www.auctionsieve.com

humminbyrdz · AuctionSieve master Joined: 13 Jun 2009 Posts: 29

Help ....

I downloaded Version 1.9.8 and opened Auctionsieve. All sieves, watchlist and history were there and normal. I closed the program (so the ended auctions would move over to Price History) When I re-opened the program, my Watchlist was zero (0). Crying or Very sad

Can this be restored?

Thanks.

nev · Posted: Tue Sep 15, 2009 10:32 pm Post subject:

Are you running Vista or Windows 7?
They do various things with security which means files get stored in unexpected places.

The file we're interested in is called watchlist.txt. If you see it, you can just open up in notepad to view the contents - one line per item.

Go to C:\Users\yourusername\
Then you'll have to show the hidden folders (press alt, then go to the Tools->Folder options... menu, click on View and select Show hidden files)

Now go to the folder under that - AppData\Local\VirtualStore\Program Files\Hashbang\AuctionSieve
and *that's* where you'll find the the watchlist and pricehistory files.
(And if you're running 64bit Windows then it will be in Program Files (x86))

Now here's the thing, your old file may still be in the folder
C:\Program Files\Hashbang\AuctionSieve
except now the program is picking up the file in the other spot.
It's very confusing.
Take a backup of the file before doing any copying/replacing then try moving it to the various locations and see which one works.

Sorry, I don't have the time at the moment to make this shorter but it should hopefully get you going.

humminbyrdz · AuctionSieve master Joined: 13 Jun 2009 Posts: 29

Thanks for the quick response. Running Windows XP Pro.

Found watchlist and pricehistory files in C:\Program Files\AuctionSieve. No 'watchlist.txt' file. Found a series of files called 'watchlist.txt.bad..' numbered from 1 to 62. Tried renaming a couple of those to watchlist.txt, but Auctionsieve would not open it. A file named 'watchlist.txt.bak' is only 1KB and cannot open. Also a file named 'watchlist' (no suffix), also 1 KB - opens in Notepad and just reads version1.9.8.

Couldn't really follow the filepath you gave me to try to find other Auctionsieve files. Did a search of my entire computer, including hidden files for any other 'watchlist' files. Found some watchlistnumbered.tmp files in C:\Documents and Settings\myusername\Local Settings\Temp.

Don't know what else to try ....

nev · Posted: Wed Sep 16, 2009 12:04 am Post subject:

Try doing this:
Go to
C:\Documents and Settings\<username>
Select Tools->Folder Options...
View tab
Select 'Show hidden files and folders'
Untick 'Hide extensions for known file types'

Now see if you can see a folder called
Application Data
Have a rustle around in there.
Also check out
Local Settings\Application Data

humminbyrdz · AuctionSieve master Joined: 13 Jun 2009 Posts: 29

Unticked the appropriate checkbox.

C:\Documents and Settings\username\Application Data\AuctionSieve\tmp contains one 'test.txt' document and an assortment of 'viewall(numbered).html' files.

I can't find any Auctionseive files in C:\Documents and Settings\username\Local Settings\Application Data

Any other suggestions?

Thanks so much for your help ....

humminbyrdz · AuctionSieve master Joined: 13 Jun 2009 Posts: 29

Good news!

I deleted the 'watchlist (no suffix)' files and tried again to rename the most recent 'watchlist.txt.bad' file. This time Auctionsieve recognized it! This file was created 9/13, so I've recovered a large portion of the watchlist and will only have add what's missing from the last two days.

Whew!

I guess the original 'watchlist.txt' vanished!

Any clue as to what happened or how it could be avoided in the future would be appreciated.

Again, much thanks for your help! Very Happy

nev · Posted: Wed Sep 16, 2009 5:08 am Post subject:

Excellent!
Now make a backup before you do anything else!

I'm not sure what's going on - the whole issue of where files are saved has been a constant pain in the neck all along from the earliest days, both on Macs and on PCs especially with the change to Vista.

Partly it has to do with whether you're an admin user or not.

humminbyrdz · AuctionSieve master Joined: 13 Jun 2009 Posts: 29

Hello Nev!

I must be jinxed. This has happened to me again - a year later. I found this thread but it doesn't help me now. Tonight, my watchlist went from over 300 items to empty Sad

Mac OS X version 10.6.4

I did try a restore with Time Machine - no luck.

AuctionSieve > Contents > Resources > Java
contains a watchlist.txt which seems to contain a lot of text; watchlist.txt.bak and watchlist.txt.bad(to 25).txt

I tried removing watchlist.txt and renaming the .bak file to .txt and open the program, but nothing changed.

Price history seems to be intact.

I don't know what to try next ....

Help?

Thanks,
Jeanine

nev · Posted: Tue Aug 17, 2010 12:39 pm Post subject:

Hi Jeanine,

The data files are now stored in your user folder here :
/Users/username/Library/Application Support/AuctionSieve

Have a look in there for the watchlist.txt.bak file and perhaps try again with Time Machine looking in that folder.

Nev

humminbyrdz · AuctionSieve master Joined: 13 Jun 2009 Posts: 29

A HUGE thank you to you! That worked like a charm! You saved me hours of reconstructing it!

So, did I do something to cause it all to disappear (so I can avoid repeating that stupidity)?

Love this software and your speedy support!!!!! Again, TY!

Jeanine

nev · Posted: Tue Aug 17, 2010 2:15 pm Post subject:

Excellent!

I think I may have a couple of insidious bugs lurking in there which only rear their heads in a small set of circumstances. In particular when shutting down and waiting for things like background processes to finish writing out changes.

A few days ago I did a sweep through all that code and did a clean up. Hopefully that will prevent more data loss in the future. Should be releasing this new version soon.