Reconnecting coded segments to their (reimported) files

[Thomas_DE]

Dear MAXQDA-Team and community,


I have the following issue, that some of you might be able to help me with. The short version is: some of my coded segments are no longer connected to their files and I’m looking for a way to reconnect them.

What it looks like: When I double-click a code in my list of codes, I get a list of coded segments. For most of my segments I can see the document group and the document name. But in my project, there are also segments for which those two columns are empty. For those segments without a filename attached to them, the “code browser” (the List of all segments coded with a particular code) still shows the text that was once coded, but I can’t open the respective file in MAXQDA. This is what happens If I try to open the file with the 2020 version (Mac or Windows). The 2022 (only tested on Windows) immediately crashes when I try to open the list of coded segments.

The files are actually gone: The project itself has several thousand files (mostly pdf, docx, jpg), less than a hundred codes and about eight thousand coded segments. The missing files to which the “orphaned” segments belong are all docx-files, about 25 of them with maybe 150 coded segments. Working with MAXQDA as a team, in the beginning of the project we had some issues with the exchange of project files between team members. Though we made sure only one person at the time was able to work on the project file, somewhere in the beginning (after a first round of coding) an error must have occurred which deleted those files from the Project file. We don’t really know when or why this happened.

My unsatisfactory repair: I can re-create the database by starting a new project and merging it with the old project file. This will remove all “orphaned” segments from the project and make the codes list usable again for MAXQDA 2022. Afterwards I could import the missing files and code them anew by hand.

The repair I’m looking for: I have the original, unchanged files in my file system outside of MAXQDA. Is there a way to reattach the existing coded segments to my files? When I just import the original files back into the project, the segments missing their files are not automatically reconnected with their files.

Is there something like the solution I’m looking for, or is doing it by hand my only option?

All the best
Thomas

Version: MAXQDA 2020
System: Mac OS X 12.x (Monterey)

[Andreas M.]

Dear Thomas,

Thank you for your question. What you describe clearly hints at a damaged project file. The documents are gone, but the segments are still there. This can for example happen when the file is opened from an external drive or synced with a cloud.

In this severe case, there is unfortunately very little you can do yourself. The only chance is that a data base expert of the support team tries to repair the file. However, this process can take longer. If you need your data urgently, you might have a look at your backup files and see if they are still fine for you. By default, you find backup files under: USER/Documents/MAXQDA/MAXQDA2022/Backup

You could also try to setup your file a new and then transfer the missing codes from one of your backups via the teamwork import/export.

For the repair process, please contact the MAXQDA Support directly: https://www.maxqda.com/function-support

Best regards on behalf of the MAXQDA support team,

Andreas

[Thomas_DE]

Dear Andreas,

thank you for your reply and the explanation of our options. We will try to reconnect everything by hand and be extra careful not to use any cloud synced folders in the future.

All the best
Thomas