Moving databases with images

[WetMike]

Hi.

I have been using Memento for years and have numerous databases with images.  Historically I stored the images on my device and linked to them in the database.  All was fine.

If I wanted to move a database to another device I copied the image folder over, exported the template and CSV of the database.  If the folder stucture on the new device was the same.... no problem.  If the location of the image folder was slightly different I just did a simple search and replace on the CSV before importing it.

However with the image link structure, which I think relates to Android 11 this no longer seems to work.  Which means that for me with over 1000 images the system is well and truly broken as I can't see myself going back through and manually linking to every one of those images.

I have seen what looks like a similar question posted previously, but no response in over 6 months. 😢

Has anyone got a simple solution please?

Thanks for your time. 

WetMike

[Er Mo]

Hallo

Man müsste den Ordner kennen in den die Bilder sein Sollten . Die Bilder da hin Kopieren und den Verlinkungstext anpassen . Dabei darf sich der Name von Bild nicht Ändern . Das ist rein Teoretisch

Hi
You would have to know the folder in which the pictures should be. Copy the images there and adjust the link text. The name of the image must not change. This is purely theoretical

Ernst

[WetMike]

Danke Ernst.

Thanks for your response.

As this problem seems to be a key issue with the mobility of Memento databases, or at least all those containing images, I would have expected a clear and helpful response from Memento staff to this question. Are they not normally active on this forum?

I have now done some experimentation and got some puzzling results that I will try to explain below.  

The CSV file I exported from the original device points to an image folder I cannot see and in fact a file stucture that does not seem to entirely match what I can see on my Samsung phone. However I decided to try and create a similar folder on the new device and move the photos there. That did not work. Then I exported a CSV file for a database with images from the new device and noticed that whereas the original CSV had pointed to a file with an 8 digit numer for its name, the CSV from the new device used a different number. So I created a folder with that number and copied all the images there, also amending the CSV file to point to that new (numeric) folder. This time the database picked up most of my images, but oddly none that I had added to the database in the last year. The CSV file seems to handle the old and new images in exactly the same way and all the images are in the same folder but the databse only shows the older ones. For the new images it gives "IO-ERROR {file string} :open failed: ENOENT (No such file or directory)".  

So why should this work for old images and fail for new ones?

WetMike

[Er Mo]

Hallo

Das Memento Team besteht , so viel ich weiß ; nur aus Vasily selbst . Zu den Jahresfehnommehn . Es hat mehrer Änderrungen gegeben und da kann ich mir vorstellen das die Speicherung ab einen Zeitpungt geäntert wurde . So das es jetzt 2 oder mehrere Speicherorte gibt

Hi
The Memento team exists as far as I know; only from Vasily himself. To the annual calls. There have been several changes and I can imagine that the storage was changed at a certain point in time. So that there are now 2 or more locations.

Ernst

[Bill Crews]

While Vasiliy contracts with people to do work for him when he needs something done, he does, as you say, provide the Memento software, its support, and generally acts as a sole proprietor. I know of no annual calls. He may be using two or any number of storage locations, but I'm sure that, in that case, he would ensure that all of it would remain consistent & behave as if there were only one storage location.

_________

Während Vasiliy Verträge mit Leuten abschließt, die für ihn arbeiten, wenn etwas erledigt werden muss, stellt er, wie Sie sagen, die Memento-Software und deren Support bereit und handelt im Allgemeinen als Einzelunternehmer.  Ich kenne keine jährlichen Anrufe.  Er verwendet möglicherweise zwei oder eine beliebige Anzahl von Speicherorten, aber ich bin sicher, dass er in diesem Fall sicherstellen würde, dass alles konsistent bleibt und sich so verhält, als ob es nur einen Speicherort gäbe.

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[WetMike]

My thanks to Ernst and Bill for their comments.

I have been mulling this over but remain puzzled as to why the Memento database created on the new device seems to accept and display older images but not recognise newer images even though on the old device they were in the same folder, the CSV file shows them as being in the same folder, and all being in the same folder on the new device.  😞

I recognise that, because of Android changes, Vasily may have needed to process images in different ways depending on when they were added to the database, but I do not understand why there is apparently no simple and consistent way to move them to, and display them, on a new device.

If no one here is able to offer any simple instructions as to how to solve this issue, which seems important to me, then I see no option other than sending a message to the contact address on the Mementodatabase.com website.  If I do that I will aim to update this thread with the results.

WetMike

[WetMike]

Hi everyone.

An update.  For me, thanks to Vasily, the problem is solved.  😀

Should anyone else be having problems migrating a Memento database with images (or any attached files) to a different Android device I list below the steps I took to successfully move my databases to a new device. Simple when you know.....

The first thing I should state is that you have to move all the Memento databases you have on the old device to the new one, you cannot just pick one or two from those on the original device.

The second point to note is that the process will overwrite any earlier copies of those databases that may be on the new device, even if they have been independently modified since creation.

And the third is that the resulting file that needs to be moved to the new device, can be large.  Mine was 2 GB!

And so, to the process...
On the original device open Memento.  Not just one of your databases but the "My Libraries" screen showing them all.  Tap the 3 parallel bars at the top left, then choose the "Settings" cogwheel.  Scroll down to the "Backup" section and select the cogwheel on the right of the "Backup" line.  Ensure that the checkbox on the next screen is ticked and then select "OK".  Now tap the "Backup" to the left of the cogwheel (not the "Backup" heading at the start of the section).  You will then be asked where you want to save the resulting zip file.  When happy with the location hit "Save".

Your next task is to move that zip file to the new device.  Once you have done that open Memento on the new device, again at the "My Libraries" screen.  As before tap the 3 parallel bars at the top left and then choose the "Settings" cogwheel. Again scroll down to the "Backup" section but this time select "Restore".  You then need to choose "Select a backup file".  From the next screen you need to select (See note below) the Memento zip file you just loaded onto the new device.  Once you have selected the file you should get a screen warning you about any earlier libraries being overwritten.  If you are happy to proceed select "YES" and wait for the process to finish.  Then just enjoy your databases on the new device!

Note/warning:  I had a problem at the point where I needed to select the zip file for restoring.  The initial screen that was displayed did not seem to show the file so I chose my default file manager (Solid Explorer File Manager by NeatBytes) to find and select the file.  The result was a screen that told me that the selected file was not a database.  Very disappointing and annoying.  However I have since discovered that had I been able to directly pick the zip file from the initial screen or use one of several other file managers, it works fine.  So if you get a notification that the file you selected is not a database.... try a different file manager.

I hope that helps.  If anyone has any questions on the above, please feel free to ask.

Hopefully you can all now freely move your databases as you wish.....

And once again, my thanks to Vasily for his help, and a really useful database.

WetMike

[Bill Crews]

In my opinion, this is an unusually good & usefully post. Maybe the text of your last message can be copied more or less intact to some examples page in the wiki. Of course, it will need to be edited to become an article rather than a post, but the result should sustain the workable result.

Thank you very much for this! I nevertheless still feel the product (especially its help file) should be updated with this information (not overly transformed) and that the wiki can also be updated, as well. I'm sure the WikiTeam can help with any text translation for the help file update. If not, I would, if asked.

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