One Step Forward, Two Steps Back: Unrecognisable database format

[Mel_S]

So, I finally got the site working on the new computer thanks to help from Lee - sure appreciate the input!

Now I have reached the point where it is time to finalize everything, export to a .csv file and then import changes that way. Sounds simple enough.

I managed to get everything working, amazingly enough. Or, I thought I did.

The first import seemed to be ok. I made a small change and imported the .csv. I received an error saying Developer out of memory. Hmm... I closed the program down, made sure to shut down all other programs, tired again. This time I was unable to open Actinic at all and received the following error:

Unrecognised database format 'C:Full Path to Site Directory\ActinicCatalog.mdb'.

Help! (I really do appreciate all of the help you are offering!)

[Goz]

I usually find that when Actinic fails to start then a reboot usually sorts it.

[Mel_S]

When I reboot Actinic still will not open, I still receive the unrecognisable database error.

I can get Actinic working again by deleting the problem site folder, copying a known working copy of the site and renaming it to the problem site. This gets me into Actinic but obviously does not fix my problem - I need to be able to import the CSV file, and have the information accessible.

The import works fine if I don't alter the csv file. When I add one little Brochure Page (BrochurePage and BrochureFragment cells in the spreadsheet), with only one line of text on it (in an attempt to test the import feature) I end up with all of these problems.

As a side note, I DO update the column at the end of the file to make sure that the final column has no empty cells.

The computer that I am using is only a couple of months old, has 4 GB of RAM, so I'm quite surprised to receive the Out of Memory error. I'm guessing that this error is what is causing the database error (may be truncating it and creating an unreadable database...????).

We definitely want to be able to update our site using a csv file, so any suggestions are sure appreciated.

[NormanRouxel]

You've kind of pointed to the problem yourself:- "When I add one little Brochure Page ... in an attempt to test the import feature".

Sounds like your experimental line is wrong.

[Mel_S]

You've kind of pointed to the problem yourself:- "When I add one little Brochure Page ... in an attempt to test the import feature".

Sounds like your experimental line is wrong.

Definitely sounds reasonable, and I certainly believe that could be the case, I'm just not sure what the problem would be. I created the new Brochure page by copying everything exactly from the Brochure page above it - the only changes were the new webpage name (BrochurePage=pricelist.htm), the page title (BrochureFragment=Price List and Repair Information), and a text blurb significantly smaller than the other page (Description=This will be the imported text from the csv file). All other values are identical to the other page.

I know I've gone and messed something up, I just can't seem to locate the mess

I'm continuing to attempt to fix the error - but I check back often hoping to find helpful hints

[NormanRouxel]

Start with a clean file that works when imported. Then repeat the exercise but only change one item at a time. When it fails you'll then have a good pointer to which parameter is wrong.

Be careful of quotes or other special characters in your new text that might break things.

[Mel_S]

I don't know if I found the root of the problem, but the previous errors have disappeared and now I am left with a new set of problems.

Now, when I load the .csv file, everything loads fine, but I am unable to generate the HTML pages. I can't preview any changes. The text changes show in the Text Box, but not in preview. I am unable to upload - says there is a problem with the catalog - although I didn't make any changes to the catalog, just a brochure page.

Really getting frustrated now

[Mike Hughes]

Mel, It's hard to identify a problem from descriptions alone.

If everything works OK before the import and doesn't afterwards then it does sound like the import's the problem.

The best thing might be to copy and paste the original and modified lines into the forum so someone who knows this stuff can take a look.

What are you using to do your editing?

Mike

[Jan]

Are you still getting the unrecognisable database error after importing or are you now getting a different error?

Regards,

[Mel_S]

We were still getting the error so my boss decided to just creat the problem page outside of actinic and call an Excel spreadsheet for the information we most want to updatevia spreadsheet.

Again, one step forward (created the page and called the Excel file successfully), two steps back (now have another problem area - new thread on that)

[Jan]

So to summarise, you are getting this error :

Unrecognised database format 'C:Full Path to Site Directory\ActinicCatalog.mdb'.

when you try to open Actinic.

In that case your database is corrupt and you need to fix it, you can do this by compacting and repairing it through ODBC (control panel / administrative tools / ODBC / catalogv7) or MS access (open access, select the database and choose to the repair or compact option from the database menu).

[Mel_S]

Mel, It's hard to identify a problem from descriptions alone.

If everything works OK before the import and doesn't afterwards then it does sound like the import's the problem.

The best thing might be to copy and paste the original and modified lines into the forum so someone who knows this stuff can take a look.

What are you using to do your editing?

Mike

To edit the .csv I am using MS Excel

[Mel_S]

So to summarise, you are getting this error :

Unrecognised database format 'C:Full Path to Site Directory\ActinicCatalog.mdb'.

when you try to open Actinic.

In that case your database is corrupt and you need to fix it, you can do this by compacting and repairing it through ODBC (control panel / administrative tools / ODBC / catalogv7) or MS access (open access, select the database and choose to the repair or compact option from the database menu).

Thanks! If we get back around to working with the .csv file this will come in very handy!

[Mike Hughes]

To edit the .csv I am using MS Excel

I'm just wondering if there's a problem with the version of excel you're using. At one point there was a problem with excel 2007 and this could have carried through into later versions.

http://community.actinic.com/showthread.php?t=44781

If you have an older version lying around you might want to try that and see if it makes a difference (or try something called csved which I think Duncan favours).

Mike