What is in Properties.apdb?

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Level 7

26,242 points

What is in Properties.apdb?

I think I have a drive going bad, the one with my Aperture library on it. I am trying to copy the library from the drive to another and it stops on the file Database/Properties.apdb. I have a vault and it has the same filename in it but the date&time on the file in the vault is one minute later than what my library has and it is smaller, 174MB versus 205MB. I don't think I've done anything in Aperture since I last updated the vault but I'm not 100% positive.

Anyway, before I do anything my question is: what is the properties.apdb file? What is in it?

Mac Pro 2008/Intel iMac 2009/Macbook Pro, Mac OS X (10.6.7)

Posted on Jun 17, 2011 7:43 AM

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Answer 1

Jun 17, 2011 8:31 AM in response to Badunit

Its one of many sqlite data bases that Aperture creates and uses. It contain mostly property information for the individual images.

Here are the tables in the DB:

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Answer 2

Badunit Author

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Jun 17, 2011 8:57 AM in response to Frank Caggiano

Would this stuff be regenerated if I deleted the file? I am concerned about restoring what may be a partial version of the file from the vault, restoring a larger but older version of it from a different backup, or messing with it at all for that matter but I have to do something.

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Answer 3

Jun 17, 2011 10:15 AM in response to Badunit

It should be regenerated but I of course can't guarantee that. Messing with the library can have fatal results.

If you have backups thats really the way to go, I'm not sure from what you wrote why you wouldn't just do that.

Anyway if you decide to trash that file I'd keep a copy of it somewhere just in case you need to get it back.

goof luck

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Answer 4

Badunit Author

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Jun 17, 2011 11:49 AM in response to Frank Caggiano

If you have backups thats really the way to go, I'm not sure from what you wrote why you wouldn't just do that.

I'm just trying to learn the boundaries of what I can/can't or should/should'nt do before proceeding, and what pain might be caused by my choice.

The problem with the backups is that I'm not sure that the file is okay in my most recent backups. When I try to manually copy the 205MB file, it quits at around 170MB which is about the size of the file in my recent backups.

I am considering deleting the file just to get it out of the way, to ensure it is gone before repairing/rebuilding the library so I can be sure the data in this corrupt file will not be used and Aperture won't try to read from or write to this bad file (and fail as a result).

Unfortunately I cannot keep a copy of it because it fails in the middle of the copy. I just want to be sure it is able to be regenerated and isn't the one-and-only copy of anything I've spent time adding to photos (keywords, captions, places, adjustments, etc.). If it goes bad, I'll guess I'll back up from an older library or vault then re-import recent images. I have spent all morning backing up the rest of the library.

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Answer 5

Badunit Author

Level 7

26,242 points

Jun 17, 2011 12:40 PM in response to Frank Caggiano

Thanks for the assistance.

I changed the extension to .backup to see what would happen. Aperture didn't like what I did, said there was an error, so I changed it back.

I did not make any changes to the file. I started at the beginning with repairing permissions on the library. It didn't fix anything. I tried repairing the library. It gave me the news that it could not be repaired, it had to be rebuilt. It rebuilt it and the properties file is now 178MB. Looks on the surface that everything is as it is supposed to be. Hopefully it is.

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