Zugg Software :: View topic

Apprentice Joined: 09 Jun 2002 Posts: 186 Location: USA

Ok, I installed the beta version and saw it screwed up some of my scripts so I reinstalled 6.2 and it says my .mud file is now corrupted! I have over a year of scripts in there and now its corrupted!!! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! Anyway to "un" corrupt it?

GURU Joined: 28 Sep 2000 Posts: 434 Location: USA

Number 1, ALWAYS make a backup of your settings file before upgrading to even a public release version. Number 2, the general rule of thumb is that using an older version of zMUD to open a settings file that was saved with a newer version will usually result in currupted settings.

To answer your question, I am not aware of any way to "uncurrupt" your settings file, but you could try using 6.65a to open it and export everything to a text file. Although I doubt that will work.

zMUD 6.65+ has a new trigger parser. In addition it now converts every trigger pattern to its equivalent PERL regular expression internally. It is very unlikely that zMUD "screwed" up your scripts, but rather likely that a bug (which has most likely been reported in the Beta Forum) was causing your triggers to not fire at all, fire unexpectently, or cause errors.

Folks, this is what a beta is about, if you are not willing to take the associated risks, or feel uninformed, then please do not download the beta version.

GURU Joined: 28 Sep 2000 Posts: 434 Location: USA

Since you seem to be uninformed (please do not take this as a personal insult), I will inform you.

beta

/bay't*/, /be't*/ or (Commonwealth) /bee't*/ n. 1. Mostly
working, but still under test; usu. used with `in': `in beta'. In
the Real World, systems (hardware or software) software often go
through two stages of release testing: Alpha (in-house) and Beta
(out-house?). Beta releases are generally made to a group of lucky
(or unlucky) trusted customers. 2. Anything that is new and
experimental. "His girlfriend is in beta" means that he is still
testing for compatibility and reserving judgment. 3. Flaky;
dubious; suspect (since beta software is notoriously buggy).

Historical note: More formally, to beta-test is to test a
pre-release (potentially unreliable) version of a piece of software
by making it available to selected (or self-selected) customers and
users. This term derives from early 1960s terminology for product
cycle checkpoints, first used at IBM but later standard throughout
the industry. `Alpha Test' was the unit, module, or component test
phase; `Beta Test' was initial system test. These themselves came
from earlier A- and B-tests for hardware. The A-test was a
feasibility and manufacturability evaluation done before any
commitment to design and development. The B-test was a
demonstration that the engineering model functioned as specified.
The C-test (corresponding to today's beta) was the B-test performed
on early samples of the production design, and the D test was the C
test repeated after the model had been in production a while.

Apprentice Joined: 09 Jun 2002 Posts: 186 Location: USA

Yeah, I have beta tested many games and still continue to do. But I would never have thought it would wipe everything out the moment I installed it

GURU Joined: 15 Jun 2001 Posts: 654 Location: USA

Most likely the things you have done since then will have overwritten it, but there is a backup settings file. If you are saving to mudsettings.mud, it would be mudsettings_bak.mud. It's at least something you can check out (be sure to back it up first if you have any suspicion that it might be intact, of course).

MASTER Joined: 28 Nov 2000 Posts: 4817 Location: USA

Before opening your character again, check your directory for the mudname_bak.mud file (it won't actually be "mudname", it'll be the name of the primary settings file). This is the backup file which zMUD makes if you have Backup settings selected in Prefs. However, if you do have that preference selected it will make a new backup file, overwriting the existing one, whenever you make a new setting or change an existing one. If you also have Autosave on exit selected, it might also replace the backup when it does the save. So, if you have a problem which might require the backup it's important to copy the backup before making any further changes (which would overwrite the backup with the problem file).

As Carabas explained, you are well-advised to always make your own backups before making major changes to any program. Unfortunately, that doesn't help you much now but it might in the future.

Also, 2K is approximately one screen (80x25) of characters. This would be a small settings file but it certainly doesn't mean "everything" is lost. After you've copied the mudname_bak.mud file, it might be worth checking the actual setting file instead of making assumptions based on its size.

EDIT: I see Charbal already mentioned this while I was taking my time writing my reply (and fixing/eating supper, watching TV, etc).

Posted: Sat Nov 22, 2003 8:54 am

Sigh...I guess all the time I spent adding those extra web pages and screens to explain what a Beta version is was a waste of time. I guess the README.TXT file included with zMUD that is displayed when installing that reminds you to backup your files was a waste of time. I guess the bright red text on the Download page that tells you to make a backup was a waste of time.

Sorry people, but if you can't take the time to actually read what is displayed on the screen then I can't help you. It's sad that you lost your stuff. I think even the FAQ and Migration Guide tell you not to install an old version on top of a newer version. And if you panicked and ran it too many times so that the mudname_bak.MUD file is gone too, then I'm sorry again. zMUD makes backup files, and I tell you in as many places that I can possibly think of to make backups. I guess maybe next time you'll remember to do that.

ANY file on your computer that is important to you should be backed up regularly. Computers crash, hard disks fail, stuff happens. If it's important, then take the time to back it up.

Apprentice Joined: 28 Oct 2003 Posts: 164

I totally agree with you, Zugg. People really do need to take responsibility for not reading instructions. I feel for the original poster, as it does incredibly suck to lose something due to your own lack of backups (what if your HD had crashed? Isn't a year of scripts worth burning to a CD every once in a while?).

However, I have a suggestion. How about anytime you install zMUD (beta or otherwise) into a directory that already has files in it, you copy all *.mud/*.db/*.zfg/*.ini files (and any others I've left out that are applicable) into a directory like "Pre-Install Backup" or something. That would be a relatively easy thing to code (relying on my memory of writing installer scripts for Wise 10 years ago) and would help protect us from ourselves.

Mistakes do happen, and the truth is that I don't backup as often as I should. But that doesn't mean I'm going to point my finger at anyone but myself when I lose my files.

Another feature that would take more effort but which I would strongly be in favor of would be a regular backup feature. You could tell zMUD to make a backup every X period (number of days, number of months, etc.) and place them into a directory OUTSIDE of zMUD. For instance, you'd have "C:zMUD BackupsBackups 2003-11-22", "C:zMUD BackupsBackups 2003-11-29", "C:zMUD BackupsBackups 2003-12-06", etc. In fact, I like this idea so much that I think I'm going to hoke up something using Schedule Tasks. People could do this, too, but I think it would be more smoothly handled from within zMUD itself.

I actually managed to munge my 6.62 .mud file with the beta by opening it in the beta to copy/paste into 6.65a and then closing it. It apparently did a save and 6.65a later opened it later and declared it corrupt. If I had something like the automatic periodic backup already set up, it would have been nice. As it was, I tracked down an old version in the recycle bin Very Happy