RE: [WDSCI-L] Performance - perception is King

[Scott Klement <klemscot@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

> This is one of those places the 5250 world differs from the GUI world.  If
> one doesn't load the entire list, how big should I make the scroll bar
> 'cursor'?  Normally, GUI apps have a big fat cursor when there are only
> a few items scrollable, and a teeny-tiny one when there are many items
> in the list.

If that's true, why is the iSeries the only place where we see it done
this way?   Why does it take 10 times as long for the iSeries to load a
list of 200 object names than the PC does to retrieve 2000?

Whenever I see a PC application that has to load a very large list, I'll
see the size of the "thumb" on the scrollbar dynamically changing as the
list is loading, but I'll still see the list loading, not have a long
pause and then have everything show up at once.

There's a minimum size of the "thumb" on the scrollbar, which might be
what you're thinking of.  (Because otherwise, it would be difficult to use
when it got too small)

> Sure seems like a pain, but the time it takes to load that list is one
> reason the GUI people use progress bars for 'long running' processes.

Progress bars are a useful thing because you have some idea of when the
application will finish, and you have some idea of whether it is still
running.

I know when I installed OS/400 on a CISC box, I always sat there wondering
if I could go away from the console, or if it would need something from
me.   I'd sit there for HOURS just doing nothing, because I had no clue
when it would suddenly need input.   Progress bars would have allieviated
that headache.

>
> I think it's just something I need to get used to.  In Code, I create a
> project which has fairly tight filters.  Also, I have a strong tendency to
> check members out into a very small 'development' library, where the time to
> load every member is negligible.

I do that for large projects, ones that will take a long time.  Most of
the time, I'm in a source member to just make a small/quick change, or to
simply refresh my memory about how things work.   I spin through a lot of
members, very quickly.   Only on rare occasions do I open a member in sit
in it for a long time.

Our main source library contains over 1500 source members.   Waiting for
that list to load is a royal pain.   On a PC application with a similar
number of files to scroll through, it's also a pain.   The load time on
the PC app is negligible, but I still have to scroll through 1500 files to
find the one that I want, which isn't a happy situation.

Fortunately, in every PC application ever made (except WDSC workbench) I
can just type the name of the file that I want, and not have to search
through a long list.