Error xxx: database disk image is malformed

[UltraUser]

Hello,

Back with a problem today.

I was trying to access one item in my huge UR database, a task actually, and this is the pop-up I got:
"Error loading item detail view: database disk image is malformed"

Hmmm... Well, I've tried a "compact and repair", which didn't end properly, because at some point it was interrupted with the same message (when at the 'compacting database' step):
"Error repairing database: database disk image is malformed"

Okay then. I've decided I could do without the offending item, so I deleted it. Or rather I tried because here's the message I got (you guessed it):
"Error deleting item(s): database disk image is malformed"

I don't have any other clue as of now. But this is a very annoying situation.
Kind people from UR, would you be so kind as to tell me what I can do?

Grazzie

[cnewtonne]

Just for curiosity,
- how big is your urd file in MB?
- Is it only affecting that one item or everything?

[kinook]

http://www.kinook.com/Forum/showthread.php?threadid=2673

[UltraUser]

Okay, thanks for the quick answer and for the tips. However:

- Backup: Yeah, of course, you never have them when you need them... But definitely the way to go

- Cross-DB Copy: Although not really the preferred option (I have thousands of items, some others than the one I have identified may be corrupted too, how would I know that I'm not corrupting a new DB?). Anyway. Opened the corrupted one, then a blank new one. Copied a folder with some items from corrupted one, and when pressing CTRL+V on the new one => UR has vanished! Without a trace nor even a message box. Unhandled exception anyone?

- Repair Utility: Even more wow this one. Got some cryptic SQL dump in the command window ending with "SQL error: no such table: main.TemplateItemAttribute"

So, out of the 3 options, I'm left to my own devices again :-(

Some more info: the DB is only 30MB (I have another one nearing 100MB which is doing fine). I'm using latest version 3.0.4 on XP SP2 going virtual (VPC). UR Db resides on a shared drive.

Fortunately, it seems that the corruption is limited to just one item (which is leaving nice in the UR recycle bin). For now.

HELP !

[kevina]

If you can zip and email the corrupted .urd file to support@kinook.com using mailbigfile.com (free, no-registration website for "sending" large files), we will take a look at it, and repair it if possible...

Any ideas on what might have occurred when the file was corrupted? The embedded database engine really should prevent this type of thing, even through a power failure or Windows crashing...

[UltraUser]

Thanks for your proposal.

However, I'm a bit reluctant to do this because as it is now, this DB stores professional and sensitive info...

What I intend to do is to remove from this DB the most important info, to a newly created one, going through export / import if the Cross-DB copy is still so crashing.
Once I reach a state where data sensitivity is removed, I'll send the offending DB to you guys.

But that will eat up on my spare time, so I guess it won't be soonish.

Rgds

[UltraUser]

Regarding your question

<quote>
Any ideas on what might have occurred when the file was corrupted? The embedded database engine really should prevent this type of thing, even through a power failure or Windows crashing...
<quote>

In fact, I just don't know. First time I see this behaviour (I've been using UR intensively for almost a year). I didn't have any Windows crash, nor any obvious disk issue. I say "obvious" because actually, I haven't run a defrag in years...

[djmallinson]

I got this on 3/27/2024 using dropbox to share the file between different machines. The backup from 3/26/2024 is good. I suspect dropbox may have deleted the journal. This error occurred only when i compact/repaired the database so it has been that way for a week. i have nightly backups so the last good one was 3/26/2024. I've tried the repair utililty and sqldiff and so on nothing seems to work.

[djmallinson]

I got this on 3/27/2024 using dropbox to share the file between different machines. The backup from 3/26/2024 is good. I suspect dropbox may have deleted the journal. This error occurred only when i compact/repaired the database so it has been that way for a week. i have nightly backups so the last good one was 3/26/2024. I've tried the repair utililty and sqldiff and so on nothing seems to work.
update to my last post - none of the suggested fixes worked (and nor did sqldiff or compare, the SQL was generated but failed due to database constrains when I tried to apply the SQL dump or diff) so I worked my way back in time through the daily acronis backups and found the last good backup was on 3/26/2024. The corrupted database (error: disk image in malformed) would still open ok and there were no symptoms until I decided to do a compact then I got the error. Hence it took me a week to see the error. Then I ran a query to see everything that had got created modifed or deleted since 3/16/2024 and re-added them to the last know good backup copy. This was laborious but worked. If you guys have a better fix I can supply the malformed file. There should be an earlier integrity check when opening the file so the issue can be detected earlier but there were no symptoms until I did a compact a week later.

[kinook]

If you can provide the .urd file we can take a look. Thanks.

[cnewtonne]

Dropbox does remove the urd-journal files. I believe it does not do it unless user or application issues a filesystem delete to which Dropbox reacts by asking the user if they really want to delete.

My understanding is that these journal files exist only if there are uncommitted/unsaved changes. Once changes are saved, UR deletes the file. If UR crashes, these files remain. UR needs to restart to apply the changes in the journal file then deletes it.

If this file exists when UR is not running, we can infer a crash or an abnormal UR exit.

I have been using UR with Dropbox for nearly 15 years for about 20 DBs with a total size of 6g. Never seen such error.

On a default install of Dropbox, user is notified upon file deletions. Working with UR will result in frequent notifications like the one below probably every few minutes. It becomes to disruptive so I check 'don't ask me this again'.

Thanks for sharing.

[djmallinson]

a couple of times recently i have seen these errors after adding linked adobe acrobat pdf files. the first occurs on opening the urd file and the second on compact/repair. Any advice gratefully received. So far the only fix has been to revert to a prior version
unfortunately the database is full of personal information which I can't share.
all the best David
1. Error loading pane: database disk image is malformed
2. Error repairing database: Attribute names must be unique (case-insensitive comparison)

[cnewtonne]

djmallinson ....
Is dropbox (or any other cloud storage service) involved in your use-case at all?