Missing Records

[Chuck]

I've got a client with a set of FMP 4 databases that is reporting missing records.

Whenever a new record is created, it is assigned a unique ID. The client reports that there have been gaps in the IDs, and the gaps are records that have been recently worked on, but not deleted. I've checked the scripts to make sure that the records aren't being deleted inadvertantly through a script, and the client assures me that they have not deleted them on purpose.

I performed a recover on the file, but to no avail. Today I also saved the files as clones, and then imported the data from the originals. I don't know yet if this will work, but I'm hoping that someone here might have other suggestions in case it doesn't.

Thanks,

Chuck

[LiveOak]

Unfortunately, in almost all of these cases the records have been deleted by the client and are not recoverable (where are the client's backups?). I don't recall any instance in which FM has developed a symptom of dropping records. All such reports have traced back to a "probable user error" (sorry, old IBM 360 flashback!).The only thing I would even consider causing such a problem is severe errors in the disk directory which might cause FM to not be able to access the parts of the hard drive were some records are stored. -bd

[Chuck]

quote:

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Originally posted by LiveOak:

Unfortunately, in almost all of these cases the records have been deleted by the client and are not recoverable (where are the client's backups?). I don't recall any instance in which FM has developed a symptom of dropping records. All such reports have traced back to a "probable user error" (sorry, old IBM 360 flashback!).The only thing I would even consider causing such a problem is severe errors in the disk directory which might cause FM to not be able to access the parts of the hard drive were some records are stored. -bd

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Do you know of a good way to track the user's actions so that I can find out how they are accidentally doing this? Is there a plug-in for such a thing?

Thanks,

Chuck

[Vaughan]

A possible explanation: if the database is being shared with web companion and field validation has been specified, web companion creates new records then checks the validation. If the validation fails, web companion deletes the newly created record then returns the error page to the web user. This process could produce "gaps" in serial numbering.

[Chuck]

quote:

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Originally posted by Vaughan:

A possible explanation: if the database is being shared with web companion and field validation has been specified, web companion creates new records then checks the validation. If the validation fails, web companion deletes the newly created record then returns the error page to the web user. This process could produce "gaps" in serial numbering.

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That's not it. The databases aren't being served on the web, and it isn't just missing serial numbers. Records that have been worked on are missing. But they haven't reported any in the last week or so, so perhaps disabling one of the scripts that had a delete script step in it solved the problem.

Chuck

[LiveOak]

An easy approach might be to change the password priviledges of the users to not allow deletion of records. Then give them a button to "Delete" a record. When the button is clicked, the record is marked as "deleted" and omitted from the found set the user sees. This combined with Modification Date, Time, and User fields should help you track down the culprit! -bd