A cautionary tale

Wed, 26 Jul 2017 06:57:57 +0000

Not a question, just a warning for anyone using the "Export to csv" function of the VGPS. I used it yesterday to do some analysis of all webcams past and present (see thread on Groundspeak forum), by using map compare to produce a list of all webcam caches around the world, archived or not, and exported the list to CSV. It prompted me to open or save, and I chose open. I worked on the list for a while, then remembered I was still working on a temporary file and saved as an ordinary xls document. I finished the analysis, posted the results on the forum and saved and closed the file, feeling very smug.

Yesterday evening I went to re-open the file, and found no sign of it. Excel didn't have it in the list of recent files, and it wasn't in my documents. I suddenly realised what I had done wrong - the temporary file was in the temporary internet files folder, and Excel had saved the document in the same place. I spent some time looking through all the temporary folders I could find, and fortunately after a good half hour of searching I found it. However if the computer had cleared the temporary files in the meantime I would have lost it permanently.

So the moral of the tale is this - when exporting any form of file, always make sure you save it before you start, and know where it is!

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A cautionary tale