RE: [Ifeffit] Minor bugs in the new versions
Along the topic of not being able to run Artemis and Athena simultaneously under Windows. 1. Lack of complaints doesn't mean that he problem is rare. I have consistently seen this behavior (run either Artemis or Athena) on 3 different Windows NT/Win 2000 (incidently 128 Mb RAM) machines. I recall pointing it out to Bruce many moons ago, and just accepting it as the way things were. Matt and Bruce obviously spend a lot of time working on their programs to our benefit, and I didn't think it was worth Bruce's time to chase a small, possibly not fixable, problem like that down. Thus, I did not bug him about it after the first mention of it. I would just extract the EXFAS signal in Athena, save the file, close Athena, open Artemis, and fit. It seemed like a small price to pay for being able to use a great set of programs. 2. However, the recent exchanges on this matter got me to look closer. Now I see that I can run both programs simultaneously on my brand-spanking-new 1 Gb RAM Windows XP computer. I'll have to try it under WinXP and 512 Mb RAM at home this evening. Maybe this is indeed a memory size problem. 3. It seems like more and more of the posts to the Ifeffit list are about general EXAFS things like (for a recent example), what k-range to use. Bruce and Matt and others have been very helpful to the needy, and I can tell it has been much appreciated. (I think I already know the answer to my following question). Has it been considered to "split" the Iffefit list into 2 topics, 1 for general XAFS and 1 for Ifeffit and related programs. (Suspected answer.... "Great idea Mark, we've talked about this before, why don't you volunteer?") Mark J. ------------------------------ Mark P. Jensen Chemistry Division Argonne National Laboratory 9700 South Cass Avenue Argonne, Illinois 60439-4831 USA 630-252-3670 630-252-7501 FAX mjensen@anl.gov
On Wednesday 28 April 2004 03:57 pm, Jensen, Mark P. wrote:
1. Lack of complaints doesn't mean that he problem is rare. I have consistently seen this behavior (run either Artemis or Athena) on 3 different Windows NT/Win 2000 (incidently 128 Mb RAM) machines. I recall pointing it out to Bruce many moons ago, and just accepting it as the way things were.
I am embarassed to say that I do not remember discussing this with you at all. Sigh! Apparently there is a severly limited number of problems that I can keep in my little brain at any given time. When enough new ones show up, the old ones get squeezed out like tooth paste. One solution to this problem is to have a web based bug tracker that people can submit their bug reports to. This wouldn't necessarily result in faster fixes, but it might help my memory problems. I don't really have access to a machine where I could set one up, but if someone wanted to volunteer, that would be great. Mark, if you are so motivated and your memory is configured in an appropriate way, it would be interesting run your tests with variable amounts of memory in the computer and let us know the results. It would also be interesting to know how the behavior of A&A changes depending on what other programs you have running at the time. (That is, can you only open both programs if Word is not running on an XYZ Mb machine?) As for splitting the list into xafs and software tracks, that's not a bad idea. It's not obvious that the volume is really so high (and it certainly is not noisy enough) that this is completely necessary, but there is nothing wrong with the notion. I must say, though, that I am thrilled that so much traffic lately has been about the practice of xafs rather than the bugs in my crappy software. To my mind, that is the ideal use of the mailing list. I found both the substrate and k-range threads to be very interesting. B -- Bruce Ravel ----------------------------------- ravel@phys.washington.edu Code 6134, Building 3, Room 405 Naval Research Laboratory phone: (1) 202 767 2268 Washington DC 20375, USA fax: (1) 202 767 4642 NRL Synchrotron Radiation Consortium (NRL-SRC) Beamlines X11a, X11b, X23b National Synchrotron Light Source Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, NY 11973 My homepage: http://feff.phys.washington.edu/~ravel EXAFS software: http://feff.phys.washington.edu/~ravel/software/exafs/
Mark, Gerrit, Bruce, Thanks!! OK, it's an issue with virtual memory. For everyone else experiencing this problem, details of how to set virtual memory in Windows XP are at: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;308417#31 It's probably similar for othe versions as well: deep in Control-Panel->System, and buried under tabs named 'Advanced'. Mark wrote:
3. It seems like more and more of the posts to the Ifeffit list are about general EXAFS things like (for a recent example), what k-range to use. Bruce and Matt and others have been very helpful to the needy, and I can tell it has been much appreciated. (I think I already know the answer to my following question). Has it been considered to "split" the Iffefit list into 2 topics, 1 for general XAFS and 1 for Ifeffit and related programs. (Suspected answer.... "Great idea Mark, we've talked about this before, why don't you volunteer?")
We have considered it and are willing to consider it again. The traffic has been high lately: it's hard for me to keep up. But the kmin/kmax questions seems like a good example of the overlap between general EXAFS and 'how do I operate athena/artemis' questions, and suggests that it's worthwhile to keep it that way. It is easy to add mailing list(s) at millenia.cars.aps.anl.gov or sourceforge.net. Right now there is one by choice. Well, there is also a Feff discussion list, too. Having XAFS-related mailing list(s) and/or other internet-based knowledge systems at the IXS website was discussed on this list this past winter (starting in Nov 2003). My view (I can't speak for Carlo or Grant) is that it was decided to wait, partly to determine what technologies were needed and would get used. Of course, membership in this list is voluntary and the archives are world-readable, and no one would be offended if people read the archives at their leisure without joining. Currently, posts from non-members need approval, but that's to avoid spam not to discourage posts, and legitimate questions get passed on as soon as Bruce or I see them. It's easy to change these settings. Is changing or adding lists desired? If you have an opinion (especially of the 'we need a change' variety), send me a private email (newville @ cars.uchicago.edu) in the next week or so. Don't be shy about asking for something that seems hard: If it's too hard, we won't do it, but the world-editable FAQ turned out to be easy (and special thanks to Peter S for all the additions!). Bruce wrote:
One solution to this problem is to have a web based bug tracker that people can submit their bug reports to. This wouldn't necessarily result in faster fixes, but it might help my memory problems. I don't really have access to a machine where I could set one up, but if someone wanted to volunteer, that would be great.
Sourceforge.net provides a bug tracking system. I haven't looked into how to set it up or use it. If someone knew how to do this or was willing to figure it out, that would be great. --Matt
On Thursday 29 April 2004 11:12 am, Matt Newville wrote:
Sourceforge.net provides a bug tracking system. I haven't looked into how to set it up or use it. If someone knew how to do this or was willing to figure it out, that would be great.
I did some poking around with SF's bug tracker before lunch today. I set up a number of categories and submitted a couple of bugs that Dave Barton had sent to me last week. If you go to http://sourceforge.net/projects/ifeffit/ and click on "Bugs" in the list of links near the top of the page, you will be taken to the ifeffit bug tracking page. By default, only open bugs are listed. (I left one open and marked one as closed). You can see all bugs by setting status to open and clicking "Browse". Click "Submit new" to go to the bug submission page. Once there, select the apporpriate category and fill in the form. Use the Summary box for a concise description of the bug and the details box for a complete explanation. If you don't have a SourceForge account, please identify yourself in the detail box so I know who to contact for more information. There is a way to attach a file if you want to include a project or some other file along with the bug report. Once a bug is opened, I will be notified by email. (Matt is not notified, and he won't be unless he chooses to change the configuration.) Feel free to try this, if you are so inclined. I will still accept bug reports submitted straight to me, although I might choose to then post them on the bug tracking page. Regards, B -- Bruce Ravel ----------------------------------- ravel@phys.washington.edu Code 6134, Building 3, Room 405 Naval Research Laboratory phone: (1) 202 767 2268 Washington DC 20375, USA fax: (1) 202 767 4642 NRL Synchrotron Radiation Consortium (NRL-SRC) Beamlines X11a, X11b, X23b National Synchrotron Light Source Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, NY 11973 My homepage: http://feff.phys.washington.edu/~ravel EXAFS software: http://feff.phys.washington.edu/~ravel/software/exafs/
participants (3)
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Bruce Ravel -
Jensen, Mark P. -
Matt Newville