Affinity Publisher file corrupted mid-edit?

[crystalenka]

Hi!

I was editing a file created in Publisher when I tried to save it, and it told me "The file type could not be verified - the document must now be closed". And it closed it....and since then, I get the attached error whenever I try to open it.

I also downloaded the Beta version of Publisher to see if that would help, but nope - same error.

I use macOS Big Sur, if it matters.

Is there anything I can do to recover the file? This has never happened before.

Thank you!

Crystal

[Alfred]

Welcome to the Serif Affinity Forums, Crystal.

Was the file saved to a local hard drive, or was it saved to cloud storage or a network attached storage (NAS) device?

[crystalenka]

Good question! It's saved both locally and to cloud storage (pCloud). This is how I store all my work files; could this be related? It would be quite devastating if this happened to some of the other files I have saved in the cloud. 😬

[crystalenka]

Okay, the same just happened in a Designer file - saved the same way.

This has never happened and now twice today...I'm terrified to open anything else.

This is the error it gave me (I misremembered before).

[Alfred]

Serif recommends — but they obviously don’t say it loudly enough! — that you shouldn’t open files directly from cloud storage, because (for reasons of efficiency) large files are only partially written to your computer’s memory. Always work from the copy that’s stored locally, save it back to local storage when you’re finished, and only then transfer it to cloud storage.

[Guest]

1 minute ago, Alfred said:

Serif recommends — but they obviously don’t say it loudly enough! — that you shouldn’t open files directly from cloud storage, because (for reasons of efficiency) large files are only partially written to your computer’s memory. Always work from the copy that’s stored locally, save it back to local storage when you’re finished, and only then transfer it to cloud storage.

It might be an idea for Serif to pop an alert when opening (or saving and continuing to work on) files in a 'cloud' folder. Even saying something along the lines that it's not recommended to actively work on files that are saved to cloud storage locations as it could lead to data loss would go a long way to providing users with a consistent and much needed warning of the dangers of doing so with the Affinity apps.

Also, seeing as Affinity has apps available on iPad, macOS and Windows devices it's not inconceivable that many users would look to save their files to various cloud services in order to pick up and continue working across their devices. It's 2021 and working via cloud sync/storage is now a basic expectation many users have. Recommending that users NOT use it feels very, very out of touch.

[R C-R]

1 hour ago, Bryan Rieger said:

It might be an idea for Serif to pop an alert when opening (or saving and continuing to work on) files in a 'cloud' folder.

I have suggested that several times in discussions about problems with saving to/from cloud & NAS devices, but so far nothing has come of it.

[crystalenka]

14 hours ago, Bryan Rieger said:

Also, seeing as Affinity has apps available on iPad, macOS and Windows devices it's not inconceivable that many users would look to save their files to various cloud services in order to pick up and continue working across their devices. It's 2021 and working via cloud sync/storage is now a basic expectation many users have. Recommending that users NOT use it feels very, very out of touch.

This is how I feel, especially since I am using Affinity apps as Adobe replacements. Being able to store stuff in the cloud is critical for me; and it's surprising that this happens because I've been saving stuff in a connected cloud drive with Affinity for over a year, with almost daily use, and have never had a problem up until now.

[carl123]

14 hours ago, Bryan Rieger said:

It might be an idea for Serif to pop an alert when opening (or saving and continuing to work on) files in a 'cloud' folder.

That would be like buying a new car and then being told it is not advisable to use it on a motorway or it might crash. You would not sell many cars.

Cloud storage/working is here to stay, I'm sure Serif knows this and is working hard on a way to fix the problem but for now, best to avoid it unless you have very good backups and no other choice.

 

[Guest]

1 hour ago, carl123 said:

That would be like buying a new car and then being told it is not advisable to use it on a motorway or it might crash. You would not sell many cars.

While not saying anything is like knowingly selling a car that is likely to cause an accident when taken on the motorway, but choosing not to inform customers in order to avoid negatively impacting sales.

Unfortunately reliable cloud sync is now table stakes for modern software, with more and more folks expecting sharing and multi-user, real-time collaboration.

[Dan C]

Hi @crystalenka,

We’re sorry to hear that your Affinity document is no longer opening for you. Please upload the file to us using the below link and we’ll take a further look at the file to see if we can recover any of its contents. We would obviously also like some additional information to see if we can work out the cause of the problem and stop it happening in future.

https://www.dropbox.com/request/rTgIucoRcx174W9i6f8S

To assist this process, as well as uploading your file, please can you also tell us the following:

1. Which Operating System are you using?
macOS Big Sur
2. Which version of Affinity did the file last get saved in?
3. What drive type was the file last saved to (select more than one if needed)?
Local disk
USB disk/Flash disk
Google Drive folder
OneDrive folder
iCloud folder
Dropbox folder
Network location
Other (please specify)

4. Any other information you think would help us try to find the problem?

We suggest that you check to see if you have any backups of the document available in case we’re unable to recover the file. The investigation process can take some time, but we’ll be back in contact with our findings.

___________________________________________________________________________________

In regards to the feedback in this thread, I'm forwarding this to my manager/our developers for further consideration. I certainly agree that the app could offer a warning when loading/saving to a cloud location.

[Dan C]

@crystalenka I'd also like to confirm the following please:

Are you using pCloud Drive, storing the files in the cloud and working from these cloud files directly - or are you storing these files locally and using 'pCloud Drive Sync' to sync the files to your pCloud drive?

[crystalenka]

Hi everyone,

Sorry for disappearing - it's been a crazy month and I completely lost track of this.

@Dan C, can you please create the dropbox request again and I will happily send the file?

Here are the answers to your questions:

1. Which Operating System are you using?
macOS Big Sur
2. Which version of Affinity did the file last get saved in?

I wish I could tell you but it was a month ago and I am sure I have updated Affinity Publisher since then. :( Currently I'm running 1.10.1, so probably the release before that? I update pretty religiously.
3. What drive type was the file last saved to (select more than one if needed)?
Local disk

4. Any other information you think would help us try to find the problem?

I got a similar problem in Affinity Designer (see further up in the thread), so it's not product-specific.

5. Are you using pCloud Drive, storing the files in the cloud and working from these cloud files directly - or are you storing these files locally and using 'pCloud Drive Sync' to sync the files to your pCloud drive?

I'm not 100% sure. I know the files are stored locally because I can work on them even if I have no internet, but based on the interface in pCloud, I think technically I'm using pCloud Drive? The difference is a little nebulous to me, sorry.

[Dan C]

No problem at all, I certainly understand!

I have created a new file upload link below, please do let me know once you've uploaded your document here and I will be sure to log this with our developers

https://www.dropbox.com/request/DJroV3thL0n4mrelTM30

[crystalenka]

Thank you! Done.

[Dan C]

Thanks for confirming that! I have logged this file with our developers now to see if we can recover any information - I'll be sure to be back in touch with any response from the developers I'm provided