#1 Main window blank

[Anonymous]

Windows XP, process dashboard 10.1 using MSVDM as a virtual display manager, two headed system. I see cases when the process dashboard main window refuses to refresh and I'm stuck with a blank window or a window that reflects the contents of a window that had occluded it.

[Nobody/Anonymous]

Screen shot of bad state.

[David Tuma]

Unfortunately, this problem is unlikely to be within the sphere of influence of the Process Dashboard application.

The Process Dashboard is a Java application, and runs within the Java virtual machine. The Java virtual machine is responsible for interacting with the underlying operating system and making the native calls that display and repaint windows. The Process Dashboard doesn't have any control over these calls or interactions; the bug would most likely need to be fixed in Java itself.

I would encourage you to visit www.java.com and ensure that you are using the most up-to-date version of Java. If other people have observed this same problem, it is possible that the creators of Java have already fixed it, and upgrading Java may resolve the problem.

If you are using the most up-to-date version of Java, you might also want to ensure that the video drivers for your computer are up to date. Typically you would need to visit the support website of your computer manufacturer (e.g. Dell, Lenovo, Gateway, etc) to check for these updates. Over the years Process Dashboard users have occasionally reported bugs like this one, which were resolved when the user upgraded the driver for their video card.

If you cannot or choose not to explore those possibilities, you might try a simple workaround: resizing the Process Dashboard window. Manually changing the size of the window will trigger a revalidation of the window contents, and this may trigger a repaint.

[Nobody/Anonymous]

1. All is up to date (drivers, jvm etc).
2. resizing does not help...nor does minimization/restore..., nor occlude/unocclude which is puzzling to me, as I would have thought those invalidate sufficiently to trigger a repaint.
I suggest there are code paths where the repaint may be called and think it has nothing to do when in fact it does... specifically when the virtual display is changed away and then to the window containing the dashboard. Possibly there's an invalidation but no invalid region?

[David Tuma]

From your description, it sounds very much like the Java virtual machine you are using doesn't play well with MSVDM, or vice versa.

Can you run an experiment with another Java application - like the SwingSet demo from Sun Microsystems? Try clicking on this link:
http://java.sun.com/javase/technologies/desktop/javawebstart/apps/swingset2.jnlp

When that application runs, do you encounter the same repaining problems as you do with the Process Dashboard?

[Nobody/Anonymous]

Swingset and all other Java applications work just fine. I did find a work around and another 1 other interesting hiccup.

Workaround: I can force a repaint by going to the tray icon and selecting
"Show process dashoard"

Clicking disable system tray icon does nothing
Other interesting issue.. just prior to such failures if I start the timer the start arrow background does not turn green.

[David Tuma]

Here is another experiment: close the dashboard and reopen it. Once open, do not minimize the window. Does repainting work reliably at that point?

Then, minimize the window, and redisplay it. After the minimize/redisplay operation, does the repaint problem begin?

(I am curious to know whether the repaint problem might only begin after the application has been minimized at least once.)

Also, do any of the other windows in the PD (time log, defect log, task & schedule) exhibit the repaint problem, or is it just the main toolbar?