FileMaker Recovery- Step by Step Guide to Recover FileMaker Database

FileMaker is a relatively advanced and reliable Relational Database Management System (RDBMS), which makes the database management process pretty simple. This is the best and proven database management solution for small and medium businesses. However, there are some situations, where you may discover that your database is damaged and it is no longer accessible. In order to read with such cases, FileMaker offers you the FileMaker recovery solution.

FileMaker Pro comes equipped with a recovery method, which is very simple and easy. The steps of the FileMaker Pro recovery process are as given below:

1.     Open corrupted FileMaker database and create a new database to store data blocks, which will be copied from corrupted database.

2.     FileMaker resets logical EOF (End of File) in corrupted database equal to physical EOF. Then it starts copying every block of corrupted database to new database.

3.     Once the copy process completes, FileMaker checks all the data blocks for validating the internal structure.

4.     In case it finds any problem with the data block, the block is repaired.

5.     After repairing the damaged data blocks, FileMaker validates every record in new database. It checks header information of each data record.

6.     When all the fields are validated, FileMaker checks them against master list of the existing database fields. If any field is not available in the master list, it adds a key to the new list.

7.     After validating all the data records, FileMaker application validates every layout of the database. It starts with replacing the current size, styles, and fonts with defaults.

8.     Every database layout is checked for consistency. It makes sure that each layout has a valid name, size, options, and object list.

9.     When each layout is validated, then FileMaker validates all the field definition.

10. After validating the field definition, FileMaker performs validation on the scripts. It validates all the scripts in the database.

11. After checking all the database objects, the application rebuilds the index or inverted list. Then it removes the existing index and fetches all the records.

12. Finally FileMaker frees up the unused space in the file and asks you to reboot the system.

When you restart the system and then FileMaker application, it comes up with a new and corruption free database.

This solution works in most of the corruption scenarios. However, if you fail to fix the problem using this method, you need to opt for FileMaker database recovery solution. It is best possible using third-party recovery applications, which are safe and easy to use.