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Multi-Markdown Composer Version 2.6.1 (45) crashes frequently

• Edit

jonathan.morgan.007

06 Dec, 2013 05:19 PM

Hi,

Multi-Markdown Composer Version 2.6.1 (45) crashes frequently on my computer - perhaps once an hour.

I am running the latest seed of OS X 10.9.1. That might be part of the problem, but the crashes (the application just quits out), occurred on 10.9.0, also.

The document I am editing is relatively large (560 lines), with a lot of nested lists. I can't figure out exactly what causes the crash. I thought it might be related to re-formatting nested list items, but it also just crashes when I am typing, not changing format at all. It happens relatively reliably, though, after an hour or two of use.

Any advice? I'd be happy to help debug if you tell me how to generate useful information. I can also attach the file in question if that would help (it is notes on journalism research, not exactly exciting, but lots of bullets!).

Thanks,

Jonathan Morgan

1. Support Staff 1 Posted by Fletcher on 06 Dec, 2013 09:32 PM

   

   Jonathan,

   Thanks for writing in and sorry you're having trouble. You're the first person to report crashes with this build, so more information will definitely be helpful.

   1. Pre-release versions of 10.9 were very buggy, but I haven't noticed problems with the final release.

   2. If you can send me crash reports, that would be very helpful.

   3. The document in question would also be helpful. I don't share user documents with others (without explicit permission) and delete them once I'm done troubleshooting.

   Thanks, and I'll do my best to figure out the problem!

   Fletcher

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2. 2 Posted by jonathan.morgan... on 06 Dec, 2013 10:07 PM

   

   OK. The file is attached. It isn't generating crash reports that I am notified of. It just quits. Is there a place where crash reports are stored? It could just be that I'm on the beta of 10.9.1, also. If that is possible, and you want to just wait for the final release, that is fine, too.

   With this file and the app store version, it had lots of trouble with the formatting. The beta is much better, but it still sometimes gives the live preview fits.

   • notes_on_beats.md 52.5 KB
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3. Support Staff 3 Posted by Fletcher on 06 Dec, 2013 11:43 PM

   

   It shouldn't "just quit", unless you're typing Cmd-Q or selecting the menu. That does make me wonder about 10.9.1, but you also said it happens with 10.9?? (Did you reinstall the official release, or are you still running the beta/preview?)

   If an app crashes, a dialog should appear offering you the opportunity to review a crash report.

   You can check the Console app (search for multimarkdown) to see if anything relevant appears.

   As for the preview and lists, if you can send me exactly what you're referring to it would be helpful. Some people forget that the preview shows what they have typed, and not what they think they have typed, especially in regards to lists. There are times during editing where the meaning of a piece of text changes based on another change.

   Another thing you can try is to increase the delay between updates of the preview. If you have long lists, the preview is sometimes a bit slower. Sometimes a delay makes things appear smoother.

   F-

   --
   Fletcher T. Penney
   Manager, Founder
   MultiMarkdown Software, LLC
   [email blocked]

   • smime.p7s 4.78 KB
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4. 4 Posted by jonathan.morgan... on 07 Dec, 2013 06:09 AM

   

   OK. Found the crash reports. They were listed in the log. I have attached four files. The first, multimarkdown_composer_console.txt, is the messages in the console. The other three are three of the crash reports. Let me know if I can do anything else to help, and let me know if you want me to just wait for the general release of 10.9.1 - the auto-save feature has so far kept me from losing more than a sentence of work, so no worries.

   I'll be working in the same file tomorrow, and I'll try to make note of workflows that reliably cause problems with rendering.

   Also thanks for the help! I appreciate it!

   Jon

   • multimarkdown_composer_console.txt 2.55 KB
   • MultiMarkdown_Composer_2013-12-04-083411_JSM-2012-MacMini.crash 64.8 KB
   • MultiMarkdown_Composer_2013-12-05-222643_JSM-2012-MacMini.crash 59 KB
   • MultiMarkdown_Composer_2013-12-06-111059_JSM-2012-MacMini.crash 58.4 KB
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5. Support Staff 5 Posted by Fletcher on 07 Dec, 2013 05:44 PM

   

   Hmmm..

   Each of those crash reports was on 10.9.1.

   The crashes each arose from a different user action, but the crashing thread in 2 of the 3 was running the exact same code. The third crash involved a different thread, *but* a parallel thread was running the same code that crashed in the other two cases.

   The code in question is run every time even a single character changes in the editor pane --- meaning it gets run **A LOT** by every user. That code also hasn't been changed in a while (mostly in January). So it's been running safely for months across all users without problems until now.

   The code in question is actually very simple, and really just calls out to Apple's code in a way that doesn't leave me much a means to screw it up.

   The fact that I don't have any other users submitting similar bug reports makes me wonder if it is a 10.9.1 issue.

   That said, the 10.9.1 release notes don't suggest they are working on the Regex library stuff, which is where the problem seems to be. But I did experience similar problems during the development of 10.9 --- really random stuff that broke, and then got fixed later.

   Feel free to send me more crash reports and I'll continue to look for patterns. I am forced to guess that this is a 10.9.1 issue, but I hate blaming Apple until I am absolutely sure.

   Thanks for taking the time to send this!

   F-

   --
   Fletcher T. Penney
   Manager, Founder
   MultiMarkdown Software, LLC
   [email blocked]

   • smime.p7s 4.78 KB
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6. 6 Posted by jonathan.morgan... on 07 Dec, 2013 11:56 PM

   

   Now that I think about it, I did install this latest build after installing 10.9.1, so I've only had the problems on 10.9.1. I can keep letting you know if it crashes, but it probably makes sense to wait for the final release and see how it works then. With auto-save, it is fine, definitely usable.

   Sorry if this took too much of your time. I am a programmer myself, and I always try to report errors on favorite programs, just in case no one else has.

   Thanks,

   Jon

   --

   "The man with the new idea is a Crank until the idea succeeds."
   - Mark Twain, from 'Following the Equator: A Journey Around the World'
   (Sent from my iPhone)

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7. Support Staff 7 Posted by Fletcher on 09 Dec, 2013 09:44 PM

   

   Sorry for the delayed response.

   No problem at all. We'll see what happens when 10.9.1 is finalized.

   I definitely appreciate it when errors are reported, especially when there's actually a useful description and information. I hate the dreaded, "it doesn't work" bug reports that are less than useless...

   F-

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8. Fletcher closed this discussion on 12 Dec, 2013 06:39 PM.

9. Fletcher re-opened this discussion on 17 Dec, 2013 03:06 AM

10. Support Staff 8 Posted by Fletcher on 17 Dec, 2013 03:06 AM

    

    10.9.1 is now official. Let me know if the problem still exists -- I haven't upgraded yet.

    F-

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11. 9 Posted by jonathan.morgan... on 18 Dec, 2013 06:04 PM

    

    I should have a chance to put it through its paces either this afternoon or tomorrow morning, and I’ll let you know how it goes.

    Thanks,

    Jon

    --

    "The man with the new idea is a Crank until the idea succeeds."
    - Mark Twain, from 'Following the Equator: A Journey Around the World'

    • Edit

12. 10 Posted by jonathan.morgan... on 10 Jan, 2014 06:45 PM

    

    Hello,

    Sorry it took so long, but I'm using the latest multimarkdown editor release (or at least I think it is) on the official 10.9.1, and I got another crash. The file I was editing and the crash log is attached.

    Let me know if I can help debug, and I'll let you know if it crashes again.

    Thanks,

    Jon

    • imapsync-to-google-notes.markdown 7.31 KB
    • MultiMarkdown_Composer_2014-01-10-122725_JSM-2009-MBP.crash 51.5 KB
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13. Support Staff 11 Posted by Fletcher on 11 Jan, 2014 12:52 AM

    

    While I can't *swear*, it looks like that crash entirely relates to Apple code handling scrolling. I don't even see where any of my code was called. If it happens again, definitely let me know. Not sure there's anything I can do right now with it.

    F-

    --
    Fletcher T. Penney
    Manager, Founder
    MultiMarkdown Software, LLC
    [email blocked]

    • smime.p7s 4.78 KB
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14. Fletcher closed this discussion on 05 Feb, 2014 09:39 PM.