CROSSPOSTED from the Data Management Questions subforum because I somehow ended up there first and didn't see this forum. Moderators, feel free to delete one of these, if needed.
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This is a bit of a Hail Mary, but:
Last week, I was working on a project in ArcGIS Pro 3.1.0 that used a File Geodatabase that was stored on a networked server (not AGOL) in my organization. Throughout the week, I periodically copied that entire FGDB to my local machine as incremental backups.
Then on Friday right at the end of the day, I was testing some Python scripts and made yet another copy of the FGDB, just in case. Sure enough, I had to roll back to the backup after the testing, so I deleted the FGDB on the server and pasted in my backup created just before the testing, then reopened ArcPro.
Suddenly, all of the work I did last week is gone. It's like that backup was from before I started the project on Monday.
I checked all of my other incremental backups, and it's the same thing.
Things I have checked:
- Versioning is not enabled on the FGDB, nor was it enabled on any of the backups or at any point in the project.
- I know for sure I saved my edits multiple times throughout the week.
- Even if I hadn't saved one or two times, I do a full restart of my computer every day, and the project opened without issue each day and all the previous day's work was always there.
Methods of copy/backup used:
(I use each of these more or less interchangeably, and feel confident there's at least one example of each among my incremental backups):
- [Catalog Pane: Project Tab]
- Ctrl+Drag the FGDB from Project\Databases to Folders\.backups\ (This was the method used for that final backup on Friday)
- [Windows Explorer]
- Copy GDB folder; paste in backup location.
- [Catalog Pane: Computer or Favorites Tabs]
- Ctrl + Drag the FGDB from the server to a local folder
- Right-click Copy, Right-click Paste from server to a local folder
I even ended up with backups in more than one location on my local drive, and all of those backups are showing the same behavior.
Main Questions
- Does anyone have any idea how the data loss could have happened?
- Does anyone have any suggestions for recovering that week of work?
- Does anyone have any suggestions for future backup methods that can be safely counted on?
