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Seeing a blank portion where there's text...


rednoser

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Hi Steve,

Sometimes when I'm scrolling or doing a "Find," and "Find Again" (Command-G), I encounter blank portions of the manuscript where I know there's text. This happens about 2/3 down the screen. The "Find Again" will even highlight the found word in a sea of white space. Clicking there doesn't bring up the text, but scrolling will restore the complete viewable text again. Sometimes text cuts off halfway down the line so that only the top parts of letters are visible. I'm sure this is just a bug you can fix in no time...

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Hi Steve,

Sometimes when I'm scrolling or doing a "Find," and "Find Again" (Command-G), I encounter blank portions of the manuscript where I know there's text. This happens about 2/3 down the screen. The "Find Again" will even highlight the found word in a sea of white space. Clicking there doesn't bring up the text, but scrolling will restore the complete viewable text again. Sometimes text cuts off halfway down the line so that only the top parts of letters are visible. I'm sure this is just a bug you can fix in no time...

 

Thanks Rudolf.

 

This is actually a redraw quirk in the underlying OS (somewhat exacerbated on Leopard). I'm aware of it and am looking for a work-around.

 

-Steve

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  • 2 weeks later...
Thanks Rudolf.

 

This is actually a redraw quirk in the underlying OS (somewhat exacerbated on Leopard). I'm aware of it and am looking for a work-around.

 

-Steve

 

Is this the same problem I reported ages ago? Text always reappears after the next text cursor induced scroll.

 

IF

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  • 5 months later...
This is actually a redraw quirk in the underlying OS (somewhat exacerbated on Leopard). I'm aware of it and am looking for a work-around.

-Steve

 

Maybe so, but No other app I have ever used does this, and I see it's still here after the latest update. I have it happen on every Mac I've tried Storyist on. It's quite an annoying flaw, especially when reading to someone. Maybe time Steve calls Steve?

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I have it happen on every Mac I've tried Storyist on.

 

I did some work on this for 1.4 and haven't seen it on a MacBook Pro or a Mac Pro on either Tiger or Leopard. I'll take another look, though, and see what I can find.

 

Can you post your current configuration (hardware and software) and any tips on making it happen repeatably?

 

Also, are there any messages related to Storyist in your console?

 

-Steve

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  • 1 month later...

Just installed 1.4.1 (607) and lo and behold the White Patch is the first thing I encountered after loading my story.

Macbook Air; standard config; no console logs mentioning storyist...

 

Indeed a short scroll makes it disappear, or dragging the cursor down the invisible text, but I'd really hoped this would've been gone long after a 1.0 release.

 

Oh well, the future always looks bright.

Thanks for keeping improving the app.

 

 

I did some work on this for 1.4 and haven't seen it on a MacBook Pro or a Mac Pro on either Tiger or Leopard. I'll take another look, though, and see what I can find.

 

Can you post your current configuration (hardware and software) and any tips on making it happen repeatably?

 

Also, are there any messages related to Storyist in your console?

 

-Steve

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  • 1 month later...

I also have the same problem. In addition to those mentioned before, I also am now experiencing a significant lag time in catching up to my typing. While I can type fast I know I am no Clark Kent speed typer on the superhero level so what gives? Sometimes it is a few characters that get hung up and then show up after about 20 seconds or so and sometimes it is whole sentences that I am waiting on drawing to the screen.

 

Config:

 

Macbook Pro 15" (early 2008 purchase)

standard 2gb memory (apple issued)

2.5 ghz dual core

Running Mac OS X (10.5.5) Leopard

 

Storyist (only app running when I am writing) version 1.5 (624)

 

It seems to occur after I have been writing for about an hour or so non-stop. The redraw (blank area happens whenever I scroll down... nearly everytime).

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I also have the same problem. In addition to those mentioned before, I also am now experiencing a significant lag time in catching up to my typing. While I can type fast I know I am no Clark Kent speed typer on the superhero level so what gives? Sometimes it is a few characters that get hung up and then show up after about 20 seconds or so and sometimes it is whole sentences that I am waiting on drawing to the screen.

 

Config:

 

Macbook Pro 15" (early 2008 purchase)

standard 2gb memory (apple issued)

2.5 ghz dual core

Running Mac OS X (10.5.5) Leopard

 

Storyist (only app running when I am writing) version 1.5 (624)

 

It seems to occur after I have been writing for about an hour or so non-stop. The redraw (blank area happens whenever I scroll down... nearly everytime).

 

Hi n8vdude,

 

Thanks for the additional information on the redraw issue. Please forward any Storyist console messages to me and I'll take a look.

 

On the typing lag issue: do you notice any disk activity what this happens? If you've got Spotlight enabled (or iDisk sync), that can take a lot of CPU and cause performance issues.

 

-Steve

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Hi n8vdude,

 

Thanks for the additional information on the redraw issue. Please forward any Storyist console messages to me and I'll take a look.

 

On the typing lag issue: do you notice any disk activity what this happens? If you've got Spotlight enabled (or iDisk sync), that can take a lot of CPU and cause performance issues.

 

-Steve

It happens to me sooner or later in every session and has since 1.3, at least (PPC G5, OS 10.4.11, 2 GB RAM). Mostly it's just an annoyance to see the spinning beach ball, but it becomes quite frustrating if I'm typing, say a character name in one of the sheets, because Storyist loses track of the typing and often ends up creating a new character or setting with the partial name. And if I click elsewhere in the sheet, it seems to think I'm selecting bunches of text and freezes. It hasn't crashed: I can still save the file and exit normally. It just refuses to accept any input.

 

I've never seen anything recorded in the Console.

 

The work-arounds are, as noted elsewhere, to hit one of the arrow keys or to click away from the problem sheet and then go back to it.

 

It is odd, though, that if the problem lies in the underlying OS, I see the behavior only in Storyist. Or is that the reason Word sometimes goes flaky for no apparent reason and crashes? Hmmm.

Best,

Marguerite

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It happens to me sooner or later in every session and has since 1.3, at least (PPC G5, OS 10.4.11, 2 GB RAM). Mostly it's just an annoyance to see the spinning beach ball, but it becomes quite frustrating if I'm typing, say a character name in one of the sheets, because Storyist loses track of the typing and often ends up creating a new character or setting with the partial name. And if I click elsewhere in the sheet, it seems to think I'm selecting bunches of text and freezes. It hasn't crashed: I can still save the file and exit normally. It just refuses to accept any input.

 

I've never seen anything recorded in the Console.

 

The work-arounds are, as noted elsewhere, to hit one of the arrow keys or to click away from the problem sheet and then go back to it.

 

It is odd, though, that if the problem lies in the underlying OS, I see the behavior only in Storyist. Or is that the reason Word sometimes goes flaky for no apparent reason and crashes? Hmmm.

Best,

Marguerite

 

That's the same sort of thing that I am talking about. It seems to happen for me not just on the sheets but also in the manuscript. It just lags for no apparent reason. I am not running iDisk or Spotlight (both are bothersome... what you get for the drag on the OS is not worth it in my estimation so I disable/don't use it as much as possible). I find Marguerite's comment enlightening... I never associated that it could be the OS having issues and not necessarily Microsoft's bloatware at the root of the problem. Hmmm, may have to adjust my issues with Microsoft going forward and give them more of a break. Who knew??!

 

;)

 

Thanks for responding though! Its nice to see forums that are (pro) active!

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That's the same sort of thing that I am talking about. It seems to happen for me not just on the sheets but also in the manuscript. It just lags for no apparent reason. I am not running iDisk or Spotlight (both are bothersome... what you get for the drag on the OS is not worth it in my estimation so I disable/don't use it as much as possible). I find Marguerite's comment enlightening... I never associated that it could be the OS having issues and not necessarily Microsoft's bloatware at the root of the problem. Hmmm, may have to adjust my issues with Microsoft going forward and give them more of a break. Who knew??!

 

;)

 

Thanks for responding though! Its nice to see forums that are (pro) active!

Sorry if I was unclear. It happens to me, too, in the manuscript as or more often than in the sheets. It's just less of a problem in the manuscript because hitting the cursor key solves it pretty quickly. In the sheets, it can have other weird side-effects because of the way Storyist functions (features, not bugs). So when the slowdown occurs in the manuscript, I make a face and stab the arrow. When the same thing happens in the sheets, I say rude words and try to minimize the damage.

 

But if--and this is pure speculation on my part--Darth Processor is also affected by the redraw bug in the OS, the results are much more annoying (most things about DP are more annoying). At least Storyist doesn't (usually) flake out completely and trash hours of work....

 

Hey, at least we're not running Vista--or, as the latest Apple ad has it, buzzzzzzz. ;)

Best,

M

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  • 3 weeks later...

I hadn't really had an issue with this until recently. Previously, I worked in page view at 100%, and the only time I got any lag is when Storyist was autosaving my manuscript. Because I've been working so much in it, I bumped it up to 125%, and now I get the redrawing issue a lot. It's not really troubling to me, because I know the text is still there, but it does kinda distrupt the flow.

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I hadn't really had an issue with this until recently. Previously, I worked in page view at 100%, and the only time I got any lag is when Storyist was autosaving my manuscript. Because I've been working so much in it, I bumped it up to 125%, and now I get the redrawing issue a lot. It's not really troubling to me, because I know the text is still there, but it does kinda distrupt the flow.

So the zoom makes it worse? I hadn't considered that. I suppose it means more redraws, Still....

 

So we have to choose: see the text or type without delay? :D

Best,

M

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It does seem that way. All in all, it's not a huge thing for me - Storyist always recovers quickly enough for me. I use it as a little quiet reminder to sit up straight and take a sip of water.

I don't know why but I haven't had this problem for several releases now so I really can't speak to it.

Calli's way of handling it could make for an interesting new feature, though. A pop-up that tells the writer when to eat and sleep. (Remember that annoying little paper clip in Windows?)

-Thoth.

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So the zoom makes it worse? I hadn't considered that. I suppose it means more redraws, Still....

 

I'll investigate the possible connection with zoom. If anyone else runs across this problem, could you please post the zoom setting when it occurs?

 

-Steve

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My usual zoom setting is 200%, and I encounter it frequently.

Best,

M

It's probably worth mentioning that my usual zoom setting is also 200% (also to avoid eye strain), and I haven't encounter it in a very long time. But I'm using an iMac (desktop). Are you using a Mac notebook (laptop)? Could that be the common factor?

 

No Close Encounters Of The Blank Kind,

-Thoth

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Well, is everyone running the same version on the same platform? I'm running Storyist 1.5.1 on OSX 10.5.5. :D

Hah! I've been having too much trouble with Leopard (most of the stuff I use doesn't run well on it, or not at all) so I run Storyist 1.5.1 on Tiger (OSX 10.4.11 to be specific) and crossing my fingers that the next Leopard release (Snow Leopard) will be so wonderful that it will inspire my software developers to make good versions for it. (I hear that Apple will be addressing Leopard bugs and overall system stability for Snow Leopard.)

 

Hopefully,

-Thoth

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It's probably worth mentioning that my usual zoom setting is also 200% (also to avoid eye strain), and I haven't encounter it in a very long time. But I'm using an iMac (desktop). Are you using a Mac notebook (laptop)? Could that be the common factor?

 

No Close Encounters Of The Blank Kind,

-Thoth

Nay, o Lord of Justice. In this case I am zooming to 200% on a PowerMac G5 with a 23-inch monitor with 2 GB RAM, running 10.4.11. I run Storyist on my Powerbook so seldom that I cannot comment, because pretty much every time I start it up, I have to update Storyist, which has gone through 3-4 versions in the interim (that Steve is a workaholic par excellence!). :D

Best,

M

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