[Dimitri]

Hi everyone,

I apparently made a huge mistake while trying to backup my sheet music database ...

1. I went to the option "Synchronise library"
   
2. Then third option : Synchronise to a backup folder (or something similar, it's the french version)
   
3. I selected my old backup file (thinking that would update / replace the files)
   
4. Clicked on "Start"
   
5. I then saw a bunch of "delete" actions ... which gave me a panic attack !
   
6. When I browse my device, I am now missing ALL sheets that had been added since my last backup (June 2023) !!!
   

I don't know how this could have happened ? All the sync options (including "add new files") where ticked ... 

It represents hours of work, and I'm not sure I can get my hands on all the sheets I had    

If you know of any solution ... I'd be forever gratefull !

Can someone at least give me the proper way to do this next time ?

Thanks in advance for your kind help ..

[Dimitri]

Hi everyone,

It's been almost a year since I last made a backup of my sheets ... So I thought it would be a good idea to quickly do that.
Seems like I'm going to regret it, because since I did, I lost every single added sheet since the last update.

Here are the steps I followed (I've got the french version, so maybe the labels i'm using aren't accurate) :

1. Went into the "..." options
   
2. Selected "Synchronise the library"
   
3. I chose "Synchronie to a backup folder"
   
4. I "clicked" on the folder icon to select the file to sync
   
5. I chose "local file"
   
6. I chose the file that I had carefully created the first time (around a year ago)
   
7. I clicked "start" (with all options ticked, even "Add new songs")
   
8. I saw a bunch of "delete commands" and started panicking ...
   
9. Indeed, most of my sheets (since July 2023 ...) had disappeared
   

Can someone, please, tell me what I did wrong ?!
I guess there isn't any way I can undo that ... ?

Thanks in advance for your kind help

[Geoff Bacon]

From my time managing computer systems, one shouldn't be overwriting your only "backup" with your running system because, as you have found, you can end up with two damaged copies.

So, rather than synchronising, you should be using the MS backup option (I use it via the Companion). Historically, when using magnetic tapes, one would have at least 3 tapes and rotate them by overwriting the oldest each time. This meant that you still had somethnig to go back to if you didn't immediately notice that your system was corrupted.

For MS, I just take a new backup each time (my system is not "big" compared to others that I've read about) and periodically purge old versions (when I remember).

There is nothing to stop you synchronising every now and again as long as you aren't relying on this as the backup.
Obviously, this all depends on the size of your MS database/files.

Hopefully Mike will be able to sort out a way to restore what you had.

Geoff
PS:  I don't use synchronize

[Zubersoft]

The "Synchronize to a backup" feature is a niche feature only meant to be used in situations where lots of devices need to be updated to pull changes from a backup file, but they don't have internet access and can't use the option to synchronize to a cloud folder (like on a cruise ship). Just to be clear - it's to synchronize changes to your device from the backup file, not to modify the backup file in any way. To create a library backup, you instead tap the three dots at the top right, then Settings->Backup and Restore->Backup Library. 

If you go to Settings->Backup and Restore->Restore Automatic Database Backup, you can revert to a version of your database from before the sync you performed. That will restore the database, however, this will not recover any PDFs or other files that were deleted during the process. You can go to Settings->Other Settings->Find Missing Files to see the full list of songs missing files. You can then either tap each entry and swap in a PDF, or you can copy all of the missing PDFs into the storage location, go to Settings->Other Settings->Fix Broken File Paths and use the automatic option to let MobileSheets scan for the missing PDFs.

Mike

[Dimitri]

Thanks, I managed to get the database back up and runing. At least I have a list that I can use to find all my missing pdf ! It's going to save me some time.
I don't know why I suddenly used the sync options. I remember that the first time I used the proper "backup" function ...
Well, at least that's a mistake I won't do twice 

Thanks for your quick help and for this wonderful software 

[Dimitri]

The notes I made on my pdf's (using the pen tool), have they been saved inside the pdf (and lost) or are they part of the database ?
I think I know the answer, but just to be sure ... 

[Geoff Bacon]

They are in the database by default unless you chose to embed them in the pdf

Geoff

[Zubersoft]

Your annotations should all be preserved as they are in the database. 

Mike