Alpha publishes unnecessary files

[Steve Wood]

Anyone else notice this? Alpha will always publish dozens more files than the one you selected to publish. Example - right click on a component and publish; it will publish from a dozen to nearly 100 files. Here are some stats from a current project publishing to my server. It somewhat depends on what you publish, if a stylesheet is being used, etc.:

Here are some stats:

• If I right-click an A5W page and publish just that one page, it publishes 92 additional files.
• If I right-click a grid component and publish just that one component, it publishes 91 additional files.
• If I right-click on an image and publish just that one image, it publishes 25 additional files.
• If I right-click a navigation component and publish just that component, it publishes 36 files.
• If I click publish, then click Cancel on the dialog that comes up, then click Yes when it asks �Are you sure you want to cancel?�, it starts to publish anyway. It publish that ONE file you selected, but it publishes a dozen other files.

Most of what it is publishing are supporting files to the file you requested; css, etc. -- files that never change once they have been published and don't need to be republished.

Also, if you publish an A5W page with three components, it will publish all three components along with the page -- even if I realy did not want them to be published.

I've reported this as a bug four or five times since version 7 or 8.

It should publish the file I select and nothing else.

Does anyone disagree?

[Dan Blank]

Re: Alpha publishes unnecessary files

Yepper, I noticed it and it sort of drives me crazy. I understand the need for it to do that the first time, but when I just want to publish one thing... that is all that should publish! Never could figure out why all those files needed to be published again and again. The only exception maybe the a5i file.

So put me down for an agree!

[Pat Bremkamp]

Re: Alpha publishes unnecessary files

I completely agree. I have read several novels and played 1000 games of solitare waiting while Alpha publishes unnecessary files. It is especially annoying the closer you get to completeing a project when you are in the "tweak and see and repeat" mode.

It makes sense for newbees who don't understand the publish process to protect them from themselves, but after a few years you begin to figure things out, and when you change a graphic or a css, you publish it.

On the flip side, sometimes Alpha doesn't publish when you want it to! I have had a number of clients who routinely do a "publish all" every time because they can't trust Alpha to publish what they have selected. A terrible waste of time!

Alpha probably thinks "we show you a list of files to publish and you can just uncheck them", but when you use a third party html editor like I usually do, that's 100's of files to uncheck every time, so it's back to game 1001 of solitare!

There should be an "advanced mode" that lets you take responsibility, but also gives you back the hours of time wasted while Alpha publishes unnecessary files.

Pat

[ColinJD]

Re: Alpha publishes unnecessary files

I agree,
AT first I use to worry that I had been atering files.
While this isn't the wishlist, I wonder, how difficult true smart publishing would be, and what about background publishing. [yes I know that might be dangerous . but it would be a great add on]. I guess aprox 15% of My A5 development time is taken up with publishing. If that was fixed A5 would be fast still to develop in.

[Editor]

Re: Alpha publishes unnecessary files

I noticed it early on. Thought it strange too.
I sort of resolved it by telling the FTP to only upload if newer. At least that saves bandwidth. :)
of course that does not eliminate excess local activity.

[Steve Wood]

Re: Alpha publishes unnecessary files

What I do is watch the upload dialog, and click Cancel when it gets past my selected file and the security files. I cancel when it is in the middle of one of the graphic files. You cannot cancel in the middle of the security files because it will actually hose your security.

I'm drumming up some support to have Alpha look at this early after V10 comes out. I'm getting real tired of it. As Colin suggests, it is 15% or so percent of my development time as I publish a hundred times a day. One cannot use the Publish New because I have no idea what is that queue, partly because I publish to Local then to the Server and the history does not capture where I publish.