Crash - crash - crash... >:(

[mmo]

EA v10.0 (build 1008) keeps crashing on me without end! At least once every 15 minutes I have to restart this beast. And not seldom it corrupts the .eap file while doing so! Using it has turned into a dance on raw eggs! Meanwhile I create backup copies of the file I am working on every 30-60 minutes and before every "complex" operation.

E.g.:

• after copy-pasting a diagram (deep copy) right clicking on the duplicated diagram to change its name --> >80% crash probability
• Synchronizing with the code --> 50% crash/hang probability.
• Renaming a package and subsequently right clicking on it --> 50% crash probability.

etc. etc.

I am witnessing this on two different, otherwise perfectly running systems, so it's definitely NOT any system issue or corruption!

This is really no fun any more! I am really starting to loose my entire enthusiasm about this program!  :'(

[Eve]

I'm a very heavy user of EA. I have not seen any of the problems that you have described, nor have any of the people who would normally let me know if anything like that happened.

My instinct is that there is already a corruption in your .eap file, and occasionally it does something that EA isn't able to handle.

Personally, I would try:

• Running a repair/compact eap file (before a problem occurs)
• Doing a transfer to a new .eap file. (Tools | Data Management | Project Transfer)
• Moving to a new .eap file via XMI export/import.

It's an unfortunate side effect of using an Access database as a file format. We do inherit all their negative sides unless you're able to move to a server repository.

[mmo]

*My* instinct is, that this has something to do with the MDG Eclipse Integration that I am using.
I had 100% crashes (i.e. immediately at EVERY right click!) when I ran it with a 64-bit Eclipse and I have a lower crash rate, since I retrograded to a 32-bit Eclipse version and installed MDG Eclipse integration into that.

I already tried to transfer to a new EAP and I also started over once and created a new .eap file, hoping this would solve these problems, but it almost immediately re-occurred.

Now - I can anticipate that you ask - why do I use that integration thingy? Alas, EA doesn't make much sense for me if I can not integrate it with Eclipse.

M.

PS.: where is this repair/compact option? I wasn't able to locate that one.

[qwerty]

see Tools/Data Management

q.

[Takeshi K]

I guess that the crash is caused by some Add-in. Please disable all Add-ins (including MDG Eclipse Integration) and check if a crash occurs again.

HTH,

[Eve]

It may well be Eclipse Integration. Have you sent in a bug report about the issue?

I won't question that you need EA integrated with Eclipse, but it sounds like you're not actually using Eclipse integration (which provides EA project browser and diagrams inside the Eclipse environment.)

If that's the case, you could try installing MDG Link instead. (Your integration license covers that.) It still provides features for connecting to an Eclipse project, but doesn't provide EA features inside Eclipse.

[Geert Bellekens]

I know from experience that right clicking can lead to EA crashing when they are not handled correctly by an add-in.

I had a bunch of nasty "race condition" bugs when I made my EA Navigator multi-threaded. These bug made EA crash and burn the moment I right clicked on an element when the background thread was still working.

I got all of the multi-threading related bugs fixed, but it took a big effort. I can imagine the Eclipse add-in suffers from the same type of problem.

Geert

[MMA]

I know from experience that right clicking can lead to EA crashing when they are not handled correctly by an add-in.

I had a bunch of nasty "race condition" bugs when I made my EA Navigator multi-threaded. These bug made EA crash and burn the moment I right clicked on an element when the background thread was still working.

I got all of the multi-threading related bugs fixed, but it took a big effort. I can imagine the Eclipse add-in suffers from the same type of problem.

Geert

Hi Geert,

According to your experience, was the crash happening only on right click or left click as well? Obviously, the right click action usually includes the "left click".

Thanks
mma

[Geert Bellekens]

Mostly right click, because that will try to show the context menu and by doing so call the EA_GetMenuItems and EA_GetMenuState operations on the add-in.

Left clicking only calls the EA_OnContextItemChanged, which in my case was less of a problem.

Geert

[MMA]

Mostly right click, because that will try to show the context menu and by doing so call the EA_GetMenuItems and EA_GetMenuState operations on the add-in.

Left clicking only calls the EA_OnContextItemChanged, which in my case was less of a problem.

Geert

Thanks Geert,

My addin shows that EA_GetMenuState won't be broadcasted or the handler in my addin be invoked until we do this "right click (successfully) to show context menu | Extensions | MyAddin", then the "stated" menu items will be shown.

So may I say "EA_GetMenuState" is not to be blamed for the crash? (Because the crash happens on the immediate right click.)

Then I'm interested in your "race condition". May I conclude from you description that "EA_GetMenuItems" runs in thread1, something else  runs in a concurrent thread2, and the race between thread1 and thread2 caused a crash?

Or could you describe your crash in more detail?

Thank you so much.

[Geert Bellekens]

Mostly right click, because that will try to show the context menu and by doing so call the EA_GetMenuItems and EA_GetMenuState operations on the add-in.

Left clicking only calls the EA_OnContextItemChanged, which in my case was less of a problem.

Geert

Thanks Geert,

My addin shows that EA_GetMenuState won't be broadcasted or the handler in my addin be invoked until we do this "right click (successfully) to show context menu | Extensions | MyAddin", then the "stated" menu items will be shown.

So may I say "EA_GetMenuState" is not to be blamed for the crash? (Because the crash happens on the immediate right click.)

Then I'm interested in your "race condition". May I conclude from you description that "EA_GetMenuItems" runs in thread1, something else  runs in a concurrent thread2, and the race between thread1 and thread2 caused a crash?

Or could you describe your crash in more detail?

Thank you so much.

Seems about right yes, EA_GetMenuState is probably not the problem.

Yes, the race condition is exactly how you described it.
In a EA_GetContextItemChanged event I started a thread loading some stuff into my add-in window, and then a right click would intervene and mess things up, usually ending in a hard crash of EA (something like "Program has encountered a problem and needs to close" type of situation).
Often however the event viewer would contain a more detailed error message.

Geert

[MMA]

Thanks a lot Geert.

I will take care when implementing my Add-In