Bloated File Size

mtowle

I have always been impressed by the small file size of .fcw files for the huge maps they can produce. Usually my maps fall in the 300-900kb range and my computer can handle it with ease.

Last night I was working on a map and started noticing slow downs. Zoom to extents was really slow, I thought the app was crashing. And saving the file actually took a noticeable amount of time with a spinning cursor.

Looking at the file size, I see that it is over 6megs! Are there certain entities that use more space? If anything this map ought to be less nodes then many maps I have created, yet, there it is: 10 to 20 times the normal size of my maps!

I have tried going sheet by sheet and erasing hidden stuff, but havent found anything. What would cause this kind of bloat and how can I avoid it?

Another map, the same style as the 6 meg one has stopped responding at 1.3 megs. I just dont get it and I am unsure what I can do to get the map working again.

mtowle

Ok, after experimenting, I found the culprit: the hex grid. Erasing it makes the file size 289kb vs the 6,275 it was!

Yikes! Uh, hello optimization routines?

Ralf

That does sound weird, I've never experienced a hex grid causing such overhead. Can you reproduce the file bloat if you add the grid again?

mtowle

Yes, if I add the hexgrid back it adds 6meg to the file size. 12.5 mile hexes on a continent sized map, so it is a lot of little hexes. But still 289kb vs 6,275kb is huge.

Ralf

Well, nodes are what make up the bulk of the file size in a CC3 map, so adding such a large/tiny hex grid will result in a large file size. What you can, is replace the drawn grid with a rectangle with a hex grid symbol fill. Take a look at the fill style dialog, symbol fills tab. It should have some hex fills, which you can adjust to match your grid.

As the recangle will only have four nodes, plus the nodes of the one fill symbol, the file size difference will be huge.

mtowle

I am am not able to adjust the hex fills and have them come out looking like hexes. What should I be putting into the x/y spacing and scale boxes? I just get a bunch of jumbled lines.

Ralf

The easiest way is to put in the factor you're modifying it by.
For example take the 10 mile hex fill and just add "*1.25" to the fields, X spacing, Y spacing, X scale and Y scale to get a 12.5 mile hex fill.

sdavies2720

D'oh.
You can put arithmetic operators in those scale boxes? I never even thought to try, even though I know other parts of CC3 that accept them.

Thanks!

mtowle

I had to use the 100 mile hex with a .125 but it works great. I think I had messed with those fill styles before and this map inherited them.

Covering the entire map with a box with hex fill style adds nothing to the file size but I cannot quite figure out how to align the box to my grid as the edge of the box doesn't seem to correspond with any of the snaps.

I am not sure why the default hex grid doesn't use this method as said box adds no overhead and if it fit on the grid would have snaps at the proper places.

Thanks much for the help!

Ralf

I think the hex symbol fills are set up a littel different originally. 50 mile there doesn't mean 50 miles from center to center, but some other distance. It's easily fixable though. FIrst set it to size 1 by diving everything by the Y spacincg value (for horizontal hexes), then multiply by your new width.

There are to ways to adjust the snap:
1. Right-click the Grid button and edit the User Hexgrid. Set the origin so that it matches your hex grid fill (0,0) worked for me.
2. Open the Symbol Manager, Show fill symbols and edit the Hex fill symbols for your fill. Move all parts of the symbol so that the center of the hex matches one of your snaps.

The non-symbol fill version of the grid is more powerful and adjustable and doesn't rely on the correct fill symbols to be available in the map. That's why it's the standard way to add grids to the map. Such a huge grid as you're adding is really an exception.

mtowle

The x-spacing needs to be set to 3*(the side length) for a horizontal hex. I am not sure why, but that number seemed to work perfectly after I played around for a bit.

The hexes are madeup of a hex plus a sticking out part that is the length of one side. It is those little sticking out parts that fill the spaces making faux hexes. So for a 12.5 height horizontal hex a side is 7.21693. Y-spacing = 12.5, x-spacing = 7.21693*3

As far as getting it to sit on my grid I had to fiddle until it got "close-enough". Not precise enough to draw with, but usable for printing.

Thanks again for the help!