 		// see if can stop watching variables
 		if watchingVariables && !connections.map({ $0.watchingVariables}).contains(true) {
 			do {
-				try worker?.send(data: coder.toggleVariableWatch(enable: false, contextId: nil))
+				let msgData = try coder.toggleVariableWatch(enable: false, contextId: nil)
+				if msgData.count < 1 { logger.info(".removed sending empty data") }
+				try worker?.send(data: msgData)
 			} catch {
 				logger.warning("error disabling variable watch: \(error)")
 			}

				let message = try coder.openConnection(wspaceId: workspace.id, sessionId: sessionId!, dbhost: settings.config.computeDbHost, dbPort: settings.config.computeDbPort,
					dbuser: settings.config.dbUser, dbname: settings.config.dbName,
					dbpassword: settings.config.dbPassword)
				try worker!.send(data: message)
			} catch {
				logger.error("failed to send open connection message: \(error)")

		logger.info("uandle update preview called")
		do {
			let cmd = try coder.updatePreview(previewId: updateData.previewId, chunkNumber: updateData.chunkId, includePrevious: updateData.includePrevious)
			if cmd.count < 1 { logger.info("sending empty data") }
			try worker?.send(data: cmd)
		} catch {
			logger.warning("error geupdating preview: \(error)")
