Tracing missing records in your database
In large applications that handle data across departments, vendors, staff, and many similar stakeholders, it's important to have a clear mapping of the data, its owners, and users with access to modify them. A common issue customers face is tracing data that's been lost to a particular action.
In this article we explore a few use cases that have led to data being lost or misplaced. We explain how to trace your records, assess the possible scenarios, and restore your data. All of these use cases are derived from our experience in real-world technical support.
Case 1: Data missing in some reports but present in others
In Zoho Creator, data is collected through forms, and it can be displayed in required formats as different reports.
Since we have confirmation that data is present in one of the reports, we can access the Report Settings of the associated report in which the data is not shown or found missing, and then check if there are any filter criteria.
Case 2: Data is missing in all reports and Case 1 has been ruled out
Check for recent record deletion by using the Record Audit tool. In most cases, you will either find details of the record deletion, or the deleted records won't be found.
Sometimes a record won't be found if it was deleted via a Deluge script (Delete Record task) executed in an application workflow.
If this is the case, check for deleted record scripts in workflows and disable them momentarily to avoid further record deletion. Then reach out to support for further assistance.
Suggestions to restore deleted data:
- If the number of deleted records found in the Audit Trail deletion log is less, the best way is to manually import them back to the database one by one.
- If there are too many records found in the Audit Trail deletion log, or if the data is deleted via script, it's recommended that you restore a recent backup file.
- If you wish to import only the specific form's data back into the database, you can download the backup file, search for the specific csv file, and import them back into the database.
We hope this helps you to find and restore your missing data in Zoho Creator. If you hit any road blocks, feel free to drop us an email to support[at]zohocreator[dot]com. We will be analyse and assist you further.