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Why is ArcGIS PRO so slow to cancel a simple geoprocessing tool ?

JoabelBarbieri

Anything you try to cancel in ArcGIS PRO just gets hanging and spinning and it won't finish. It seems PRO tries to finish the process before cancelling which is a HUGE waste of time and resources. Having to kill the exe, losing all your work is a constant. ESRI must address this issue

Example where I canceled and it's spinning for MORE than 15 MINUTES !!!

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TheodoreF

Yes! This is so annoying. To cancel a process I have to open task manager and kill ArcGISPro.exe! So annoying.

Even something like selecting a subset of points from a layer to export to a new feature class, then cancelling that as I realise I already have what I need. The cancelling message hangs indefinitely. I can't even cancel the cancel.

DevinRoth

Does anyone have anymore information about this?

Is there a way to force cancel a geoprocessing command that is not responding short of restarting the program?

DevinRoth

Following up on this to ask if this behavior has been improved in the latest version.

SBrandenburg

Same thing still happening in Pro 2.6.2.

Anonymous User

Any updates? Similar to those above, I have to kill the programme through the .exe. Surely this is not how the programme was designed? I am using 2.6.1 - Is there not an answer to this?

NickCook

A month later.... same issue. I hit the cancel button and it just says Canceling... above it in my history, the red stop button turns grey, and then it freezes and doesn't cancel anything. In the meantime I can't use the file involved with the cancelled geoprocessing because its hung up on the cancel. So I have to restart ArcPro. Why is so much basic functionality that worked fine in ArcMap (32-bit) now SO much slower and buggy in 64-bit? It has Microsoft's fingerprints all over it...

MichaelLedwith

It's still the same in 2.7.1.

I cancelled a SelectByAttribute query (~900,000 objects) last Friday and the cancellation still wasn't finished on Monday morning. The Kill command in ProcessExplorer is the GIS-expert's best friend.

YvonneFederowicz

Still the same! 14GB later... I killed it, thanks for this thread -- I kept hoping it would end gracefully...

MichaelTomiak_WSP

Still occuring - any issues why? How do we alert to ESRI?
I've jsut had to kill by .exe and lost the work I had done ....

identify error.JPG

KoryKramer

Are you working with a geoprocessing tool or the Explore tool to identify a feature (open its pop-up)?

I'd recommend first working through Troubleshooting Performance Issues in ArcGIS Pro as there could be a number of issues at play (data location?) and as those steps indicate, if you've exhausted suggestions there you can contact technical support to investigate further.

Thank you

MichaelLedwith

Thanks for a response... any response - even if it's a few years too late.

But seriously, the fact of the matter is that AG Pro attempts to complete some part of the task at hand - a sub-process perhaps. If you're working with a large dataset, AG Pro hangs. This is something I've experienced plenty of time during the past ten years or so. And when I say "plenty" I mean dozens.

As for contacting "technical support", good luck with that. We're usually the ones that explain the solutions to ESRI support... 🙂

MichaelTomiak

02/2022, a pandemic has come and gone and no resolution XD.
Any resolutions to this? @esri_uk

For context this time, I started a process of Raster Mosaic (all data is local), after starting I realised I had what I needed else where, so tried cancelling, to find it the blue circle which went on for an hour. So I just killed the .exe.

KoryKramer

@MichaelTomiak you mention "Raster Mosaic". Are you using the Mosaic tool, Mosaic to New Raster tool, or something else?

I just tried with Mosaic and was able to cancel the process:

And Mosaic to New Raster:

If you have reproducible steps that demonstrate the cancel functionality on a geoprocessing tool to not work, let us know and we can take a look. Or you could report the bug here https://support.esri.com/en/report-bug (imperative to have steps that reproduce and demonstrate the problem).

Thank you.

MichaelLedwith

We naturally appreciate all "attempts" to help... I'll leave that thought there.

Seriously though, this problem has ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with the specific tool being used. It happens all the time irrespective of the tool or model. It might - might - have something to do with the size of the data set being processed but it just as easily could have something to do with AG Pro's incessant need to map up inordnat amounts of RAM and then not use it or release it.

skyhook

I'd like to echo what's been said. This is a chronic problem. Incredibly frustrating.... It's only like 20% of the time when I try to cancel any geoprocessing tool. This bug doesn't seem to discriminate. Big dataset, small dataset, ArcPro version, data format, etc.... Currently, "cancel" has been frozen for better part of an hour for "calculate geometry attributes" on a dozen simple polygons......

MeganBleess

For what it's worth, I started at 11:45am using the import XML Workspace schema geoprocessing. I let it run, had lunch, had a meeting and around 2:20pm I clicked cancel as it seemed hung up at 3%. It's been canceling ever since. It is now 5:45pm. The XML schema is for a feature dataset with 3 feature classes. NO DATA. I'm going to kill Pro via Task Manager and pick up again Monday. What a waste. I could have drawn the files faster with crayola.

DorianneDysart

Same thing in ArcGIS Pro 2.8.3, going to make go make some coffee and maybe a walk around the building while its hanging lol

JoabelBarbieri

We ARE at version 3.0 and the speed to cancel anything seems to be getting worse.

Waiting on a split to cancel for about 20 minutes now!!!! This can't be normal ESRI. Please do something!

JillHalchin

Just to update this thread - cancelling geoprocessing in Pro is still a problem in April 2023. It happens every time, no matter what tool it is, whether from a standard toolbox or ModelBuilder, or the size of the dataset. And Pro hangs so I can't do anything else while it's cancelling, so I often wind up using Task Manager to shut it down. Sometimes, after a cancel actually finishes, I find that it produced output anyway. Using Pro 3.03 now, but this has been the case with every version I've used going back to 2.1.

TimWillson

I'm having the same problem with just doing a buffer, Pairwise or Standard. Something that takes 5 seconds in ArcMap never finishes or takes hours. And as everyone else mentioned, good luck cancelling.

Marie_Ducharme

LOL. Original post in 2019...and still no suggestion from ESRI? Wow, that's should be embarassing for ESRI. I'm faced with the same issue, I am running a tool, and my processing extent was not set properly, and the are it's processing is HUGE....so I need to stop it. Yesterday, I stopped it and my application was hanging for hours. Finally had to close from the task manager...

So this AM, I figured I would try a different method. This is my first "hit" in google....lol...really, there is no fix?

dajaho

It would be really nice to be able to quickly cancel processes, just having this issue right now. Stopping the process through Task Manager would risk losing data.

ExDonovan

I've been having this problem lately too. Mostly with raster processing for statewide features so it may be a size issue, but happened with Create Constant Raster too which is strange.

tschwartz_RES

Adding to the list of folks here.

Can ESRI please do something about this? Its been 4 years in this thread with no resolution.

This needs to be solved.

oddpython

If I added up all the computing time that I've wasted running a tool, only to realize much later that it won't run (but the program won't explain to you why it's not running nor give you a notification when it's stuck) then cancelling said tool, only to realize later that it won't cancel, having to terminate the program and re-do everything previously (because no autosave), I would have enough time to study and become a software engineer, apply to work at ESRI, pass an interview, start working there, and fix the problem myself.

DouglasRaybuck

Feb 2024 - Still a huge problem. Does not seem to matter which tool I'm using as the problem is widespread (currently it's the Distance Accumulation tool), canceling an operation takes forever or just never seems to happen at least after hours of waiting and eventually I'm forced to force-close the program in task manager. Major time suck and I hope the problem is fixed one of these years.

DouglasRaybuck

Update - It's the next day and ArcGIS is still "Canceling".

rifka

Having the same problem, repeatedly. I'm working with a big dataset and anytime I do anything and then try to cancel it I just have to restart arcgis pro. please someone fix this.

Jeff-Reinhart

Was reminded today how fun a problem this is. The silence from Esri is deafening.

Wayne_Rennick

@JoabelBarbieri Just wondering if you're still waiting for the process to cancel? I'm currently at 30-minutes to cancel a simple Clip Raster Geoprocess.
I just figured you've been here for about 5-years waiting for a reply from ESRI.... Maybe you have suggestions on good ways to pass the time.

JoabelBarbieri

Not only it is still the same in 3.3, but now cancel adding data from Agol or Living Atlas (which takes forever by itself) is behaving the same

10+ minutes and still didn't cancel....

SarahSibbett

Hi everyone,

I'm currently at the user conference in San Diego and brought this topic up in a meeting with a few developers. What I learned is that geoprocessing tools are designed in a way that breaks the tool down into segments of work. Apparently, many geoprocessing tools are in fact configured in a way that they will cancel out if the user requests; however, before the tool cancels out, it has to complete the current segment it is on. If that segment of work takes a long time to complete, the tool takes a long time to cancel.

I got the name of a contact on the geoprocessing team, and I am going to try to track that person down today in order to get more information about this. Apparently, some tools may not be designed very well in how the segments of work are organized, so this issue may be tool specific. I will try to get a bit more info, or ask the developer himself to post a better and more detailed response than I have if has a chance to.

MeganBleess1

Go get 'em Sarah! I wish I could be at the UC!

It seems that many tools have this issue and everything in Pro is called geoprocessing!

SarahSibbett

Me again.

I've learned that the reason the tool needs to complete the segment of work it is on before it cancels is because there is a risk to your data if it just stops in the middle of what it is doing - so essentially, at the end of each segment of work is a safe spot to cancel, without posing any risk to your data.

The issue is that each tool implements its own cancel logic and sometimes you won't have any cancel logic because the tool wasn't written well. The geoprocessing development team is trying to create a holistic cancel approach to resolve this inconsistency amongst geoprocessing tools, but it needs to be implemented in such a way that there is no risk to customer data. One method was tested, but it didn't work and had too many bugs. A new method is in the design phase.

I hope this information is helpful and provides a bit more context.

Wayne_Rennick

I appreciate you trying to get some answers from the developers. I'd love it if the developer/team would respond here.

It blows my mind how long it takes to import symbology from one layer to another in ArcGIS Pro. I have a beefy computer and it should take a second, not 30+ seconds. In my experience Pro does some geoprocessing faster than ArcMap (raster and vector analysis). I assume that's because it's able to use more memory and multithread. But most (all?) the basic cartography tools are glacial.

MichaelLedwith

Well, it’s small consolation to get a confirmation of what everyone stated at least three years ago.

We know that it hangs because the software is trying to complete the process. What we want to have however is a tool that can be stopped immediately without corrupting the data.

MetralAlexis

I've doubts about that explanation. I just canceled a Export Raster (a DTM from GDB to tif) <10MB and it's stuck. That's such a simple geoprocessing task, whish usually takes 15s but nope, I've to kill ArcGISPro in the task manager. Just assume that the Cancel option it completely useless and remove it form the software. I've no memories of it working properly.

JoabelBarbieri

Hahaha, unfortunately, I don't have good suggestions. I always have the task manager open and just kill the ArcGISPro.exe every time it hangs for more than 30 seconds to cancel.

I've also set my autosave parameters to 2 minutes (you can find that in Options>Application General> Project recovery) to avoid losing too much work if I have to kill the exe.

UseItOrLoseIt

The developers are worried about corrupting data, yet everyone here ends up simply ending the task in Task Manager which I assume would pose the same risk. The first report of this issue is from 5 years ago! I just had to cancel a data export of a single point that hung up. First the export itself hung up for 10 minutes, then canceling it hung up for another 10 before I finally shut it down via Task Manager. I moved from ArcMap to Pro about 2 years ago, and this has been a fairly common problem since then for me.

UseItOrLoseIt

The explanation is also hugely problematic if it's true. What happens when the process itself is hung up, and that's why you need to cancel? It will never finish the segment it's working on if it's hung up; therefore, it will never be able to cancel. Brilliant!

GISAdminSHN

It might pose the same risk, but notice the subtle shift in accountability....

If we choose to use End Task then the data corruption becomes our fault for not letting the tool or cancel complete! 😄

BrianSchrock

This is easily the most infuriating issue I have with Pro. I am testing a model on Pro. All it has to do is calculate ONE field on ONE point. That calculation is literally Field = 242. It was calculating for minutes with no progress. I tried to cancel and it would probably go on for days if I let it. FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS HOLY, ESRI, where are you on this issue? Why cant the simplest of task ever stop? Why have a stop button at all if you didn't program it to do anything? Is it just there to be a troll button?

EmmaSchultz1

Just adding to the thread for this consistent issue. Testing out Pro 3.4.1 and this is still happening for any type of cancellation. The not wanting to corrupt data reason makes sense for geoprocessing, but what about for simple tasks like identify tool? I cancelled an identification and it has been hanging there for 15 minutes. There is no data to corrupt in this case so not sure why it can't cancel.

FakeName

Slight update:

Obviously ESRI has known about this problem (cancelling processes and the GP Framework) for years. According to ESRI's own documentation, this issue was "under consideration" during both the 3.3 and 3.4 "performance improvements". Explanations from ESRI, such as "tool execution" and "responsiveness" have been speeded up so the cancellation process is faster, simply don't address reality.

In the end, unfortunately, nothing has been done. In my opinion, ESRI engineers know what the problem is but have no idea how to address the issue. And executives don't want to spend money trying to figure out a solution.

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