obsolete drawings re-appearing

[Joel Riehl]

I have a VW11.5 file that seems to be real buggy. Problems - from most recent, working back:

- Opened drawing this morning, and yesterday's work was gone.

- Went to backup file, opened it, and found that it was waaaaaay obsolete version from months back.

- Went to external hard-drive backup disk, and found that the same obsolete version had been overwriting with each backup.

- Previously, when exporting this file to AutoCAD for an overseas consultant, he was finding this same obsolete version that I have in my backup. Even to the point that - when exporting a detail sheet, it would open up as an obsolete floor plan. Totally screwed up.

1.) What is going on?

2.) Should I be re-naming the file each time I back up so that it recognizes it as something different?

3.) Why is it writing months-old data, and where is it finding it?

[islandmon]

Peculiar but not weird ... I would begin by deleting the VW Preferences ( make sure you have SN# handy ) . Relaunch VW and reset Backup Preferences with new empty file . Check your drive paths for old versions and get them isolated via compression or new folders. Rename most recent 'good' file then open it from OS to launch VW. Set-up the file as required and check to make the Prefs are right...Save. Quit VW and Relaunch ... open file from VW and check it. Then go and check the new Back-up file for date/time modification.

[Joel Riehl]

EJ, thanks for the reply. It gets wierder: On the "recent files" pull-down, all my history disappeared. When I navigated into other projects and opened them, they were versions from about 2 weeks back. I felt sick (both projects on tight, impending - this Friday - deadlines). If I went 2 tiers into the backup, I found a version with only a couple days work missing. I guess that's the best I can do for the time being. Your relaunch and reset procedure sounds like it may take care of this. I'll give it a try.

With your long history with VW, can I expect this sort of thing to happen from time to time?

[islandmon]

Joel ... this appears to be a FilePath issue more than anything else...

VW writes to a path and then records that path as 'alias' using OS API ... simple. The OS keeps track of paths for the App.

Do you quit VW at the end of each session or do you keep it Open?

If you don't Quit then VW will not remember any new paths only the paths linked at launch. Although the OS remembers them. The Quit procedure updates the paths that you see within the File Menu container.

Your OS will maintain the file path and as you 'save' the files will be updated within the Directory. If you experience lost files or outdate info... look first to the OS Directory for the most recent modified version. The Back-up file is not necessarily your most current version.

[Joel Riehl]

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.

[Joel Riehl]

Edit: I erased the old "VW backup" folder out of the file directory. Opened the 2 drawings. After 15 minutes, VW created a new backup folder in the project CAD directory and wrote the drawings to it. So far, so good....... walking on eggshells.....

[ 12-14-2005, 06:25 PM: Message edited by: Joel Riehl ]

[islandmon]

Your filepath structure is perfect ... now as to the Seagate back-up... which utility are you using to create & overwrite the files on this path?

It will all work out ... but pay close atention to your new file's modification date stamp and compare it with your VW>save & VW back-up via the Finder . There should be a 15 min lag between the two.

[Joel Riehl]

EJ Thanks. I have noticed something that is different now (and I have no idea what happened to change it):

1.) The "recent files" are re-accumulating at the bottom of the VW "files" menu after they inexplicably disappeared a few days ago. However, they no longer open the most recent version. This means that I now have to drag the file from finder, and drop it in the VW icon. When I do that, I notice that:

2.) Looking at the modification date and time stamp which you mentioned, the most recent version is now found in the "VW backup" folder under the CAD folder for the project, and no longer directly in the CAD folder, which is where I have always found it prior to this - and where VW "recent files" seems to be looking for it.

And, by the way, the version directly in the CAD folder seems to be missing the entire day's work. Not just 15 min. Something's scrambled, and I'm not sure how to unscramble it.

As for backup utility, I'm not using one - just creating a dated folder on the Seagate each week, and using finder to copy my entire "Projects" folder into it. (Then the drive goes in the trunk of my car, so it will be "off-premises"). I know there is an automated backup utility available that sends the files to .mac. Perhaps there is even one that I can use to write the files to a backup folder on my own web domain. What do you recommend?

[ 12-15-2005, 12:08 PM: Message edited by: Joel Riehl ]

[islandmon]

Okay ... goto SystemPreferences>Date&Time >select 'set date & time automatically' to update via internet >time.apple.com

Let's be certain that your System Clock which stamps the files is correct before we go further with this issue.

The VW Back-up path is now correct.

[Joel Riehl]

Thank you for the advice Mike, EJ. I think I have gotten it under control. I duplicated the current backup files, and moved the "originals" from the backup folder into the CAD directory - overwriting what was in there, then renaming the duplicates in the backup folder back to the same name. Now, when I pick the drawing from the "recent files" tab, the most recent version comes up. Will see how it does after saving a couple of times. I even went back and found the most current version of another project that I thought was somehow lost forever. It's not!

Still have no idea how it got all screwed up in the first place, how it started pulling up old files, and why the "recent projects" history vanished..... but I feel a bit better equipped to sort it out next time something similar happens. Thanks all.

[ 12-15-2005, 02:46 PM: Message edited by: Joel Riehl ]

[Joel Riehl]

Date and time is set up as you say.

[Luciole Design]

This might be obvious, but if you're on a Mac, sometimes VW saves the files into an unanticipated folder (instead of your working folder)during a "save as".

When a file "disappears" I usually try to find it with Spotlight (Tiger) and often it turns up intact but somewhere unexpected.

Your problem seems more complicated, but this is a quick and easy thing to try first.