Failed to open catalog!

[LRAT]

Something strange happened to my catalog!

I've got a catalog named "When". In this catalog all my pictures are grouped per year.
This was working fine until this morning.
I opened PM6+ but my collection was not visible. I went to Catalog Managements and Locate Catalog. I selected the folder where the Catalog resides (Local D-Drive) and a message popped up: Unable to open catalog and with a further explanation!
(See attached screenshot).
I also noticed that 4161 pictures have now the filename with -CONFLICT-1 added to it!
I got no idea why this happened, has somebody seen this before?
If yes, what was the solution to solve the problem?

[Kirk Baker]

Something strange happened to my catalog!

I've got a catalog named "When". In this catalog all my pictures are grouped per year.
This was working fine until this morning.
I opened PM6+ but my collection was not visible. I went to Catalog Managements and Locate Catalog. I selected the folder where the Catalog resides (Local D-Drive) and a message popped up: Unable to open catalog and with a further explanation!
(See attached screenshot).
I also noticed that 4161 pictures have now the filename with -CONFLICT-1 added to it!

I checked the code of Photo Mechanic Plus.  It does not contain the word "CONFLICT" in it directly.  Sqlite3 (the database engine) does have the word "CONFLICT" in it a number of times, but it has nothing to do with filenames.

This D-Drive is your sync'd drive, right?  Is the catalog really available at that path?

I suggest forgetting the catalog, then use the Locate Existing Catalog, and then you'll likely have to do a Reintegrate operation.

I got no idea why this happened, has somebody seen this before?

I have never seen this before.

-Kirk

[Kirk Baker]

Check the files on your filesystem.  Do they have the "-CONFLICT-1" actually added to them?

-Kirk

[LRAT]

Hi Kirk,

I did the Forget command and then tried to Locate existing catalog.
The catalog is still there but I receive the same message as before: Unable to open catalog (With the same fault code as in the screenshot
Yes, my D-drive is synced but my sync-program was closed.
I only do a sync once PM6 is closed and there's no background activity.
4161 pictures are marked with -CONFLICT-1
The files seem to be exact copies of the original pictures.
Would it be safe to delete the duplicate pictures?

Also, does PM6+ has an option to compare directories and highlight the duplicates? If not what program should I use to discover the exact binary duplicates?

I just spent three days putting 34,200 pictures in my "When" collection and now it looks like I will need to do it all over again.
I hope it's not caused by a stability issue so that it won't happen again.

[LRAT]

Hi Kirk, it's actually getting worse. I left my computer as is for a a couple of hours and now when I returned I have now pictures marked with -CONFLICT-1 and then the same picture is also generated with a conflict on a conflict: _1-CONFLICT-1

Help, it seems all my pictures are now modified!

See attached screenshot

[Kirk Baker]

What programs are involved in your workflow?

-Kirk

[LRAT]

I just use PM6+. I've got Capture One as well but only use it to Quick Adjust my ingested pictures.
 I shoot in RAW, I then go through Capture One to auto adjust and generate JPG's from that.
I then use PM6+ for culling and tagging and sort them in catalogs.
I want to use the Catalog and Collection function to keep track of all my pictures.

The way I do it is as follow:

On my D-Drive I've got a folder named: 01 - Pictures extracted - JPG
This folder contains two folders:
- Pictures
- Catalogs

All my pictures are in the folder Pictures. At the moment I got about 34,000 pictures in there (All JPG). The pictures are named as follow: YYYY-MM-DD HH-MM-SS

I got three catalogs in the Catalog folder: When, Where and Why

Pictures are never moved. Once they are in the Picture folder they stay in there.

My D-drive is synced via Sync.com to the cloud but I only sync when there's no activity and PM6+ is not running.

Every month I take a manual back up on an external drive and weekly I do a backup to my NAS as well.

So, that's it. I try to keep it as simple as possible and nothing moves around. Hence why I'm puzzled that this folder has become corrupted.

[Kirk Baker]

You said earlier that you left your computer for a couple of hours and then you noticed more CONFLICT files.  What operation(s) if any did you have Photo Mechanic Plus doing during that time?

-Kirk

P.S. I don't recommend having your catalogs on the same drive as the photos.  While the feature doesn't exist currently, you would never be able to work with your database and make edits in it when that drive is not mounted (off-line editing).  If your drive (Drive-D) will always be mounted then this is not a concern.

[LRAT]

Hi Kirk,

Thanks for all your time trying to help me out.

The D-drive is a secondary drive in my PC and is always mounted.
I've got my operating system and programs on the C-drive. The rest is on the D-drive.

I have nothing running at all. However, when checking the Catalog Status tab I can see there's constant activity and I don't know what it's doing. See the screenshot.
This picture was taking this morning and starts to run with PM6+. My computer was shut down overnight.

[Kirk Baker]

I have nothing running at all. However, when checking the Catalog Status tab I can see there's constant activity and I don't know what it's doing. See the screenshot.
This picture was taking this morning and starts to run with PM6+. My computer was shut down overnight.

It looks like you created a catalog in the past ("Catalogs test" on a M: drive) that is no longer available.  Photo Mechanic Plus is trying to open that catalog.  If you deleted that catalog without doing it through Photo Mechanic Plus, then Photo Mechanic Plus will continue to try to open it where it thinks it was last located.

In the Catalog Management window, in the Local Catalogs section, look for that "Catalogs test".  If it is there, then click on the little expansion triangle next to it.  Click on the "Forget" button.  The activity should stop.

HTH,

-Kirk

[LRAT]

Thanks Kirk,

I've done exactly that and yes it has stopped.
Just after I sent that picture in my previous mail I noticed it was trying to connect to a catalog on my M-drive (Which is on my NAS). I had used this catalog for testing purposes (There were only 16 pictures in that catalog).

This has now been deleted. I was hoping this was part of the problem I experienced but as far as I know it didn't solve the initial problem.

[LRAT]

Hi Kirk,

Since you've not responded to my previous message I take it that the silence means my database is now completely corrupt and beyond repair.

So, my question now, before I start all over again, is as follow:

What is the best strategy to keep the pictures and the database connected at all times so that I will be able to see my collections on my different pc's (But not at the same time)?
I want to see green dots all the time (Not yellow).

My idea is to do the following:

Create a folder on my D-drive, named "All pictures"
In "All pictures" I will create two folders: "Pictures" and "Catalogs"

I will put all my pictures (34,000 of them) In the "Pictures" folder and put the PM6+ Catalogs in the "Catalogs" folder.
I plan to create at least 3 different catalogs in the "Catalogs" folder: When, Where, Why.

After I done all this I would then synchronize the folder "All pictures" to my NAS. This will then be synced to the D-drive of my pc at home and my laptop. So the location address would be the same on all pc's and laptop: D-Drive - All pictures

Do you think this is a good strategy? What are the possible problems with this? (And how to avoid them).

I won't be syncing over the cloud but over the LAN. Only the first pc will be used to add and modify the current "All pictures" and "Catalogs" folders.

I work as a trainer for a government department in which I train people going to work in Antarctica, During class I want to be able to show relevant pictures at the spur of the moment. That's why I do the editing on one pc and and the others are just used to show the pictures in a different location.

Will PM6+ in the future be able to work on cloud synchronization between different pc's?

Thanks for all your help.

Luke

[Kirk Baker]

Luke,

Since you've not responded to my previous message I take it that the silence means my database is now completely corrupt and beyond repair.

I didn't see anything in your previous message that needed addressing.  You followed my advice and the messages stopped.  There were no further questions in your last post.

I don't think that your catalog is necessarily damaged in any way.  I don't know why files with the name "CONFLICT" are being created.  I know that the code to Photo Mechanic Plus does not have that string of characters in it so unless that word was used in naming of a file (for instance, in the Save As or Rename dialogs), I have no idea how those files are being produced spontaneously.

What is the best strategy to keep the pictures and the database connected at all times so that I will be able to see my collections on my different pc's (But not at the same time)?

I do not suggest that you do this with one shared catalog.  You're trying to do something that we have not designed the software to easily do.

I want to see green dots all the time (Not yellow).

That is a function of the local catalog state database being up to date with the catalogs that you're working with.  Your synchronization plan won't help in this regard.  It's why I mentioned earlier that you'll have to do a "Reintegrate Forgotten Catalog" Maintenance operation when you make changes from one PC (adding, removing, moving/renaming items) and then sync to the other PCs.

My idea is to do the following:

Create a folder on my D-drive, named "All pictures"
In "All pictures" I will create two folders: "Pictures" and "Catalogs"

I will put all my pictures (34,000 of them) In the "Pictures" folder and put the PM6+ Catalogs in the "Catalogs" folder.
I plan to create at least 3 different catalogs in the "Catalogs" folder: When, Where, Why.

Why are three catalogs needed?  What is substantially different about them?  Is there something lacking in the query system or filter system that you're working around with three catalogs of the same images?

After I done all this I would then synchronize the folder "All pictures" to my NAS. This will then be synced to the D-drive of my pc at home and my laptop. So the location address would be the same on all pc's and laptop: D-Drive - All pictures

Do you think this is a good strategy? What are the possible problems with this? (And how to avoid them).

You'll have to reintegrate.  I don't think you'll like this over time.  It will get tedious.  I don't have a good solution for you given the design and the current state of the product.  You're trying to do something that it was not engineered to do.

Will PM6+ in the future be able to work on cloud synchronization between different pc's?

Not likely.  We have a different solution planned (the NAS would be a catalog server--no need for any synchronization at all), but it's unknown as to when or if we will finish that project.

-Kirk

[LRAT]

Thanks Kirk for that explanation.
Yes, it seems I will be pushing the limits of the software as you siad that the software was not designed to do so.
I'm just trying to work out a system so that I can have my pictures showing at all my computers.
I thought the Collections and Catalogs were designed to do so but it seems the software is only designed to run on one pc.
I will still be using PM6+ as I love the software but will need to look for an alternative program to be able to do what I want to achieve.
Do you have any suggestions which software would be able to do so?
Many thanks for all your help and fast response to my queries.
Have a nice day!

Luke

[Kirk Baker]

Luke,

Thanks Kirk for that explanation.
Yes, it seems I will be pushing the limits of the software as you siad that the software was not designed to do so.
I'm just trying to work out a system so that I can have my pictures showing at all my computers.
I thought the Collections and Catalogs were designed to do so but it seems the software is only designed to run on one pc.
I will still be using PM6+ as I love the software but will need to look for an alternative program to be able to do what I want to achieve.
Do you have any suggestions which software would be able to do so?

Not offhand, but I would search for something server-based so that there is only ever one database and each of your PCs would be a client of that server.

-Kirk