Back to list
Oct 15 2020

T89-2020 BIOVIA Workbook: Users may encounter Data Loss in Text Sections if Temporary Files are Automatically Deleted when Workbook is Open

BIOVIA Workbook

Program

BIOVIA Workbook

Operating System

All supported operating systems

Background

Recently, intermittent data loss issues were observed in the Text Section when opening or checking in experiments.  These issues were found to be related to a Microsoft Windows SilentCleanup Task that was deleting files from temporary folders.  This task has been found to occur more frequently in the latest versions of Windows during times when the machine is idle.  It is important to ensure that this task and any other programs that may delete temporary files are not run while Workbook is open.

Users may observe lost data when they first open an experiment or they may get an error stating a file cannot be found in a temporary folder when trying to check in the experiment.

Below is an example error message:

System.Exception: Save item failed. ---> System.Exception: Update to user repository failed. ---> System.IO.FileNotFoundException: C:\Users\hstone\AppData\Local\Temp\3877a179-b085-4e1d-b748-67148db17b3c\symyx-textdocument-images\ea14b4eb-1db3-4afb-8d47-2b87e30afd14\1a10ac86-1c96-4ebd-a9a8-c487f75e642a.emf.fordisplay.png

Workaround

If the lost data is noticed after an experiment is opened, but before the data is saved, then users can close and reopen the Workbook Client and the data should come back and be displayed correctly.  If data has already been saved, then users would need to make a copy of recently entered data, discard their checkout and reopen previously checked in experiment to get their data back and make their saved changes again.

To prevent this from happening due to the Windows SilentCleanup task, BIOVIA recommends that this task be reconfigured using the steps below as a temporary workaround until the final fix is available in a future release of Workbook:

  1. Start the Task Scheduler via Windows Start menu.
  2. Locate the “SilentCleanup” task under "Task Scheduler Library" / Microsoft / Windows / DiskCleanup.
  3. Right-click and select “Properties”
  4. In the "Conditions" tab, uncheck the box "Start the task only if the computer is idle for:" .
  5. In the "Triggers" tab, add a new trigger: Select "Begin the task: At log on" and select the radio button "Any user", click OK.

Jira Change Request: NBK-31379

How to contact BIOVIA Support

If you have any questions, please contact BIOVIA Support.