Note field edits missing/changing

[Paul Cotton]

I’ve had a few instances now where edits I’ve made to notes fields in custom form layouts aren’t there when I reopen the form (without having closed the database) – sometimes they’re missing and sometimes it’s showing an old version.

In my main database, I have a form that is just a title text field and a note field, and I use that as my to-do list. That’s the main one I notice it with as I’m viewing/editing that constantly throughout the day. I have also had it with another notes field in a more complex form.

I can’t find a way to replicate it on demand, but I did manage to capture it happening in a screen recording – see attached (the text is below the big black block). In this case I’d clicked outside of an active record.

This is a weird one as the text started as “rt tret ert”, then I changed it to “www www www” as seen in the capture, then you can see what I did and it reverted to”xcxc xcxc” which was the text prior to the “rt tret ert”. On immediate close>reload, the text was “www www www”.

Here are my notes for exactly what happened:

DB1 note contains: “rt tret ert” changed to “www www www”
switch to DB2 > click in a record > minimize

click desktop then inside a textedit window, type text

reopen DB2 and enter its pw
click inside a record and select different searches/forms

click in textedit window again

(start of video)
switch to DB1 – showing “www www www”
click in record list below record where none exist
click back to main note record

www www www replaced with xcxc xcxc which was something entered there much earlier

exit DB1 and reopen

shows www www www

–

I also had it with far simpler steps within a single database:

form with note field: change text
click below record list
open an existing search in a different form
open a single-column/table view of a different form
back to form with note field and it was showing text as before edit

–

although both of these have me clicking below the record list, I don’t think this is the common factor when I’ve had this issue in normal operation vs this testing.

Attachments:

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[Paul Cotton]

I created 2 identical databases, both comprising:

A form with a text field and a notes field
A second form with just the default text field

The first database was unencrypted. Opening that and entering text in the note field, then going to the other form, then back, works fine.

The second database is encrypted. Doing the same thing loses the entry when going to the other form and back again. It reloads with whatever was there before the edit. To get text to “stick” need to go to the second form, then back to the first and enter text.

I see this same thing with my live, encrypted database where edits are lost. If I subsequently edit the record with the omission then that saves as-is, losing my original edit. That’s the bit that causes the biggest risk.

I don’t know if is only in this scenario where it loses the edits, but this is replicable for me.

I’ve attached both database – the password is “test”.

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[Paul Cotton]

This isn’t restricted to note fields. It affects any fields that are edited in the form that loads when the database is opened, before moving away from that form.

[Brendan]

I downloaded your files and I have not seen that happen in the encrypted file yet. I typed in some text into the field, then clicked on the records list view so no record was selected, then clicked back on the record and the value was still there that I typed.

I’m just working on a sync issue and will be publishing version 1.2.4 soon. So lets see if that fixes it for you.

[Paul Cotton]

For the file I uploaded, the sequence is to load the db, enter “test” as password, type text into the note field then click on the “another” form, then back to the note form. I’ve attached a video (tiny size to meet the upload requirements).

Even though I try to be careful and open a different form first on db load, I’ve just had it again right now where I lost data I’d entered.

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[Brendan]

Ah ok. I see that now. It was clicking on a different form, typing in some data, then clicking on a different form. I thought your video showed clicking on the records list view so no record was selected. That works for me. But I can reproduce the bug when switching forms right away.

However, after the first switch and then back to the original, doing it again in the same session worked fine to save the data.

[Paul Cotton]

Right, that’s why I try to remember to open a different form and revert on initial db losd.

I’m not sure if this is the only scenario where it has lost my data, but this was replicable.

Given the simplicity and liklihood of the steps involved to lose user data, I see this as a critical bug in a database app, so I hope you can provide a swift remedy.

[Paul Cotton]

To be clear, the first video I posted did show me clicking on the records list view so no record was selected, and that changing the contents of the note field. That was my live database though, not the one I uploaded – and there were more steps documented in that. As you say, that doesn’t work as-is with the database I uploaded after.

Reading my notes on that first post, it did still essentially seem to boil down to the same thing though: DB1 is opened, text is added, the record is ultimately just left and revisited. Hopefully this is all linked to what happens on the form that at db load and easy to trace and fix.

[Brendan]

I just fixed this bug.

Now when I open your Encrypted test document, type into the Note field on the custom layout, then switch to your other form, then back to the original form, the changes I made are saved.

What I did find before I fixed the bug is that when I switched forms and then switched back, yes, the change I made was reverted to the previous. But if I quit the app and re-launched it, the changes I made were saved to the database.

But now it will operate properly.

[Paul Cotton]

Brilliant – thanks Brendan.

I did note above about the data being saved even if not displayed, but that relies on no subsequent edits being made to the record after it’s shown with the omitted data. If that incorrect record is edited, it’s the edited version, with the omitted data, that gets saved and the original edit is lost.

[Paul Cotton]

Just updated to 1.2.4 – working fine for me now, thanks for that.

[Brendan]

Excellent! Thanks for confirming the fix.

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