AW Database 6.2.8/9 not responding in OS 10.4.11

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AW Database 6.2.8/9 not responding in OS 10.4.11

Postby paperandpencil » Sat May 16, 2009 10:26 am

Hi,

I've been using ClarisWorks 4.0v6 databases for many years (OS 7.6.1).

I migrated them to AppleWorks 6.2.8/9 (OS 10.4.11, G4).

However, within 5 minutes to 2 hours of using the document, the "Find Next" function stops responding.

Sometimes the vertical ribbon bar also greys.

When I Save As in ASCII, the vertical ribbon bar is grey, so that I can't scroll through the document and inspect it in that format.

I never lose data, don't crash, and Disk Utility has never shown a problem, but have to quit AW.

It's maddening!

It also happens when I open the AW database in Classic Mode 6.2.8.

The database is 3.1 MB, about 7,000 records.

I have unchecked the Recent Items as previous posts have recommended.

I regularly trash the Starting Points/Recent Items and other folders, as recommended.



The G4 is otherwise completely stable in all applications.

No other AppleWorks functions give any problem.

I'm on the verge of going back to OS 7 just for database work.



Any help will be gratefully appreciated!


Bob
paperandpencil
 

Re: AW Database 6.2.8/9 not responding in OS 10.4.11

Postby Peggy » Sat May 16, 2009 1:45 pm

paperandpencil wrote:Hi,

I've been using ClarisWorks 4.0v6 databases for many years (OS 7.6.1).

I migrated them to AppleWorks 6.2.8/9 (OS 10.4.11, G4).

However, within 5 minutes to 2 hours of using the document, the "Find Next" function stops responding.

Sometimes the vertical ribbon bar also greys.

When I Save As in ASCII, the vertical ribbon bar is grey, so that I can't scroll through the document and inspect it in that format.

I never lose data, don't crash, and Disk Utility has never shown a problem, but have to quit AW.

It's maddening!

It also happens when I open the AW database in Classic Mode 6.2.8.

The database is 3.1 MB, about 7,000 records.

I have unchecked the Recent Items as previous posts have recommended.

I regularly trash the Starting Points/Recent Items and other folders, as recommended.



The G4 is otherwise completely stable in all applications.

No other AppleWorks functions give any problem.

I'm on the verge of going back to OS 7 just for database work.



Any help will be gratefully appreciated!


Bob


You've done a number of things most of us would suggest, but I don't see that you've deleted the AppleWorks preferences. Deleting the preferences is the best first-step in troubleshooting any misbehaving application. To delete AppleWorks’ preference files, go to HD > Users > (your account) > Library > Preferences. Find and delete the file com.apple.appleworks.plist. Find and open the folder AppleWorks in this Preferences folder, then delete all of the enclosed files (with the exception of the Button Bar Preferences if you have customized the Button Bars). AppleWorks will recreate the preference files as it needs them.

It also wouldn't hurt to use Disk Utility to repair permissions.
Peggy
 
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Location: Kent, Washington, USA

Re: AW Database 6.2.8/9 not responding in OS 10.4.11

Postby paperandpencil » Wed Jun 03, 2009 9:39 am

Dear Peggy,

Thanks very much for your reply of May 16.

I’ve trashed all of the AppleWorks Preference files you list, and verified and repaired permissions with both Maintenance and Disk Utility - but the non-responding “Find Next” is still happening.

Do you think that v6.2.3/6.2.4 might be better, in OS 10.4.11?

The 6.2.8/6.2.9 was installed by a Mac dealer, when they refurbished the G4 for me. The first install was imperfect; it was missing some Save As translators.

The second install, which has been presenting the “Find Next” problem, was supplied by e-mail.

Could it be slightly corrupted, causing the problem?

Should I try 6.2.3/6.2.4, in a fresh install?

Again, all other AppleWorks functionality is there.


Cordially,

Bob
paperandpencil
 

Re: AW Database 6.2.8/9 not responding in OS 10.4.11

Postby Barry » Thu Jun 25, 2009 2:54 pm

paperandpencil wrote:Dear Peggy,

Thanks very much for your reply of May 16.

I’ve trashed all of the AppleWorks Preference files you list, and verified and repaired permissions with both Maintenance and Disk Utility - but the non-responding “Find Next” is still happening.

Do you think that v6.2.3/6.2.4 might be better, in OS 10.4.11?

The 6.2.8/6.2.9 was installed by a Mac dealer, when they refurbished the G4 for me. The first install was imperfect; it was missing some Save As translators.

The second install, which has been presenting the “Find Next” problem, was supplied by e-mail.

Could it be slightly corrupted, causing the problem?

Should I try 6.2.3/6.2.4, in a fresh install?

Again, all other AppleWorks functionality is there.


Cordially,

Bob


Hi Bob,

Try creating a new User Account for your computer, then running AppleWorks (and the problem file) from that account. If there are no problems, it's a strong indication that there's some sort of corruption in your regular account, not in AppleWorks or the file. If the problem continues, delete the new account (unless you have other uses for it).

A couple of further steps you might try before reinstalling:

Your initial post indicates this is happening with a single document, which suggests the possibility that corruption of the document itself (or of a font used in that document) might be the source of the problem.

1.
This is a fix usually applicable to spreadsheet documents. It may also be of use with DB docs, and is offered mostly because it takes little time or effort if it does the job.

Open the DB, then do a Save As.. saving the file as an AppleWorks 5 document.
Close the original, then open the AW 5 copy.

The conversion to and from AW 5 resets some internal pointers, and may remove other corruption as well.

2.
Try creating an empty copy of the document (either from scratch, or by duplicating the document, deleting all the records, then saving the empty copy <i>with a revised name</i>. Copy 1/4 of the records (or a different fraction that makes sense to you, depending on the number of records) to the new DB and try to reproduce the problem. If all goes well, add the next 1/4 of the records and test again.

If the problem reoccurs, the culprit is likely one of the records added in the last batch. Remove that batch, then copy in the first half of the same batch and retest. Continue in this manner until you are down to a number of records that is reasonable to manually recreate.




If you have a 6.2.3/6.2.4 installer available, I see no harm in installing that version.

Move the following to the Trash (or to a folder on the Desktop) before doing the installation:
• AppleWorks 6 folder (from the Applications folder and/or the Applications (Mac OS 9) folder)
• AppleWorks User Data folder (from your Documents Folder)
• AppleWorks Preferences folder (from your
• com.apple.appleworks.plist file

After installing, remember to repair permissions as noted above.

Both AW 6.2.4 and 6.2.9 work well in Tiger. 6.2.9 added scroll wheel support, and fixed a number of bugs from earlier versions. I would suggest making a CD copy of the AW 6.2.4 folder after installing, then downloading and running the AW 6.2.9 updater. That will give you a clean copy of AW 6.2.9, plus a quick and easy means of reinstalling 6.2.4, should you need to do that.

Regards,
Barry
Barry
 
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Location: 48°50' N 123° 30'W


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