't fail me now...) Thu Jan 17 1991 14:05

    I have been showing the EFT T1.1 product to many internal field people
    as well as many customers with generally good results. There is much
    enthusiasim in the field about this product.
    
    However (yea, I know, why is there always a however), questions about
    performance are starting to come up and the current performance when
    using the supplied demonstration package does not make the product
    look very good.
    
    I am talking about what happens to overall performance just because
    there is a large backdrop being displayed.
    
    This morning I measured a few things on my V5.3-2 VS3100 (24m or memory
    and 110kblock pagefile).
    
    - When I first opened the first domain (WORLD), the watch turned back
      to a pointer (indicating to me that I can proceed) 8 seconds before
      the screen updated to fill in the rectangle where the domain name
      pop-up was located.
    
    - When I clicked on the little square in the lower right of the map
      window to bring up the navigation window, there was a 3 second time
      with no indication that anything at all was going on.
    
    - After double clicking on the United_states icon and having the United
      States map and background displayed and the watch turned back to a
      pointer, it was 7 seconds before a pull-down from the FILE menue
      would do anything. There was no indication during this time that DECmcc
      was busy doing anything else.
    
    Don't get me wrong here. I don't have a problem with things that do
    take time taking the time they need. It is just that the system MUST
    indicate to the user properly as to if it is really done and ready for
    more directives or not.
    
    As it stands, it is not possible to use the demonstration package to
    show off the product to customers if the goal is to impress them.
    
    s/rob