Scrambled data files

Meta · Post by **Meta** » Wed Jul 21, 2010 3:33 pm

HELP!!!! I had a glitch with another program that sucked all my data files out of the audacity data folder and scrambled them in another program.
Is there anyone that knows the pattern for the encoding/naming of data files so I can put them back together again into they're respective d00/d01/d02 subfiles? I literally have thousands of data audio files, I managed to get half the track info back but Im having problems with the order. Can anyone tell me some rules or laws/tips in terms of how to re-order them?
ie;, Im lookin' at thousands of files and subfiles like these: d01= ee001ad4, etc.

I've lost about 60 hours of hard work, if anyone could give me a lick of advice it would go a long way!!

Thanx,
Meta

Meta · Post by **Meta** » Wed Jul 21, 2010 5:28 pm

Hello, I recently had the order of my data files scrambled(for just one audacity project only). Can anyone give me advice on how to re-order them?
I've managed to get half of the project back just from messing around, but I still don't have any concrete formula for what files go into what subfolder.
I originaly thought anything starting with a ee001 would go into the d01 subfile, but I've noticed other projects do not have corresponding numbers/files. What is the pattern that Im missing here?

Please someone help!!! I have thousands of files I am trying to re-order, with countless hours of work gone!!!

Many thanks!
Meta

Post by **steve** » Wed Jul 21, 2010 5:36 pm

If all of the files came from the same project you could try the crash recovery tools: http://wiki.audacityteam.org/wiki/CrashRecovery
If they are from multiple projects, you may be able to sort out which files belong to which project by looking at the creation date/time.

One thing that you have on your side is that Audacity 1.2 numbers the .au files in series, so the lowest number is the first bit and the highest number is the last. I think the file names are hexadecimal numbers.

Post by **steve** » Wed Jul 21, 2010 5:44 pm

Please don't double post - now we don't know which version of Audacity you are using.
If you look in the Audacity Help menu > About Audacity, it will say which version you have. One of the moderators will then be able to merge this topic with the other one http://forum.audacityteam.org/viewtopic ... 971#p95971 and put them in the appropriate part of the forum.

Meta · Post by **Meta** » Wed Jul 21, 2010 5:51 pm

I have the most recent version for mac. 1.3.

Post by **steve** » Wed Jul 21, 2010 6:29 pm

Topics Merged.

stevethefiddle wrote:One thing that you have on your side is that Audacity 1.2 numbers the .au files in series, so the lowest number is the first bit and the highest number is the last.

Scratch that. In Audacity 1.3.x the .AU files are numbered randomly, so you will have to rely on the file creation time.

Meta · Post by **Meta** » Wed Jul 21, 2010 6:44 pm

Thanks, I should mention that it was limewire that took my project files, so when I was cleaning out my library I found all these codes and thought it was a glitch. I removed them from limewire into my trash bin but did not delete as I still didn't know what they were. By the time I figured it out all the data files had the same date and time. Unfortunately I can't make out any order via date created. If I use data recovery software could it re-order them for me even if there is no date/time? Or is there any pattern?

Thanks again!

Post by **steve** » Wed Jul 21, 2010 7:16 pm

In Audacity 1.3.x there is no pattern (as far as I'm aware) other than the creation time.

Meta · Post by **Meta** » Wed Jul 21, 2010 7:46 pm

Thanks, I was hoping there was some code, I had recovered half of the project based on numerics but a good amount of files were still random.

I appreciate the help and quick response, you guys are awsome.

Meta

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