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[marko]

Working with the [Actors] list field...

I have created a "Starring..." field that captures the first five actors.

Even at that, the list is still too long, so, I built the list using the first letter, then the first two, and finally, the actor...

Code: [Select]

listbuild(1,;,
                if(isempty(listitem([actors],0)),No Actors Recorded,mid(listitem([actors],0),0)\mid(listitem([actors],0),0,2)\listitem([actors],0)),
                if(isempty(listitem([actors],1)),,mid(listitem([actors],1),0)\mid(listitem([actors],1),0,2)\listitem([actors],1)),
                if(isempty(listitem([actors],2)),,mid(listitem([actors],2),0)\mid(listitem([actors],2),0,2)\listitem([actors],2)),
                if(isempty(listitem([actors],3)),,mid(listitem([actors],3),0)\mid(listitem([actors],3),0,2)\listitem([actors],3)),
                if(isempty(listitem([actors],4)),,mid(listitem([actors],4),0)\mid(listitem([actors],4),0,2)\listitem([actors],4))
)&datatype=[list]
This is much better.

So much so, I thought this would be good for the entire actors list, but this pushes the list build to 150 lines, and MC says "No" and stops working when I commit the expression. At one point in my testing, I was locked out of MC as it would crash on load. I got around this by pulling browser.jmd out of the most recent backup.

Anyhoo, the maximum actors I can parse for is 55. Go any higher, it crashes.
It crashes regardless of pane or expression column. I have not attempted a library field.

The full expression is attached.

Ultimately, this is to be used in Theater View, hence the need to dilute the list.

Is there a more efficient way to achieve this goal, or can the crash be prevented?

-marko

[marko]

Any thoughts on this?

I could go in and trim the excessive actor fields back a bit, I suppose, but, even at that, as an expression based pane, MC is not silky smooth when processing the expression.

[Matt]

I'm working on it.  There was a stack overflow internally where it evaluates the expression.

[marko]

Cheers Matt.

[Matt]

Fixed next build:
Fixed: Really big expressions (many paragraphs) could cause a crash.

[marko]

Confirmed. Thanks Matt.

When used as an expression based pane, the operation of the pane is extremely stilted, exhibiting several seconds of lag between clicks and list updates.

If I take the expression and create a library field instead, performance is much much better. There's still a lag, but it's barely noticeable.

I'm sure this kind of expression is not likely to be something that everyone will employ for everyday usage, so the library field will do for me. I only mention the pane based lag in case there's something else going on that requires attention.

-marko

[Matt]

When used as an expression based pane, the operation of the pane is extremely stilted, exhibiting several seconds of lag between clicks and list updates.

If I take the expression and create a library field instead, performance is much much better. There's still a lag, but it's barely noticeable.

I'm sure this kind of expression is not likely to be something that everyone will employ for everyday usage, so the library field will do for me. I only mention the pane based lag in case there's something else going on that requires attention.

Next build:
Faster: Browser components cache their expression so using a big expression in a pane is faster.

I'm not sure it will solve the issue, but there's a good chance it will.