Optimizing application load time

Improve the performance of your application by reducing content that is difficult to render. By running preflight optimization, you eliminate unnecessary static content and improve load times, which creates a better user experience.

Before you begin:  Review your compliance score, and take corrective action to reduce static content in your application. For more information, see Improving your compliance score.
The preflight optimization tool uses MD5 to generate a unique hash for the content of the optimized files. The tool uses the MD5 hash only to track changes in content to determine if new files need to be generated during optimization. Because the MD5 hash is not used for security, it does not represent a system vulnerability.
  1. In the header of Dev Studio, click Configure > User Interface > Application readiness > Preflight optimization.
  2. On the Preflight Optimization screen, click Add optimization.
  3. In the Add optimization configuration dialog box, complete the following steps:
    1. On the Basic tab, in the Access group list, select the access group that you want to optimize.
      The associated portal name is displayed on the right.
    2. Under Optimize, specify whether you want to optimize JavaScript files, Cascading Style Sheet (CSS) files, or both
    3. Optional: To reduce the size of your JavaScript files by removing comments and other unnecessary elements, select the Use JS Compacting check box.
    4. On the Advanced tab, select individual rules for the analysis of the application's design-time model.
      The Skip option determines if the rule is excluded from the analysis.
    5. Click Submit to save the optimization's configuration and start the analysis.

      If you run the access group's preflight optimization for the first time, or if you select the Use JS Compacting check box, the process might take a few minutes.

  4. Optional: To return the application to its previous JavaScript and CSS usage temporarily, clear the Enable check box on the Preflight Optimization screen.  

    You might complete this step if you encounter problems in the application and want to isolate them for testing and correction before you repeat the optimization process.

Result: After optimization, the application uses the optimized files by default.
What to do next: 

View the report to see optimization details such as the difference between the original size and the optimized size of the static content.

If you change the portal, the application, or the application’s skin, repeat the preflight optimization process to remove any unnecessary static content introduced by your changes.