File saved but track waves disappeared.. how to easily retrieve from data file?

[Bess]

Ive had a go at putting the data files back into a new audacity file and piecing them together in the right order… although my mac finder doesnt display more than down to the second they were created, so theres up to a dozen to sort into the right order from each second interval, plus its a mission to work out which two files go together (was originally in stereo) is there a simpler way?
Plus, when I add a file to the end of previous one, (merge) SOMETIMES there is that click sound. Any help appreciated, thanks!

[billw58]

What version of Audacity are you using?

Usually this happens when the AUP file becomes disconnected from the corresponding _data folder.
Did you get a message about “missing block files” when you opened the project?
Did the track go blank on saving the project? If so, where did you save the project?
Did you move the AUP file to another location? If so, you might be able to get the project back by moving the AUP back to its original location.

Here’s what the top of an AUP looks like in a text editor.
Note two things

1. “projname=” – that tells the name of the _data folder linked to this AUP file
2. “simpleblockfile filename=” – those are the AU files linked to the project.

<?xml version="1.0" standalone="no" ?>
<!DOCTYPE project PUBLIC "-//audacityproject-1.3.0//DTD//EN" "http://audacity.sourceforge.net/xml/audacityproject-1.3.0.dtd" >
<project xmlns="http://audacity.sourceforge.net/xml/" projname="MyProject_data" version="1.3.0" audacityversion="1.3.10-alpha-Oct 22 2009" sel0="120.9011391800" sel1="308.9649487038" vpos="0" h="0.0000000000" zoom="2.7090451636" rate="44100">
	<tags>
		<tag name="id3v2" value="1"/>
	</tags>
	<wavetrack name="Audio Track" channel="0" linked="1" mute="0" solo="1" height="75" minimized="0" rate="44100" gain="1" pan="0">
		<waveclip offset="0.00000000">
			<sequence maxsamples="524288" sampleformat="131073" numsamples="5331740">
				<waveblock start="0">
					<simpleblockfile filename="e0000af9.au" len="374044" min="-0.837616" max="0.967224" rms="0.094886"/>
				</waveblock>

Try opening the original AUP file in TextEdit.
What is the “projname”?
Is there a list of "simpleblockfile"s?

If the list of simpleblockfiles exists, you should be able get the project back by putting the AUP in the same folder as the _data folder. Otherwise what you are doing is about all that can be done.

I will investigate, but, really, it has been years since I’ve had to deal with this.

I strongly recommend upgrading to Audacity 3.6.1. Version 3 audacity files (AUP3) do away with the _data folder and consequently the problem you are having.