What The?! Missing Images From Table. How Can I Export/Import an Entire Older Database to Compare Notes?

[freyja313 46]

I just noticed one of the notes I just edited has a completely empty table in it and I'm like, whoah, didn't this table used to have images in it? I confirmed the affected note in a backup database is intact with its table images so yeah, it did, and they're all gone now. Cool, I can totally fix that note. BUT. This sparked a memory that a few days (or weeks) ago, I was doing something with a note and it had an empty table in it and I thought, that's weird that I put a table in a note and didn't put anything in it...? Well now I'm thinking that note probably used to have a table in it that contained images, the images went bye-bye and all that was left was the tiny empty table and me not remembering that there had ever been an image there and of course I can't remember which note it is and I know I removed the empty table because who needs an empty, unused table in a note?

So. Now I want to know how I can work with two note databases at once. I have a couple of recent backups and I want to basically import all the notes from one of those backups* into my current database, then, because I don't know what the heck other notes got messed up, literally compare notes and ditch the dupes that are exactly the same and clean up the ones that aren't so I can try to recover lost images from who knows how many notes. Any best practices for this? Should I open up the backup database, export ALL the notes and then import them into my current database? I'm looking at about 6k notes and ideally I'd like to tag the notes from the backup database prior to importing them into the current database so they are easily identifiable. Is this a foolish endeavor? I'm currently Plus and I did have the thought that I could upgrade to Premium and look at the note histories BUT I don't know which notes might be affected so I'm thinking it would just be easier to compare notes side by side. 

Just to clarify, the single note is not the problem here because I know I can restore it - it's the not knowing if any other notes were affected too. 

Thoughts, suggestions, etc.?

 

[DTLow 5,736]

1 hour ago, freyja313 said:

Now I want to know how I can work with two note databases at once.

You can use the html export feature to produce two folders that can be compared side by side.

edit: Here's the latest datatabase from my weekly backups.

[freyja313 46]

15 minutes ago, DTLow said:

You can use the html export feature to produce two note folders that can be compared side by side.

Ooooh, I've not exported multiple notes to HTML before but I think I can visualize what that would look like folder-wise. I will play with it tonight. Thanks!

[OldGrantonian 18]

You don't need to do a manual comparison. Beyond Compare will compare the two folders in milliseconds, and highlight the changes.

I'm too poor to be able to afford paid software, but I made an exception for BC after a comparison with the free WinMerge (which I thought was a good program). It cost me £30 about 15 years ago, and I've never updated. I use it several times a week, because my computers make lots of mistakes. 

[TK0047 422]

10 hours ago, freyja313 said:

I just noticed one of the notes I just edited has a completely empty table in it and I'm like, whoah, didn't this table used to have images in it? I confirmed the affected note in a backup database is intact with its table images so yeah, it did, and they're all gone now. Cool, I can totally fix that note. BUT. This sparked a memory that a few days (or weeks) ago, I was doing something with a note and it had an empty table in it and I thought, that's weird that I put a table in a note and didn't put anything in it...? Well now I'm thinking that note probably used to have a table in it that contained images, the images went bye-bye and all that was left was the tiny empty table and me not remembering that there had ever been an image there and of course I can't remember which note it is and I know I removed the empty table because who needs an empty, unused table in a note?

So. Now I want to know how I can work with two note databases at once. I have a couple of recent backups and I want to basically import all the notes from one of those backups* into my current database, then, because I don't know what the heck other notes got messed up, literally compare notes and ditch the dupes that are exactly the same and clean up the ones that aren't so I can try to recover lost images from who knows how many notes. Any best practices for this? Should I open up the backup database, export ALL the notes and then import them into my current database? I'm looking at about 6k notes and ideally I'd like to tag the notes from the backup database prior to importing them into the current database so they are easily identifiable. Is this a foolish endeavor? I'm currently Plus and I did have the thought that I could upgrade to Premium and look at the note histories BUT I don't know which notes might be affected so I'm thinking it would just be easier to compare notes side by side. 

Just to clarify, the single note is not the problem here because I know I can restore it - it's the not knowing if any other notes were affected too. 

Thoughts, suggestions, etc.?

 

By the way, what version are you using? Missing images happened a lot to me in V6.8.