I need to retrieve deleted transactions from an MYOB accounting data
file.  When you setup MYOB you can nominate whether transactions
entered are "reversible" or not ie you can delete them from the
system.  What I need to know is whether the transactions are deleted
from the data file, and whether it is possible to retrieve these
transactions.  The file in question has not been compacted or
optimised using the MYOB utility.  If this is possible I am hoping
someone has written / could write a utility to view the transactions.

Dear rjmit-ga,

I mailed MYOB customer support this morning, and they responded with
this terse reply.

"
Response (MYOB US) - 05/11/2004 10:32 AM Hello,

I'm sorry, but deleted transactions are not retained anywhere in the
file. You would have to restore a backup prior to the deletions.

MYOB Online
"

So I am sorry, there is no way you can retrieve these deleted
transactions. All the reversible flag means is that you can edit and
change previous transactions, but once they are deleted, it is as if
they had never happened.

Thank you for your question,

skermit-ga

---

Clarification of Answer by skermit-ga on 11 May 2004 21:23 PDT

You said, "If this is possible I am hoping someone has written / could
write a utility to view the transactions."

Well it's NOT possible. Once deleted, the database physically removes
the transaction from the database file. So there's no data to
reconstruct, there's no data to recover, and there's no data to
restore.

Moreso, you said, "What I need to know is whether the transactions are deleted
from the data file, and whether it is possible to retrieve these
transactions."
So you didn't know for sure at the time that there was no way to
recover the data. There isn't if you've deleted the transactions
instead of marking them void, or changing the account to a dummy
account to collect "voids and deletions".

Again, I apologize the answer you received, and the correct answer
wasn't the answer you were expecting or hoping to hear.

skermit-ga

I had already spoken to MYOB and got 'fobbed off' hence my reason for
submitting the question on google.  What I really wanted to know is
the basic database format that myob uses.  At this stage I would be
very unhappy with paying $50 just for someone to ring myob

The rating you gave the researcher is quite puzzling since they
specifically answered each of your questions.

You made two statements:

?I need to retrieve deleted transactions from an MYOB accounting data
file.  When you setup MYOB you can nominate whether transactions
entered are "reversible" or not ie you can delete them from the
system.?

Then you ask two questions:

?What I need to know is whether the transactions are deleted from the
data file, and whether it is possible to retrieve these transactions.?


You made two additional statements:

?The file in question has not been compacted or optimised using the
MYOB utility.  If this is possible I am hoping someone has written /
could write a utility to view the transactions.?

While the last line of your post is most decidedly a statement of your
hopes, it would not unreasonable for a researcher to construe your
hopes into the form of a question.

The researcher advised you that they had contacted MYOB customer
support and quoted their (MYOB) response. The response stated that
deleted transactions were not retained any wherein the file.

So, the researcher answered both of your questions. You then rated the
researchers answer as low as possible and offered a commentary wherein
you said ?What I really wanted to know is the basic database format
that myob uses.? If this is what you really wanted to know, but failed
to ask, then it is very unfair of you to give the researchers answer a
low rating when the failure is on your part.

Shame on you.

My experience and observation is that all of the researchers are
willing to provide ?clarification? to their answers even when the
clarification extends beyond the original question and the original
question has been answered.

The reasons I gave the researcher the lowest possible rating was:

1. He / She simply contacted MYOB support and was given their stock
standard answer (like I was) that the data was gone, gone, gone and
there was nothing you could do to retrieve it.  To expect US$50 to
contact MYOB support is not "research" as I understand the word.

2. The researcher is wrong in fact.  The transactions are not removed
from the MYOB file when they are deleted from within the MYOB
application.  They are flagged as deleted, which is something quite
different.  The transaction information is still there to be
displayed, but not from within the MYOB application.  Hence me asking
if there was a utility that would enable me to display the transaction
data at a lower level than the MYOB application.

It would appear that the researcher who tried to answer the question
simply does not have sufficient technical knowledge with regard to the
MYOB database format / method of operation to answer my question in a
succinct and accurate manner.

Trying to berate me "..Shame on you..." does nothing to improve the
accuracy or completeness of the answers given.

I would like my request directed to another researcher who is
willing/able to answer my question, or refund the fee.