14.12.2017, 16:22
Hello TGR,
thank you very much for telling us about this issue and asking questions! Let me go through your questions one by one:
1) I heavily suspect that your Word-Document contains either tables or special objects? There are no known issues (and never have been since I work here, which is over two years now) with documents that just contain characters or images. However, with other more complex objects or integrated tables, there can indeed be a longer processing time. In this case, I would recommend to convert your Word-document to a PDF file.
Moreover I want to emphasize to _not_ open projects from a synchronized folder (cloud storage), and although this is very rare, I also want to recommend to not open projects from a USB drive (because they can quickly dis- and reconnect while you're working/MAXQDA is saving, especially the cheaper/older ones, and that might cause problems). You can use both to back up or synchronize your files without hesitation, but the crucial part is to not open them from there, but to copy them to your local hard drive first.
From my experience, I would guess that around 80% of the cases where people complain about really long processing times, not opening the project file from the local hard drive was the reason in the end.. another 15% have to do with highly complex and/or huge .docx, PDFs or .xlxs files imported.. and yes, sometimes a new update can also cause issues, but I'm happy to say those are extremly rare with MAXQDA and almost always get fixed within hours or days. (As with other software as well, it's also not always MAXQDA that changes and causes problems, but (new versions of) operating systems that change frameworks or other elements we use in our software, and then we need to adapt for those versions.)
2) Sure!
- the type of the document(s) imported (rtf, doc/x, pdf etc.)
From my experience (but I wouldn't state that as a general rule, just my experience), .txt and .rtf-documents are the most leightweight format, followed by docx, which can be more complex, followed by PDFs, which can have (especially if they are scanned books etc.) huge file sizes and take longer to process then (with any software).
- the size of the document(s) imported
Only thing I know is common sense.. the bigger and more complex they are (especially PDFs), the longer they take
- eventually the number of formats or special elements included in these documents
Yes, as written earlier, special elements etc. can indeed slow down the perfomance in comparison to character-only-documents.
- the numer of codes used
There is no set limit regarding the codes used, but above 200,000 coded segments the stability of MAXQDA cannot be guaranteed. You can also read more about limitations and technical information here:
https://www.maxqda.com/help-max18/technical-data-and-information/limitations-technical-information
3) Yes, of course you can send us this document, that would be great! We can then run some tests on it and find out what is going on. The most efficient way for us would be if you can use our support form right here:
https://www.maxqda.com/help-support/onlinesupport#Kontaktieren
Then we have all the necessary information in our system as well. Of course, we treat all the data of our customers strictly confidential.
Kind regards,
Andreas