KompoZer Crashes

It happens that KompoZer will crash but that is kind of to be expected. Lots of the basic foundation from KompoZer comes from things that crash. Sometimes the crash is operator induced. There are some clues that KompoZer is about to crash. Knowing the clues to an impending crash may save a page or two.

Two Basic Problems

There are two basic problems with KompoZer and other excellent, free, open source software. The first thing is the software is often based on blocks of code from other FOSS applications. Kompozer and a lot of add-ons rely on the basic engine and code in Firefox. Firefox, even the latest edition, will crash once in a while. So the software starts out with inherited problems. Clearly KompoZer inherited a lot of problems from the predecessor, N|vu. One of the reasons I switched to KompoZer was the frequent, N|vu crashes.

So the son must bear the sins of the father. Some of the "fathers" have a full time staff investigating, resolving crashes and changing code. Well that isn't the case for Kompozer, Web Developer or other tools I regularly use. Most of the time these projects have one developer trying to keep up with his day job, the code he developed for the project and hooks to and from other packages that continue to evolve. Some of these crash problems are discussed on the KompoZer support forum maybe in more detail than you even want.

Here's Your Sign

One thing I have noticed when working with KompoZer 0.7.10 is that when a crash is near KompoZer will try to warn you. Items on the tool bar will gray out and stop working when there is danger of a crash. The drop downs, spell check and Link icon are warnings I have noticed. When you see those stop working it is time to close KompoZer and reopen. Kind of like when your kid gives you that glazed over stare. Anything said afterward may be lost so you might as well start the conversation over later. Save your work, close KompoZer and reopen.

Some of the things you should avoid is having a number of tabs open with work that that hasn't been saved. Unsaved tabs have a red favicon that goes away when changes are saved. Somehow KompoZer keeps track of unsaved changes on each tab but if the load becomes too great all may be lost. Save your work early and often. There is no "recovery" routine or automatic save to cover your work.

Another clear way I have found to hang KompoZer up is switching back and forth from normal view to source view after working several pages. KompoZer does not just switch from source to normal view. It tries to edit your code to make sure it is compliant. If I go from source view to normal view nothing is saved to the original file. I have started clicking the save icon while in source view. That saves the change and changes the view to normal. The "Undo" function will still change everything back if you are not satisfied with the results.

The Preferences File

Not all crashes can be avoided by operator actions. Some are caused by corruption of a file or two during download and installation. Other files may be corrupted during use. Mozilla programs have a profile and preference file that are sometimes crash culprits.

The "prefs.js" file used to cause a number of KompoZer crash problems. At last count I had seven of those files for different applications or profiles. We used to suggest deleting prefs.js as one of the first steps to resolve persistent KompoZer crashes. Make sure you find the one in the KompoZer directory because Firefox has one too. KompoZer will write a new file next time it starts. You will need to set your preferences again (Tools, Options).

I don't like the idea of setting a new profile but that is also a way to kind of start over. Your friend and mine, Charles Cooke, has explained profiles in the KompoZer User Guide. If deleting prefs.js didn't work I prefer to download and start over. Nothing is lost but you do need to point the site manager to your local files again.

Your Operating System

I don't know about your machine but I can crash almost anything on my XP. I think it gets tired of being asked to perform unnatural acts and just causes the program to crash. Usually that happens with Excel because that doesn't have an automatic back up either. That's where I learned to save early and often. I read something about stacks, memory and whatnot so the system recommendation is to reboot once in a while to get a fresh start. The operating system, other programs open at the time, KompoZer, just about anything can cause a crash.

Sometimes it is good to just stop, get some fresh air and start everything fresh.

I can generally have a good working session with KompoZer. I prepared this post on KompoZer without a problem. I have worked a full day with KompoZer without a single problem but it does happen. Even with problems and an occasional crash KompoZer is a great, free WYSIWYG editor built to run on Windows, Linux and Mac operating systems.

Save early and often,

Wysi
; .