Menu path
File > Recover Crash
𧞠What it does
Recovers a job that has been 'auto-saved' to a crash file. This feature allows you to restore your work to the latest auto-saved state if the system crashes, loses power, or shuts down unexpectedly, plus, automatic file backups.
đ§ How crash recovery works
The software automatically saves your work every set number of operations (default is 50). When you complete 50 drawing or editing operations, a file is saved called Crash1.CRA and alternatively Crash2.CRA (in case the first one is corrupted). This minimises the amount of work that you might lose if your system crashes or drops out for any reason.
đ How to recover from a crash
Launch AppliCad Roof Wizard
Go to File > Recover Crash
The system will present available crash files (Crash1.CRA or Crash2.CRA)
Select the most recent crash file
Review the recovered project to ensure it contains your latest work
Immediately save your work using File > Save to preserve the recovered data
đĄ What counts as an operation
Operations that trigger auto-save include:
Adding or modifying roof planes
Drawing gutters or downpipes
Placing accessories or penetrations
Moving or rotating elements
Changing material specifications
â ď¸ Important notes
Always save your work immediately after recovery using File > Save
Crash files are temporary - they may be overwritten by subsequent auto-saves
The system maintains two crash files for redundancy in case one becomes corrupted
Recovery is only possible if auto-save was enabled before the crash occurred
đ§ Auto-save settings
The auto-save frequency can be adjusted in the software settings. The default setting creates a crash file every 50 operations, but this can be modified based on your workflow preferences.
Database Backup - DBK Files
In addition to the creation of 'crash' files as described above, the software is continually writing an exact duplicate of your job file.
This is given the file extension of DBK - database back up! If your job file was called say PorterHomes.DAB, the database backup file will be PorterHomes.DBK.
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If you find that your DAB file is corrupted in any way and un-useable, rename it to something else, say Database-Broken-Today.dab, find your DBK copy of it, rename the extension to DAB and you have your file back.
Be aware that there is a small risk that you didn't get to the DBK file before the software wrote a broken datafile to the DBK file and it is broken too.