No save on exit - can I recover changes from 5 minute periodic save?

[wildcatherder]

I have run into this problem before.  If I accidentally close LabVIEW before saving, I am not asked if I want my files saved.  I lost three or four hours work from yesterday.

I do have automatic saving, periodically every 5 minutes, set in the Environment.

Is there some way to manually recover the VI from one of those periodic saves?

The idea of an autobackup system that can only be restored by autorecovery seems strange to me.  I rarely have the prescience to crash my system just before I need to recover  a file.

[tbob]

If LV closes due to a crash, when you open it again, it will prompt you to recover from the last backup it created.  If you close without saving, it won't ask you to recover.  I don't know how to access its last backup, however I would think that you could not just open it like you would a normal vi.  If no one here can answer, call NI tech support.

[tbob]

I just read the LV help on recovering.  There is a Labview default data directory.  On my computer it is in My Documents\LabVIEW Data\LVAutoSave\aarchives.  There is have some zip files and contain some vi's.   Look for yours and try to open the VI's.  here is more help info, but I don't see any Delete Backup Files button.  Maybe this is on the splach screen when you start LV.

Recovering Backup Files Manually

The Automatic Recovery Error dialog box appears when LabVIEW encounters an error and cannot recover automatically saved files.

Complete the following steps to attempt to recover the backup files manually.

1. Copy the backup files to a safe location on your computer.
2. Click the Delete Backup Files button to remove the backups from the LabVIEW default data directory and continue launching LabVIEW.
3. In LabVIEW, open the files you copied in step 1 by selecting File»Open and navigating to the copied files.

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[wildcatherder]

That sounded really promising.  My default data directory does have an LVAutosave directory but it is completely empty (and you know that ain't right).  I searched the entire drive for "aarchives" and "archives" without finding anything.  I just found out we now have full support so I will call National Instruments.  Thanks

[tbob]

There is an option to set autosave in the Tools -Options menu.  Perhaps you don't have that feature turned on.

[wildcatherder · Accepted solution]

According to National Instruments technical support, the autorecovery file is wiped whenever the VI opens successfully.  This is similar to the way Microsoft Office products handle autosave.

There is a Save on Exit set of of dialog boxes but I was confused by the multiple save requests not just for subVIs but for elements of the NI-DAQmx tasks I am using.

In the future, I will simply "Save All", as the consequences of inadvertently saving are less than not saving.

[wnb]

Thank you so much for posting this.  I save my file under a new filename about once or twice every day.  But today I had been working about 9 hours on my vi when I tried to save and labview locked up during the save.  It wasn't bad memory, or a hard drive bad sector, or any of that BS.  It was labview.  It was the only program on the machine that hung and it corrupted it's own file instead of saving it.  I found the autosave zip files and recoverd about six hours of my work so I lost 3 hours instead of 9.  Thanks again.

[Bob_Schor]

If you are doing serious LabVIEW development, you need to use some form of Version Control System.  Many of us use Subversion, particularly TortoiseSVN (a free Client, but you need to find a Subversion Server).  Others use GIT.

Are you working inside LabVIEW Project?  Every time I close my Project, it always prompts me if I have unsaved stuff (and "bad on me" if I click through without thinking).  I have not set up anything "special" in Tools/Options, and I do not use the Default LabVIEW Directory for storing my work.

Bob Schor

[wnb]

I'm not working inside a project file.  I'm new to labview and just learning the stuff that I have to learn is enough.  I can't afford the time it would take me to learn all the bells and whistles.

[crossrulz]

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@nate_Burns wrote:

I can't afford the time it would take me to learn all the bells and whistles.

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We are not asking you to learn everything, just the basics.  The project is one of the most basic concepts.  The project window helps you to organize your code.  It is also required to build executables and installers.

And you really should be using some type of SCC (Source Code Control).  You can think of it as a backup with history.  For simplicity, I recommend Tortoise SVN.  It works directly out of Windows Explorer.