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Pjonz2008
New Zealand
29 Posts |
Posted - Jan 23 2010 : 16:32:02
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Dear MLK,
I have been religiously backing up my MLK file every day only to find when I needed it, IE my computer downloaded a virus and I had to reinstall everything... it didn't work successfully and had not backed up all the data.
When I tried to restore the CSV file many of my clients details were completely screwed up.
I discovered that if a client was in more than one group MLK simply adds this information to the existing headings/columns instead of creating a new heading and column.
For example my first few columns are: E-Mail, Group, Full Name, Title etc
When a client was a member of two groups or more the second and subsequent group names were placed first into the Full Name column and subsequent group names into Title column and so on.
I started to go through my whole database and remove the extra groups which does not assist me in sorting my database at all. Now I have to find another way of putting clients into multiple groups as obviously the backup system needs some repairs so I don't fancy trusting that again.
I thought about adding extra columns but then was not sure what this would do once I tried to use the data within the software.
I have had to do a full synchronisation with Outlook and will need to go through every file individually to update the information ie custom fields etc from the CSV file.
This has been extremely time-consuming... or is there something I have missed in the setup that will take care of this and back up & restore correctly?
However, that's not all...
I had more than 60 pre-programmed e-mails in my outbox ready to be triggered by the send date & time.
THESE HAVE BEEN TOTALLY LOST... THEY ARE NOT INCLUDED IN THE BACKUP AT ALL.
I did put a reminder into Outlook of the date and time these e-mails were set to go out so I could check on MLK but even so I still have to re-do everything which I am none too happy about.
How can we back up everything? Also how can I back it up to another drive automatically?
MLK, I hope you've got some good answers for these questions and fixes for any future computer crash?
One further question unrelated...
I asked you some time ago if you could put a link from the selected e-mail recipient/s to the SMS module to allow me to quickly also send a text to the recipients of the selected e-mail list.
Is there any news when we may be able to expect this enhancement?
Pjonz
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xequte
7504 Posts |
Posted - Jan 23 2010 : 21:23:40
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Hi Pjonz
The backup system in MLK is not intended as a replacement for regular backup of all the data on your hard drive. You should always include the MLK database and settings folders amongst those that you routinely backup.
MLK's backup is intended as a last resort. I.e. even if all your backed up databases have been corrupted, and you can't even start MLK because of some unknown weirdness you still have your most important data, your contact list, intact in a universally supported format.
However you have encountered an issue that we have recently resolved whereby the delimitation of group names may fail and cause columns to be misaligned if a member belongs to multiple groups. This is best addressed by doing a find and replaced of known group names before importing.
It is fixed in the current release.
Nigel
Xequte Software
www.xequte.com
nigel@xequte.com
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xequte
7504 Posts |
Posted - Jan 23 2010 : 21:25:32
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Also, regarding your query about SMS, i am away from the office this week, but i believe you can now right-click a selection of members and choose, "Send SMS to selection"
Nigel
Xequte Software
www.xequte.com
nigel@xequte.com
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Pjonz2008
New Zealand
29 Posts |
Posted - Jan 25 2010 : 12:14:24
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Nigel,
Thanks for your response although if you have a backup system that doesn't work correctly advise your users of the shortfall, don't try to blame it on other backup systems.
MLK was not specifically included in my Norton backup file because I thought I was backing up all MLK data independantly.
Tell me please, what files do I need to backup and restore to keep everything as it was if this happens again?
Can I just copy the whole C;\Program Files/MailList King directory and paste it back over the re-installed application to fully restore?
Or more specifically what individual folders or files are needed to restore MLK?
I'm not too keen on relying just on the CSV file from now on.
Your comment... " This is best addressed by doing a find and replaced of known group names before importing." ... means??
What am I replacing them with?
Can I add the extra columns to the CSV file and import or will this screw up the software?
Peter
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xequte
7504 Posts |
Posted - Jan 26 2010 : 13:21:36
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Hi Peter
Please see the help file section “Backing up your Mailing List”. It specifically advises against relying on internal backup as your sole tool and also gives instructions for backing up the correct folders to back up for full restoration of your MLK data.
In particular you should back up your settings and database folders which can be shown by running MLK and clicking Ctrl+Shift+I.
One way you might fix your CSV file:
1. Rename the file extension to .txt
2. Open it in Notepad
3. Do a Find and replace to convert all commas to hash/pound (#) characters
4. For each of you groups do a find and replace in the format:
Replace: Group_1#
With: Group_1,
Unfortunately you’ll need to manually eyeball each change to avoid ones that are at the end of the group list (where the # marks the start of the following column).
An alternate way if you have a huge list is to open it in Excel, sort the list by group, and progressively realign the correct columns.
Nigel
Xequte Software
www.xequte.com
nigel@xequte.com
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Pjonz2008
New Zealand
29 Posts |
Posted - Feb 01 2010 : 10:49:09
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Nigel,
Thank you for pointing out my backup errors. I apologise for my terse comments.
I reinstalled the database, entered some new data, copied the maillist king folder in AppData, uninstalled and deleted all remnants of xecute & maillist king and then reinstalled from backup by pasting the MailList King folder back into Xecute under AppData and all settings, e-mails waiting in the out box, SMS settings etc were returning to normal.
It is now part of my daily backup with Norton to copy that MLK folder so hopefully I never have to endure this again.
However, when I opened the CSV file can began to sort out the data I put in extra columns for extra groups and named them group 2, 3 etc however when I restored the file they had to go in as custom fields so I need to manually change these entries in MLK itself. Fortunately there are not too many in multiple groups. I hope you can repair this in the future so that multiple groups don't misalign the database columns.
The other main issue with a CSV file I noticed is:
I have a custom field called "next appointment date" and the data in this field would have been similar to - Your next appointment is tentatively set for Wednesday, March 23 2010 at 6 PM. We will be discussing item 1, item 2, item 3, etc.
The problem.
The message got split with each commar as well i.e. the date was in a separate column and each item was in its own column as well.
Is there some way of preventing this data from splitting at each commar as well as the columns?
Or will a backup of the AppData> MLK folder copy the database as it is?
If so I won't bother with CSV backups.
Also see my other question in relation to custom fields and SMS messages.
Thanks
Peter |
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xequte
7504 Posts |
Posted - Feb 02 2010 : 00:26:12
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Hi Peter
Unfortunately the same issue that caused the problems with the groups is at fault with your "next appointment date" field. That is, when backing up MailList King has failed to wrap the fields in quotations so that the embedded comma is read as just a comma, rather than the start of a new column.
This issue is available in a fix by emailing us, or you can wait for v9.03 which will be released in the next few days.
CSV backup is not as important as backing up the main database folder, as the CSV backup is just a subset of the information in the database. It is good to also have a CSV backup just in case your database becomes in accessible (though that would be a very rare event).
Nigel
Xequte Software
www.xequte.com
nigel@xequte.com
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Backup Disaster
