in reply to PDF::API2 processing time

Thanks for the pointers - I will check out the profiling. (didn't know it was out there) I did just add ram to the server, with no noticeable difference. top shows 1 processor running at 100% the other at 0% (or close to it) overall 50% +- so it's not taking advantage of the dual processor...maybe it's not supposed to Now for the code: (be kind) 
#!/usr/bin/perl --
# 
# 
# 
# 
#################################################################### 
#
#    
#     Perl script base for dynamic photo font printing
#    Outputs a print ready PDF
#    Command line version - need to pass the file name only as
#        argument 
#    Liberty Photo-Phonts
#    
#
#    Requirements:                Perl5 UNIX
#    
#    Author:             Bill O'Connell
#    Version:            1.0
#    Date:                6/12/08
#    Modified:            9/17/08                
#    Modified:            10/21/08 switched to 
#                simplified command line use
#    
#    
#################################################################### 
# START USER EDITS
####################################################################

$dir = "/var/www/html/font_test/data/"; 

####################################################################
#    END USER EDITS
####################################################################


use PDF::API2;
use PDF::API2::Lite;

#################################################################### 

#################################################################### 


my $fn = $ARGV[0];    # file name passed as variable

# if no error message is return ed, the upload was successful

my ($fNames, $aa, $bb, @current, @currentfiles );

        #$tmpl = $FORM{template};
        
        # Used for defining contant point to in conversions
        use constant mm => 25.4 / 150;  
        use constant in => 1 / 150;
        use constant pt => 1;
        my $unixwc = "wc -l " . $dir . $fn;
        my $full = `$unixwc`;
        $full =~ s/($dir)//;
        $full =~ s/($fn)//;
        $full =~ s/(\n)//;
        my $pdf  = PDF::API2->new(-file => "/tmp/pic_font.pdf"); #defi
+nes output file Will need to be dynamic in future to avoid dups
        open(DATAFILE, $dir . $fn) || die "Open Failed";      #Opens d
+atafile for reading
        while(<DATAFILE>){                     #Reads in one line at a
+ time  
            chomp;
            ($sa,$se,$op,$comp,$fname,$lname,$ad1,$addr,$city,$state,$
+zip,$post,$vs,$sales,$cell,$slsemail,$dmp) = split /,/;    #splits cu
+rrent line into variables
                my $opt = $sa;
                $opt .= "\/";
                $opt .= $se;
                $opt .= " ";
                $opt .= $op;
                my $res = 72/150;            #sets resolution variable
+ - first number is always 72, second is resolution
                my $picw = 238.17/mm;            #sets image width and
+ height
                my $pich = 158.75/mm;
                        my $bkhdra = "It\'s all about picking the best
+";    #these pre-define all of the text - will be changing
                        my $bkhdrb = "marketing solution for your need
+.";    # this to an auto word wrap function later
                        my $btxt1a = "Liberty Creative Solutions has t
+he solutions you need -";
                        my $btxt1b = "all under one roof. Our teams of
+ professionals are experts";
                        my $btxt1c = "at design, print production and 
+fulfillment. As a single-";
                        my $btxt1d = "source provider, we manage the e
+ntire process. And that";
                        my $btxt1e = "means more time for you.";
                        my $btxt2 = "We offer:";
                        my $btxt3a = $fname .", contact ".$sales." tod
+ay to discuss how";
                        my $btxt3b = "LCS can help ".$comp." choose";
                        my $btxt3c = "the best marketing solution for 
+your need.";
                        my $btxt3d = "V: \(708\) 555-5555";
                        my $btxt3e = "C: ".$cell;                # not
+e the variables from the datafile sprinkled in
                        my $bkbp1 = "Quick Turnaround";
                        my $bkbp2 = "Customized, variable marketing so
+lutions";
                        my $bkbp3 = "Responsive customer service";
                        my $bkbp4 = "Flexible coordination with your v
+endors";
                        my $bkbp5 = "Planet coding to track your mail"
+;
                        my $bkbp6 = "Print personalize and mail all un
+der one roof";
            my $page = $pdf->page;                # Adds front page
            $page->mediabox (685,469 );            # Sets page sizes
            $page->bleedbox(  5, 5,  675, 459);
            $page->cropbox  ( 5, 5,  675, 459);
            $page->trimbox  ( 9, 9,  666, 450);

            my $fnt = $pdf->corefont('Arial',-encode => 'latin1');    
+# Embeding Fonts - note difference between corefonts and True Type
            my $tgfnt = $pdf->ttfont('/var/www/cgi-bin/UNIVB___.TTF',-
+encode => 'latin1');
            my $tradebf = $pdf->ttfont('/var/www/cgi-bin/TRADGBCT.TTF'
+, -encode => 'latin1');
            my $traderf = $pdf->ttfont('/var/www/cgi-bin/TRADGC18.TTF'
+, -encode => 'latin1');
            my $postnet = $pdf->ttfont('/var/www/cgi-bin/uspsbarcode.t
+tf', -encode => 'latin1');
            my $pdb = PDF::API2->open('/var/www/html/font_test/Pumpkin
+s/back.pdf'); #opens PDF for back - below is commented for the jpg
            #my $bk = $pdf->image_jpeg('/var/www/html/font_test/Pumpki
+ns/back.jpg');
            my $jpeg = $pdf->image_jpeg('/var/www/html/font_test/Pumpk
+ins/background.jpg'); #defines and opens images
            my $png = $pdf->image_png('/var/www/html/font_test/Pumpkin
+s/foreground.png');
            my $tag = $pdf->image_jpeg('/var/www/html/font_test/Pumpki
+ns/tagline.jpg');
            my $vname = $fname;    # copies variable for first name fo
+r disemmination
            my $vr = $page->gfx();    # I think these are redundant, b
+ut defines a graphics element for the first page
            my $bg = $page->gfx();
            my $fi = $page->gfx();
            my $tl = $page->gfx();
            my $txy = 370;        #defines x & y coordinates for use l
+ater
            my $txx = 180;
            my $pngx = 200;
            my $pngy = 108;
            $vname =~ tr/[a-z]/[A-Z]/; # Transforms characters to all 
+caps - comment this line for multi-case templates
            @chars = split(//, $vname); #splits name into individual l
+etters
            $elem = scalar(@chars);        # counts letters in name
            if ($elem > 6 ) {        #sets starting point -wid- and st
+arting height -pngy- by number of characters 
                $wid = ((650 / 2) - (($elem * 76) / 2));
                $pngy = 109;
            } elsif ($elem > 4) {
                                $wid = ((580 / 2) - (($elem * 74) / 2)
+);
                $pngy = 109;
            } else {
                $wid = ((480 / 2) - (($elem * 73) / 2));
                $pngy = 108;
            }
            $vr->image($jpeg,5,15,1.09);    # writes background image 
+(defined image, x coord, y coord, scale)
                        foreach(@chars) {
                            if(!$_ == "") { 
                                $img=$pdf->image_png("/var/www/html/fo
+nt_test/Pumpkins/$_.png");
                                $vr->image($img,$wid,$pngy,(5/18));
                                @now = localtime;
                                if ($elem > 6 ) {
                                                    $rnd = ((rand(7) -
+ 3) + 78);
                                                                $wid =
+ ($wid + $rnd);
                                                                $pngy 
+= ($pngy + ($rnd - 80));
                                            } elsif ($elem > 4) {
                                    $rnd = ((rand(7) - 3) + 81);
                                                                    $w
+id = ($wid + $rnd);
                                                                    $p
+ngy = ($pngy + ($rnd - 82));
                                } else {
                                                    $rnd = ((rand(7) -
+ 3) + 83);
                                                                $wid =
+ ($wid + $rnd);
                                                                $pngy 
+= ($pngy + ($rnd - 84));
                                            }
                            }
                            
                        }
            my $txt = $page->text;
            $txt->fillcolor('white');
            $txt->font($traderf,22);              ## set font
            $txt->translate($txx,$txy);                   ## set inser
+t location
            $txt->text_center("It's all about picking the best one.");
+  ## insert text
            $txt->fillcolor('white');
                        $txt->font($tgfnt,11);                  ## set
+ font
                        $txt->translate(560,24);                   ## 
+set insert location
                        $txt->text_center("www.libertycreativesolution
+s.com");  ## insert text

                        $fi->image($png,5,15,(3/5));
            $tl->image($tag,5,5,(1/2));
            
                    $page2 = $pdf->importpage($pdb); #page
                    #$page2->mediabox (704,488 );                     
+# Sets page sizes
                                #$page2->bleedbox(  5, 5,  699, 483);
                                #$page2->cropbox  ( 5, 5,  699, 483);
                                #$page2->trimbox  ( 19, 19,  685, 469)
+;
                                my $bullet = $page2->gfx();
                    #my $bki = $page2->gfx();    
                    #$bki->image($bk,0,0,1.1);
                    my $txt2 = $page2->text;
                    $txt2->fillcolor('white');
                    $bullet->fillcolor('white');
                                        $bullet->strokecolor('white');
                    $bullet->circle(62,169,2);
                                        $bullet->circle(62,184,2);
                                        $bullet->circle(62,199,2);
                                        $bullet->circle(62,214,2);
                                        $bullet->circle(62,229,2);
                                        $bullet->circle(62,244,2);
                                        $bullet->fill;
                    $txt2->textstart;
                    $txt2->font($tradebf,14);
                    $txt2->translate(55,380);
                    $txt2->text($bkhdra);
                                        $txt2->font($tradebf,14);
                                        $txt2->translate(55,360);
                                        $txt2->text($bkhdrb);
                    $txt2->font($traderf,12);
                                        $txt2->translate(55,340);
                                        $txt2->text($btxt1a);
                    $txt2->font($traderf,12);
                                        $txt2->translate(55,325);
                                        $txt2->text($btxt1b);
                                        $txt2->font($traderf,12);
                                        $txt2->translate(55,310);
                                        $txt2->text($btxt1c);
                                        $txt2->font($traderf,12);
                                        $txt2->translate(55,295);
                                        $txt2->text($btxt1d);
                                        $txt2->font($traderf,12);
                                        $txt2->translate(55,280);
                                        $txt2->text($btxt1e);

                    $txt2->font($tradebf,12);
                                        $txt2->translate(55,255);
                                        $txt2->text($btxt2);
                    
                    $txt2->font($traderf,12);
                                        $txt2->translate(72,240);
                                        $txt2->text($bkbp1);

                                        $txt2->font($traderf,12);
                                        $txt2->translate(72,225);
                                        $txt2->text($bkbp2);

                                        $txt2->font($traderf,12);
                                        $txt2->translate(72,210);
                                        $txt2->text($bkbp3);

                                        $txt2->font($traderf,12);
                                        $txt2->translate(72,195);
                                        $txt2->text($bkbp4);

                                        $txt2->font($traderf,12);
                                        $txt2->translate(72,180);
                                        $txt2->text($bkbp5);

                                        $txt2->font($traderf,12);
                                        $txt2->translate(72,165);
                                        $txt2->text($bkbp6);

                    $txt2->font($tradebf,12);
                                        $txt2->translate(55,145);
                                        $txt2->text($btxt3a);
                                        $txt2->font($tradebf,12);
                                        $txt2->translate(55,130);
                                        $txt2->text($btxt3b);
                                        $txt2->font($tradebf,12);
                                        $txt2->translate(55,115);
                                        $txt2->text($btxt3c);
                                        $txt2->font($tradebf,12);
                                        $txt2->translate(55,100);
                                        $txt2->text($btxt3d);
                                        $txt2->font($tradebf,12);
                                        $txt2->translate(55,85);
                                        $txt2->text($btxt3e);
                    $txt2->font($tradebf,12);
                                        $txt2->translate(55,60);
                                        $txt2->text($slsemail);
    
                    $txt2->fillcolor('black');
                    $txt2->font($fnt, 12);
                    $txt2->translate(423,135);
                    $txt2->text("$opt");
                    $txt2->translate(423,115);
                    $txt2->text("$fname" . " " . "$lname");
                    $txt2->translate(423,100);
                    $txt2->text("$addr");
                    $txt2->translate(423,85);
                    $txt2->text("$city, " . "$state " . "$zip");
                    $txt2->fillcolor('black');
                                        $txt2->font($postnet, 16);
                                        $txt2->translate(423,50);
                    $txt2->text("\/$post\/");
                    $txt2->textend;
                    
                }
                                     
        $pdf->save;
        $pdf->end( );
        close(DATAFILE);

[download]

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Re^2: PDF::API2 processing time
by jethro (Monsignor) on Oct 22, 2008 at 02:19 UTC

    Is this your normal indentation? Looks horrible. Check out perltidy, a script than can repair this.

    I would also suggest using 

    use strict; 
use warnings;

    [download]

    I see you have practically just one really big loop where you process each record. It would have been easy to do some really basic profiling by just putting  print "Doing xyz now\n" every few lines and observing whether that minute for each record is wasted in one place or distributed evenly.

    Please read How do I post a question effectively?. You could have done the profiling before posting the code and then would have known which part of the code is important to post. You could have provided sample data (a few records) so that other monks could run your code.

    I don't have any experience with PDF::API2, but I'm guessing that a lot of the stuff you have in your loop could be moved before the loop. Definitely all the constant strings you create, all the font assignments, probably also the assignments of $pdb, $jpeg, $png, $tag. Just try it and see if it works.

    The same could be done with the images of the chars. Your code probably can be changed to:

    my %char_pics=(); # before the big loop
while(<DATAFILE>){
...
    foreach(@chars) {
    if(!$_ == "") { 
            if (exists $char_pics{$_}) {
                $img= $char_pics{$_};
            }
            else {
                $img=$pdf->image_png("/var/www/html/font_test/Pumpkins
+/$_.png");
                $char_pics{$_}= $img;
            }
            vr->image(...
...

    [download]

    If this works it could be quite a speedup since each char has to be read only once from disk instead of every time it is printed

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