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Author Topic: Ungroup locks my computer  (Read 3579 times)

May 14, 2017, 04:27:16 PM
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Dissonance

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Hello!

I've been using Inkscape for a few years ever since I lost my access to an Illustrator license. I use it to make music notation examples for conference presentations and journal articles. I usually start my work in Finale, then print to PDF and open in Inkscape. (If I export an EPS file from Finale or Acrobat, Inkscape cannot open it.)

I have a file that I want to edit in Inkscape, but the objects are all grouped. When I ungroup, Inkscape locks and I have to crash it. I was using 0.92, but updated to 0.92.1 today. Please help.

Thanks,
D

May 14, 2017, 05:49:37 PM
Reply #1

brynn

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Welcome to the forum!

This is most likely because the image is very large.  There's a chance it might finally load, if you wait a little longer.  How long do you wait, before you give up?

Would you be able to share the file with us?  Then we can test ourselves, in case the problem is not the size.

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May 15, 2017, 06:36:50 AM
Reply #2

Dissonance

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Hi brynn, thanks for the reply. Inkscape doesn't recover even after 30 minutes. A sample file is attached. Please let me know what you find with it.
Thanks,
D

May 15, 2017, 03:39:57 PM
Reply #3

Moini

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Takes my computer about 1 minute, for all groups. A lot longer than in 0.91, where it only takes a couple of seconds, but still not > 30min - there seems to be a known bug that has become worse in 0.92.x (https://bugs.launchpad.net/inkscape/+bug/410240)
« Last Edit: May 15, 2017, 04:13:28 PM by Moini, Reason: fix typo »

May 16, 2017, 08:02:28 AM
Reply #4

brynn

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Hhm....  Since you do this often, well it might help for your current problem, but you couldn't be asking other people to ungroup for you on a long term basis.  If you're in a time crunch, let us know, and one of us can ungroup for you.

But what you really need, to avoid this in the future, is a way to convert your files, so that Inkscape can use them, without creating groups out of everything.  It looks like it groups everything except text.  Hhm, or did you make the groups?  If you make the groups, then the answer is simple - don't make groups.

Yeah, but it shouldn't be taking such a long time to ungroup.  I think that needs to be solved before we move on, because even though there's a bug report that seems to fit, there are no reports of taking 30 minutes or more.

If you're in a time crunch, let us know, and we'll make you an ungrouped file.  And meanwhile, I'm going to try and look deeper into the file for another explanation.

Edit
No, I don't think the problem is ungrouping.  Everything ungrouped for me in a flash!  I think there's something else going on.

When you were trying to ungroup, which particular object was getting stuck?  Which one?  Or were you ungrouping all at once (select all > ungroup)?

If you were always getting stuck on one group, can you try a different group, and let us know what happens?

Have you seen this in any other files, or does it seem to be just this one?

Oh, I might be onto something already.  Now Inkscape has frozen on me!  As it turns out, I had not ungrouped everything yet, and when I tried to finish ungrouping - freeze!
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May 16, 2017, 08:43:31 AM
Reply #5

brynn

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Ok, the problem is somewhere in group 18.

By the way, most of these objects are a Group of 1, which ungrouped is another Group of 1 (clipped), which ungrouped is another Group of 1, which ungrouped is a path.  Do you know how these nested groups of 1 happened?

I'm just thinking it possibly could happen with  3 different file conversions.  You mentioned your usual process is Finale, print to PDF, open in Inkscape.  And you also mentioned that you tried exporting to EPS, but Inkscape could not open them.  Is there any chance this file had been through something different from your usual process?

Because so far, these are single paths which are grouped, clipped, grouped again and grouped again.  That's not a normal workflow, but we often see things like single paths in a group of 1 when the file is converted to a different format.  So potentially this file has been through 3 conversions.  Do you have access to the original file?  If you happen to have that, it might be better to use it.

But I'm still investigating  :)

Edit
Or it could happen if you copied parts out of different files and pasted into another file, saved that file, converted that file.  Copied something out of that file and pasted into this file, saved this file, converted this file.  As far as I understand, that could possibly explain it.

Anytime you convert a file to another format, it potentially changes important parts of the file.  Even if everything looks ok, it makes using things out of that file, in a different file, potentially problematic.  Just for future reference  :)
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May 16, 2017, 11:18:41 AM
Reply #6

brynn

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Ok, so I have everything ungrouped, except for the problematic one - group 18.  It's a group of 1063, which is large.  But it doesn't seem that large, that would cause a resource-related freeze.  Especially since everything in it is a simple path.

I think I might still have a copy of version 0.48 or 0.49.  I'll try opening it with that, and see if I can ungroup.  Well actually I don't.  But I'll go get one, and let you know what happens.
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May 16, 2017, 06:00:57 PM
Reply #7

Dissonance

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I learned that if I ungroup them in chunks from the Objects window (instead of clicking on them in the display window) I can get it done with some patience.

To answer your question, I do not make the groups. Finale (the music notation software) has been riddled with PS bugs for more than a decade. I'm now using Finale 2014.5. The problems aren't fixed with each new version. It has an export to EPS feature, but no programs can open the EPS files it makes. So, I print to PDF and then open in Inkscape. It groups objects that shouldn't be grouped. Sometimes it combines two font paths together that cannot be ungrouped. Some of the symbol fonts that come with it are not recognized by Inkscape.

The situation has been really frustrating. I keep with Finale because no other music notation program has as good precision and control. With each problem I run into, I search for a temporary fix.

You all on this forum have been great. Thanks for the help! I got my examples made.

Best,
D

May 16, 2017, 06:13:08 PM
Reply #8

brynn

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I don't know why 1063 objects freezes Inkscape, when I have 16 gb RAM.  But I installed an older version (0.48.1) and everything ungrouped in a flash!

Oh gosh, you posted just a couple of seconds before I uploaded your file with everything ungrouped.  Well, here's a link in case you want to use 0.48 or 0.48.1  https://inkscape.org/en/gallery/=inkscape-package/?q=0.48
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May 22, 2017, 08:43:37 AM
Reply #9

Rachid

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Hi! I donwloaded your file and ungrouped it easily in Inkscape in seconds. I opened your file from Inkscape, I did not import it.  I have windows 7 64. 8 G of ram. I am in fact surprised by the quality of Inkscape.