Data occasionally disappears from Text Editor Object when exiting

I have observed and now another user has reported that occasionally text disappears and is lost/not saved when exiting a text editor object in at least two shared database. (I reported this earlier on July 17 but there have been no responses to that post.) I have not been able to reproduce the steps that cause this to happen even though I have tried several times to figure it out. I have checked the .ModifyRecord procedure and the object’s procedure and do not see any problem that could cause this issue. I have tried leaving a record active (and presumably locked) until the timeout period expires (unlocking the record). I have tried clicking everything in sight, and tabbing, pressing enter, pressing return, saving. Only one thing can cause this: syncing while the field is still being edited. That I understand, but I am not syncing the database.
I have not reported this earlier because of the difficulty of reproducing it, but it definitely happens occasionally. It is potentially a very serious problem and could lead to data loss if a user does not realize the data was not saved.
My impression is that this must have something to do with the server and that the data, instead of being saved on the server, is reverting to the content before the editing started. I have only seen this with a field that was empty when the editing was initiated.

Unfortunately, there is really nowhere for me to go on a vague report like this other than keeping an eye out. Not saying you shouldn’t have reported it, just that I’m not promising to fix it or even actively investigate.

Unfortunately, your impression doesn’t fit in with my knowledge of how the code works. Text Editor objects are not even aware that there is a server. The server connection happens at a much lower level, which is used by anything that changes the data, including the data sheet, programming code, and all kinds of graphic objects (Text Editors, Data Buttons, Popup Menu, etc.)


I did just have one thought – if there was a variable with the same name as the field, that could possibly cause a symptom like this. That could be difficult to track down, especially if the variable was being created by a graphic object. However, if a variable was the problem I would expect the symptoms to persist once they started.


I hadn’t thought of the “sync while editing” problem. Minor, but shouldn’t be too hard to address.

I know. That’s why I have not said more about this; I thought others, including you, may have seen this behavior.

I would never name a variable with a field name; I always begin variable names with fg for file global, lv or local, etc. But I am going to search to see if there is such a creature. In any event, the problem may happen more than once in a row, but it does not generally persist. It goes away!

I do know that what has been typed into the Text Editor in these cases does not get saved to the server. That is failing to happen. I hope at some point to find a series of steps that will cause this behavior, but so far no luck.

Well, good luck! We’ve tracked down mysterious problems earlier this year, so hopefully this will be next.

Another user reported this problem today. Still have not figured out the sequence of events that causes it.