* Gedcom not saving properly

[BettyofKent]

I normally open FH by clicking on the icon on the task bar, & FH opens at my default project.
Project folders stored on Google Drive.

Tuesday 25th Oct I spent some time in the evening updating this project with 1921 Census images & transcriptions.
FH is set to save every 5 minutes.
When I had finished I clicked to save small gedcom file only as I always do.
These backups are stored in OneDrive.

Wednesday I opened my project & was shocked to find all the previous days work was not there. Sorting by date showed the last update as 16th Oct. Panic!

Everything I had added to the project media folder was still there, just the gedcom had things missing. I opened OneDrive, found the previous day's back up, that opened up correctly, so deleted the gedcom in the project folder & replaced it with the backup.
All working well, so I carried on adding new info.

This morning, the same problem, nothing showing from yesterday.
I added a test person, closed FH, opened it, test person showing, but still no updated work.
Re-booted the laptop, no change except for test person showing.
Repeated replacing the gedcom with the backup.

So now if I click the icon on the task bar FH opens without the previous day's work.
I deleted the icon, went to the FH folder in All Programs, & clicked for a fresh icon to be added to the task bar just in case this would make a difference, it didn't!
To get FH to open with the updated gedcom, I have to open Google Drive, go to the Projects folder, open the project I want, then click on the gedcom icon.
I've clicked the icon with the little red, green, yellow squares, all OK, up to 26th, no test person added today showing. Then I open the Project fh_data folder, click on the icon with the 3 green squares, again all updated to 26th, no test person added today showing.

It's a faff having to do that, I don't understand what has gone wrong with using the task bar icon, I haven't changed anything, I'm working in the same way I have for years.
What has happened?

[neil40]

When you open FH, before going to open the GEDCOM, if you go to File>Project Window, is there a project with a green tick, and is it's path related to Google Drive?

[tatewise]

As Neil suggests, check the File > Project Window... Does the Location: correctly refer to your Google Drive projects folder?
Does the Family Historian Projects list suggest any errors?

I strongly suggest you occasionally perform an FH Full Project Backup via File > Backup/Restore.
Alternatively, use a Windows or other Backup utility to backup all sensitive files including FH Projects.
I know Google Drive is a good form of backup but you need another media too in case of accidental corruptions.

BTW: Do you backup your FH customisation settings for Diagrams, Reports, Queries, Plugins, Fact Sets, etc, etc?

[BettyofKent]

The project window shows the location correctly as Google Drive\Family Historian Projects

I have 5 projects, none of them have a green tick & never have.

[BettyofKent]

I backup to an external hard drive (I use 2 alternatively) I am due another one, must do that tonight, I would hate to lose all the 1921 info.

I am wondering if the problem is with Google Drive.
After downloading images, I rename them & add them to the appropriate folder in the project, as I have always done.
Uploads have been extremely slow lately, I googled the problem & it seems to be very common.
I'm using fibre broadband (fttc) uploads of about 18Mbps.
So after some time for the upload to finish, I try to add the image to the appropriate person, only to get the message about copying to the projects folder, me "it's already there, you fool, can't you see it!" I've given up arguing & click Yes to be able to continue. Sometimes the image appears in the Show all media but has been renamed to something weird. I wonder if something has been corrupted during the upload.

Re the Project Window - the Last Updated column shows for 4 of the projects dates as I would expect, but the default Project shows the date 01/01/1970 00.00

[tatewise]

When you click the FH icon it opens the Default Project.
That is the Project with a small green tick on the lefthand icon in the Project Window.
The fact that you say there is no green tick disagrees with the above process, so some other Project, not shown in the Project Window is the auto-startup Default Project.

That date 01/01/1970 00.00 is a big red warning that something is wrong with the GEDCOM file.
It means FH cannot read any Last Updated dates from the file.
It is interesting you call this the Default Project when there is no green tick.

Yet, you say you can open this same Project correctly by clicking its FH Project File or Gedcom File.
Something is not quite in sync with what is shown in the Project Window and what is in Google Drive.

A screenshot of the Project Window might be useful to us.
Also a screenshot of the File Explorer view of the fh_data folder, FH Project File & Gedcom File showing the full file path.

In the Tools > Preferences > Startup tab, what is the full path of the Default Starup File?
That is the one that starts when you click the FH icon.

[BettyofKent]

That's odd, the Default Startup File is pointing to Dropbox, which I haven't used for about two years now, I know I changed it to Google Drive, & this update problem is very recent, certainly not that long.
The other 4 projects correctly point to Google Drive.
I've opened yesterday's backup, made that the default project, added a test person, saved, & rebooted to check everything is as it should be, & it is.
I am now the proud owner of a green tick, with the Project Update now showing today's date.

Thank you Mike, your help is very much appreciated.

[BettyofKent]

Re the Icons in the project folder, I have often wondered what is the difference between the one with the three green squares & the one with one red, one green & one yellow square?

[tatewise]

I'm glad that has been resolved but cannot explain how it got upset.

The three green squares icon identifies the GEDCOM file as confirmed in the Type column and is many Kbytes in size.
That is where all your Individual, Family, Note, Source, Media, Place, etc, records are saved.

The red, green & yellow squares icon identifies the FH Project File as confirmed in the Type column and is only 1Kb in size.
It holds a few custom settings parameters and indicates the .fh_data folder alongside holds the Project GEDCOM file of the same name.

See FHUG Knowledge Base Understanding Projects especially under Project Structure.

I asked earlier if you backup your FH customisation settings for Diagrams, Reports, Queries, Plugins, Fact Sets, etc, etc, but you did not respond. Do you use either of the Backup and Restore Family Historian Settings plugins as advised in the FHUG Knowledge Base Backup and Recovery article?

[BettyofKent]

Thank you for the explanation of the two icons.

Yes, I do use the Backup and Restore Family Historian Settings plugin, & have just finished a backup of all projects & settings.

Thank you again for your help.