dom.max_script_run_time ineffective

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EVA1NS
Posts: 3
Joined: April 30th, 2008, 1:42 pm

dom.max_script_run_time ineffective

Post by EVA1NS »

When using mail merge I repeatedly get the message "A script on this page may be busy, or it may have stopped responding. You can stop the script now, or you can continue to see if the script will complete.” To allow all the emails to be generated I have to keep selecting CONTINUE.

Knowledge base pointed me to the variable dom.max_script_run_time which specifies the length of the timeout. When I increased this there was no effect. When I set it to 0 (no timeout) there was still no effect. Am I changing the correct variable?

Thunderbird 2.0.0.12 is running under Windows XP. Add-on Mail Tweak 0.15 is used for the mail merge.
Best wishes,

Danny Evans
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Rod Whiteley
Posts: 11480
Joined: December 6th, 2004, 3:41 am
Location: UK

Post by Rod Whiteley »

Try setting: dom.max_chrome_script_run_time

The Mail Tweak extension does not send personalized messages in an efficient way, so large messages or large lists will cause this problem. By the way, in Thunderbird 3 it might be even worse, because of a change in the way Thunderbird copies messages internally.

I updated the knowledge base article on this: http://kb.mozillazine.org/Script_busy_o ... responding

And I updated Mail Tweak's site: http://mailtweak.mozdev.org/tweaks.html#personal (the last bullet point in the list of restrictions)
Rod
EVA1NS
Posts: 3
Joined: April 30th, 2008, 1:42 pm

Post by EVA1NS »

Hello Rod,

Thank you for your quick reply. I followed all your links. Then I reset dom.max_script_run_time to its default and multiplied by 10 the value of dom.max_chrome_script_run_time. It worked---my emails are generated without being interrupted by the message.

Thanks also for the warning about Thunderbird 3---if the message reappears I will understand why and know what to do.

Finally, some feedback.
On Mail Tweak's site, under Personalize, you have added the following under Restrictions:
"Performance may be poor if you use this feature for large messages or many recipients, and you might see warning messages from Thunderbird. For more information about these warnings, see: Script_busy For bulk mailing, it is better to use a specialized bulk mailing program."
I need to email about 300 people roughly once per week with information for a club. ISPs will generally not allow an email to more than 50 recipients. Mail Tweak's Personalize feature solves this problem for me perfectly by generating an email for each recipient (I don't actually personalise the emails; they are identical.) For me a bulk mailing program isn't necessary. I'm happy to wait a couple of minutes while Mail Tweak generates the emails. I suspect there are many other people in my position. So please don't remove this feature from Thunderbird 3, even if it is slower in that version.
Best wishes,

Danny Evans
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Rod Whiteley
Posts: 11480
Joined: December 6th, 2004, 3:41 am
Location: UK

Post by Rod Whiteley »

No, I don't plan to remove it. Earlier this week I got it working in a Thunderbird 3 test build, so although every night's test build can bring new and nasty surprises, I am fairly confident that it will be OK when Thunderbird 3 is released.
Rod
EVA1NS
Posts: 3
Joined: April 30th, 2008, 1:42 pm

Post by EVA1NS »

I'm pleased to hear it. I'd like to reinforce what I said before by adding that this functionality provided by the combination of Thunderbird and Mail Tweak was my reason for changing from Outlook Express to Thunderbird.
Best wishes,

Danny Evans
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