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 Post subject: Sub-docks in sub-docks slower to open than regular sub-docks
PostPosted: Wed Jan 29, 2020 5:45 pm 
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I have a floating dock on my desktop that has many sub-docks in it for my applications. I wanted to further organize my 'Games' sub-dock, so I made sub-docks within the 'Games' sub-dock. If you see the video attached, you'll see all my other sub-docks open up immediately after a click. However, the 'Games' sub-docks takes a fraction of a second.

It's not a big deal at all, but I'm wondering if there is a way to optimize this.



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 Post subject: Re: Sub-docks in sub-docks slower to open than regular sub-d
PostPosted: Wed Jan 29, 2020 6:07 pm 
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I didn't see a delay? Here is the thing though, and perhaps it's what you are referring to: the sub-dock opening animation takes a set time regardless of how many icons there are in the dock (e.g.; the animation ALWAYS completes in/ALWAYS lasts 250 ms).

When there are a lot of icons, it may seem like it's opening faster, but it really isn't, the time elapsing between the start and the end of the animation is the same for both cases - the application makes sure that the animation does not take neither more nor less time than the total allotted time for the animation to complete.

This also means that the animation in sub-docks with a couple of icons will appear smoother than the opening animation of a sub-dock with many, many, icons, which will appear a bit 'jerkier' because more pixels are being 'moved' per frame of animation.

Hope this makes sense to you.

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Jorge Coelho
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 Post subject: Re: Sub-docks in sub-docks slower to open than regular sub-d
PostPosted: Wed Jan 29, 2020 6:36 pm 
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Thanks for the explanation, but the issue I'm describing isn't with having many icons in a sub-dock. The issue occurs with having a sub-dock inside of another sub-dock. I don't like using the word issue because really, it's a minor thing really.

In my floating dock, I have 7 sub-docks. "Internet, Connect, Games, PC, Media, Utilities, Work"

Aside from the Games sub-dock, all the other sub-docks have applications in them (like word, and photoshop, and spotify). The Games sub-dock has two more sub-docks in it (which then contain applications).

So...:
Sub-docks with applications/folders = open instantly
Sub-docks with sub-docks = fraction of a second delay.

Here's another video where I've made the icons bigger so it's easier to see. Hopefull you'll be able to see what I'm talking about. Watch the tiny tiny delay when opening the 'Games'.

And honestly, it's not a big concern, but I figured I'd try and explain what I was talking about.



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 Post subject: Re: Sub-docks in sub-docks slower to open than regular sub-d
PostPosted: Wed Jan 29, 2020 6:51 pm 
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Ah, ok, gotcha, it's not the animation per se, but the delay between clicking and getting a response... Here is the most likely explanation:

Unlike primary docks, Shelf tabs and Grid Stacks, sub-docks do not cache their icons in memory. This means that the images of the icons in any sub-dock must be retrieved from disk every time you open a sub-dock and before the sub-dock can initiate the opening animation.

Since sub-docks don't normally have many icons, the delay is nearly unnoticeable (which is also the main reason why icons in sub-docks are not also cached in memory by the Winstep application). A noticeable slow down may occur, however, if an icon is stored in slow media - even worse if it's on a network drive, that is usually a no-no - or takes a long time to retrieve (icons must be extracted from executables/dll libraries, etc...).

In a sub-dock with only two icons this is almost certainly the cause of the initial delay you are experiencing. Try replacing each of the two icons, one by one, with an individual PNG or ICO image stored somewhere in fast media, and see if that fixes the problem. Doing it one by one allows you to identify the actual culprit.

By the way, quickest and easiest way to change the icon of an item in the dock: open the folder with your favorite PNG or ICO images, drag the one you want and drop it dead center **into** the icon in the dock.

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Jorge Coelho
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http://www.winstep.net - Winstep Software Technologies


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