Missing images AGAIN

Having just upgraded to 1.5.2 I have lost nearly all my images from the database ,ca 1000 off. The thumbnails are there but the links to the files are gone. Double clicking a file simply brings up the thumbnail.The images were in the database and not external. I have rebuilt the database so many times after this problem before but I can’t face it again. Veryfying and repair says no problems found but exporting the database gives a log with a failure against thousand images and only images. Doc/html/other files all ok. Is there anyway of getting these pictures back without having to go back to an earlier backup and starting all over yet again.

Ed, it appears that something in your computer’s environment is messing up your Path links to the images stored in the Files folder inside the database package. Else, if the Paths are correct, you may have disk directory problems – launch Disk Utility and run the verify disk routine.

Quit DT Pro. In the Finder, select your database package file. Control-click (right click) on the database file and choose the contextual menu option “Show Package Contents”. Inspect the contents of the Files folder, where your images should be.

Bill

Thanks for your prompt reply. The package contents had no files folder hence why only thumbnails existed.
I have rebuilt the data base again by manually repairing the previous version in which the thumbnails sometimes linked to the wrong images in the files folder. I still have no idea how these paths get screwed up. I run disk verify/repair from time to time. I get ACL found but not expected on “library”, whatever that means.
I’ll try to monitor things more closely though it is tough to spot images going wrong when there are a couple of thousand of them. And is is ONLY images that get screwed up. Exporting and noting failures is a good way to spot missing images but not incorrect links. What does optimise and repair do?

Ed, as there was no Files folder inside the database package file, the database can only display thumbnails of the imported images that were previously stored in the Files folder. Rebuilding that database could not help. You have previously noted that your images were Import-captured, which means they were copied into the internal Files folder.

We’ve never had another report of the Files folder disappearing from the database package file. Normally, of course, a DT Pro database is displayed as a single package file, with the blue shell icon visible when it is displayed in the Finder. The package file can be displayed as a folder and its contents inspected using the Finder’s Show Package Contents command. After inspection, the folder should be closed, so that the file again appears as a package.

I can see only three possibilities for the disappearance of the Files folder: it was moved, deleted, or the disk directory is garbled and has lost it.

Is it possible that the Files folder was moved outside the database? If so, replacing it would make your images available to the database.

You asked about the Backup & Optimize command. That’s used to update the internal backup and to optimize the database after addition of new content. An optimized database will perform a bit more quickly. But restoring the backup in your database cannot restore the images, as they would have to be stored in that internal Files folder. It’s a good idea to run Tools > Verify & Repair before running Backup & Optimize.

The alternative mode of capturing images is to Index them (File > Index, or Option-Command-Drag to the database). In that mode, the images are not copied into the database but remain externally linked. The database can display such images unless the Path to them is broken. Paths of Indexed images can be broken by deleting the images, renaming them in the Finder, or moving them to another volume.