[Solved] Lost connection to Data

[nickdearling]

We have been using Base very successfully for 2 years, to manage our community centre bookings.
Unexpectedly all our Tables have disappeared. I have checked the path to mydb and it seems correct. The Test & Test Connections are both OK. All the forms and reports are available but with no data. Please can you advise me on how to reconnect to the data. The Database is shared using Dropbox. Many thanks, Nick.

[UnklDonald418]

all our Tables have disappeared.

That is a common problem when using Embedded databases
First try View->Refresh Tables. It's a long shot but you might get lucky.
If not, check to see if there was a recent backup saved. Go to Tools->Options->Paths and look for the directory where Backups will be stored. Maybe you will find a recent backup in that directory.
If that fails there is a procedure for attempting to recover your data
viewtopic.php?f=83&t=17125
but in my experience that procedure rarely works.

The Database is shared using Dropbox

You should always work with a local copy of the database and then sync with Dropbox when you are finished using it. And it wouldn't hurt to store an archival backup somewhere like Dropbox.

Here is a link to the procedure for updating to a Split Database
viewtopic.php?f=83&t=65980
to minimize the chances of repeating the problem.

[nickdearling]

Thank you for responding, I have tried your suggestions and can’t get the data connected. I am only the Treasurer for a charity and not a competent database expert. I think this is a split database, how would I know? By luck I had copied the data into spreadsheets about a month ago. I thought that I could create a new database of the 4 tables involved and link the existing front end to it. Would that be possible? I started to do this with 1 table, but when I re-opened the new database (Bookings) I got this message: ‘The connection source “Bookings” could not be established. The connection could not be established. The database was created by a newer version of LibreOffice’
Please advise me on the options possible and if I can keep the existing forms & reports. Many thanks, Nick.

[Villeroy]

Embedded


External files:


Network connection:

[nickdearling]

It is External files.

[Villeroy]

The actual database is (or was) in the specified file path. In my second screenshot that was /tmp/test/database/ on my Linux box with a set of files starting with "relations2listboxes". You may have synchronized the damaged database over the Dropbox mechanism, but may be you find a working set of files on one of your machines. Turn off the synchronizing process before you overwrite the last intact instance of your database. Good luck.

[nickdearling]

Thanks Villeroy, I have tried your suggestion, but it didn’t work. I have probably done damage in trying to sort the problem over the last few days.
I would like to generate new tables and link the existing forms to them. Can that be done?
Why do I get the error message when I try to build a new database?

[Villeroy]

Create the same tables with the same field names and the queries, forms and reports will work.

[Villeroy]

Oh, wait a moment. Unless you started with an external HSQLDB, your database may still include an old embedded version. When you extract it, you get the first version of your external database.

[Nocton]

Since you said that you are sharing via Dropbox, why don't you just get the last workable version from your Dropbox web page?

[nickdearling]

I tried getting earlier versions from Dropbox, but they didn’t work.
I have now recreated the tables and imported data that I had in spreadsheets.
I seem to have lost auto-numbering of new records, but that is a small price to pay.
Thanks for your help.

[UnklDonald418]

I seem to have lost auto-numbering of new records

Code: Select all

ALTER TABLE "TableName" ALTER COLUMN "KeyFieldName" INTEGER GENERATED BY DEFAULT AS IDENTITY START WITH <n>;

[nickdearling]

Thanks for your help. Problems solved.