Performance suggestions on loading installable cloud apps for the
first time
When an end user starts an installable cloud app for the first time,
a number of files will be downloaded from the web server to the client
machine, such as Cloud App Launcher, runtime files, application files, and
image files. The downloading performance depends on the network capability
for sure. Besides, you need to plan the download timing carefully through
the relevant PowerServer project settings. Specifically:
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Consider whether to enable or disable the security-strengthening
options. These options will add some time, typically marginal time. If
judging from the nature of your application, security is not a major
concern, you may disable them.-
In the project settings | Security page, the option “Encrypt
all the compiled p-code files”. -
In the project settings | Security page, the option
“Validate the application integrity before the app runs”.
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Consider whether to download the files as necessary, or at the
app startup. The total time is no different, but you may want to
shorten the initial download time for the users. The relevant options
are:-
In the project settings | Application page | Basic tab, the
option to add images and videos in the “Images/videos dynamically
loaded” section. -
In the project settings | Application page | Advanced tab,
the options “Download the app files as necessary” and “Download
all the app files at app startup”.If you select the “Download the app files as necessary”, the
following files will be downloaded before the app runs: 1) The
PowerBuilder Runtime files; 2) The application executable; and 3)
The files you selected to be preloaded in the External Files
settings. The other files are downloaded only when they are
required by the app.If you select the “Download all the app files at app
startup”, the runtime files, app executable, the application
files, and external files are all downloaded at the startup,
except for the image files that are set as “dynamically-loaded” in
the External Files settings.Note that once files are downloaded they are cached to the
user’s machine, and are not downloaded again unless the files have
been updated on the web server.
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Consider which external files to transfer in compressed vs.
uncompressed format. If the benefits of compressing an external file
outweigh the cost of compression/decompression, add them to the “Files
preloaded as compressed packages” section. For example, if a file is
large or if it is not frequently being updated, then it should benefit
from compression. Any files added to the “Files preloaded in
uncompressed format” section will not be compressed. -
Minimize the files that shall be downloaded to the client. For
example, in the project settings | Runtime, make sure that only the
required runtime modules are selected.