XYplorer 22.40.0200 "not responding" on contents search

[xyplorerköln]

1. When using Contents Search to search for content in some .pdf files, XYplorer hangs and goes into "not responding" mode.
2. After waiting many minutes with no further activity from XYplorer, the only option is to force-close XYplorer.
3. When XYplorer is restarted and Contents Search is attempted again, the error is shown:
"XY64contents.exe: Could not close the previous instance of this script. Keep waiting?"
4. If user clicks "Yes" then nothing happens and the error prompt continues to reappear.
5. If user clicks "No" then for every file to be checked, this error prompt reappears and requires user click input.

[admin]

What happens when content-search those files in 32-bit mode? Untick both to test:

Configuration | Other | Shell Integration | 64-bit Windows | Use 64-bit IFilters for content search
Configuration | Other | Shell Integration | 64-bit Windows | Fall back to IFilters of the other bitness

[xyplorerköln]

What happens when content-search those files in 32-bit mode? Untick both to test:

Configuration | Other | Shell Integration | 64-bit Windows | Use 64-bit IFilters for content search
Configuration | Other | Shell Integration | 64-bit Windows | Fall back to IFilters of the other bitness

Apologies for not responding until now.

Using NirSoft SearchFilterView, it turned out that while these systems originally had PDF-XChange IFilters applied for .pdf, a woefully inefficient Kofax Power PDF IFilter had been inadvertently applied through a device driver installation package. After manually reverting this change, the PDF-XChange IFilter performs quickly once again.

To answer your question, using PDF-XChange IFilter:
Checking "Use 64-bit IFilters for content search", Content search works moderately well. (ex: 1,000 files searched in 2-3 minutes)
Unchecking "Use 64-bit IFilters for content search", Content search works 3-4x as fast. (ex: 1,000 files searched in 1 minute)
Checking "Fall back to IFilters of the other bitness" for either selection above, Content search works well.
Unchecking "Fall back to IFilters of the other bitness" with "Use 64-bit IFilters for content search" unchecked results in huge performance gains. (ex: 1,000 files searched in 20 seconds).

In all cases, search results were similar. The 64-bit searches provided slightly more accurate results (due to use of other IFilters available on the 64-bit system finding more files) but the 32-bit searches were nearly as good.

For anyone who lands on this post and is interested:
Testing numerous .pdf-focused software packages that offer IFilters, it was interesting to discover that several (Adobe, Kofax, Nuance, and others) cause XYplorer to hang and become unresponsive. PDF IFilters that seem to work well with XYplorer include:

-Tracker PDF-XChange Filter Handler (included with PDF-XChange Editor)
-Foxit PDF IFilter Pro (included with Foxit PDF Editor Pro)
-PDFlib TET PDF IFilter (standalone package)
-SumatraPDF IFilter Search Helper (included with Sumatra)

A note to Don:
Given the general hassle and tedium of testing various IFilters that cause hangs/crashes, etc., would it make sense to streamline discovery a bit? Each user having to go through that process as they discover (common) problems with Content search is a large time cost per user. Some new users may be confused by the idea of IFilters, how to install, which one to choose, etc. so making it easier might be nice.

[admin]

Thank you for sharing the results of your thorough research!

Given the general hassle and tedium of testing various IFilters that cause hangs/crashes, etc., would it make sense to streamline discovery a bit? Each user having to go through that process as they discover (common) problems with Content search is a large time cost per user. Some new users may be confused by the idea of IFilters, how to install, which one to choose, etc. so making it easier might be nice.

streamline discovery ... but how?

... a bit later: okay, I saw all your other posts on this now, there is probably some idea in there, later...

[HaySeed_XYp]

Hi xyplorerköln,
Your post of 14 Apr 2023 raises a number of interesting issues. Not sure if you wish to discuss them or, you were just making a report on your noble explorations. Should you wish to discuss them could you kindly tell me:
1)The name and date of your PDF-XChange-Filter-Handler/PDF-XChange-Shell-Extension eg mine is XCShInfo.x64.dll 2023-06-22 12:28:29 AM (which I believe is the most current)
2)Your post of 15 Nov 2021 is long ago, could you kindly confirm that resolving of the Kofax Power PDF IFilter issue was the resolution to the problem expressed in that initial post?
3)Were you surprised by your speed test results?
Thanks

[xyplorerköln]

Hello @HaySeed_XYp, to answer your questions:

1) The PDF-XChange IFilter in use is slightly older than yours but is the same-named .dll file.
2. Yes, once the PDF-XChange IFilter was applied as the primary handler instead of the Kofax Power PDF IFilter, performance improved dramatically and the original reported issue was considered resolved.
3. The most surprising aspects of the speed test results were (a) that the IFilters of popular software products performed so unacceptably poorly, and (b) that the different 64-bit/32-bit and fall-back settings effected such large differences in performance.

[HaySeed_XYp]

I appreciated the answers @xyplorerköln

To expand a bit on your very first post, I'll add the following, (as I recall):

6. If you LMB (left mouse button) on the 'Stop(Esc)' button
(or anywhere within the window), the window will ghost (fade white).

7. When you LMB on the Close 'X' in the "..(Not Responding)" title bar,
XYplorer will Crash/Close and a Crash dump report will be sent to MS
(if you let it).

a)I don't remember if you get '6.' and '7.' after both scenarios
ie after your '2.' and after your '5.', or, one or the other?

b)I just mention the above, because the ghosting is distinctive. I don't
remember having seen this before. Apparently it's Windows way
of telling you, that the app's day is done. RIP!

c)You can break out of both hangs, but you want to do it before
Windows gives XYplorer last rites. (IOW while the XYplorer window
is still, just hung)

Why did I ask?

Re. 1)...
I was a victim after updating PDF-Xchange Editor. I'm not sure if
all Tracker's updates, update the IFilter but the date changes regularly.
- Have I had a problem with XYplorer after updating PDF-Xchange,
Editor before? No.
- Did XYplorer have a problem with the new XCShInfo.x64.dll?
Absolutely not!
- So why was XYplorer crashing. Seems to be that new XCShInfo.x64.dll
was integrated into Windows in a slightly different way, that didn't
suit XYplorer. Once I noticed, it was easy to fix. One caveat, after
fixing, I couldn't reverse the fix. I'll have to wait and see if I
get the same issue next time I update PDF-Xchange Editor.

Re. 2)...
a)Just wanted to establish that jiggering with the configuration settings
was not the solution to your problem, but I am interested in talking
about those settings later.
b)There are two problems here. The first is the irritant that sets
XYplorer off. The second is XYplorer's bad behaviour, in response
to the irritant. I did a little (very far from thorough) searching in
the forum on this problem. The standard response I saw was "Can't
reproduce the problem" Had you reported your solution, then
Program Author should have been able to reproduce the problem
and fix XYplorer's, end of the problem. That he didn't, suggests
that he has higher priorities (Fine by me, I'm alright Jack, and he's
doing lots of other good things with his time). Or you never told him
what caused the problem. I did a search on 'Kofax' and could find no
indication that you had reported your solution.

Re. 3)...
I found it interesting that no-one commented on your findings, did
a few tests of my own. Hope to discuss later.
With regard to your:

'a)' Regarding: "IFilters of popular software products"
I would point out that, the authors of those IFilters write
them to complement/enhance their own products, not XYplorer

'b)' Regarding: "64-bit/32-bit and fall-back settings"
I don't think you should assume, that those settings do,
what you might think they do, based on their name.

My apologies to any, who tried to get through the above. I didn't mean to prattle on