An advanced recovery needs some prep to get things off to a
good start. If you're reading this you're probably in a bad
place right now so let's stop fucking around and get
started.
1) Get you're files closed on your FileMaker Server. See
the basic steps 1-9 if you need help
getting ready for this.
2) Create a folder called Backups and copy the files into
this folder. Create another folder calld Working and copy
the same files into this folder.
Open up the first file from the working directory.
Create Table Occurances that represent each table in your
files. If you have a file called Invoices, create a Table
Occurance called recovery_Invoices. Select the table,
Invoices that corresponds to the Invoices Table.
Create layouts to represent the context of the new Table
Occurances. Name the layout "recovery_Invoices" and select
the Table Occurance recovery_Invoices.
This process is especially useful when recovering databases
with many layouts and tables.
Go to File > Export Records. Chose the .mer file type.
This is where you preparation ensures you stay on the right
track. In FileMaker 8 and up you will not see any files to
export. The window on the left of the screen will be empty.
By default, FileMaker is set to export records from the
selected layout, not the entire Table. Click on the drop
down and select to export records from the table occurance.
This is a common pitfall in file recovery. It's normal to
assume that when you see a list of fields the look familiar
you are going to export the contents of the file. It's only
hours later when you are performing the import steps that
you realize the fields don' all seem to match up.
After selecting the right table occurance click on all
fields to move all fields into the export window on the
right side.
