MBM file size is surprizingly large

[Paul Amiet]

Hi
I discover today something strange regarding the size of mbm files.
My situation : MaxBulk Mailer 8.5.3 on Mac OS X 10.11.6 (I can't upgrade my machine which is 11 years old)
When I began using MBM 5 years ago, my mbm files were nearly 70 KB in size.
Today, I sent successfully a message whose mbm file is 3 MB in size.
I opened the file with the text editor BBEdit.
Il seems the extra size comes from the line "/file" which describes the attachment (a 70 KB pdf file)
I opened an old mbm file containing a "/file" line which was small.
By the way, it seems the files written for each recipient in
~/Library/Application Support/Maxprog/MaxBulk Mailer/Deliveries/By Recipient
are also larger than in the old days (7,5 MB today)
What happens ?
How may I help ?
Many thanks

 

[Paul Amiet]

It seems the change occurred in the first days of 2020. I do not remember the date I installed the current 8.5.3 version

 

[stanbusk]

As you can see, the MaxBulk Mailer documents are text files. If your document has no attachment then just delete the "/file" line with BBedit and save.

Let me know if that fixes your problem!

 

[Paul Amiet]

I did some tests today, and I got surprises.
1) Test message without attachment.mbm , one recipient, no /file line, size 2 KB, before and after sending : OK
Surprises when looking at the different log files
In the global file "Deliveries.log", the line created is 663 KB in size.
The "By delivery/xx.log" is 663 KB in size
In the "By recipient/[email protected]", the line created is 663 KB in size.
2) Test message with attachment.mbm , one recipient, one /file line, size 2,9 MB, same size before and after sending
Attachment is a 103 KB pdf file.
When looking at the log files, same surprises as in the first test.
In the global file "Deliveries.log", the line created is 663 KB in size.
The "By delivery/xx.log" is 663 KB in size
In the "By recipient/[email protected]", the line created is 663 KB in size.

I can attach files to demonstrate my situation. What files would be useful ?
Can you help me ?
Many thanks

 

[Paul Amiet]

By the way, my true version is MaxBulk Mailer 8.7.3-FR 64 bits – Mac OS 10.11.6 El Capitan (not 8.5.3 as I wrote yesterday)

 

[stanbusk]

Yes, please paste the '/File' line here so we can see what it contains.

 

[Paul Amiet]

The '/File' line is very large (2,9 MB). The text file containing the line cannot be attached to the forum post.
May I send it to an email address ?

 

[stanbusk]

Put it in a file and send it here: https://sendfile.maxprog.com

 

[Paul Amiet]

Done !

 

[stanbusk]

Received!

The '/Line' line contains the file name, the file's original path, and the encoded path. Two ways of storing a file system path. This path is Finder info. I have no control over it, I mean, this path is the relative file path on your system. I just ask the Finder, the Finder returns the path, and MaxBulk Mailer stores it. That's all.

It is true the path is huge. Are there aliases involves, a server, a shared folder?

You could try to remove the attachment for the MaxBulk Mailer attachment panel and add it again.

 

[Paul Amiet]

Hi, here some news about the '/Line' line in an mbm file.
I made tests in a virtual machine running Mac OS X 10.11.6 through Parallels Desktop 13.
I installed different versions of MBM, one at a time
• 8.7.3
• 8.6.9
• 8.7.1
• 8.7.2
Before installing a new version, I completely deleted the MaxBulk Mailer directory in /Applications and I kept personal and log files.
Each time, I created a new message from scratch.
When I save the message without attachment, the mbm file size is 2 KB, under every MBM version.
When I attach a little file and save the message, the size problem occur under MBM versions 8.7.2 and 8.7.3. It does not occur under MBM versions 8.6.9 and 8.7.1.
My conclusion is something happened in the code of MBM version 8.7.2.
Attached is an mbm file created under 8.7.1 version, extension changed to txt for forum attach to accept the file (No sensitive information inside)

Hope it wil help you.

 

[stanbusk]

Unfortunately, there is no code to modify. MaxBulk Mailer asks the Finder for the relative path and stores it as is. The same would happen when you ask for a printer setup data, you get a string you store and restore later. There is nothing I can change here, no code to edit. That string comes from the Finder.

Why the newer MaxBulk Mailer version gets a bigger line with the same Finder call? I don't know. Maybe the compiler is giving compatibility to more stuff?

A new version of MaxBulk Mailer will be available next year, it will be built with 2021 compilers so, if it is a compiler bug I believe it will be fixed by then.

We will know very soon.

 

[Paul Amiet]

So what happened between compiling 8.7.1 and 8.7.2 ? My tests are done on the same machine OSX 10.11.6. (Which is an old system, okay, but I can't upgrade without buying a new machine !) You probably build your software on a more recent OS.
Wait the new year !
Thank you

 

[stanbusk]

I always try to build the software with the very last compiler, libraries, and system versions, yes. Sometimes you get fixes and sometimes bugs. The software industry is exactly that. The software depends on lots of things. Anyway, I take note of this issue anyway and I will ask other developers whether they have seen the same behavior in their projects.