[Chris]

I sent this to Omni, but I wanted to give people here a heads up too. I managed to nuke my data when upgrading from 1.0.2 to the 1.1 sneakypeek.

When I started 1.1 for the first time a window popped up that said something like "Copy database from custom location to standard location?" with a note that the database now had to be in the "Application Support" folder. Even though I wasn't sure I had a custom location, I (stupidly) clicked OK. OF did it's thing, but then when it started up, I had no data. So I quit OF.

Fortunately, I'm using Time Machine (this is actually the first time I have used TM!) and restored my data from ~/Library/Application Support/OmniFocus. That's where OF had created a brand new data file, so apparently my data was in the right place all along! This time, when I started OF, I got a message about upgrading the database, and everything is OK now. So apparently OF 1.1 was confused about whether I had specified a custom location for my database or not.

So if you upgrade and you don't have good backups, be careful in responding to OF's dialogs unless you're sure you know what you're doing.

[whpalmer4]

I had this happen, too, but it didn't destroy the data, it just didn't seem to copy it and so launched with the default introductory data. I was able to fix the problem by simply copying my data file over with the Finder. There must be some oddball case where it doesn't do this right, as I can't imagine that they haven't tested this at all! Judging from some of the recent questions on the forum, however, there will be plenty of users who shouldn't be put into this situation, and I hope Ken & Co. can figure out how to avoid that.

I think if you answer Cancel instead of OK to that dialog, you end up in the same boat of having the default "introduction to OmniFocus" data file...or the app just doesn't run. I tried to reproduce my problem, but was unable to do so.

You should be able to recover your data from the regular OmniFocus backup directory even if you don't make regular backups of your machine.

[troyb]

Hey guys, where were your old locations out of curiosity?

[curt.clifton]

Originally Posted by Chris

So if you upgrade and you don't have good backups, be careful in responding to OF's dialogs unless you're sure you know what you're doing.

Ack! Don't even think about upgrading to an alpha version of software without good backups. Be sure to save a backup (File --> Backup Database) before leaving 1.0.2. When alpha testing, I also set the Backup preferences (on the General pane of the OF preferences) to backup twice a day and when quitting the application.

(I'm not intending to rub salt in your wounds here, Chris. I just would hate to see a new user underestimate the risk of running Sneaky Peek versions.)

[Chris]

I don't remember where my alternate location had been; I think it was under Documents. But I hadn't actually used an alternate location for a long time, I don't think. I certainly can't find any traces of one using Spotlight, and the file I restored via Time Machine was from the standard location.

[blewis]

I haven't migrated yet, but my current location is /Users/Shared/. I use the same file between two accounts.

[whpalmer4]

Originally Posted by troyb

Hey guys, where were your old locations out of curiosity?

Looking at my backup clone from a month or two ago, it would seem that Library/Application\ Support/OmniFocus is where I had my old data. That looks suspiciously like where it lives now in 1.1. I don't really remember having any reason to move my data elsewhere in the 1.0 days, which makes me think that perhaps the root cause of the problem is that the upgrader gets confused and thinks that the data (living in the default spot) is elsewhere, tries to copy it, fails, and then 1.1 opens the default version because the newly upgraded file is empty or missing.

I'd backed up the database elsewhere prior to upgrading, so it didn't occur to me that I would also need to know where my data was stored; I thought OmniFocus had that detail covered :-)

[Lizard]

whpalmer4: if you've got an OmniFocus preferences file from before you ran 1.1, that would probably be the most useful thing to send us. ~/Library/Preferences/com.omnigroup.OmniFocus.plist

[jt32]

I had this happen, too, but it didn't destroy the data, it just didn't seem to copy it and so launched with the default introductory data. I was able to fix the problem by simply copying my data file over with the Finder. There must be some oddball case where it doesn't do this right, as I can't imagine that they haven't tested this at all! Judging from some of the recent questions on the forum, however, there will be plenty of users who shouldn't be put into this situation, and I hope Ken & Co. can figure out how to avoid that.

I think if you answer Cancel instead of OK to that dialog, you end up in the same boat of having the default "introduction to OmniFocus" data file...or the app just doesn't run. I tried to reproduce my problem, but was unable to do so.

I haven't yet installed 1.1 but plan to do so soon in anticipation of purchasing the new iPhone app. I am now a bit nervous to do so and lose all my data - as I am then always nervous that I will screw up restoring from the back up and somehow delete that too. After reading this thread, my inclination is to answer Cancel instead of OK in response to the ""Copy database from custom location to standard location?" question if it appears during my install. But judging from your post above, it seems if I hit Cancel, 1.1 will launch with the default introduction to OmniFocus" data file and then I will then have to "copy my data file over with the Finder" -- how would I do that?

Has anyone else run into problems with their launch or does this seem to be an isolated problem and/or has it been cleared up?

Any advice greatly appreciated, Thanks!

[Ken Case]

If you back up your database before you upgrade, you can restore from that backup if something goes wrong. (You can do this by selecting "Back Up Database" from the File menu.)