Re: pgAdmin 3 is still better than pgAdmin 4 - Mailing list pgadmin-support

I've just bought a new computer, and as an exercise I tried to give pgAdmin 4 another chance, because my previous attempts frustrated me immensely after just a few minutes of use and made me go back to pgAdmin 3. My last attempt was on pgAdmin 4 version 1.2, my current attempt was on version 1.5. My computer has the latest Windows 10, x64, i7 7700K CPU, 32 GB RAM, running pgAdmin 4 standalone.

 

So, after forcing myself to use pgAdmin 4 for 2 days, things are not looking good and I will go back to pgAdmin 3 again. Today pgAdmin 4 is kind of usable, for simple stuff. But really, it hurts productivity so much compared to pgAdmin 3, and feels so awkward and slow, that I won't keep punishing myself by using it. Under these circumstances, I don't know how you can say stuff like this on your site: "WARNING: pgAdmin 3 is no longer supported. It is recommended that you download pgAdmin 4 instead."

 

And now the issues I encountered while using pgAdmin 4:

 

General:

         - On the plus side, the Windows app UI is actually a browser control, so the Control + "+" and Control + "-" keyboard shortcuts work to bring the UI to a decent size on High DPI displays just like in browsers. But it would be nice if the app would respect the Windows scaling settings automatically, because at the default scale the UI elements are way too small and my 175% scaling setting I configured in Windows for my display is ignored. If that's not possible, the browser scaling controls should be made available in the settings or a menu, I doubt many people would think of using browser keyboard shortcuts to zoom.

         - The app doesn't save empty passwords and keeps asking for them.

         - The app seems use a lot of CPU even when doing nothing, it constantly uses 7% CPU while connected to 4 databases. Most likely caused by the dashboard feature.

         - There is no way to disable the dashboard feature.

         - The app feels extremely slow and unresponsive, even with Intel i7 7700K CPU running at 4.2 GHz. I mean I just opening the app takes over 20 seconds. Without connecting to a database. pgAdmin 3 on my old laptop starts in just 3 seconds.

 

Query window:

         - Control + S in a query window doesn't save modified files.

         - Using Control + "+" to scale the UI to a decent level truncates the result header:

                  http://i.imgur.com/UyLZDIf.png

         - there is no list of recently used SQL files

         - some of the commented SQL text is not grayed out, it grays it out only for the first few lines

         - The file picker is still not ideal:

                  - truncating file names after just a few characters,

                  - showing HTTP encoding like %20 for spaces in the hover tooltips

                  - mixing directories with the rest of the files in the item list.

                  - you can't change sorting by clicking on columns

                  - double clicking on a file doesn't open it

                  - it doesn't remember the view settings (table view) after you close it and open it again.

         - You can't switch to another server/database in a query window

         - The copy and download as CSV buttons don't seem to do anything, even after you select records in the result table.

         - The is no timer shown during query execution.

         - Query tab headers don't show any indication that something is executing, so you have to check each tab individually from time to time.

         - Query tab headers don't show the database name

         - no confirmation asked when closing unsaved tabs

         - no option to copy cell/row/table contents in the query results by right clicking on them with a context menu.

 

Dashboard:

         - Doesn't show session SQL, query start, transaction start, last state change, blocking sessions

         - Can't copy SQL from a session

         - Can't copy the session list

         - Can't cancel a query/kill a session

 

Browser:

         - Using Control + "+" to scale the UI to a decent level results in blurred icons in the browser tree:

                  http://i.imgur.com/EKKYqU8.png

 

To conclude, sure, pgAdmin 3 is not perfect, it has a variety of issues too. And while some of the issues from pgAdmin 3 are fixed by pgAdmin 4, the regressions far overweigh any advantages at this point.

 

When deciding to make revolutionary changes, instead of evolutionary changes, you should always keep in mind the Superiority story by Arthur C. Clarke:

 

http://www.mayofamily.com/RLM/txt_Clarke_Superiority.html

 

“The ultimate cause of our failure was a simple one: despite all statements to the contrary, it was not due to lack of bravery on the part of our men, or to any fault of the Fleet's. We were defeated by one thing only - by the inferior science of our enemies. I repeat - by the inferior science of our enemies.”

 

Thanks,

Vlad