App in App Panel changes every time I start IMatch

[nordkapp]

I have three app panels in my workspace with my own apps permanently visible. For the last three or four versions, IMatch no longer remembers the apps in these panels. Instead, apps seem to appear randomly in the panels every time I start the program. 

If I set up the apps I need in the respective panels again, completely different apps and not always the same ones are displayed in the panels the next day


What information do you need to analyze? Does a log file (in debug mode) help?

[Mario]

Do you have experimental features enabled?

I have tried with and without, works fine. 3 app panels open, all with different apps.
Closing and reopening IMatch restores panel positions and loaded apps.

Do you use docked panels or floating panels?
Which apps?
What does your workspace look like?
...

[nordkapp]

Yes, I have activated experimental features. I am attaching a screenshot.

I have just closed IMatch and then immediately started it again. I briefly (1-2 seconds) saw some random apps in the three visible app panels, but then my apps appeared there again. In the past, my apps were always loaded immediately in the panels without other apps being loaded (this is sometimes clearly visible due to the white background of some apps)

I would say the panels are docked, I don't know floating panels at all;

The layout of the individual panels always remains the same, but recently the app panels have always been assigned differently when I start IMatch. At the moment I don't spend much time on the computer and only start IMatch every few days.

Just started Pack&Go and IMatch again, again I saw 1-2 seconds of other apps before my panels loaded correctly again.

Strange that it works today except for the very first start.

[PandDLong]

I have had a similar experience but very inconsistently.  I have just one app panel open practically all the time - VarToy. 

Every now and then it isn't there and some other app is there instead - so I now have App Manager panel open as well to make it quick to open VarToy again.

Panels for VarToy and App Manager are docked.

I just had it happen today so it is fresh in my mind and it occurred when I closed a database and then opened a different one (so I did not close/exit iMatch).

I have been using iMatch every day for the last couple of weeks and I would estimate it has happened 3 or 4 times. I am on the latest release and have experimental features activated.


Michael

[Mario]

If you can reproduce this, does it also happen when you disable experimental features?

[nordkapp]

I restarted computer and IMatch today to see if I run into the problem again, but IMatch behaves like yesterday. After a few seconds, the randomly loaded apps are replaced by my previous ones. This has never happened in the last few weeks.

Then I turned off the experimental features and restarted IMatch. My apps were immediately displayed in the respective title bar in the app windows and loaded a few seconds later. 

Then experimental features back on, restart, again the other apps in the title bars of the panels, which were then replaced by my apps after two seconds.
Experimental features switched off again and restarted, my apps immediately visible in the panels.

The experimental features make it look as if the app panels are being populated with other apps in the meantime.

Since I am not doing much with IMatch at the moment, I can leave the experimental features on and if a start goes wrong again in the next few days, copy the log file immediately and attach it here;

[Mario]

So it's related to the new ribbons. I'll have a look.

[Mario]

So far no luck.
I though maybe the code that retries the last used app for a panel and then locates it in the drop-down app selector box and loads it would be the cause. But the code is identical between the old toolbars and the new ribbon.

There is a deliberate small delay of 1 second between the App Panel opening and the app loading, which allows the App open operation to finish and the embedded web browser to settle, but that's also the same.

I must be missing something.

[thrinn]

Is it really a differerent App that is displayed or only the selection in the dropdown?
My test was with IMatch Notepad in App Window 1 and Category Dashboard in App Window 2. When I close and restart IMatch, the dropdowns at the top of the app windows show indeed the name of some random app. But this happens only for a very short time (much less than 2 seconds), and afterwards the correct Apps are shown. Note that the window title of both app windows shows the correct App.

Of course, it might depend on computer performance and the size of the DB (I used my very small test DB), but I found it quite difficult to even grab a screenshot.

[Mario]

There is a 1 second delay for the initial load of an app, to allow the web browser in the panel to complete initialization. So the app selector box switches to the app and one second later (or thereabouts, depending on system performance and how busy IMatch is at the time) the app loads.

The effect the OP describes (that the wrong apps are loaded when IMatch starts) must be something different. I could so far not reproduce it, even with all four app panels open at startup.

[PandDLong]

I was having the situation, and it wasn't a brief moment.  A different app would be loaded - and stick - in the panel where I normally have VarToy open.

I did turn off experimental features and in the subsequent few days I have not had the issue.  I will leave this setting to off and continue to monitor.  I won't report back unless the app switch happens again.


Michael

[Mario]

I could not reproduce this with experimental features enabled on two PCs and in a VM.

App Spy is the first in the list of apps, so there might be something.
But the GIF App is somewhere in the "middle" of the app list. Why should IMatch pick it? If the selection in the drop-down list would not work for some reason, it would be logical that the first app is selected (default), but not some app from the middle of the list. Very strange. Not sure how I can reproduce this.

Update. Sorry. I've mixed up thrinn's screen shot and PanDLongs.

@PanDLong: Which apps are selected instead of the real ones? Always the first app in the drop-down list?

[PandDLong]

I could not reproduce this with experimental features enabled on two PCs and in a VM.

App Spy is the first in the list of apps, so there might be something.
But the GIF App is somewhere in the "middle" of the app list. Why should IMatch pick it? If the selection in the drop-down list would not work for some reason, it would be logical that the first app is selected (default), but not some app from the middle of the list. Very strange. Not sure how I can reproduce this.

Update. Sorry. I've mixed up thrinn's screen shot and PanDLongs.

@PanDLong: Which apps are selected instead of the real ones? Always the first app in the drop-down list?

The last time it happened it was App Spy.   But I honestly don't recall which app it was the other times.

Michael

[nordkapp]

I had the problem again yesterday and also saved my log files, but IMatch reported on the first start that I had not closed it correctly before. I'll attach yesterday's log files anyway, maybe it will help.
The previous closing of IMatch looked quite normal to me

For me there were in
AppPanel 1: A different self written app instead of the file search
AppPanel 2: File data
AppPanel 3: Attributes
AppPanel 4: unchanged my app, because the panel is in the background

Today my apps were loaded again after a few seconds.
I have just closed and restarted IMatch and checked the apps
The apps mentioned above were again in the window for 2 seconds, after which mine were loaded

[Mario]

The first thing I noticed in the BACKUP log file is that IMatch complains about a read-only telemetry database. Not sure how this file becomes read-only. IMatch creates it once and then only uses it.

Please delete the file C:\ProgramData\photools.com\IMatch6\config\imatch.tdb on your system. IMatch automatically recreates it when needed. This will resolve hundreds of warnings in the log file.

During shut-down, IMatch ran into several other problems. Apparently it tried to sort some files (which needs data from the database) but the database was already shut down.

What's puzzling is that these attempts to sort files "came out of the blue", issued by threads which appear nowhere else in the log file. I cannot see how and when these threads were started or anything.

What does your custom app do?
Was there anything unusual in that IMatch session? What were you doing before closing IMatch?

The normal log file shows no errors, just many warnings about the telemetry database being read-only again.

[nordkapp]

I have deleted the telemetry DB and the warnings have disappeared from the log file. The modification date of the imatch.tdb was 8.6.2022. I had installed my computer at this time. I copied the IMatch DB from the old computer to the new computer using Pack&Go Export.

My apps don't do anything special, especially nothing automatic. The two apps I always have open only analyze the files, but only if I press a button first. They don't do asynchronous things and don't react to events, but display the html page with the buttons.

I didn't notice anything unusual when I closed it a few days ago and as far as I remember I only looked at pictures in a few folders.

I only see the "wrong" apps when I have the experimental features on. Would it help if I set the protocol to "debug" before exiting IMatch and then back to "normal" after successfully loading my apps so that I can use IMatch normally?

[Mario]

I copied the IMatch DB from the old computer to the new computer using Pack&Go Export.

That may explain that. Copying files between computers often messes up the file system permissions and without direct action by the user, things will not be resolved,

The interesting thing is that the code that restores the last used app per panel is identical between exp. and normal features. I see no reason why this should not work, I have two app panels open, expf, enabled and I have never seen this fail to restore the apps.

[nordkapp]

Does it help if I record a screencast and put it in my dropbox? Somewhere I once read that you don't watch films (maybe because of possibly risk of viruses)

Or could I try something else that helps you?

[Mario]

Does it help if I record a screencast and put it in my dropbox? Somewhere I once read that you don't watch films (maybe because of possibly risk of viruses)

Or could I try something else that helps you?

I believe you that you see the problem you are reporting. Looking at a video will not help.
I need to figure out why this might happen, but only on your PC (at least there are no other reports as of now).

There is a one second delay between the drop-down selector switches to the last loaded app and the actual app loading. But the app panel will not load another app in-between or anything.

The app panel is created. Retrieves the id of the last loaded app. Selects the app in the drop-down selector and starts a timer that loads this app after one second. It's quite simple. No idea why the app panel on your system would load a different app and then the correct app, or not loading the correct app at all. And only with ribbons, not toolbars.

I could not reproduce this even with all four app panels open (different app each), the DYK app and the IMatch clipboard app running. No idea.

[nordkapp]

After starting IMatch today, I just saw the apps described above before my app selection was loaded.

Then I loaded any apps into all three visible app panels:
AppPanel 1: IMWS Documentation
AppPanel 2: Sample App Metadata
AppPanel 3: pinboard (Pinnwand)

Now I have restarted IMatch again and looked at the app panels:
The last three open apps were reloaded after two seconds, Before that, the titles of the following apps were displayed in the panels for two seconds (without the app window being filled with content, only the title (=drop down selector) was filled)
AppPanel 1: the same self-written app that is shown to me when I select my app
AppPanel 2: GIF app
AppPanel 3: file relationships
So two of the three panels showed other (wrong) apps.

Then I loaded the panels with my three desired apps and restarted IMatch. For the two seconds I was shown the apps that were also shown to me yesterday. I.e. the assignment does not seem to randomly select any apps, but it looks as if they are selected depending on the apps previously contained.

I can work with seeing the false apps for two seconds. If I can test anything else, let me know. We don't have to solve that if only I'm one of the few who have that problem. I want to clean reinstall my computer in a few months anyway. Maybe it will go away then.

[nordkapp]

I worked with IMatch as normal for the last hour and looked at and sorted pictures.

At some point I noticed that the app panels look strange. I attach a screenshot. The title bar and the app window had the information about the apps, but the drop down selector suddenly had the three apps that I always see for two seconds at startup.

I didn't notice when that happened, but I'll watch it. Apparently the change does not happen when IMatch is closed, but at some point in between my normal work.

When I restarted IMatch I was shown the apps that were last in the dropdown selector and not my own.

[nordkapp]

I can reproduce the error now

The drop down selectors change when I start an app from my favorites bar that is not executed in the app panel but in modal window

At first I thought it was my coding. it is a small app (< 50 line code) that I use every time to search for images of the same name in the entire DB, like the currently selected 1 - x files.

I have other apps that run modal. The drop down selectors also change when these app is started.

The above-mentioned app starts immediately from the favorites bar at start and after termination the modal window is closed again. the selected images are displayed in a result window.

Another modal app shows me an html screen before execution, in which I can press buttons. As soon as I start this app from the favorites bar, the dropdown selectors change. My actual coding has not yet started, only the html part has been set up.

Perhaps these observations help to narrow down the error

Just switched the experimental features off , restart IMatch and use my modal apps. No problem, so it must be connected to the experimental feature switch

[Mario]

Very good!
I could reproduce that the selection in the drop-down selectors change in this specific case.

This was because the drop-down selector for apps in the ribbon sorted the apps alphabetically, and this caused a wrong selection later when the App Manager in IMatch sent a certain event. This has been resolved for the next release.

The drop-down selector in the ribbon should not sort apps alphabetically (the toolbar does not do this) since the order of apps is not necessarily alphabetically but controlled by the app author. I make more important apps sort to the top, and less important apps like the example apps to the bottom. This was not considered when the ribbon is created for app panels. Now it is.

But (1), this only changed the name of the selected app in the drop-down list. It does not cause the wrong app to load.
I've tried this with 3 app panels open. All loaded apps remained loaded, even if the selection in the drop-down list changed!

But (2) if you now shut-down IMatch, the wrong apps are stored as the "last selected", and this is most likely what causes the real problem on your end. IMatch remembers the wrong apps and restores them on the next startup.

This bug fix will solve the original problem too.