EJ,
Thanks again. My intuitive feeling is that you're right that it is a filepath issue. But intuition is all I got, because the rest of what you're saying is over my head. Where do I find this "OS Directory"? What do I do when I get there? Has this same thing been coming into play when I try to open files directly from my external Seagate backup drive (months old file showing, when I thought I had copied the most recent version into a new dated folder for each backup)? And what do I do to keep this from happening again?
I have, as a rule been quitting VW after each session. Occasionally I will leave it open over night. I have auto-save every 15 min., and also occasionally periodically save manually, after having the program throw me out a few times. I re-installed preferences (with Andy Stratton's help), and checked the "Save to separate file in backup folder". I took the most recent files that I could find within the project directories (with "only" a few days lost work), renamed them. I took all the older files and backups and saved them as zipped archives in newly created folders within each project directory. I should explain my directory structure here, since it may be a factor. To take the example of one drawing "Noboribetsu0501.07a":
Macintosh HD\Users\Joel Riehl\Ma Architecture\Projects\HTI(client's name)\0501.07Noboribetsu(project name and number)\CAD0501.07\Noboribetsu0501.07(drawing name)
Also in the "CAD0501.07" folder, there is a VW backup folder that VW is automatically creating, with earlier backups nested within it.
The drawings live within each project directory. Not under applications\Vectorworks. Anything suspect there? Should I leave the . out of the file or folder names?
It has been a distressing couple of days after months of relatively trouble-free operation, to suddenly have these stumbling blocks cast at my feet, nay, thrown at my head. With two days remaining until deadline, I'm afraid to go back into my drawings for fear I'll end the day a week behind where I started it.