Latest 8.0.21.1 extremely slow changing symbols

[iq200]

Hi,
I regretfully updated my platform last night and am now finding that changing symbols is SLLOOOWW! When you first start typing into a chart it takes several seconds for the instrument search to even register and bring up the edit box to continue typing the symbol. In the previous version the instrument edit box to change the symbol came up immediately.
Regards,
iq

[NinjaTrader_PatrickG]

I do not experience this extreme instrument selector slowness on my end.

What is the size of your database file? To check, follow these steps:

• Navigate to Documents > NinjaTrader 8 > Double left click on the 'db' folder
• Right-click on 'NinjaTrader.sdf' (may only say 'NinjaTrader' depending on your Windows settings) > Properties
• Tell me the size

Does this slowness persist in safe mode? So we can further diagnose your system, start NinjaTrader in Safe Mode.

To enable safe mode, please use the following steps:

• Ensure NinjaTrader is shut down
• Hold the CONTROL key and double click the NinjaTrader icon.
• Keep the CONTROL key held down until you see the Control Center.
• You can verify you are in safe mode by going to Help -> About.

Once NinjaTrader has started on just the control center, please connect to a data feed then open a new chart with no custom bar types/indicators/templates and test for issues.

If there are no issues on this new workspace, please try opening the previous workspace by going to the Control Center > Workspaces > Choose your workspace.

If there are no issues, restart NinjaTrader normally and test for issues.

If this reintroduces issues, I would suggest rebuilding your workspace, adding 1 indicator at a time. Please keep track of what indicators you add back in so that we can narrow down what indicator is causing the issue if the issue returns.

Please let me know the results of this test.

[iq200]

Hi Patrick,
Thank-you for taking the time to reply to my issue. After encountering the issue, I immediately reverted back to the previous Ninjatrader version which I had backed up prior to the update.
This version is working fine as expected. I will reinstall 8.0.21.1 and investigate this weekend and report back to you afterwards.
Regards,
iq

[b16_aln]

Hello iq200, did you get to the bottom of this. Please PM if you can shed any light on it. I ahve the same issue after upgrading from .20.1 version last week, now the Instrument Selector is hanging and causing memory leak.

[b16_aln]

Hello,

I recently upgraded from version .20.1 and the New Instrument Selector is causing big issues. There is a definite lag with the new selector which is leaking to a big memory leak for me eventually crashing my system. The selector doesn;t appear to closing down propoerly after changing time series, I suspect whatever changes have been made are resulting in it not being disposed of correctly leading to the leak.

I notice from a search on the forums that many other users have reported similar issues with the update. We are now several versions forward and I am now using the latest version on NT8 but the lag and disposal issue is still there. Pre .21 version this was not an issue.

Please advise.

[NinjaTrader_PatrickG]

When this was reported originally in May 2020, the perceived difference was because the Instrument Selector was a new feature that previous versions did not have. This is exactly what you're experiencing - 8.0.20.1 did not have the instrument selector, but the current version does.

A large database file size is known to introduce perceived delay as the NinjaTrader platform searches through your database to locate what you've typed into the Instrument Selector.

What is the size of your database file? To check, follow these steps:

• Navigate to Documents > NinjaTrader 8 > Double left click on the 'db' folder
• Right-click on 'NinjaTrader.sdf' (may only say 'NinjaTrader' depending on your Windows settings) > Properties
• Tell me the size

Does a database repair mitigate the symptom? Follow these steps:

• Disconnect NinjaTrader from any open connections via Control Center > Connections > Disconnect
• From the NinjaTrader Control Center window select the menu Tools > Database Management
• Click on 'Repair DB'
• Press the "Repair" button

[iq200]

Hello iq200, did you get to the bottom of this. Please PM if you can shed any light on it. I ahve the same issue after upgrading from .20.1 version last week, now the Instrument Selector is hanging and causing memory leak.

Hi b16_aln,
No. The newer versions are definitely slower than the older versions. I even tried the newest version and is laggy when changing symbol on the chart. For me the problem happens when you start typing on the chart to change symbol. I also tried the repair database tricks and it didnt help.

After wasting time on this, I gave up and reverted to an older version of Ninjatrader (8.0.20) which seems to be working for now. It's a shame that I have to miss on the new fixes.

Regards,
iq

[iq200]

I want to add that for people who trade futures, the symbol switching is not really a problem as they tend to trade the same tickers or a small number of tickers. I'm watching 20-30 different stock market symbols per day out of many thousands US stock symbols every day. I can feel/see the lag! I don't understand why the problem only seems to presents itself post 8.0.20.
As ex-sw engineer, there seems to me to be a problem in the symbol lookup. I just dont have the energy or time to argue with the NInjatrader consultants.

[NinjaTrader_PatrickG]

Yes, it's expected if you downgrade to a version before the Instrument Selector feature was introduced you would 'fix' this symptom.

Keep in mind that using an older version will result in a lack of support from NinjaTrader in general - We always will make sure you're on the latest version so that you have all of the latest features and fixes before troubleshooting any symptom.

I encourage you to answer my database size question directly as I have an additional step that will likely resolve the slow search symptom on the latest version once we have that information.

[iq200]

Yes, it's expected if you downgrade to a version before the Instrument Selector feature was introduced you would 'fix' this symptom.

Keep in mind that using an older version will result in a lack of support from NinjaTrader in general - We always will make sure you're on the latest version so that you have all of the latest features and fixes before troubleshooting any symptom.

I encourage you to answer my database size question directly as I have an additional step that will likely resolve the slow search symptom on the latest version once we have that information.

Hi Patrick,
To do this, I have to backup the existing folders and then do the install update to do the checks you want. I'll try to look into this during this w/e.
Thanks.
iq

[b16_aln]

Patrick,

Thanks for getting back to me. I agree with iq200, for those not managing many different symbols they probably wouldn;t notice the issue but when you run multiple charts you can easily see the speed slow down every time the selector is used. That is why I think there is a memory leak with the new selector and it just keeps building up every time the selector is used and then a chart is copied. The lag is in the selector not closing down after selection is made and selector screen hangs for a couple seconds. My guess is that something is not being disposed of correctly within the selector code or an event not being unsubscribed and the memory leaks keeps building. I especially notice it if I duplicate a chart that has previosuly used the selector, that's why I believe there is some resource being left open and running on the chart, leaking memory that duplicates every you duplicate the chart. Are there any manual events or unmanged variables from the selector script that we need to manually dispose of after a selection is made?

To answer your questions, my sdf file is 4160KB. I tried deleting this and starting again as per the instructions on one of the other threads and it did have an immediate effect, but after some use the selector slowed down NT8 to a crawl and on one occasion a full crash. This is why I believe it's a memory leak, it just builds up with more use until NT8 slows to being unusable across all windows (including script editor) and eventually needs to be restarted or crashes. I tried repairing the DB and this makes no difference. When NT8 is closed and then re-opened the leaked memory is relaeased and I can use the system again however as soon as I start using the selector and duplicating tabs the system slows and memory builds up again.

Just to correct one point you made, the selector WAS in use pre .21.0 version, it was just upgraded in .21.0 and that is what is causing the problem. The Pre-.21.0 seletor works no problem. I would much rather be using the most recent version of NT8 but I have now just wasted a week of my time, not being able to trade, trying to troubleshoot this issue. I have no option now but to rollback to version .20.1 as this is the last stable version.

What are the options here to fix this and give us a stable version? Can you revert the changes to the selector in the next release untill your coders are able to fix the new selector. Memory leak to this degree is really not a good in a released stable version but understand that it has gone under the radar as it is not something regularly used by most of your users. How quickly can we expect an upadate on this?

Thanks

[NinjaTrader_PatrickG]

I encourage you to reach out to us on the forums or preferably via email at PlatformSupport[AT[NinjaTrader[DOT]com anytime you come across something unexpected or undesired as soon as you run into the issue and do not find an obvious immediate solution. This will likely mitigate some frustrations you're describing of having to deal with this symptom for a whole week at this point with no solution.

We will not be reverting the changes that were made to the Instrument Selector. There have been a handful of reports of this symptom, but it is very much not a widespread issue and cannot be reproduced on our end. I'll need more specific information from you to provide a customized solution for your specific case.

Please send me your database, workspace, log, and trace files so that I may look into what occurred.

• You can do this by going to the Control Center-> Help-> Email Support
• Expand 'Other files' and enable 'Database file' and 'Workspace files and UI settings'.
• Please reference the following ticket number in the body of the email: 2540141 ATTN Patrick G

I encourage any others reading this post who experience lag issues using the Instrument Selector to follow these same instructions.

[iq200]

I'd like to post something positive on this issue!

Up until now, I have been using 8.0.20.1 64 bit. Last night, I received a message from Ninjatrader saying that I need to upgrade my software to a newer version if I want to access replay data due to authentication changes. So, I backed up my existing version in the Documents area, and installed the latest version.
Lo and behold the lagging issue seems to have gone! Something clearly did change in the code in a previous version - perhaps some Ninjatrader tech person will admit it but I suspect they won't!
In any case I am happy now and on the latest release!! Woo-hoo!!

[b16_aln]

Thanks for the update Iq200. I'll DM you also.