Testers needed: OS X benchmark & analysis app!

[northen]

Yeah 🙂

I've been coding on an app called iNfo, developed it quite a bit since the last time, I posted it. Added benchmarks, a way nicer application architecture & lots of all-new code 🙂

It displays a bit of information - more than system profiler - and has a nice benchmark with my PowerMac being the reference 🙂

Please help me kill bugs, give me suggestions etc 🙂

Program site: http://departure.dk/info/
Direct download: http://departure.dk/info/iNfo202.zip
Source code:: http://departure.dk/info/iNfosrc.zip

And a few screenies

 

[abhishekit]

I tested it on 12" 1.33 GHz pb. Runs alright. But it couldn't determine the video memory and whether I had quartz extreme. It reported both as 'unknown'. Also it showed my bus frequency as 166 MHz. As said by Apple and my System profiler, it is 167 MHz.

One suggestion for the benchmark is that it should also give a number for the reference system rather than just the slider position.

Overall its a neat application. Well done.

cheers

 

[northen]

I tested it on 12" 1.33 GHz pb. Runs alright. But it couldn't determine the video memory and whether I had quartz extreme. It reported both as 'unknown'. Also it showed my bus frequency as 166 MHz. As said by Apple and my System profiler, it is 167 MHz.

One suggestion for the benchmark is that it should also give a number for the reference system rather than just the slider position.

Overall its a neat application. Well done.

cheers

Thanks 🙂

System Profiler reads its data from an XML file generated on the fly, whereas iNfo uses lower-level utilities such as sysctl(3), the files in /etc/ and so on. There are bound to be a few differences, and you have just experienced one of them.

the reference data is:

CPU - 7153
Disk - 3333
Mem - 3033

 

[Fredstar]

It seems to crash everytime i try to get system info/benchmark and doesn't seem to be getting any of the info from launching, all unknown.
Looks promising though

 

[heaven]

Works fine on my 17" PB...

 

[northen]

It seems to crash everytime i try to get system info/benchmark and doesn't seem to be getting any of the info from launching, all unknown.
Looks promising though

Nope, you've just got to give it time 🙂

 

[HexMonkey]

Here are my suggestions:

• Some people will be confused that they're not getting any information before clicking the "Get system information" button. Perhaps this should be done automatically when the program launches. However, you should give visual feedback that that is being done (eg by using an indeterminate progress indicator), and you should use multithreading so that the application isn't unresponsive when gathering this information.
• Similarly, you should give visual feedback when benchmarking, and make that multithreaded as well.
• The about window says "© __MyCompanyName__, 2005", which needs correcting.
• I had the same problem as abhishekit with the video memory and Quartz Extreme (I have a 1 GHz eMac).
• The windows should be able to be minimized.
• For consistency with other applications, you should include File and Edit menus.
• It usually claims that my total storage is "123.173828 GB", otherwise it claims it is "57.041992 GB". I haven't managed to figure out exactly when it does which. The latter is the correct one, although the number should probably be rounded to a lower number of decimal places (Finder displays 2).

 

[northen]

Here are my suggestions:
Some people will be confused that they're not getting any information before clicking the "Get system information" button. Perhaps this should be done automatically when the program launches. However, you should give visual feedback that that is being done (eg by using an indeterminate progress indicator), and you should use multithreading so that the application isn't unresponsive when gathering this information.

Yeah. I'm looking to implement the functionality in Cocoa threads, but i would have to lock the tabs before doing it. I'll work on that 🙂

[*]Similarly, you should give visual feedback when benchmarking, and make that multithreaded as well.

Yes, but I wanted to release a product fast-ish, so I didn't implement it fully. I will, however, work on that, too 🙂

[*]The about window says "© __MyCompanyName__, 2005", which needs correcting.

I haven't found the proper place in XCode/IB yet :$

[*]I had the same problem as abhishekit with the video memory and Quartz Extreme (I have a 1 GHz eMac).

Problem is, I don't know your video chipsets - if I had to, i would have to request that you run a command-line utility.

[*]The windows should be able to be minimized.

I see.

[*]For consistency with other applications, you should include File and Edit menus.

They don't have a functionality as such.

[*]It usually claims that my total storage is "123.173828 GB", otherwise it claims it is "57.041992 GB". I haven't managed to figure out exactly when it does which. The latter is the correct one, although the number should probably be rounded to a lower number of decimal places (Finder displays 2).
[/list]

It uses the UNIX tool called "df" which sums the megabytes of the file systems

 

[HexMonkey]

Yeah. I'm looking to implement the functionality in Cocoa threads, but i would have to lock the tabs before doing it. I'll work on that 🙂

Why would you need to lock the tabs? I have a multithreaded application that works fine with tabs, as you can set control values of invisible controls without a problem. IMO changing tabs while gathering information would be one of the best parts of multithreading, because, for example, you could read through all the system information while benchmarking.

I haven't found the proper place in XCode/IB yet :$

This is stored in the InfoPlist.strings file, with the key "NSHumanReadableCopyright".

They don't have a functionality as such.

Not any major functionality, although they have their uses. For example, normally in a Cocoa application you can select text in the about window and copy it, but in iNfo you can't because the Edit menu isn't there. Similarly, although you can close a window with its close button, you can't close them from the File menu or with command-W, which a lot of users prefer. A "New" command would also be useful to show the information window again after it is closed, and printing commands could be implemented in the future.

Anyway, it's good that you're willing to implement some of the suggestions. It's looking like it will become a very useful program. Good luck for future development. 🙂

 

[northen]

Why would you need to lock the tabs? I have a multithreaded application that works fine with tabs, as you can set control values of invisible controls without a problem. IMO changing tabs while gathering information would be one of the best parts of multithreading, because, for example, you could read through all the system information while benchmarking.



This is stored in the InfoPlist.strings file, with the key "NSHumanReadableCopyright".



Not any major functionality, although they have their uses. For example, normally in a Cocoa application you can select text in the about window and copy it, but in iNfo you can't because the Edit menu isn't there. Similarly, although you can close a window with its close button, you can't close them from the File menu or with command-W, which a lot of users prefer. A "New" command would also be useful to show the information window again after it is closed, and printing commands could be implemented in the future.

Anyway, it's good that you're willing to implement some of the suggestions. It's looking like it will become a very useful program. Good luck for future development. 🙂

Thanks 🙂 If you ever want to contribute, feel free checking the source out 🙂

 

[CanadaRAM]

You've got PM -- G4 DP and Mini 1.25 - too long to post here. Hope you got it because the %*& server was "too busy" again when I sent.

Thanks
Trevor
CanadaRAM.com

 

[northen]

You've got PM -- G4 DP and Mini 1.25 - too long to post here. Hope you got it because the %*& server was "too busy" again when I sent.

Thanks
Trevor
CanadaRAM.com

Ain't got it 🙁

 

[Fredstar]

Works perfectly now mate, sorry about the earlier post. Repaired permissions and it all works now.
Nice application btw, looking forward to seeing other revisions