No. 667

Eliminate Resource Leak Caused by Switching Documents on Windows Platform

IWBNI in the Windows version of Finale, a resource leak that is caused by changing the active document were eliminated.

As it is now, this leak can cause Finale to crash (i.e. shutdown automatically and unexpectedly) when one changes the active document many times in a given session. This may be demonstrated by following these steps (on Windows 98 (Second Edition)):

  1. Run the Windows Resource Meter by selecting Start>Programs> Accessories> System Tools> Resource Meter.

    2.  
  2. Run Finale.

    3.  
  3. Press Ctrl+N twice to open two new documents that are based on the default document.

    4.  
  4. Select the speedy entry tool (this might not be necessary).

    5.  
  5. Observe the System Resource and User Resource levels on the Resource Meter.

    6.  
  6. Press and hold Ctrl+Tab for about 60 seconds to continuously switch between the two document windows. Note: It is not necessary to do this continuously but this will speed up the process.

    7.  
  7. Observe the System Resource and User Resource levels on the Resource Meter. The percentages should be substantially less than in step 5.

    8.  
  8. Repeat steps 6 and 7 until Finale crashes which will happen when the resource percentages have been reduced to very small values.
Note: The keys Ctrl+Tab can be useful for comparing two given documents that are nearly identical. To do this, open the two documents in page view, maximize Finale and maximize the documents. Select the same page and view percentage for each document. Use the hand grabber to position the view to be in the same place for each document. Then press and hold Ctrl and repeatedly press Tab and scan for differences between the two documents as the view alternates from one document to another.



Created: July 25, 2000
Last Updated: July 25, 2000
Version: Finale 2000b