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A Quantum Leap in V8 File Corruption Repair
New FileFixer release fixes
the most destructive form of V8 design file corruption ever
reported.
CLEARWATER, FLORIDA, USA —
The newest version of FileFixer for V8 now offers Search
and Repair capabilities that handle the most frequently occurring
new forms of file corruption, unique to V8. What are these
new forms of file corruption? In order to fully understand
these new forms of corruption, a little background information
about the new V8 design file format is necessary.
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| Your V8 files contain
many more subfiles and subfolders than those shown in
this simplified illustration. |
V8 Design File Structure
Each MicroStation V8 file contains multiple subfiles and subfolders.
The "Models" subfolder
contains the visible geometry (graphical elements). Non-graphical,
model-specific elements, such as reference file attachments,
are also stored here. There are additional subfolders and
subfiles nested in this folder — more about that in a
minute.
The "Non-model" subfolder contains shared information,
such as level definitions, shared cell definitions and fonts.
One or more models in each V8 design file use this information.
The "File Properties" subfile contains Windows file
properties, such as the document's author, subject, comments,
keywords — the familiar file properties viewable using
Windows Explorer or by selecting File | Properties from MicroStation
V8's main menu.
Microsoft Word and Excel files are also organized this way.
This internal file organization is called structured storage.
The above illustration is a simplified representation of the
internal organization of V8 design files. Brace yourself —
here come the gory details. The following illustrates the
additional detail actually found in each healthy V8 design
file:
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| Your V8 files contain
many more subfiles and subfolders than those shown in
this simplified illustration. |
V8 design file's internal structure
Any one of these subfolders and subfiles can be damaged and
inaccessible — and inspection of customer V8 files reveals
these subfolders and subfiles do become corrupted. This is
the most common new form of V8 file corruption: structured
storage corruption.
How do I know I have structured-storage
corruption?
The most alarming symptom of structured-storage corruption
is the following cryptic dialog box:
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| Translation: "Help
me, FileFixer. You're my only hope." |
This message displays when the internal
structured storage framework of a V8 file is pulverized —
no known application besides FileFixer can open or
repair a V8 file in this condition.
The good news is that the lines and circles and cells nested
within the wreckage are often intact, but damage to the subfolder
and subfile structure of the file prevents their access —
until now.
File Recovery Techniques
Completely new file recovery techniques had to be developed
to salvage elements from such damaged files. The new approach
is analogous to the famous Norton Undelete, which salvages
"deleted" files from a hard drive. When FileFixer
detects severely damaged internal file structure, it reads
through the entire file looking for healthy pieces of the
original file. The healthy pieces are recombined into a healthy
V8 design file.
Disappearing Elements
But you won't always encounter the cryptic dialog message
illustrated above. Structured storage damage can destroy chunks
of a V8 design file without warning — and no error dialog
is displayed. One damaged subfile or subfolder can prevent
access to the remainder of your model. The symptom of such
file damage is elements that disappear from view.
In the following illustration, subfile 5 is damaged and elements
stored in the remaining subfiles 6-20 (containing more than
75% of the drawing's geometry) are not displayed:
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| A damaged subfile prevents
access to remaining subfiles. |
And, even more insidious, a missing subfile
can also prevent remaining geometry from displaying. In the
following illustration, subfile 5 is missing. Elements in
the remaining subfiles 6-20 will not display:
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| A missing subfile prevents
access to remaining subfiles. |
But you can relax — Axiom has handled
the tough part. The new release of FileFixer for V8
detects and handles structured storage corruption. All you
have to do is click <Start>.
Call now!
For more information on FileFixer
contact an Axiom MicroStation Consultant today! Call 727-442-7774
extension 9537 or e-mail 9537@AxiomInt.com.
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