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multiple screens and use of multiple instances

7 replies [Last post]
Tue, 2010-07-27 16:27
Rafael Davila
User offline. Last seen 1 week 3 days ago. Offline
Joined: 1 Mar 2004
Posts: 5241
Groups: Spider Project Team
Vladimir,

I just bought a second LCD screen for my notebook for about 140$ US or 100 euros. I bought it because I need it to review shop drawings and at the same time prepare AutoCAD drawings looking at the details on the structural drawings and submitted shop drawing on my second screen. I can easily setup my second screen to tile windows in two while I draw on my notebook screen as follows.

Multiple Scerren 1

I tried to do the same with Spider Project using multiple instances of Spider to run twice the same job at the same time but could not get the tiling I can get with Adobe PDF. Because both documents on my second screen are opened with Adobe perhaps it is controlled in part by the software. The following is what I got with spider.

Multiple Screens 2

Can you give me some hints on how to use multiple screens with Spider and on how best to use multiple instances of Spider Project?

Best Regards,
Rafael
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Replies

Wed, 2010-07-28 11:29
#1
Rafael Davila
User offline. Last seen 1 week 3 days ago. Offline
Joined: 1 Mar 2004
Posts: 5241
Groups: Spider Project Team
Marcus,

You should consider an HP-Cray desktop supercomputer instead of waiting fifteen years for such power being available on a notebook computer. Seriously, I wonder if for mega-projects it makes sense, especially a supercomputer that can run windows software.

http://blogs.computerworld.com/fancy_a_25k_cray_on_your_desk

Best Regards,
Rafael
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Wed, 2010-07-28 08:13
#2
Marcus Possi
User offline. Last seen 13 weeks 2 days ago. Offline
Joined: 27 Feb 2010
Posts: 76
Groups: Civil Engineering, Spider Project Team
Hi Rafael and Valdimir,

The Dual Monitor first impression was great because I work a lot with it and hoping to have a third one (imagine having 8 students chat windows at the same time with the browser and applications and PPT).

But we just realized how the “more than one instance running” benefits yesterday night.
A friend and I, he was in Venezuela and I was here in Rio de Janeiro had to calculate a over 7500 activities job with variable multiple currencies restriction besides reusable resources limitations on a span of 7 years horizon work.
Each interaction or simulation spent 2hours. I made 3 instances at the same time using some kind of dual core “bla-bla-bla” chip and the results came up: three simulations in 2 hours and a half.

I don’t think it is a very large simulation but … we cannot wait for 2,5 hours for each result :) .

This “more than one instance running” is very welcome!

Congratulation to Spider Team.

Nice week to you all,

Mpossi

2 Spider instances
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Wed, 2010-07-28 07:13
#3
Vladimir Liberzon
User offline. Last seen 2 weeks 5 days ago. Offline
Joined: 5 Feb 2001
Posts: 2753
Groups: Accreditation Editors, Board of Advisors, Civil Engineering, GPCCAR Editors, Petro-Chem / Oil & Gas, Regional Representatives, Spider Project Team, TURNAROUND & SHUTDOWN (T/A & S/D)
You are right.
Many planners here prefer to work with Spider Project using two monitors. But usually with one program instance and different screens.

Best Regards,
Vladimir
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Wed, 2010-07-28 06:29
#4
Rafael Davila
User offline. Last seen 1 week 3 days ago. Offline
Joined: 1 Mar 2004
Posts: 5241
Groups: Spider Project Team
2 Spider instances

Vladimir,

I am exploring a functionality new to me in my new second screen, it is now I am discovering how different software work tiling on multiple monitors. Before Spider I was not able have two different views of the Gantt chart, one expanded to activities (assigments collapsed) and one expanded to resource assignments scrolled to other activities than those shown on the collapsed view as shown above, side by side or one on each monitor.

I am asking because even how it works in Adobe Acrobat is new to me, is more of a knowledge/learning issue than a particular need at this moment.

Adobe works on one window, I did not noticed it was a single instance because I had it at full screen plus it is new to me as before having a second monitor it was not practical to do what I am doing now. Monitors cost is so low today that multiple monitors will become standard among Schedulers same as it has been for years among AutoCAD users.

Best Regards,
Rafael
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Wed, 2010-07-28 06:03
#5
Vladimir Liberzon
User offline. Last seen 2 weeks 5 days ago. Offline
Joined: 5 Feb 2001
Posts: 2753
Groups: Accreditation Editors, Board of Advisors, Civil Engineering, GPCCAR Editors, Petro-Chem / Oil & Gas, Regional Representatives, Spider Project Team, TURNAROUND & SHUTDOWN (T/A & S/D)
Rafael,
it is easy and we will do it in the next version.
But Adobe works with one window, not like Spider.

Usually people work on two monitors with one program instance. Like putting Gantt Chart on the second window and working with Spider tables in the first, or working with different project (or version) in the first.
Why did you need two program instances?

We use two instances when some very large project is calculated and meanwhile we want to work with some other project.

Best Regards,
Vladimir
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Wed, 2010-07-28 05:36
#6
Rafael Davila
User offline. Last seen 1 week 3 days ago. Offline
Joined: 1 Mar 2004
Posts: 5241
Groups: Spider Project Team
Rodel,

What you are doing is easy, but I am looking for 2 jobs on my second screen.

What I want to do is to open two instances of Spider Project, open 2 jobs on my second screen and a second instance of either job in my notebook. Pay attention, two instances of Spider Project of the same job, for this you have to make a setup in Spider to allow yow for multiple instances (Options/Parameters), this can be done with some MS Office programs where at time you open several jobs on each instance but opening twice a job, once on each instance, is allowed as "read only" on the second instace while I do not get this warning in Spider Project, kind of different.

Then I want to tile my two jobs on the second screen the way I do with Adobe but if I click "tile" on my second screen these windows move to my main window instead of tiling on the secondary monitor as Adobe does. Seems like tiling works differently in MS Office, Adobe Acrobat and Spider, each different from the other. I like the particular way Adobe Acrobat does tiling on my second screen.

Best Regards,
Rafael

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Tue, 2010-07-27 22:20
#7
Rodel Marasigan
User offline. Last seen 1 day 21 hours ago. Offline
Joined: 25 Oct 2006
Posts: 1699
Groups: Petro-Chem / Oil & Gas
Rafael,
I tried it with Spider and its working perfectly. The setting is on the Screen driver. If you have like Intel Graphic Media Accelerator Driver for Mobile which allow you to have extended Screen (Monitor + Notebook) then you can open two Spider Projects and click Window Tile. Once tile drag the other window to another screen and maximise. Do the same on notebook window and you will have two different projects on each monitor or screen. We use to do this with our email and other applications like excel. One screen is Emails or another application and another is working area.

Hope this help.

Best Regards,
Rodel
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