Sometimes I’ll open a file that will hang the app. When I try to re-launch, once in a while the app will hang on launch. The windows are moveable, but the program doesn’t otherwise respond. It’s likely a corrupt project file. But which one? Can I press down a key when launching Tinderbox that will allow it to restart with a fresh blank document?
Or alternatively - is there a way to force that “Would you like Tinderbox to open with a blank file?” message?
I tried the basic stuff like renaming all Tinderbox project folders, as well as force-quitting a few times, anticipating the “Would you like…” message, but didn’t see one.
If Tinderbox crashes with a file open, and you re-open the app it will attempt to re-open any files that were open. I don’t believe there is a mechanism asking Tinderbox to start without existing files open. I normally close all files before closing the app. That’s just old-fashioned habit, plus I use many docs so re-opening the last-opened is rarely a useful default. So, when Tinderbox opens, I see only a new blank file.
I think the way out of you issue is not to open the app, but to drag drop (a know, good) TBX onto the app icon (Applications folder, Dock, etc.). That will open the dropped doc and I think bypass the re-opening of previously open documents.
I’m not sure is there aren’t macOS generic overrides for this (Opt+click app, or such?). Google not much use in that regard.
After experimenting some, and collecting tips, following are the possible workarounds for the “hang on launch” scenario in case any of you suffer it, in order of simplicity.
Relaunch Tinderbox with the Shift key depressed, it will bypass last-used/open documents (works for all Mac apps).
Relaunch a prior version of Tinderbox (if you have one handy; I maintain 3-4 prior versions). Save and close each file independently. Restart Tinderbox.
Go to ~Library/Autosave Information/, and check for (remove) any unsaved Tinderbox documents.
Move Tinderbox Projects folder to the Desktop. Tinderbox will request permission at next launch to access documents on your Desktop. Deny, then relaunch Tinderbox.
I’m worried to use the “open with blank project file” preference because what happens if I suffer a crash, how will I get my head back into the multiple files I was juggling content between? What if I lose some data that somehow would have been retained if I’d re-launched with the same open files (sounds corny, but I just don’t know enough about how things work under the hood).
The “drag-drop a clean project file to launch Tinderbox” trick didn’t work; it went on to opening all the last-session documents as well.
I don’t believe there are any generic overrides. Would be a good thing to implement though, it seems. In the old days of audio/video content creation apps, we suffered so many crashes that this became one of the more popular hot-keys
This will open Tinderbox with a fresh file and NOT open previous files. You can then indhvudally open the files again to see which one is your offending file. Once you figure that out, if you have a backup running you can pull a backup version.
OK. Got it now. My mistake was in the 1/2 second I waited after clicking on the app icon (best to have the shift key pressed before clicking the Tinderbox icon in the dock). Sorry and thanks!
ALL key modifiers on the Mac need to be applied before the event to which they apply. The apparent exception is mouse events, but that’s chiefly because the action event is typically mouse-up, not mouse-down.
Good to know, @eastgate. I think I was instinctively pressing the shift key after clicking launch after my routine from the old media app days. Back then I guess computers were slow enough that that 1/4 second didn’t matter? Nice to live in speedier days. Speaking of, am LOVING how snappy and memory-efficient Tbx9 is. The love shows!!
In case this is helpful to others: When a tinderbox went awry because of an overambitious effort on my part, none of the above, including shift+open, worked for me in opening Tinderbox without the file itself. Instead I found I went to the errant file in the app’s Autosave folder, zipped it up and then moved it elsewhere (previously moving the file wasn’t enough; the app located the file and tried to open it, freezing Tinderbox). Only when I zipped up the file was I then able to launch Tinderbox. Of course this might mean destroying your work, but I was able to retrieve an earlier version from a continuous backup service.
Nice to live in speedier days. Speaking of, am LOVING how snappy and memory-efficient Tbx9 is. The love shows!!