Tuning the Performance of Saving, Printing, and Displaying Results in SciFinder 2006 for Windows
SciFinder does a good job of quickly searching large databases and displaying, printing, and saving results. Just how quickly SciFinder does these things is affected by the performance of all the pieces in the SciFinder system: Your PC, your organization's network, the Internet connection between your organization and CAS, and the server computers at CAS. SciFinder includes tuning preferences that can improve the performance of SciFinder on your computer.
The effect of changing tuning preferences depends on your computer's processor, RAM, hard drive space, and operating system and on the number and size of other programs that are running at the same time as SciFinder.
In general, if you have a PC that exceeds the minimum requirements, particularly in RAM, you should make the tuning changes suggested here.
To adjust your tuning preferences, start SciFinder and log in.
Step A: Open the Preference Editor
- Click the Prefs button or select Edit Preferences from the Tools menu.
Step B
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Select the Tuning tab.
Memory Limits
- Memory Ceiling indicates the maximum amount of your computer's virtual memory (think RAM) in kilobytes SciFinder will use. The more memory SciFinder can use, the faster you can scroll through a list of results. The default value is 9216 KB (kilobytes). If you have plenty of RAM, increase the ceiling until performance improves. For example, increase the Memory Ceiling to between 12032 and 20480. The negative effect of increasing this value is that other programs that are running at the same time as SciFinder might run more slowly.
- If you have sufficient RAM to raise the Memory Ceiling, raise the Memory Floor to 6144 or 8192 from the default value of 4096 KB. The Memory Floor is the initial block of memory that SciFinder will reserve for its use. Have a larger initial block will improve SciFinder performance. SciFinder will add memory, as needed, to the Memory Floor amount up to the Memory Ceiling.
- Max Message Size refers to the amount of information SciFinder on your PC and the SciFinder server send to each other at one time. Imagine sending a three-page letter to a friend. Suppose you have envelopes that each hold one sheet of paper and evelopes that each hold three sheets of paper. You could send each page of the letter in a one-sheet envelope and thus send three separate "messages", or you could send all three pages in a three-page envelope and send only one "message." Either way, the letter gets there, but it's more efficient to send it in one envelope instead of three. Max Message Size is the size of the SciFinder's "envelope." Increase the size beyond the default size of 64 KB, for example to 512, until performance improves. Note that raising the Max Message Size may negatively affect the speed at which you can scroll through references and other results.
Sequence Explore
- Memory Ceiling indicates the maximum amount of memory in megabytes SciFinder will use for BLAST searches. Important Memory Usage Note: Memory Ceiling may be set as high as 1024 MB; however, increasing this setting to more than the amount of actual installed phyical memory (RAM) may produce unpredicatable Java errors when using the Explore by Sequence feature.
- Max Open Results is the number of biosequence explore result sets that can be open or displayed at the same time. The maximum setting is 4 results windows open concurrently.
Read-Ahead
- The Read-Ahead options say whether SciFinder should read answers from the server at the same time that it prints, saves, or displays answers. If you have sufficient RAM, check the Enable Print Read-Ahead, Enable Save Read-Ahead, and Enable Viewer Read-Ahead boxes to reduce the amount of time required to print, save, or view answers. In general, check all three Read-Ahead options.
- Click OK to exit the Preference Editor.
What if Printing, Saving, or Displaying Results Still Seems Slow?
Updated: 4/3/2007 10:20:16 AM
