Updated software picking up an old database?

1

I’ve just updated the software to version 17.9.33 and it seems to be picking up an old copy of the database as my records only go up to 7th April 2017. I checked in the directory that the path is pointing to and found this:

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The file called rosec cottages dart… 2017-09-06 is a backup i did before i started the update, but i did it on the 6th (shown by the auto inserted date) and the file date is different.

When I ran another backup (Test_rose cottages… 017-09-06.manager) that one looks to be correct. But it will only have the the ‘up to april’ data in it as i did it post upgrade

I haven’t tried a restore yet as I’m not confident the data will be right. Should I look for the correct database in another location or should I try a restore from the suspect backup?

I use the Macbook version and normally do an upgrade by simply throwing the old icon in the applications folder, into the bin and then putting the recently downloaded one in its place. Is this the wrong thing to do, it has always worked in the past?

Can I simply throw away the new icon and retrieve the old one from the bin to restore the previous version?

Thanks
Tony

2

I’ve just noticed it is doing the same on another business I have.

3

You have raised more issues than you may realize. The first thing is to stop doing anything. You might make problems worse. I will post this and write a lengthier response.

4

Thanks,

I’ll await a further reply.

5

The first thing to check is that you have the reporting period set correctly under Set Period on the Summary page. You haven’t, by chance, limited reporting to April 7th, have you? See https://www.manager.io/guides/5490.

Please clarify what you mean. Is this the path listed under About Manager? Or is this a path that comes up when you make a backup? Or what?

I strongly doubt that Manager did this. Based on the unusual mix of things shown in whatever folder you’ve posted a view of (more on that later), I suspect you changed a file name somewhere without realizing it. Depending on the exact version of Manager you were updating from, there can be some very confusing file names and locations.

This is not necessarily true. We’ll try to troubleshoot this together.

OK let’s take things one step at a time.

First, you’ve been updating software incorrectly. You do not need to move the old program icon into Trash when you update. Instead, install right over the top of it. Follow instructions in this Guide to the letter: https://www.manager.io/guides/7116

Second, do you know what version you had before? Or when it was installed? That will help interpret what we see in various folders.

Third, understand that once a business has been opened by a newer version, you cannot open it with an older version. The program may or may not give you an error message, depending on how old the older version was. But regardless of whether it warns you, you risk corrupting data. This restriction applies because newer versions sometimes modify the database structure. When that happens, the installation process converts old file structures to the new one. But you can’t go backwards. So make no attempt to open your data file with the older program, even if you can salvage it from the Trash.

I’ll await your response to my version question before we go further.

6

Answering your questions in order:

  1. I checked the reporting period hoping this was the problem:

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  1. No it’s under preferences… Ahh, actually the path in preferences is this:

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I think I found the previously mentioned files by going to the location that the application puts backups!!

Did I change the file name without realising it? I don’t recall changing any names when I did the backup at about 18:30 tonight (Mac file date 3rd September at 10:43) and I can’t see how an auto named backup can be accidentally renamed. I do understand your doubts as I have a technical bias (Windows, not Mac), but I can’t see any other explanation.

I can’t recall the version previously installed but it was about two months old

I still haven’t done anything, and don’t intend doing so until I’m told to do so. Many thanks for your help so far.

Tony

7

here is a copy of what is in the folder with the path Users/tonypayne/.local/share/Manager

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8

Nothing is wrong with the way you’ve set up the reporting period, assuming you have not entered any future-dated transactions. (Some users do so they don’t have to remember to enter them later. Manager ignores them until the date arrives.) Your method would be appropriate for a fiscal year beginning April 1. A more standard method would be to set the end date as Today, so you are always current with no future-dated transactions:

21 PM

But this doesn’t seem to be your problem. So let’s turn to the application data path and related issues. Forgive me if I tell you things you already know.

Manager does not store any accounting data in the program file. Everything is in an accounting file, with a separate accounting file for every business. A backup is just a copy of the accounting file for a single business. By default, Manager puts your accounting file in the folder listed in Application Data. What you showed is the default location for Macs. That’s a good sign, because it means your data will be there. Manager also stores a bunch of other things in the same application data folder. For a complete discussion, read this Guide: Manage application data folder contents | Manager

Over time, there have been several naming and file location schemes. Originally, and currently, data files for businesses had/have alphanumeric file names for a number of technical reasons. But there was a period when they had sensible, plain language names that matched the business’ name. Those plain-language names could be stored anywhere. It was quite convenient, but ultimately inconsistent with server editions of the program. I think you’ve been looking at a file from that time period.

To find your real data, navigate to the application data folder listed under Preferences (yes, I erroneously wrote About Manager in my previous post–another memory from the past). The files will be hidden unless some Mac whiz showed you how to unhide them. So copy the path from Preferences. In the Finder, navigate to Go => Go to Folder, and paste the path name into the window:

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Post a screen shot of the folder’s contents. They should look something like this (depending on which view you are using, of course):

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Select (you can’t open) each file with an alphanumeric name and note when it was last modified. The most recently modified is probably your data. But let’s wait to see what is in the folder before going further. There could be a bunch of useless junk left over from past updates.

9

My apologies. I was already responding to one post when you put up the screen shot showing the contents of your application data folder. I didn’t notice it until just now. Just to be sure I completely understand what I’m looking at, how exactly was that screen shot obtained? It isn’t a normal Finder window.

10

I used terminal, here is a shot of me doing it again. I am aware that linux type OS’s are very fussy with paths so I don’t know for sure if this is the right place.

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I did try using the finder window but I couldn’t get it to display the /.local/share/Manager, even after I ran a command to unhide all folders

Thanks,
Tony

11

For some reason, those don’t work well with Manager files. You can just use Cmd + Shift + . to toggle back and forth between hiding and unhiding. Anyway, I thought it was a Terminal view, but wanted to be sure.

Here’s what we know. Your last version was from that time period when plain-language names were used. I also believe you’ve had 3 businesses created in Manager: Rose Cottages Dartmoor, Colborne Explorer Scouts, and a third that hasn’t been used this year and was not involved with the temporary plain-language naming scheme. So what apparently happened is that the new update didn’t quite grab the correct data files to import businesses. To recover, follow these steps:

  1. Navigate to the application data storage folder in the Finder. Use the method I described previously. Don’t try to do this in Terminal or we’ll get our wires crossed.

  2. Move every file in the folder without a .manager extension to a safe location. This can be your desktop. All other files we remove are going to temporarily go to the same temporary storage location. You can create a folder for them or not as you wish.

  3. Move all files with hyphens in their names to storage.

  4. Move the files with Colborne Explorer Scouts and Rose Cottages Dartmoor in their names to storage.

  5. Delete language.

  6. Delete recent.

What you should have left at this point is the index file, 00000...000.manger, two alphanumeric files last modified on 6 September, 2 alphanumeric files last modified 10 December 2016, plus size. The others should be safely tucked away in storage.

  1. Launch the latest download of Manager from the Applicatons folder. Post a screen shot of the Businesses tab. Be sure to include the file sizes:

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Sorry to be moving so slowly, but because you’ve already attempted to recover from the problem, this step could be tricky, possibly requiring repeated removal and addition of businesses to get things right. I’d rather be slow than wrong.

12

Here is what i got:

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I haven’t actually tried doing anything with them yet.

13

and here is what the folder looks like:

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14

OK. Manager’s index currently knows about 2 of the 3 businesses. The question is whether these are the correct data or represent data from an older backup on April 7. Let’s take one more baby step.

Open the Colborne Explorer Scouts business. Look in the lower right corner to see which data file it is using:

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Then look around the various tabs and see if it is up to date. Don’t make a backup or any entries. Let me know the results.

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15

I only need the two that we see so 2 out of three is good for me. The Rose Cottages one is Important The Scout one less so.

This the what is at the bottom of the Scout Business page:

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Do you need to retire, I am happy to carry on tomorrow evening (I’m in the UK)?

Forgot to say - The data is still only up to 7th April 2017

16

Putting two & two together (to make 5 probably), and not having any knowledge of how the application works; I suspect the two named files in storage are the ones I need as the dates on those are probably about right for the last time I opened them.

But don’t worry, I still haven’t done anything other than what you told me in the last post.

17

That’s what I figured. I’d rather play with the less important one first.

Unfortunately, during the period when plain-language names were used, you were recording transactions into a file not in the application data folder. So we need to find it. I now agree with your guess about which is the correct file. The next thing to do is remove the Scouts business following this Guide: https://www.manager.io/guides/9123. That removes it from the index so the program won’t keep trying to add it back every time you open the application. Then move the 48d29cbee... .manager file from the application data folder to storage. It is outdated.

Now use Add Business per this Guide (https://www.manager.io/guides/8890) to search for the backup. Import it and open it. See if it’s up to date. If it’s not, we need to search further on your machine for other .manager extensions.

Assuming it is up to date, Manager will create a new alphanumeric file in the application data folder for the Scouts business.

Then repeat the process for Rose Cottages: find out which file is being used, Remove if not up to date, move the corresponding file to storage, and search for the real backup.

Then we need to figure out what the third business is. (Maybe you already know.) The way to do that is to import it through the regular process. But when browsing to find the business, navigate to the application data folder itself and import the alphanumeric file that was neither Scouts nor Cottages. It will be one of the December 2016 files, I think. And it will not be the one named 238097db...manager, because that is always the name of the audit trail file.

If you know what the third business is and are sure you don’t need it, you can skip that last step and move its file to storage. Personally, I’d import it and make a backup so you get a backup with an understandable name and a date. Then you can Remove the business and move its data file to storage.

One last word about backups. It does no good to make a backup on the same computer where the application data folder is located. When the disk eventually failed, you will lose both your primary data and your backup. The backup should be on some remote drive, a cloud storage service like iCloud, or even a USB flash drive. Of course, offsite is better than onsite.

When you are completely sure you have the latest data in the businesses showing in the Businesses tab, you can repeat the process of identifying which alphanumeric files they correspond to. Then you can move the inactive files to storage. And when you are really sure you’ve got it all nailed, you can delete the files in storage.

At any step along the way, if you have questions or something doesn’t make sense, take screen shots and ask.

1 Like
18

All done Tut, Many thanks for your help.