Changed 2 Text fields to Note fields, Lost all data

Tap Forms – Organizer Database App for Mac, iPhone, and iPad › Forums › Using Tap Forms › Changed 2 Text fields to Note fields, Lost all data

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  • October 5, 2017 at 3:58 AM #25125

    Mario Biondi
    Participant

    It says in the manual: “The data is not gone, it’s just stored in a different column in the database”. Where is this column? Can I recover my data from there? MTIA for an answer

    October 5, 2017 at 1:55 PM #25144

    Brendan
    Keymaster

    That must be the old manual or I haven’t updated it. The data isn’t stored in a different column. Certainly it wasn’t when converting from Text to Note fields.

    There should be no data loss when switching from Text to Note fields.

    I’ll do some testing on that, but it’s designed not to lose data in that situation.

    Which version were you using? Mac or iOS? Version 5?

    October 5, 2017 at 1:59 PM #25145

    Brendan
    Keymaster

    I just tested it again going from Text to Note and then from Note to Text. The only data loss there could be is if you went from Note to Text. In that case all you would lose is the text formatting. But all the text content should be there.

    Do you have a backup you can restore to?

    October 6, 2017 at 2:32 AM #25161

    Mario Biondi
    Participant

    I am using both versions with their latest updates on High Sierra and iOS.
    But I work only on the Mac version, using iOS for searches when I am not at home (searches almost impossible, though, on big databases…).
    Yes, I probably did some experiencing and went from Text to Note, then back to Text and to Note again. Can’t remember. Anyway data is totally lost.
    Obviously I have backups, but I have rebuilt my DB starting again from FileMaker.
    Is it not possible to import data exported from other DB Softwares ONLY for 1 or 2 or 3 fields inserting them in the relevant places in existing records WITHOUT ADDING new records? Unfortunately I can not understand…

    October 6, 2017 at 11:54 AM #25190

    Mike Schwartz
    Participant

    Mario,

    Concerning your last question about importing updates for existing records, this info from the online manual might be useful to you (https://www.tapforms.com/help-mac/5/en/topic/export-records):

    Export Record ID

    By enabling this option, you’re telling Tap Forms to export the values that uniquely identify each record in your form. Tap Forms will add a column called form_record_id to your CSV file. If you import a file into Tap Forms which has a form_record_id column, it will search for matching records and update their field values rather than adding new records to your form.

    Hope that helps,
    Mike

    October 7, 2017 at 2:45 AM #25196

    Mario Biondi
    Participant

    Many thanks, Mike, I know well that option and I have used it, but it si NOT what I mean. I was asking: “Is it not possible to import data exported from other DB Softwares…?”
    EXPORTED (in .csv) from OTHER Softwares, NOT from TapForms

    October 7, 2017 at 8:16 AM #25198

    Mike Schwartz
    Participant

    Mario,

    I thought that by mentioning that feature it might point you in a fruitful direction. For example, export your other DB data as CSV and also export your Tap Forms data as CSV with record IDs. Then do some merging and manipulating in Excel and reimport the lot back into Tap Forms.

    Just a thought.

    — Mike

    October 7, 2017 at 8:57 AM #25201

    Mario Biondi
    Participant

    Very, very good suggestion, Mike. Many thanks. I will surely remember it. With Numbers, since I do not have Excel. I already did something similar with Numbers. Many thanks again

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