One
of the more aggressive FileMaker file recovery methods
involves creation of a clone of the most recent file that
contains no data and importing the data back into the file,
followed by the file maintenance procedures.
In the event that file or overall system stability can not
be obtained by simply recovering and running file
maintenance, more involved measures must be taken. File
corruption can present itself in the data, in scripts, in
layouts or in tables. When this happens it becomes
difficult to isolate the offending file. In this situation,
file recovery may be performed in a given file only to
encounter instability in a different file the following
week. This usually means that an entire system recovery
must be performed to achieve system stability.
When the file originating the troubles can be isolated, a
cloning rebuild of the file is usually necessary.
Rebuilding a file might provide an operational file for the
short term. However, within a week or two it is not
unlikely that the file will crash itself or bring down an
entire FileMaker server. If you are lucky the crash will
come immediately after attempting the file recovery.
Otherwise, a false sense of security is enjoyed until
someone says, “I think something’s wrong with FileMaker”.
When a corrupted file leads to a system crash, other files
may become damaged or corrupted. Doing a cloning rebuild on
the corrupted file and a recovery on all other files is a
great approach. The cloning process involves first
exporting all data from all tables in one or any number of
files. Once the data is exported, the file is save as a
“clone” or copy of the file but without any data.
Separating the data from the file allows for the
opportunity to alleviate persistent data corruption
problems in a way not possible using the recovery process.
A more complete rebuild is rarely needed and only required
when persistent corruption remains in file “layouts”, in
“scripts” or “tables”.
Short of the cloning rebuild, a complete file rebuild is
the last resort and the most intensive of all the FileMaker
disaster recovery approaches. The complete rebuild requires
intensive time, attention and resources. This process
essentially involves starting with a “new” FileMaker file,
recreating all scripts, tables, relationships, file
references, accounts and privileges, value lists, custom
functions, custom menus, fields and layouts. Only in
FileMaker versions 7 and greater is this pursuit even
viable.
To learn more about complete file rebuilding click here.
