Large project will no longer open in FH
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Julia Riley
I'm having a problem with my 'master' family file - it was fine last night when I was working on it in FH, but today it will not open - the file loads but nothing shows in the focus window. If I try to click on an individual the whole thing freezes up with the 'Not responding' text at the top of the frame. It is a large file (about 16k individuals) and has always taken a bit longer to open than smaller files, but now it won't open at all. Any ideas? FH works perfectly well with smaller files of a few hundred individuals so it seems related to the size of this particular file.
Many thanks Julia |
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Hi Julia, I assume that somehow that particular GEDCOM file has been corrupted. The simplest solution is to use the Snapshot backup file that was taken yesterday. Use File > Backup/Restore > Revert to Snapshot… and select the Snapshot Taken yesterday. Click Revert to Snapshot… and that will restore your GEDCOM file back to yesterday’s version. Any data you entered yesterday will be lost but the Project should open.
Mike Tate
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Paul Tanner-Tremaine
I doubt that it is file size related. My master file on the 1820 settlers to South Africa has over 183k individuals, the gedcom file is over78mb in size and it opens in about 15 seconds under FH v7.0.11 most likely you have a corruption in the gedcom. I hope you make a backup every time you shut down, because you may have to restore from the last backup -------- Original message -------- From: Julia Riley <julia.riley2@...> Date: 23/08/2022 19:19 (GMT+00:00) To: family-historian@groups.io Subject: [family-historian] Large project will no longer open in FH Many thanks Julia |
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Julia Riley
Thank you both for the suggestions. I did not have any Snapshots or back-up - I don't remember disabling the backup options but somehow I must have. However I have managed to recover the file by opening it from the File menu > Gedcom Tasks > Open Gedcom file, rather than from the Project Window. That worked without any problems so not sure what the issue actually was. Backup options now enabled so if it happens again I will have that as well.
thanks again, Julia |
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Julia, I guess you are running quite an old FH version because Snapshots of the GEDCOM file were added in V6 many years ago.
Having got the GEDCOM to open, does it now open via the Project Window correctly? If not, then you still have a problem that urgently needs fixing, probably due to a corrupt Project folder structure.
I strongly advise that you do NOT continue to work via the File > Gedcom Tasks > Open Gedcom File The File > Backup/Restore options in that standalone GEDCOM mode do NOT include your Media. See FHUG Knowledge Base ‘Understanding Projects’: https://fhug.org.uk/kb/kb-article/understanding-projects/
Mike Tate
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Julia, I strongly recommend that you backup every time you use FH, backing up to the resident hard drive and also to a thumb drive. Having two backup files should protect you. You can also consider backing up to the cloud. These should be full backups.
Finally. Once a month you should make a full backup to a thumb drive that you keep outside of your home. In the event of a tragic fire, theft or other calamity that could corrupt your resident file and software, you will have a reasonably recent back-up with out a lot of lost data. Good luck. BTW My FH master file is 443 MB! And growing. |
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Julia Riley
I have now enabled the back-up on closing the file to my hard drive and I also have a standalone hard drive that I use for monthly back-ups of everything on my computer hard drive. So I do have a version of my master file from July (note to self: must do August back-up!).
I am running the most up to date version, v7.0.14.1, but no snapshots are visible for my master file - the option is greyed out.. I guess that's because I have it open in Gedcom mode? I still can't open it in the usual way, only via the Gedcom mode. Mike, any advice on fixing that issue? The other projects I have are all fine, open normally and have the Restore from Snapshot option available. thanks for all the help? |
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Julia, If you look at the Project window (which I assume you can get to
because you are able to open your other projects) then select your
main 'problem' project and click More Tasks > Manage Snapshots
does that work? can you then see a list of snapshots for the
project? On 24/08/2022 18:47, Julia Riley wrote:
I have now enabled the back-up on closing the file to my hard drive and I also have a standalone hard drive that I use for monthly back-ups of everything on my computer hard drive. So I do have a version of my master file from July (note to self: must do August back-up!). |
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Julia says it is open in standalone GEDCOM mode. So the Snapshot feature and Project Full Backups won’t work. See my earlier reference to Understanding Projects that explains what won’t work if it is not a Project.
Tomorrow I will try and advise how to fix the broken master Project.
Please confirm that your other Projects do have Snapshots and allow Project Full Backups.
Also, FH V7.0.14 has problems and you should update to V7.0.15.
BTW: When trying to resolve major problems it is unwise to make significant changes without asking first in case it makes it worse.
Mike Tate
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Mike, yes I know Julia can only open it in Gedcom mode now. But
I'm assuming that until the day before this problem started she
was using it in Project mode, and it would have created some
snapshots then. So she may still be able to get at those
snapshots via More Tasks in the project window. (Or find the
snapshots folder in the Project .fh_data folder using Windows
Explorer) On 24/08/2022 21:03, Mike Tate wrote:
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Lorna, she does not need Snapshots of the GEDCOM because that appears to be OK. I suspect it is the Project file or some other part of the Project folder that has been upset and prevents it opening as a Project. Snapshots will not help fix that.
From: family-historian@groups.io <family-historian@groups.io> On Behalf Of Lorna Craig via groups.io
Sent: 24 August 2022 22:15 To: family-historian@groups.io Subject: Re: [family-historian] Large project will no longer open in FH Mike, yes I know Julia can only open it in Gedcom mode now. But I'm assuming that until the day before this problem started she was using it in Project mode, and it would have created some snapshots then. So she may still be able to get at those snapshots via More Tasks in the project window. (Or find the snapshots folder in the Project .fh_data folder using Windows Explorer) On 24/08/2022 21:03, Mike Tate wrote:
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Julia Riley
I've upgraded to version 7.15 tonight (having only upgraded to v7.14 last night) and my issue appears to be solved. My master file now opens from the Project Window. So it appears that it was a software issue after all and the file/folder was not corrupted. I'm not sure why I was prompted to go to v7.14 last night instead of straight to v7.15 but anyway - it seems to have fixed the problem. If it recurs (hopefully not) then I know where to come for help :)
I do have Snapshots in the Snapshots folder but they aren't visible from More Tasks, even after the upgrade. Thank you so much to everyone for your help here! Julia |
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That the Project now opens is a mystery but glad that it has been resolved satisfactorily. The quick advance from 7.0.11 past 7.0.14 to 7.0.15 was due to a bug in 7.0.14 that needed urgently fixing.
When you say Snapshots are not visible from More Tasks…, what exactly do you mean? Is the Manage Snapshots… option greyed out, or when you click it are no Snapshots listed? To make many of the More Tasks… options active you must first select a Project in the Project Window.
What does File > Backup/Restore > Revert to Snapshot… list?
Mike Tate
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Julia Riley
Oh dear, I spoke too soon - the problem is back. However I do now see Snapshots when I select this file in the Project Window, which I didn't before. I also now have a full back-up from 2 days ago.
If I have another project open, File > Backup/Restore > Revert to Snapshot lists the previous versions of the file when I made changes, as I'd expect. In Gedcom mode that doesn't work. Any thoughts on what I can do next would be much appreciated - Mike, as you rightly said, I don't want to break something by doing the wrong thing. Thank you Julia |
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As you have found, several features do not work in GEDCOM only mode.
If you now see Snapshots via the Project Window for this problem Project then select one taken before the problems started and revert to that. It will set the Project GEDCOM file back to when that Snapshot was taken. You are also able to revert back to your current GEDCOM as that is saved in Snapshots.
It is concerning that the problem comes and goes. So is it possible some other utility is interfering? i.e. Is the Project folder in a cloud storage folder such as OneDrive, Google Drive, etc? Is some auto-backup tool or anti-virus tool locking the file?
Mike Tate
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Julia Riley
Thanks Mike. I've reverted back to a recent Snapshot and that seems to have worked. The project is not backed up or stored anywhere except on my hard drive so I don't think it is that which has caused the issue.
I will check again tomorrow to ensure that the issue does not recur again. many thanks Julia |
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