FM crashes when exporting

[martinw]

Hi all,

Everytime I try to export/import to filemaker it crashes.

As soon as the screen where I should pick fields to export/import it crashes without telling me what's wrong.

I am running FM server 5.5 and FM Pro 6. It crashes on all machines on the network while trying to do this.

Anyone have a solution?

Thanks,

[Christian Coppe]

Can you clarify? You speak about a network. Do you mean that the file crashs, or the software FMP crashes? If an FMP licence is installed on each PC of the network, I assume that FMP is still running on other PC, don't they? Where is the file? What is the size/number of data to import/export? I suggest two small tests :

1) create two new, simple FMP files and retry an export/import between them

2) re-install FMP on your PC

I suppose that you are aware that it is not possible to directly export to a FMP file.

[martinw]

The software crashes.

Yes, it is only the computer trying to export that FMP is crashing on.

The file is on the FM server.

The size of the file does not matter.

I do not even get to the stage where I can export the data. I don't get to choose the fields before it crashes.

Re-install it on all PCs? Seems a bit odd, as it is the same problem on all computers.

[Vaughan]

What *patch* level of FMP and FMS are you running?

[martinw]

I have updated FMP and FMS with the latest updates from filemaker website.

Now I am down to one file that keeps crashing while trying to export / import.

As soon as the popup with the field selector comes up it crashes.

Any ideas?

[Vaughan]

Might be data corruption in that one file. Close the file in FMS and open it in FMP, see if an consistency checks are done.

You might need to get a known-good backup, recover the original file and import into a clone of the backup. Remember to update auto-entered serial numbers!

[martinw]

I have performed a recovery on the data file but that does not help.

Recovering a known-good backup is not an option as a lot of data will be lost in that case.

[Lee Smith]

Hi martinw,

I hate to tell you this but, performing a "Recovery" on a file, does *not* make a file "Well" again. It only helps to make the file readable enough, so that the data can then be saved (some of it anyway) by importing it into a New file, or a clean backup of the file. To continue to use a "Recovered" file is only playing Russian Roulette with the data.

If you don't have a clean backup, then your best bet would be to recreate your current file from scratch, and then import your data. This may be a good time to update the file and add some features that were missing, eliminate some unnecessary layouts, change a script or two, etc.

HTH

Lee

[xtrim]

Hi

I had the same problem and I found out that a repeating field was causing FMP to crush when exporting a "large enought" amount of records...

I changed the field and it worked.....

Do you have any repeting fields??

[martinw]

It seems like Filemaker also is crashing when trying to sort fields.

I emptied the database and with only one record it still crashes.

It seems like it is when Filemaker tries to open up the list of fields, either when exporting/importing or sorting.

[Lee Smith]

martinw said:

It seems like Filemaker also is crashing when trying to sort fields.

This is a very strong indication that the file is corrupt.

Maybe this Technical Article Titled: Corrupt / Damaged Files: How to Avoid the Need for Recovery.

http://www.filemaker.com/ti/102102.html

HTH

Lee

[martinw]

Thanks for that article. But it doesnt really tell me what to do.

All the data is in the file, but I just can't do any exports/imports/sorts.

Finding data is ok. But I can't even get the data out of the database as exporting is corrupt.

I can't go back to a backed up file, as I didn't even notice the problem until after three weeks, so the backups are also corrupt in the same way.

[Lee Smith]

Check out David McKee site: He has a free application, called "Character Sieve" that may help you now, and a couple of plugins that may help you in other ways.

http://www.geocities.com/slipdaddyneo/

HTH

Lee

[stanley]

Martin:

You've probably tried it already, but if you save a copy (not a clone) of the db, does the copy exhibit the same behavior? I've found that sometimes the process of saving a copy kicks FMP in the pants hard enough to make it straighten itself out a bit.

Otherwise, to just attempt to rescue your data, if FMP will print, you can print it, scan it back in as a text file using OCR, and import from there. It's a hell of a ride, but it gets you there.

-Stanley

[martinw]

Hi everyone.

I have now finaly managed to save my data...

To tell you others what the problem was in a short version:

1. The database crashed.

2. I did a recovery.

3. The recovery created 31432 recovery fields.

4. I took me 18 hours to delete the fields.

5. Now it is working again...

Thanks for all your help.

[Lee Smith]

I'm glad you were able to get to your data.

If you haven't already done so, I would recommend that you make a new file and import your data into it immediately before you lose everything again, and this time it could be permanent.

Lee

[martinw]

Lee,

Is it possible to import layouts and value lists from one database to another?

I have a lot of them and it would probably take me a week to recreate them...

Thanks

[Christian Coppe]

I have already done that if the fields are identical between both files (verify!), just copy/paste

-For the layouts 1)create a blank model in the new file and 2)in the old file, layout mode, you select the entire layout, copy, an paste in the new file. You do that for each layout.

-For the lists (if they are not from another file, but pure lists), just copy/paste.

[Lee Smith]

Hi Martin,

First of all, I hope this comes across as readable, if not, I can attach a text file it needed.

I was just putting down on paper what I would do to fix your files and here are the things I came up with.

• 
  For the purpose of this exercise, lets start out by calling your Corrupted File "Contact.fp5"
  Create a backup disk and a folder for your files.
  Backup your "Contact.fp5" file to a backup disk
  Make a copy of your "Contact.fp5" file and name it "Copy Contact.fp5".
  Backup your "Copy Contact.fp5" file to a backup disk
  You might also want to Stuffit (Zip) these files on your backup disk
  
  On your current location, I would make a folder for this exercise, and put the "Copy Contact.fp5" in it now.
  Using the "Copy Contact.fp5", (current disk), do the following.
  Find all records, omit the current record, Show Omitted.
  This will give you one record in the found set, you will need it for the next step.
  
  Using Copy Contact.fp5
  Export as a Merge File.
  Name it anything you want, but include the word "Merge" so you will be able to recognize it.
  Save the file as a Clone, "No Records"
  FileMaker will name it your file name (i.e. "Copy Contact Clone.fp5") for you.
  Copy these two files to Backup Disk folder.
  
  For the moment, I will refer to these two files as "Merge" and "Clone"
  
  Merge
  In FileMaker, you can now "Open" the "Merge" file, and name it whatever you want, even the original file name.
  Merge file format gives you a comma delimited file with all of your current field names. Be aware that FileMaker does adjust names in this format, so you will want to look at these closely
  As an example what I mean, here is one test I made
  Old file Field Name
  atestofthenumberofcharactersallowint merge
  Merge file Named it
  atestofthenumberofcharactersallowint_merge
  Notice the "_" substituted for the space
  Clone
  You will use this for the transfer of your layouts and verification of field names.
  
  Besure both files are open
  Verify: Merge to Clone
  Field Names
  Field Types
  Relationships
  Calculations
  Transfer Clone to Merge
  Scripts
  Layouts
  
  Import Data Copy Contact.fp5 to Merge
  Data
  I think I have covered all of the steps, a word of caution. Make backup of all steps to your back up disk, as I suspect you are going to crash at some point during this process.
  

I previewed this and it doesn't have the tabs in it that made it easier to follow.

HTH

Lee

[Vaughan]

You mean 31432 *records* not fields, right?

[martinw]

Vaughan,

Nope, not 31432 records. Fields... All empty on every single record.

Lee,

I will follow your steps this weekend to hopefully secure the files.

Thank you for all your tips.

[Oldfogey]

I do not understand why this thread is still here.

This is clearly a FileMaker Pro support issue. Am I missing something? I'm in the centre of the world (Sydney, Australia) and we, in Oz, generally do not get special treatment from US companies.

However, when I have a crash or similar wild behaviour problem, I call FMP support and get top rate help. In fact, they are one of the only two outfits I even bother calling.

Does Oz have the world champion FMP support team as well as every other team?