Re: [HS] "No databases found" -- looks like my PDB file got corrupted!

Thanks Robert for the reply, for taking a look, for the insight & offer to assist!

I do have a few backups of the .pdb, but the most recent I see is a year old (yeah, yeah.. lesson *is* learnt!.. backups should be done habitually and frequently). File size is 75% of the corrupt one, and probably most of that is item Notes containing pricing history. I'd guess I have around 90% of the items I had in the corrupt file in the backup, so fortunately it's not the end of the world.

I also discovered that if I rename the corrupt .pdb to .xls, I can open it and view much of my data, although much of it is mixed in with unreadable gobbledygook.

It would take a while to fix re-enter the data, and I don't mind doing it (rather me waste time on this than you, eh?). I'm intrigued though by what you said about it possibly being possible to rebuild the header data - could you share what you think you'd have to do/what tools you'd use to try and fix it? I'm always up for a challenge!

Thanks again
DanB 



--- In [email protected], Robert Moynihan <ramoynihan@...> wrote:
>
> Hi Dan,
> 
> The database header in that file is definitely corrupt.  It has been 
> overwritten by some text from another file.  It's a good sized list, 
> with many hundreds of items, so I can see why you would be unhappy to 
> lose it.
> 
> The first thing is to search for a backup file on your desktop, or 
> wherever you sync your device?  Or perhaps on the device itself, if you 
> run a backup utility.  Failing that, it MIGHT be possible to rebuild the 
> header to the point that your data becomes usable again.  It would 
> involve a fair amount of head-scratching to do it, and it wouldn't be a 
> trivial task, but it might be do-able.  As a fellow Canadian (making an 
> assumption here based on your store list) I will commit to at least 
> giving it an attempt, if you need me to.  But first make sure that you 
> don't have a backup somewhere.
> 
> On 3/24/2012 12:16 AM, dboicu812 wrote:
> >
> > Hi all,
> > Long time HandyShopper user in need of some help!
> >
> > Device: Dell Axim X3i (WM2003, ARM)
> > HandyShopper version: v3.2 build 6516
> > database file: "HS2_Pam.pdb", file size 68kb (<-"HS2" because the db 
> > was created years ago, before upgrade to latest version).
> >
> > Problem: this grocery list database had been in use for years without 
> > issue, but on March 23rd when I went to open HS, HS reported "no 
> > databases found". The file exists in the usual location on the device, 
> > but I am unable to open it on my PDA or with hs3convert.exe on my 
> > Windows PC.
> >
> > Is it at all possible to repair the file, or at least access and 
> > retrieve any of the data within it?
> >
> > I've uploaded the file(zipped) in the hopes that someone out there 
> > might be kind enough to take a look and have more success than me:
> > http://www.sendspace.com/file/re7gq6
> >
> > Even if the database & contents are lost, I'm wondering why it might 
> > suddenly become "not found"/un-openable. I seem to have had a bad day 
> > with devices losing settings, this was the 3rd thing today to go 
> > mysteriously wrong!
> >
> > Thanks for looking!
> > DanB
> >
> > 
> 
> 
> 
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>