Slow app response

[John]

Hi

I have replaced an ms access app with its vb.net version at a client site.
Now the clients keeps complaining about how slow the app response is. The
complains they have are for example when app is minimised and then trying to
maximise it after a while takes a while for app to get maximised. Also form
painting of controls is slow and app is generally slow in terms of response
to user clicks. I am using Infragistics controls and my feeling is that
makes the app bit sluggish compared to the original controls shipped with vs
2008 but I need the Infragistics controls for their features. I have also
ngen'd the app but surprisingly only the main app executable gets ngen'd and
not any of the dependency dlls such as Infragistics dlls.

Are there any tips to make app response better for user?

Thanks

Regards

 

[Cowboy \(Gregory A. Beamer\)]

It is quite common, when you come from the COM world (ASP, Access apps,
COM), to code .NET like COM instead of like .NET. One potential artifact of
coding COM-like in .NET is a slow application. As you state the repainting
of the form is a problem, this is a prime suspect.

Even if you are coding .NET, a heavy UI can cause some issues. In many
instances, offloading work to another thread can help with the appearance of
speed for the end user, as the UI remains responsive.

Another potential area of slow down is inefficient SQL code. If Access is
still your back end, that could be an issue. There are ways to improve this,
like prepared queries. You also have to watch how you are locking an Access
application. If you code a multi-user application as a single user app, for
example, you will end up with all sorts of delays while it locks for each
user.

The Infragistics controls will slow things down a bit, but it should be on
the nature of a few milliseconds, not the type of slow down you are talking
about. If you have tons of controls on a single form, that could definitely
cause a problem. The solution there is to rearchitect your application into
more specific forms. A good use case writing session, paying attention to
flow of different concerns rather than "how I do it now" may break you
through. If you find you have not changed the application much, you are
probably stuck on "sunk costs" (wanting to hold on to your current UI rather
than pitch some of it out).

Without more specifics on the application, this is about all I can give you.

--
Gregory A. Beamer
MVP, MCP: +I, SE, SD, DBA

Subscribe to my blog
http://gregorybeamer.spaces.live.com/lists/feed.rss

or just read it:
http://gregorybeamer.spaces.live.com/

*************************************************
| Think outside the box!
|
*************************************************

 

[Cor Ligthert[MVP]]

John,

What is the problem, as they want something else than the regular, then they
have accept what they get. The Infragistics control is for sure not in ms
Access.

Cor