Workspaces DISAPPEARED during update to 9.0.11210.400.

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miracleworkertrading
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Workspaces DISAPPEARED during update to 9.0.11210.400.

Postby miracleworkertrading » 14 Jun 2015

I updated to MC 9.0.11210.400 last night and POOF, my custom workspaces have disappeared! I have to get them back. This represents HUNDREDS OF HOURS of developmental work. I'm on Windows 8. Once the updated MC could no longer find them, I ran a system restore, which undid the update. They are still vanished.

Thx, Scott

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Re: Workspaces DISAPPEARED during update to 9.0.11210.400.

Postby TJ » 14 Jun 2015

I updated to MC 9.0.11210.400 last night and POOF, my custom workspaces have disappeared! I have to get them back. This represents HUNDREDS OF HOURS of developmental work. I'm on Windows 8. Once the updated MC could no longer find them, I ran a system restore, which undid the update. They are still vanished.

Thx, Scott
You must have saved your workspaces in non-standard places.


Go open your Windows File Explorer...

do a search for "wsp".

you will be presented with all the files with the wsp extension.

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Re: Workspaces DISAPPEARED during update to 9.0.11210.400.

Postby miracleworkertrading » 14 Jun 2015

Thanks for the reply TJ.

I've already tried that. I know exactly where they were. And they are gone now. As far as a non-standard place, I sought guidance for this when I first bought by lifetime license and got what seemed a unsatisfactory answer. But I went with it, since it was from Henry. Here is the exchange:

*************************************************************
From: ScottyJ
Sent: Tuesday, January 13, 2015 5:35 AM
To: 'Henry'
Subject: RE: Username request

Hi Henry,
I have another question. Where are workspaces supposed to be stored? I am running a 64bit windows and my program files are under C:/Program Files and there are TS Support files in other places. MC is saving my .wsp files to My Pictures folder, which doesn't seem right. I searched for .wsp files and came up with a bunch of irrelevant workspaces from when I used to use MC, back in 2013 (they are in my Dropbox, which is not what I'm after). Can you direct me to where I should be saving new .wsp files during a "Save Workspace As..." so I can keep things organized? Thanks, Scott Johnson
I apologize if this isn't your field. Please forward it onto someone who can help me if so, please. Thanks!


[Henry's reply]
Hello Sir,

There is no recommended path. Workspace files can be stored in any user specified location and opened from there.
Here is how to open a workspace:
https://www.multicharts.com/trading-sof ... Workspaces
**********************************************************

So I put them into C:/users/scottyj/appdata/local/ts support/multicharts64, which is where I found the demo workspaces which MC opens automatically when you first buy it. Since the only two .wsp files that came with MC were in that folder, it seemed a good move at the time. I created a separate folder at the "Demo Workspaces" level called "My Stuff." Gone.

Then I updated and they are gone. Not in the trash, and not even backed up onto my Seagate external backup. I tried to retrieve them there only to find I screwed up when I just found out the hard way that Seagate's "back up everything" mode doesn't backup everything. It doesn't back up hidden folders, which is what the AppData folder is.

Thanks!

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Re: Workspaces DISAPPEARED during update to 9.0.11210.400.

Postby JoshM » 14 Jun 2015

So I put them into C:/users/scottyj/appdata/local/ts support/multicharts64, which is where I found the demo workspaces which MC opens automatically when you first buy it. Since the only two .wsp files that came with MC were in that folder, it seemed a good move at the time. I created a separate folder at the "Demo Workspaces" level called "My Stuff." Gone.
In my case I don't have the standard/demo workspace files in that folder. For my installation they are in 'C:\Users\admin\AppData\Roaming\TS Support\MultiCharts64\Prebuilt'. Are you perhaps looking in the wrong folder? (Let's hope so!)

If not, the workspaces might be deleted during updating because the 'C:\Users\admin\AppData\Local\TS Support\MultiCharts64' folder seems to act like a log/cache folder for MultiCharts. At least, that kind of files and folders are put in there by MultiCharts on my pc.

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Re: Workspaces DISAPPEARED during update to 9.0.11210.400.

Postby sptrader » 14 Jun 2015

Maybe unhide all of your files & folders , then do a search for .wsp files, not sure if a search can find them when hidden.

For those that don't know- to show hiden files and folders in Win7- hit "start button", type "folder options", select "View" and check "show hidden files and folders"..

This is why I always export all studies to another computer as well as my workspaces on a weekly basis...(or more often, if they change significantly)..
I did a removal(not repair) of MC yesterday and a re-install and all of my studies and workspaces appeared as normal.. workspaces created by the user shouldn't disappear even after an upgrade or complete removal and re-install of MC ..

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Re: Workspaces DISAPPEARED during update to 9.0.11210.400.

Postby miracleworkertrading » 14 Jun 2015

I appreciate your help guys.

Thanks for the tip sptrader. I checked and I am already searching hidden folders and files. I'm running win8, which is crap, so the procedure is a little different, but I got it.

I just restored back to an even earlier restore point, so that makes the most recent two points. Still missing. I have to say, I'm really, really pissed about this. I get the feeling that I am screwed. The AppData/Local.... folder they were in now has a couple of zip files with logs and that's pretty much it.

And you're right about exporting on a regular basis. I honestly thought that my Seagate was backing everything up so I wasn't as disciplined about that. And I agree that things shouldn't disappear during an update. Considering how many hours most of us put into indicator and system development, this is outrageous.

I'm especially pissed about the answer from Henry:
"There is no recommended path. Workspace files can be stored in any user specified location and opened from there."
If that's true, how about developing a recommended path? How about "Create a folder in your Documents folder and put them there."?! I'm competent enough with Windows, but I have no idea why TS Support has folders and files in at least 4 places: C:/ ProgramData, Program Files, Users/Public, Users/ [me]. And I shouldn't have to understand it. If some of those folders get cleared out during an update, how about: "BTW, don't put your own stuff in those folders. You'll lose them in an update." I imagine I'll restart everything from scratch and put them in a folder in my Documents folder. At least then I KNOW that my external backup will always have a copy.

If someone in support is able to help me get these back I apologize for the rant. But I know how to search my computer and I know what I'm looking for, and it's not here.

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Re: Workspaces DISAPPEARED during update to 9.0.11210.400.

Postby Dave Masalov » 15 Jun 2015

We are sorry for your negative experience.

There is indeed no recommended path for storing the workspace files, but personal user files should not be stored in the "system" MultiCharts folders as those may be affected during upgrades.

We will add a note now that one should not store his personal files in such locations as the files can be deleted without any notice.

Again, I apologize for the inconvenience.

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Re: Workspaces DISAPPEARED during update to 9.0.11210.400.

Postby TJ » 15 Jun 2015

I keep my workspaces in the ProgramData directory.
It is the logical place to locate the files; you can do a single back up of the whole directory and you will have all your studies and wsp together.

C:\ProgramData\TS Support\MultiCharts64\StudyServer\WSP

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Re: Workspaces DISAPPEARED during update to 9.0.11210.400.

Postby tony » 15 Jun 2015

We are sorry for your negative experience.

There is indeed no recommended path for storing the workspace files, but personal user files should not be stored in the "system" MultiCharts folders as those may be affected during upgrades.

We will add a note now that one should not store his personal files in such locations as the files can be deleted without any notice.

Again, I apologize for the inconvenience.
I wanted to clarify your response so I too don't get in a similar situation. You mention his "personal files" but he's talking about WSP files, is that what you mean? Where do you recommend PLE and WSP files be stored so they are not possibly wiped out during an upgrade. Thank You -

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Re: Workspaces DISAPPEARED during update to 9.0.11210.400.

Postby miracleworkertrading » 15 Jun 2015

Dave - Thanks for the apology. I appreciate that. A hard way to learn a lesson, but thanks. As you mentioned, a note warning against putting custom .wsp, .ple, etc files into the TS Support folders could help others from experiencing what I did. If there is no recommended path, perhaps a "many users find it useful to create a folder in the My Documents folder dedicated to saving custom workspaces" statement could be useful.

When I opened up MC the first few times, the workspace "Save As" dialogue was defaulting to My Pictures, as I mentioned before. That made no sense to me, so when I got the "no recommended path" email from Henry, I thought I was being diligent by tracking down the 2 'demo workspaces' that ship with MC and creating a folder for mine there, as well. That's what I did and that's where they disappeared from. Please warn others against that move, because, for an MC newbie, the logic is sound and others could do this as well.

Tony & TJ - I don't post much but I read a lot. TJ certainly knows what he is doing and I'm sure the path he specifies would be fine if it's working for him. I'm doing something different from now on, personally. I mentioned in another post that my backup plan failed me as well. I have a 2T Seagate external drive which continuously updates my computer. I thought that meant everything, but as I found out too late, it doesn't mean system files or hidden folders, which is what the AppData folder I was using was - hidden.

I have now created a folder "MultiCharts Custom Work" in my Users/ScottyJ/Documents folder. That is where I am defaulting my .wsp's, .ple export backups, etc. My logic is that I have never seen any program change the contents of my personal stuff in the Documents folder (pdfs, docx's, pictures, music, etc). And I know that even the most rudimentary backup: onboard, cloud or external drive - will automatically back up all the personal, custom stuff in the Documents folder. So I should be doubly good.

On a more cosmic note, I was really pissed about this last night, but I am more philosophical about it today. It was about 200 wsp files. That is how I keep track of my ideas as they evolve - saving the "works in progress" to wsp files, then revisit them and work on the system concepts in the future. Many hundreds of hours of time and much creative juice. But honestly, I'm actively working on 4-5 ideas right now and the bulk of the wsp files were just old baggage. The important stuff (the 4-5 ideas) is all in my head and I can re-create those in a short evening. Maybe this is the universe helping me to clean out my trading attic and toss out baggage I don't need. I'm a wicked packrat when it comes to saving trading stuff I'll never look at again.

Best to all.

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Re: Workspaces DISAPPEARED during update to 9.0.11210.400.

Postby tony » 15 Jun 2015

Thanks for the detailed follow up and I give you credit for being calm about this. Your post caused me to study a bit more in terms of back up. I have been backing up the critical WSP and PLE files as well as a hard printout of my PLE files in case, GOD forbid I ever had to manually re-create the systems I run live. But after more research today I realized I should also be backing up my data which I need tick data and am slowly building a nice history beyond the standard 6 months. So I thank you for sharing.

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Re: Workspaces DISAPPEARED during update to 9.0.11210.400.

Postby TJ » 15 Jun 2015

I backup my whole MultiCharts64 directory to a separate disk every Friday.
Harddisk is cheap; I do not overwrite the backups, I save my copies from every week.
The most I would lose is one week's work.

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Re: Workspaces DISAPPEARED during update to 9.0.11210.400.

Postby tony » 16 Jun 2015

I backup my whole MultiCharts64 directory to a separate disk every Friday.
Harddisk is cheap; I do not overwrite the backups, I save my copies from every week.
The most I would lose is one week's work.
TJ - by using your method described above, if for some reason you either had a problem with your current machine or switched to a new machine, would you be able to import your backed up files and have access to everything you back up including your historical data that is stored each time MC shuts down? From the little research I did, it looks like you need to export data versus saving it, but I may have misunderstood how MC explains to back up data.

Thank You -


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