High-Logic Font Management Service revs too much

[hlff]

Thanks for the great software!

Not sure whether to post here or in another section, but since the application is exhibiting unwanted behavior, I chose here.

I am using MainType 7.0.0 build 1032. Every few minutes, the High Logic Font Management Service spins up to consume 15-20% of CPU. This is on a very fast machine with plenty of resources.

I caught a snapshot of it just as it was spinning back down, hence it was only at 10%:


Perhaps I'm missing something, but I don't understand the need for the service to consume that much CPU so often, especially when the functionality of MainType is dormant (when it's not in use). It causes the system's fans to repeatedly rev up throughout the day and somewhat bogs down the machine when I'm heavily utilizing resources with other apps.

Is there a possibility of reducing this effect in a future build?

[Bhikkhu Pesala]

I think Erwin is going to need more information to solve this. I cannot see any such problem on my system.

1. How many folders are synchronised? What is the delay in minutes for each one?
2. How many fonts are in the synchronised folder(s)
3. Is MainType running?
4. Are you using any plugins for InDesign etc.

[Erwin Denissen]

Within MainType, do go to the main menu and select Library -> Font Folder.

Do look items with "Sync" set to a specific time interval. Such setting forces MainType to go through a folder to look for and process all fonts. That might be an intensive task if the path contains lots of files.

You could either increase the interval, or set it to manual.

Let us know if this helps.

[hlff]

Hi Erwin - thank you for your swift reply.

There are currently no folders listed in the Font Folders panel.

[Erwin Denissen]

Then I suspect you have a lot of installed fonts.

Since one or more font files could have been changed, MainType checks them at specific intervals.

[hlff]

Thanks again for your quick reply, Erwin.

I have 2,466 fonts installed.

My questions would be:
- Is that considered a large number of fonts?
- Is there any way to reduce the intervals, especially when MainType itself is not in use?
- Perhaps is there a way for the checks to be more efficient on CPU usage?

Again, I am highly appreciative of your excellent software. It's just that I'm not installing fonts every few minutes, thus there is no need for MainType to check over and over again.

One suggestion: Could MainType perhaps use a watch-folder algorithm, so that instead of scanning through files for changes per se, it simply waits to detect any changes in specified font install locations? I have other apps that operate in this manner which use almost no resources unless/until something in a watch folder actually changes; then they spring into action.

[Erwin Denissen]

Thanks again for your quick reply, Erwin.

I have 2,466 fonts installed.

My questions would be:
- Is that considered a large number of fonts?

It is more than average, but your system can easily cope with such large number of fonts. Usually it is harder to pick a font from a list of thousands of fonts in your word processing software. That is one of the main reasons why people use a font manager.

- Is there any way to reduce the intervals, especially when MainType itself is not in use?

No.

- Perhaps is there a way for the checks to be more efficient on CPU usage?

MainType would rather use 100% of your CPU power, but your hard disk is too slow

Again, I am highly appreciative of your excellent software. It's just that I'm not installing fonts every few minutes, thus there is no need for MainType to check over and over again.

One suggestion: Could MainType perhaps use a watch-folder algorithm, so that instead of scanning through files for changes per se, it simply waits to detect any changes in specified font install locations? I have other apps that operate in this manner which use almost no resources unless/until something in a watch folder actually changes; then they spring into action.

A couple of years ago that part of the Windows API used to be very unreliable, so after we did implement it our tests proved it was a bad idea, so we were forced to remove it. Maybe it is more reliable now, but our implementation is still very good as well. Especially with more and more people using SSDs which are lightning fast and silent.

[hlff]

Thanks, Erwin.

Yes, I like to use the font manager for categorization and organization, but then I have all my most-used fonts already installed for quick and easy access. I use your software as a reference book for fonts, so to speak.

My main drive (where your application and the system, including fonts, reside) is an SSD with the following specs:
Read: Up to 560 MB/s
Write: Up to 460 MB/s
Maximum 4K read/write IOPS up to 91K/77K

This is a high-end portable workstation:
Intel Core i7-3820QM CPU (8x)
16GB RAM
2x SSDs

So I don't think the hardware is a bottleneck here.

Just to reiterate, my concern is that the Font Management Service spins up every few minutes and makes my system more sluggish (especially when I am using audio/video production software). Since there's no need for your software to do that, realistically, in my case, I would like to suggest some improvement in this area.

Of course, I could turn off the service, but then I'd have to manually hassle with turning it off and on whenever I want to use your software. Instead, I think it makes sense to make your software less taxing on the computer. Perhaps an alternative setting for users like me where the service only scans for font changes when the MainType program itself is running? (I realize this would probably require a longer app startup while the app scans, but since it would be an option, I would be fine with that.) Thoughts?

[Bhikkhu Pesala]

I am puzzled why you're seeing this high CPU use.

I have 508 fonts installed and 4,635 in my library. My font management service never seems to get beyond 2%

I have six font folders in MainType, none of which are synchronised.

[Erwin Denissen]

On my system MainType hardly uses any resources. If you keep it open, but don't do anything with it, the CPU usage remains 0%.

Did you check if the "Registry Fixer" (available from the Tools menu) has detected issues?

[hlff]

Hi Erwin -

Registry Fixer finds one issue (Dorico Icons Regular is a duplicate) but that doesn't need to be fixed because the application Dorico itself keeps two copies of the font, which is by design.

Please note that the MainType application (listed as "MainType - Windows Font Manager" in the Apps section of Task Manager) almost always shows between 0% and 0.5% CPU utilization, which is great. I have no problems with the CPU utilization of the application. Rather, my concern is over the High-Logic Font Management Service, which spins up to consume ~20% of CPU every few minutes.

[hlff]

Hi again Erwin -

I resorted to running Process Lasso (https://bitsum.com) to ratchet the Font Management Service CPU usage down, but of course I would prefer to not have to run a resource-using 3rd-party utility just to control the Font Management Service.

I know you're busy... do you have any other ideas?

One thought I had... if Process Lasso can do it, then perhaps the Font Management Service itself could better balance its own hardware resource usage?

[Erwin Denissen]

Here it is 0% cpu, which is what I expect. I don't know why it behaves differently on your system, but we could take a look if you still experience this.

[hlff]

Yes, every few minutes, "High-Logic Font management Service" spikes to anywhere between ~5% to ~20% of CPU. It's not consistent in the amplitude of the spike, but the spikes consistently occur every few minutes.

[hlff]

Screenshot:



This happens about every 3 minutes.