Notes Recovery

[Mistindantacles]

I had almost 200 Notes set up across 4 maps for reminders, notations, and descriptions that all got deleted in one fell swoop. I am using an AD&D 2nd ed ruleset, and unfortunately the "Delete All" button looks exactly like the "Delete Entry" button ... and well, now I have no Notes, but lots of pretty red pins covering 4 maps.

Is there *any* way to recover the deleted Notes?

[Trenloe]

The only way you might be able to get them back is if there is a db.backup.....xml file in your <FG App Data>\campaigns\<campaign name> directory.

If there is such a backup file, check the date - if it's fairly recent:. Close Fantasy Grounds and make a copy (backup) of the whole <campaign name> directory (just in case), then rename the current db.xml file to something like db.xml.latest and then rename the latest db.backup....xml file to db.xml.

Load up your campaign in Fantasy Grounds and see how up-to-date the backup was.

There could be additional ways of editing the base XML - adding in notes from an older backup to the most recent campaign data. But don't do this unless you're familiar with editing XML (and always make a backup of the files before editing).

[Mistindantacles]

The only way you might be able to get them back is if there is a db.backup.....xml file in your <FG App Data>\campaigns\<campaign name> directory.

If there is such a backup file, check the date - if it's fairly recent:. Close Fantasy Grounds and make a copy (backup) of the whole <campaign name> directory (just in case), then rename the current db.xml file to something like db.xml.latest and then rename the latest db.backup....xml file to db.xml.

Load up your campaign in Fantasy Grounds and see how up-to-date the backup was.

There could be additional ways of editing the base XML - adding in notes from an older backup to the most recent campaign data. But don't do this unless you're familiar with editing XML (and always make a backup of the files before editing).

That's great advice.

Here is the entirety of the Notes section of the XML says:

<notes>
<id-00056> </id-00056>
</notes>

[Trenloe]

That's great advice.

Here is the entirety of the Notes section of the XML says:

<notes>
<id-00056> </id-00056>
</notes>
Yeah, nothing there.

Do you have any db.backup... files in your campaign directory? If so, check in all of those (most recent first) for anything in the <notes> section.

[Moon Wizard]

Yet another reason why there's not a Delete All button in any of the rulesets I wrote. Just too painful if a mistake is made.

As Trenloe mentioned, Your best bet is if there are any db.backup.*.xml files in your campaign directory. These may be recent to very old depending on when they were created. They are only created if FG crashes or locks up, so they may not exist.

Regards,
JPG

[Mistindantacles]

There are no .backup files of any kind listed.

*sigh* ....

Thanks for the assistance. It really is appreciated.

[Moon Wizard]

In the future, if you realize that you did this while FG is still running, immediately copy the db.restore.xml from your campaign directory. This will be a copy of the campaign database when FG opened.

Regards,
JPG

[Mistindantacles]

Thanks for the advice MW.

[damned]

Hiya my unhappy friend :(
Go to the wishlist https://fg2app.idea.informer.com/proj/?ia=97565 and vote for a Backup option.
In the meantime what I do is either before or after both prep and game sessions I zip up the particular campaign and add a timestamp to it so I have multiple copies.
I then also copy or move these to a backup location (which in my case is a OneDrive).
Dont move your data directory to a cloud sync drive though as that can cause other data integrity issues.

[Mistindantacles]

That is actually some really good advice. Thanks!