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Vixlo 0.1

Not saved, in red

While a library is open, Vixlo writes each decision to its folder the moment you make it and says so with Saved and a tick. When a write does not reach the disk, the tick gives way to Not saved in red. This page is for the red words: what they mean, what usually causes them, and what to do before you carry on culling.

Where it shows​

On the cull page the title bar carries it at the right, beside Originals read-only: a red triangle and Not saved where Saved and its tick were. Rest the pointer on it and it says A decision did not reach the disk — this library's folder may be unreachable or read-only.

The right-hand end of the cull page's title bar: Originals read-only, then a red triangle and Not saved.

The same words stand on the views line, in front of Edit takes. That copy is drawn only while the warning is true, so a library that is saving says nothing there at all, and it stays on the line however narrow the window gets.

The right-hand end of the views line with Not saved in red in front of Edit takes and the ⋯ button.

A develop adjustment that could not be stored also raises a message, That adjustment wasn't saved, with the file's name and the reason the Mac gave.

What it means​

The last thing Vixlo tried to write to the library did not go through. That covers every mark you make: a decision, a rating, the heart, a colour label, keywords, a caption, a note on a decision, and every develop adjustment. Each is recorded in the library's index, and most of them in the XMP file beside the photograph too.

Everything written before the failure is in the folder and stays there. What is at risk is the decision that raised the warning, and whatever you decide after it until a write goes through.

What makes a write fail​

The folder the library lives in has stopped being somewhere Vixlo can write. The usual reasons:

  • The drive went away. A library on an external disk or a network volume, and the cable came out, the disk was ejected or the volume dropped.
  • The disk is full. The figure at the foot of the side panel, such as 412 GB free, is the Mac's own count for the library's disk.
  • The folder became read-only. A permissions change, or a disk that is now mounted read-only.

When it is there from the start​

If the red words are up the moment a library opens, before you have decided anything, Vixlo could not open the library's index at all. It opens the window anyway rather than refusing, but it works from a temporary index held in memory. That index holds none of the library's photographs or decisions, so the library looks empty, and whatever you do in it is lost when the library closes. The warning stays for the whole sitting, even when later writes seem to go through, because they go to the temporary copy.

Close the library with File ▸ Close Library (⇧⌘W), put right whichever cause above applies, and open it again. If the drive is there, has room and can be written to, the index file itself may be damaged; Rebuilding the index makes a fresh one from the folder.

What to do​

  1. Stop deciding. A decision made now may not reach the disk, and the red words are the only sign.
  2. Find the library's folder: its name sits over its path in the middle of the title bar. If it is on an external disk or a network volume, check that the volume is still mounted. It should be in the Finder's sidebar. Reconnect it if it is not.
  3. Look at the free space at the foot of the side panel. If it is close to nothing, make room on that disk.
  4. Check the folder can be written to. In the Finder, select the library's folder and press ⌘I; under Sharing & Permissions your account should have Read & Write. A disk mounted read-only has to be remounted as writable before Vixlo can save to it.
  5. Make your next decision as you normally would. If that write reaches the disk, Saved and its tick come back.
  6. If the red words stay, close the library and open it again from the launch screen. That makes Vixlo open the index afresh.
  7. Decide again the frame that raised the warning, and any you decided after it.

How it clears​

The warning follows the most recent write, one at a time. Any write that reaches the disk puts Saved back, and nothing else does. Plugging the drive back in does not, and neither does waiting, so once you have put the cause right, make a decision or give a rating and watch the title bar.

Vixlo keeps no queue of writes to try again. A decision that failed was not stored, and the message that follows a decision, such as DSCF7601.JPG marked Take, does not wait for the disk, so it can appear all the same. Go back over the stretch you culled. The Undecided chip on the views line lists the frames still waiting for a decision, which includes any that did not take.

Not the same as read-only​

When the account is read-only, Vixlo refuses a decision before it tries to write anything. It answers with its own message and notice, and Not saved does not appear. See Read-only, and why.

In Vixlo 0.1

Two things are narrower than the words suggest.

  • On the edit page the red words never appear. The title bar's Saved tick is there while all is well and simply goes when a write fails, with nothing in its place. A failed adjustment raises That adjustment wasn't saved. The one decision the edit page offers is Reject (R), and a failed one still shows its usual message, DSCF7601.JPG moved to the bin, with nothing to say it was not stored. If the tick vanishes, press Back to cull and read the title bar there.
  • The warning follows the library's index and the adjustments you store. The XMP file for a decision, a rating, a label, keywords, a caption or a note is written a moment afterwards, in the background, and a failure writing that file alone is not reported anywhere. If a disk has been giving trouble, make the checks above even when the title bar says Saved.