I can no longer access my main file - help!

[smeehan]

To my great surprise, I found yesterday that I could no longer access my main file. I am getting an Unexpected Quit message. This is what I have done - to no avail - to respond to this disaster:
1. I repaired permissions
2. I shut down and restarted
3. I used Disk Warrior
4. I pulled up my last backup from an external drive, discarded the bad master file, and replaced it it with the backup. Nothing works.

I notice that I can open a sample file that comes with Reunion 8, so the problem seems to be specifically within my master file.

I am running 10.3.8 on a G-4 tower.

Luckily, I also have a G-3 iBook, running a reasonably up-to-date working copy of my master file. That gives me some comfort. Quite a lot, actually, or it would, if I knew why I can't get into my major working file. I am operating at the very outer edge of my technical competence here, so any suggestions will have to be written in very clear and specific language, if I am to understand!

Thanking you heartily in advance -

Susan Meehan

[David G. Kanter]

. . .I. . .discarded the bad master file. . . .While I'll defer to others on what your next steps ought to be, I want to suggest that—if not too late—that you not empty your Trash such that your last-used Family File is lost forever. Whatever the problem with it (or your computer), it's possible that the advice you'll get will explain how to get it to open, once again. And if that fails, you should contact Leister Productions directly (I'd suggest an e-mail to help@leisterpro.com) to see whether they might be able to look into that Family File to see if they can rescue it for you.

[David G. Kanter]

While I’ll defer to others on what your next steps ought to be, I want to suggest that—if not too late—that you not empty your Trash such that your last-used Family File is lost forever. . . .

Update:
I've spoken to Susan (who is running Reunion v8.06 under Mac OS 10.3.8) and she had not emptied her Trash so she now has her Family File safely saved (and locked, just in case) on her Desktop. She will be sending me that Family File as an e-mail attachment (as a Zip archive to help ensure no further changes occur) and I'll report back to her and this forum on whether I have any success opening that Family File on my computer—which should help focus whether it's a computer or datafile issue.

[David G. Kanter]

Update: I'll report back to her and this forum on whether I have any success opening that Family File on my computer—which should help focus whether it’s a computer or datafile issue.Update #2: Initially, I had the same problem that Susan had: Double-clicking on her Family File would launch Reunion, display the Rebuilding the Index progress bar, and then Reunion would crash—without ever having displayed a Family Card.

I found, however, that if I independently launched Reunion and used its File->Open on her Family File, it would open—again, after Rebuilding the Index—but not crash. It contained the same number of persons that Susan recalled as having been in her Family File when she last worked in it and checking several persons revealed there was at least some data in their records. (Susan will have to confirm whether all the data seems to be there.)

I did a File->Repair and the only problem reported was "Removed invalid layout: To Do:". I then did a File->Save A Copy->Compact Copy (smaller) as it's my understanding that the compacting operation can sometimes clean up minor glitches in the Family File. When I then double-clicked on the compacted Family File, it launched Reunion, as expected Rebuilt the Index, and displayed the Family Card. That leads me to believe her Family File is now OK—hopefully without the loss of any data.

I created an archive of the "fixed" Family File and returned it as an e-mail attachment to Susan and will await her advice as to whether she's "back in business".

[smeehan]

I cannot thank David Kanter enough! David, you are truly kind, knowledgeable and helpful. With your help, not only did I resurrect my file from the Dead, but I learned so much more as well. You are a true teacher and a gentleman to your fingertips.

Isn't it wonderful that Apple and Reunion have inspired so many people to be so helpful! I doubt that other configurations would be able to so that. There is something very special about Apple users, and when you add on Reunion users, well, you're a very special breed, and I'm honored to be one of you.

I thank you very, very much!

Susan Meehan (happy now...)

[SGilbert]

David didn't tell you he's an insurance salesman, and now he's got access to your entire family!

Just KIDDING!! :-) Good job David! You make us all proud!

[Gregg]

...File->Repair and the only problem reported was "Removed invalid layout: To Do:". I then did a File->Save A Copy->Compact Copy...After reviewing the symtoms and repair results of this family file with David Kanter, the problem with this file was a corrupted User View named "To Do:". This view was selected as the default view so Reunion would crash right away. Deleting that view was the best solution and David's Repair and Compact did just that.

Thanks David, for fixing this for Susan.