The Application Load Progress Dialog
While an application is loading, the Application Load Progress dialog opens. An example is shown in the following image:
The Application Load Progress dialog displays a series of labels, along with a progress bar indicating the percentage of each application resource that has been loaded. In the event that you are having trouble loading an application, it may be useful to understand the meaning of each item displayed in the Application Load Progress dialog. Information is provided below to help you to interpret the Application Load Progress dialog.
Interpreting the Application Load Progress Dialog
The following table outlines the operations that are being performed behind the scenes as a VTS application is loading. These operations are largely application specific and will vary according to whether the application is networked.
Waiting for clients to synchronize
Application Type: Remote Applications
PC Type: Primary Configuration Server or Backup Server
The Waiting for clients to synchronize item only appears on a primary configuration server or backup server if it must wait for clients that are in the middle of performing their startup synchronization to finish before it may proceed to load the application.
Further information on remote applications and synchronization can be found in Startup Synchronization.
Waiting for permission from server to continue
Application Type: Remote Applications
PC Type: Clients
The Waiting for permission from server to continue item only appears on a client that must wait for the primary configuration server or backup server before it can proceed with the startup of the application.
Loading INI variables
Application Type: Local Applications and Remote Applications
PC Type: Servers and Clients
The Loading INI variables item appears once for each application layer on all workstations for both remote and local applications. It indicates that the workstation.ini and Config.ini configuration files are being read for this layer.
Loading tag templates
Application Type: Local Applications and Remote Applications
PC Type: Servers and Clients
The Loading tag templates item appears once for each layer on all PCs for both remote and local applications, indicating that tag type data is being loaded.
Loading pages
Application Type: Local Applications and Remote Applications
PC Type: Servers and Clients
The Loading pages item appears once for each layer on all workstations for both remote and local applications, indicating that the page files are being loaded.
Starting priority services
Application Type: Local Applications and Remote Applications
PC Type: Servers and Clients
The Starting priority services item appears once for each layer on all workstations for both remote and local applications. If the user has not created any custom services, then the default system services will be started, most notably, the RPC Manager and the Edit Lockout Manager. In the case of the Edit Lockout Manager on a client machine, startup will wait at this point until the application is running on the PC designated as the primary service server for the RPC Manager. After a time span of approximately 60 seconds, a time-out message will appear and the user will have the option of proceeding without the server or waiting another 60 seconds. Definitions of client and server types can be found in "VTS Servers and Clients Defined.
Starting services
Application Type: Local Applications and Remote Applications
PC Type: Servers and Clients
The Starting services item appears once for each layer on all workstations for both remote and local applications. After the .ini variables, tag templates, pages, and priority services for all layers have been started, the services for all layers will be started.
Linking drawing methods
Application Type: Local Applications and Remote Applications
PC Type: Servers and Clients
The Linking drawing methods item appears for both remote and local applications, indicating that any shared drawing methods for tags are being linked to the tag types that use them.
Linking plug-ins
Application Type: Local Applications and Remote Applications
PC Type: Servers and Clients
The Linking plug-ins item appears for both remote and local applications, indicating that any plug-in modules for services are being linked to the services that use them.
Setting up tag configuration database
Application Type: Remote Applications
PC Type: Servers and Clients
The Setting up tag configuration database item only appears if the application is remotely configured and it is the first time that the application has been run, or the first run after a forced synchronization (see Forcing Synchronization). The progress bar marks the creation of the tags in each tag table of the replica tag database (SCT.mdb) (see Replica Tag Database (SCT.mdb). Like the loading of tags, the progress will appear erratic because the percentage completed does not mark the number of tags out of the total tags, but the number of tag tables loaded out of the total number of tag tables (or tag types). A tag table with no tags in it therefore encompasses the same percentage as one with thousands of tags in it.
Migrating tag tables to higher layers
Application Type: Remote Applications
PC Type: Servers and Clients
The Migrating tag tables to higher layers item only appears if the application is a remote application, however, this particular message does occur each time the application is run, even if there are no newly added tag types. The progress bar indicates the progress of the search through the tag properties database for all layers for tag types that do not appear in the application layer's tag properties database file. Any newly discovered tag types are added to the application layer's tag properties database file (see Tag Properties Database (Points.mdb)).
Adding new database table
Application Type: Remote Applications
PC Type: Servers and Clients
The Adding new database table item only appears if the application being loaded is a remote application and a tag table has been found at a lower layer for which a corresponding table at the application layer must be created.
Starting tags
Application Type: Local Applications and Remote Applications
PC Type: Servers and Clients
The Starting tags item appears for both local and remote applications, indicating the progress of the launching of each tag type and each tag within its table. Like the loading of tags, the progress will appear erratic because the percentage completed does not mark the number of tags out of the total tags, but the number of tag tables loaded out of the total number of tag tables (or tag types). A tag table with no tags in it therefore encompasses the same percentage as one with thousands of tags in it.
Getting locks on offline tag changes
Application Type: Remote Applications
PC Type: Servers and Clients
The Getting locks on offline tag changes item only appears in a remote application if offline tag changes have been made. Progress indicates the granting of lock requests by the server for those tags that have been changed and for whom a lock was not already held. Unfortunately, at present each request for a tag lock goes out individually, so offline tag additions of more than 300 tags can take an extremely long time; if thousands of tags have been added, several hours may be required to process all of the tag requests.
Information on offline tag modifications and additions can be found in Offline Tag Addition or Modification.
Initializing drivers
Application Type: Local Applications and Remote Applications
PC Type: Servers and Clients
The Initializing Drivers item appears for both networked and local applications, indicating that the VTS driver is being launched for each driver tag type.