Why is Dreamweaver CS5 so slow to sync files when target is local system folder?

Question

Just curious about the cause and if there is a way to speed it up. I'm running MAMP, so I configured a site in DW CS5 to "Connect using: Local/Network" and pointed it to a folder on my computer. There are about 1800 files to sync, I run transformations and minor edits on a select few of those files, and infrequently touch all of them. When I click the synch button DW takes FOREVER (and about 5 minutes) to look for changes then another 5 minutes to copy files. It's an impossible workflow. So, I wrote an Ant script to unconditionally copy the entire 1800 files from the working directory to the target directory. The Ant copy runs in about 4 seconds. Really. SWOOSH and it's done.

Update: I'm now working on a project that uses MathJax, which has 30,000+ files. Prior to adding MathJax into the project, I was really enjoying the workflow. Using one tool to edit, view, and update is really nice. When I dropped MathJax into place the update to local file system is impossible. I've let it run for over an hour now just because I'm curious. This is surely a bug in Dreamweaver.

So, why is DW so slow and can it be fixed?

Answer 1

Dreamweaver can create a cache file in which to store information about all the links in your local folder. This cache file is updated invisibly as you add, change or delete links on your local site. This can have as effect the extreme slow-down of file copy operations.

To disable, use the Edit > Preference menu to bring up the Preferences Dialog. In the General Category, set "Update Links When Moving Files" to Never. Never does not automatically update all links to and from the copied documents.

See also Why has Dreamweaver become slow/unresponsive?, where two solutions are listed (to do while DW is closed) :

1. Corrupt cache : Navigate to C:\Documents and Settings\[your username]\Application Data\Adobe\Dreamweaver [version]\Configuration and delete the SiteCache folder.
2. Corrupt synchronization files : Navigate to target directory, open the '_notes' folder and delete the file named 'dwsync.xml'. Search if you have such a file on your local computer.

Answer 2

Unfortunately it's just how it is, a lot of users have been complaining about it's issue in that area, it's something that can't be tackled unless Adobe decide to work more on it for CS6.

Just stick with your script, or use a separate program for transferring changed files.

Answer 3

Simple - it is a load of bloated rubbish.

In recent years, many of the core Adobe products have just ballooned in size/complexity but on the good side, they have added some really nice features - half of which you may never use.

All I can say is to go on their official forums and try to kick up a fuss.

Hopefully in a few years, they will have a Symantec/Norton moment and try to speed up/fix problems like this instead of expecting everyone to have the latest over the top workstation just to do a bit of HTML text editing.

For me, I have actually stopped using Dreamweaver and have switched to Notepad++ for the majority of work and Microsoft Expression Web (I know you used the Mac Tag - can't give alternative, sorry). when I want a full on environment for CSS editing.

Answer 4

harrymc's suggestions seemed to improve sync speed; however, not enough to make DW usable when project folders contain thousands of files. I've found the best solution is to Cloak directories that have a lot of files. In my projects, directories with the most files are content directories and JavaScript libraries. So, I set DW to cloak (ignore) those and instead use Apache Ant tasks to update only when necessary.