agaasbeek
9th January 2012 12:46 UTC

Custom dialog is displayed very slowly
Hi,

In my installer I display the MUI_PAGE_COMPONENTS to let the user make a selection. Now I added a custom page where the user can enter a database user name and password. So far so goed and the page is displayed fine. Notice that at this time the function that displays my page is placed/defined in the .nsi file before all the section code.

Now I wanted to only show this custom page whenever the user has selected the database component. So I use SectionGetFlags for this. The problem I now faced was that it always returned 1, no matter what the selection was. Then I moved the custom page function code after the section code, and suddenly the flag was correct! Is this normal behaviour, or am I missing something?

Although this works, another problem pops up, and that is that it takes about 30 seconds for the page to load after clicking on next in the previous page! I immediately see the header text, but the rest of the dialog keeps displaying the data from the previous dialog for about 30 seconds. When the dialog should not be displayed, the next page is displayed half for 30 seconds before being displayed correctly.

Does anyone know what the problem is or have suggestion on how to solve it? I have added my script (emptied the section, to have a more readable script).
Any help would greatly be appreciated.

Ad.

Afrow UK
9th January 2012 12:48 UTC

Firstly try switching to MUI2.nsh which is MUI but using nsDialogs instead of InstallOptions.

Edit: Your actual problem is moving the functions after the sections means nsDialogs.dll is at the top of the compression block which means it takes a long time to extract. As well as aforementioned modification, add a ReserveFile `${NSISDIR}\Plugins\nsDialogs.dll`.

Stu

agaasbeek
9th January 2012 13:35 UTC

Originally posted by Afrow UK
Firstly try switching to MUI2.nsh which is MUI but using nsDialogs instead of InstallOptions.

Edit: Your actual problem is moving the functions after the sections means nsDialogs.dll is at the top of the compression block which means it takes a long time to extract. As well as aforementioned modification, add a ReserveFile `${NSISDIR}\Plugins\nsDialogs.dll`.

Stu

---

Afrow UK
9th January 2012 14:44 UTC

Yes it is because SEC_DATABASES is not defined until after the section which defines it (it is just a regular !define containing the section index).

Rather than using SectionGetFlags etc. you can use:

${IfNot} ${SectionIsSelected} ${SEC_DATABASES}
  Abort
${EndIf}

agaasbeek
10th January 2012 08:53 UTC

That is much cleaner code. Thanks a lot.

But ... I just found out that the 30 seconds delay is still present but now at the end after I press finish. The page goes white, it looks like it 'hangs' and then after about 30 seconds it closes. While I prefer to wait 30 seconds at the end instead of somewhere in the middle, I would rather not wait at all :-)\
The delay is also present when I don't select any components.

I do ReserveFile now, as you suggested, although the purpose of that was to speed up page loading and I guess it has nothing to do with closing the installer.

Any thoughts?

Ad.

agaasbeek
10th January 2012 10:04 UTC

I emptied all sections and the installer closes quickly. After putting the code back into 4 of the 7 sections, I again get a delay, but now only about 5 seconds.

So, apparently the more sections (or the more I do in them?), the bigger the delay gets. I don't select any components, so the sections are not executed.

Are there any general rules or do's and don'ts that I'm not aware of?

Ad.

Afrow UK
10th January 2012 11:12 UTC

It may be that you have WriteUninstaller in .onInstSuccess. I would move it to a hidden section. You could also try ReserveFile for the System plug-in.

Just a few notes for you.

• You are using Icon and MUI_ICON; you should only use MUI_ICON.
• You are using Page instfiles; you should use !insertmacro MUI_PAGE_INSTFILES (avoid mixing non-MUI pages with MUI pages).
• I see no RequestExecutionLevel instruction (it probably ought to be user). Without it you may have problems installing on Vista and above.

agaasbeek
10th January 2012 11:13 UTC

Ok, I find out which line causes the delay and I think also why but not how to get around it.
I have the following line inside a section:

    File /r /x *.svn .\target\distribution.dir\distribution\*.*

agaasbeek
10th January 2012 11:17 UTC

Quote:

SetCompress Off