How to Fix Corrupt/Damaged Files in FileMaker

Before going to fix corrupt or damaged FileMaker files, we need to analyze the causes for corruption. Most possible cause for the corruption is unexpected application termination. As we know that FileMaker pro is a disk based database application, so instead of loading entire database it load only those file which is required for the operation and transfer data as needed from the hard drive to the RAM. So corruption problem may also occur during files are in between hard drive updates.

Resolution: There are 5 possible resolution methods available to fix corrupt FileMaker files.

1. Try Save as compacted copy
2. Try Recover Command
3. Try to Reestablish indexes
4. Try to Restore from Backup
5. Try 3^rd Party FileMaker recovery Application

Try Save as Compacted Copy: It is the easiest and most effective resolution fix for the most of the cases; it will copy all the data as rebuild tree structure for the database. Follow below steps to perform this:

• Open the file from your FileMaker database
• Go-to the File menu and select “Save a copy as”
• Now select Compacted copy
• Test your file

Try Recover Command: It is another method to fix after the “Save as compacted copy” and skip all bad blocks of the information. In some cases, it removes the damaged records for proper functioning of the database. Follow below steps to perform this:

• If File is still closed then open it.
• Go-to the File menu and select “Recover”
• Now Select your corrupt/damaged file and click on the Open button
• Test your file

Try to Reestablish Indexes: It will fix all the relational related issue in your database. To do this follow below steps:

• Open your file and click on the File menu
• Go-to the Manage section and Select your database
• At last test your file

Try to Restore from Backup: If you have updated database backup just before the corruption then restore your database from backup. In case, unavailability of updated database backup, you will be lose the data from the last time when you backed up.

Try 3^rd Party FileMaker Recovery Application: At last when you don’t find any success with any of the above methods, then you don’t have any other option to repair your database except to try Stellar Phoenix FileMaker recovery application. Software supports recovery of FileMaker versions 7.x to 11.x and repair FileMaker database in worst conditions. 

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Possible workaround for FileMaker database corruption

It is difficult to make assumptions of what exactly went wrong when you are dealing with FileMaker database corruption. One might think of 'Compact, Optimize or Recover'. You might overcome a few cases with this technique and get away with the real problem of data loss. Let's find out various options through which you can effectively handle this type of problem.

Frequently, a FileMaker file gets damaged because of unwanted or unnecessary power surges. When ever the application closes unexpectedly, it s very likely that the file will get damaged. FileMaker 9 Server performs a consistency check that typically includes the following set of actions:

• Verifies the block structures (4K blocks)
• Checks if the next and previous blocks are present.

Now, use the following options to recover FileMaker database in the event of corruption:

• Save a Copy As → Clone:

This command is not exactly to fix any corruption. Instead, it enables you to get the clone or an identical image of your file's structure without any data. The significance of this command is that it deletes or removes all the locale info from the file. The locale info includes all region specific data, such as dates, time, etc.

• Save a Copy As → Copy:

This command would allow for creating a block by block copy of your file.

• Save a Copy As → Compacted:

This command implements the 'Compact and Optimize' technique. This process is performed on a copy of the file, thus helping you to protect or safeguard the original data. You can also find the 'Compact' and 'Optimize' options in the 'File Maintenance' menu.

• Recovery command:

This command will ensure that all the invalid blocks are removed from the file when it is recovered. It performs complete scanning of the file and then validates the data blocks. If it finds a corrupt block, it will simply skip the block. A valid block will have the below properties:

• Each block will have a previous and next block containing data.
• The block will have a length of 4K and should be in correct order.
• The block should not be a duplicate of its preceding one.

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