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How i Unzap a Zap dbf file ?
- Thread starter ety1910
- Start date
As Mike says above, there is no UnDo for a ZAP.
The DELETE is an UnDo-able action (at least as long as you do not PACK) since the records are not actually removed from the data table, but merely marked as DELETED.
The ZAP actually removes ALL records from the data table.
If you want to reverse the ZAP process, make a backup prior to the ZAP. The ZAP itself is not UnDo-able, but replacing the data table with the backup file(s) can get you back to where you started from.
Good Luck,
JRB-Bldr
VisionQuest Consulting
Business Analyst & CIO Consulting Services
CIOServices@yahoo.com
The DELETE is an UnDo-able action (at least as long as you do not PACK) since the records are not actually removed from the data table, but merely marked as DELETED.
The ZAP actually removes ALL records from the data table.
If you want to reverse the ZAP process, make a backup prior to the ZAP. The ZAP itself is not UnDo-able, but replacing the data table with the backup file(s) can get you back to where you started from.
Good Luck,
JRB-Bldr
VisionQuest Consulting
Business Analyst & CIO Consulting Services
CIOServices@yahoo.com
ety1910
There may be one small hope for you, if you have not done a lot of writing to the drive from your "zapped" file. You may be able to recover the old version of the file from your HD. What happens with a "ZAP" function is, the existing .DBF (and corresponding .CDX, .IDX. .FPT) are actually "Deleted" with a OS level delete, and the structure (same as a COPY STUR TO <DB NAME> WITH ...) creates "Clean copies" of the table. This is why it happens so fast, compared to a DELETE ALL followed by a PACK.
Now, the way the OS "Delete's" a file (so quickly) is it actually just replaces the leading character of the file name with a special character that the OS then sees and "ignores". The data is all still out there, still chained together on your HD, and is still in tact *As long as you don't write more data to the HD that takes that space*. HD's by their nature tend to write to areas that were written to least often, or where there are the biggest chains of continuous blocks to write to. If the drive is heavily fragmented, your odds go down.
In any case, if you have either A) A track/sector editor, go into the MBT, find the file name, change the leading character to some other character that does not match the new file name (so if your Table is called MyTable the deleted might be something like &yTable... you change the & (I’m using that to illustrate, I can’t replicate in this space the exact character, and I don’t remember its ASCII value off the top of my head) to anything other than an M because it will cause a conflict with an existing file in that MBT, and the OS won't allow that.). You change it to XyTable (a valid value for leading character) and you then can see that file again.
Alternatively, you can get some file recovery utilities. They scan your drive, and look for files that have been deleted, and show you what they are. Then you recover them. I can't stress enough, don't install these programs on the drive that has your data, because the more you write to that drive, the more likely you are to over-write your data, and then you are dead.
I've used some commercial programs in the past, Nucleus technology has a nice program. I think it is downloadable for about $99 which is a very small price to pay if it will get invaluable data back. There are some other free ones out there, but I've had varying success with them, but feel free to give the internet a look-see. You may just find something that works. Key here is, don't do any more work or writing to that drive if you want to maximize your ability to get the data back.
Best Regards,
Scott
"Everything should be made as simple as possible, and no simpler."![[hammer]](/data/assets/smilies/hammer.gif "[hammer] [hammer]")
There may be one small hope for you, if you have not done a lot of writing to the drive from your "zapped" file. You may be able to recover the old version of the file from your HD. What happens with a "ZAP" function is, the existing .DBF (and corresponding .CDX, .IDX. .FPT) are actually "Deleted" with a OS level delete, and the structure (same as a COPY STUR TO <DB NAME> WITH ...) creates "Clean copies" of the table. This is why it happens so fast, compared to a DELETE ALL followed by a PACK.
Now, the way the OS "Delete's" a file (so quickly) is it actually just replaces the leading character of the file name with a special character that the OS then sees and "ignores". The data is all still out there, still chained together on your HD, and is still in tact *As long as you don't write more data to the HD that takes that space*. HD's by their nature tend to write to areas that were written to least often, or where there are the biggest chains of continuous blocks to write to. If the drive is heavily fragmented, your odds go down.
In any case, if you have either A) A track/sector editor, go into the MBT, find the file name, change the leading character to some other character that does not match the new file name (so if your Table is called MyTable the deleted might be something like &yTable... you change the & (I’m using that to illustrate, I can’t replicate in this space the exact character, and I don’t remember its ASCII value off the top of my head) to anything other than an M because it will cause a conflict with an existing file in that MBT, and the OS won't allow that.). You change it to XyTable (a valid value for leading character) and you then can see that file again.
Alternatively, you can get some file recovery utilities. They scan your drive, and look for files that have been deleted, and show you what they are. Then you recover them. I can't stress enough, don't install these programs on the drive that has your data, because the more you write to that drive, the more likely you are to over-write your data, and then you are dead.
I've used some commercial programs in the past, Nucleus technology has a nice program. I think it is downloadable for about $99 which is a very small price to pay if it will get invaluable data back. There are some other free ones out there, but I've had varying success with them, but feel free to give the internet a look-see. You may just find something that works. Key here is, don't do any more work or writing to that drive if you want to maximize your ability to get the data back.
Best Regards,
Scott
"Everything should be made as simple as possible, and no simpler."
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