HTMLPad 2010 Prefs are _constantly_ disappearing

[LairBob]

I'm a new buyer of HTMLPad (10.1.0.119), and while I think it's a really strong app overall, I'm getting _really_ frustrated with how badly it seems to manage storing preferences. For one thing, it seems to only preserve them "permanently" when the app formally shuts down, so if the app locks up (which has happened) or something else forces me to restart the PC, any settings I made in that session are lost. I've already gotten in the habit of quitting and restarting the app any time I make important changes to my settings, just to make sure they "stick". That's something that I haven't had to do in other programs for a long time, now.

Even more frustratingly, some of the settings _still_ seem to be disappearing. I added Chrome as a preview browser a couple of days ago, and it worked fine over the course of several sessions, but this morning, that setting's gone again! Is that typical for this program, or is there maybe some kind of problem with my install? (I've tried re-installing the program, and it doesn't seem to help.)

Thanks in advance for any help -- like I said, I really _like_ the app. It's just that the pref issue is getting really annoying.

[davenz]

Many applications use .ini files to store settings rather than the system registry. I'm not sure about HTMLPad, but WeBuilder uses a combination of both. The current in-use settings are written to the respective registry hives or ini files on successful shutdown; as you note, if the software hangs or otherwise gags and doesn't shut down nicely, any changed settings are lost. That said though, unless you radically change your workspace or other settings all the time, nothing much should happen on an improper shutdown. You will lose any unsaved work, and any open file's entry in the most recently used list, but other than that, nothing much else should happen. My workspace/layout is saved, as are my project details and other custom settings; if the software doesn't shut down correctly (which has never actually happened; for testing this issue I have just done a series of task-manager process kills), it reopens to my saved settings and nothing else appears to be amiss.

If you are so new to the software you are changing things around a lot before settling on a particular workspace and layout, then in the meantime just close it after making changes so you don't get frustrated at losing a custom setting. I would actually be more concerned about why it is hanging on you; I used HTMLPad for a year before upgrading to the more-featured WeBuilder and I don't recall it being unstable. WeBuilder, though not without its quirks, is rock-solid on my computers. Can you replicate the fault? That is, can you click a button and it hangs ever time or is it completely random in nature? I would start by killing other processes running at the same time and seeing if there is a conflict somewhere, however unlikely that is there could be something affecting the program.

Dave
davethompson.co.nz

[Karlis]

Settings should not disappear or change randomly. The only situation where you can loose settings is one where you have just changed them in the Preferences window and crashed computer or application before the application exits. Yes, settings are permanently saved on exit and this is how many (most) applications do this. The chance of the application or windows crashing on the exact session when you change your settings is tiny.

It seems that you have hit the worst case scenario where you have spent a lot of time changing settings and after that won an inverse lottery with a 1 to 1000 chance of your computer or application crashing right after this.

Now if you notice that one particular setting is not being saved or constantly lagging or that application is constantly crashing after you click ok in Preferences window, there may be a rare bug that comes out on your computer only, because this is by no means common issue.