Sigil Preferences / Configuration Wiped

MickiTee · 11-17-2021, 12:27 PM

I've just opened Sigil to edit the margins in a book as they are a little too small. When I did all my preferences, saved searches, plugins, saved clips, etc were missing. Sigil's GUI had reverted to its default state.

I installed V1.8.0 on 25 October 21 and I have edited books since then and there were no issues with Sigil. I'm running Windows 10 Home on a Dell Inspiron laptop.

I've attached a screen shot showing the current .INI files from my laptop on the left hand side of the image. The right hand side shows the files from a backup last week.

The only thing I've been doing that I haven't used regularly before is using Calibre's 'Send to device' option to load my library onto my new ereader.

DiapDealer · 11-17-2021, 01:01 PM

Looks to me like your entire sigil preferences directory got deleted somehow. Every single file/folder in there is brand new.

Not sure how that could happen, but I do know Sigil couldn't do it.

KevinH · 11-17-2021, 01:24 PM

No ideas either here. And as DiapDealer said there are *no* routines in Sigil to remove the entire Sigil Preferences folder. It is meant to stay as is across installations, upgrades, etc.

I would guess the culprit is some silly clean up or anti-virus program that was overzealous. Other ideas would be a network drive mounted incorrectly overtop things or you may have logged in under a different user name somehow without realizing it and are looking at two different places (same relative place but for different users).

DiapDealer · 11-17-2021, 01:32 PM

Or along the lines of logging in as a different user: perhaps you changed the location of your Sigil prefs directory by setting (or deleting) an environment variable.

MickiTee · 11-17-2021, 04:59 PM

Thanks for taking a look. Your thoughts on what could have caused this made me think that this happened by mistake. My last backup was onto a new USB drive and I did it manually. In light of your comments its possible I moved the Sigil files instead of copying them i.e. cut and paste instead of copy and paste!

I'll restore the preferences folder which should correct the problem.

This just goes to show the importance of backing up your files.

Thanks again for the help.

Binchen · 11-18-2021, 06:16 AM

Sigil might not do it. What aboput Plugins? Some of them do store their preferences as JSON files in the prefs directory. Some do read (and write ?) other stuff from the pref dir.

MickiTee: Do you remember what Plugins you used?

DiapDealer · 11-18-2021, 07:46 AM

They already explained what they think happened. There is no mystery.

Binchen · 11-18-2021, 08:15 AM

I apologize for not sending my message immediately after writing it and for not checking again if there was already a solution. I will not do it again. I mean to write something here in general.

theducks · 11-18-2021, 01:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Binchen

Sigil might not do it. What aboput Plugins? Some of them do store their preferences as JSON files in the prefs directory. Some do read (and write ?) other stuff from the pref dir.

To answer this part of your question: No single PI (or even Sigil) touches everything in the config folder (in a single Go).
As the OP pointed out: Users (or cleaners) are the only way once the files are created. Glitches might corrupt a single FILE (been there, keep spares now)

11-17-2021, 12:27 PM	#1
MickiTee Guru Posts: 859 Karma: 4097942 Join Date: Jun 2012 Location: London, UK Device: Sony PRS-505, Pocketbook TL3, TL4, TL5	Sigil Preferences / Configuration Wiped I've just opened Sigil to edit the margins in a book as they are a little too small. When I did all my preferences, saved searches, plugins, saved clips, etc were missing. Sigil's GUI had reverted to its default state. I installed V1.8.0 on 25 October 21 and I have edited books since then and there were no issues with Sigil. I'm running Windows 10 Home on a Dell Inspiron laptop. I've attached a screen shot showing the current .INI files from my laptop on the left hand side of the image. The right hand side shows the files from a backup last week. The only thing I've been doing that I haven't used regularly before is using Calibre's 'Send to device' option to load my library onto my new ereader. Attached Thumbnails

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11-17-2021, 01:01 PM	#2
DiapDealer Grand Sorcerer Posts: 28,341 Karma: 203719646 Join Date: Jan 2010 Device: Nexus 7, Kindle Fire HD	Looks to me like your entire sigil preferences directory got deleted somehow. Every single file/folder in there is brand new. Not sure how that could happen, but I do know Sigil couldn't do it.

11-17-2021, 01:24 PM	#3
KevinH Sigil Developer Posts: 8,439 Karma: 5703082 Join Date: Nov 2009 Device: many	No ideas either here. And as DiapDealer said there are no routines in Sigil to remove the entire Sigil Preferences folder. It is meant to stay as is across installations, upgrades, etc. I would guess the culprit is some silly clean up or anti-virus program that was overzealous. Other ideas would be a network drive mounted incorrectly overtop things or you may have logged in under a different user name somehow without realizing it and are looking at two different places (same relative place but for different users).

11-17-2021, 01:32 PM	#4
DiapDealer Grand Sorcerer Posts: 28,341 Karma: 203719646 Join Date: Jan 2010 Device: Nexus 7, Kindle Fire HD	Or along the lines of logging in as a different user: perhaps you changed the location of your Sigil prefs directory by setting (or deleting) an environment variable.

11-17-2021, 04:59 PM	#5
MickiTee Guru Posts: 859 Karma: 4097942 Join Date: Jun 2012 Location: London, UK Device: Sony PRS-505, Pocketbook TL3, TL4, TL5	Thanks for taking a look. Your thoughts on what could have caused this made me think that this happened by mistake. My last backup was onto a new USB drive and I did it manually. In light of your comments its possible I moved the Sigil files instead of copying them i.e. cut and paste instead of copy and paste! I'll restore the preferences folder which should correct the problem. This just goes to show the importance of backing up your files. Thanks again for the help.

11-18-2021, 06:16 AM	#6
Binchen Connoisseur Posts: 57 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jul 2021 Device: Abakus	Sigil might not do it. What aboput Plugins? Some of them do store their preferences as JSON files in the prefs directory. Some do read (and write ?) other stuff from the pref dir. MickiTee: Do you remember what Plugins you used?

11-18-2021, 07:46 AM	#7
DiapDealer Grand Sorcerer Posts: 28,341 Karma: 203719646 Join Date: Jan 2010 Device: Nexus 7, Kindle Fire HD	They already explained what they think happened. There is no mystery.

11-18-2021, 08:15 AM	#8
Binchen Connoisseur Posts: 57 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jul 2021 Device: Abakus	I apologize for not sending my message immediately after writing it and for not checking again if there was already a solution. I will not do it again. I mean to write something here in general.

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