On Timeframe today I tried to log some time under the task called “Personal Stuff” and realized that the task is no longer in the task list. It seems that some other tasks within the “Personal” group may be missing as well, although I’m not completely sure.
My first thought was that I might have accidentally used the keyboard shortcut to archive tasks, but I checked the archived tasks and “Personal Stuff” isn’t there. It seems to have simply disappeared—or perhaps I somehow deleted it.
I then thought about restoring the most recent backup. I’ve never done this before. I located the backup folder, opened Settings/Backup, and tried to select the most recent backup file using the Select button. However, I get a message saying that the selected file is not a valid Timeframe or Timeline XML file.
Do you have any idea what might have happened to the missing tasks, and why the XML file that Timeframe created as a backup is not being recognized as a valid backup file?
Please save your automatic backup files somewhere else first because when Timelime is launched, they will start to get replaced by the new daily backup, with your possibly missing data.
In your case, instead of restoring the backup, I would import it. Importing just adds data from the file that’s not already there. You might have added some time after the last backup. Restoring deletes the existing data before “importing” the file.
I don’t know why it doesn’t accept your recent backup file. I would have to look at it. The only way I can think of that would cause this, is when you downgraded your Timeframe app, but I’m pretty sure you didn’t.
About missing tasks, did you try to search for them using the search field at the top?
Also, please make sure to relaunch Timeframe. At launch the entire database is checked for any inconsistencies.
Niko, as always, thank you for your quick answer. I asked Claude to check the XML file, which turned up a couple of invalid characters — not bad, considering about 10 years of entries. Claude gave me a corrected file, and I was able to restore the records successfully.
This morning I used the search field to look for the missing task with no luck. Why this task disappeared remains a mystery.
The exercise of recovering — and learning the difference between recover and import — was useful. Thank you, Niko.
Niko, I just noticed that my iPhone Timeframe app is still missing the “Personal Stuff” Task, even after a long sync. How can I restore it on my iPhone?
I asked Claude to check the XML file, which turned up a couple of invalid characters — not bad, considering about 10 years of entries. Claude gave me a corrected file, and I was able to restore the records successfully.
That’s a really good idea to ask an AI to check the file. I would be very interested what kind of invalid characters Claude found, so I can check the code what caused the “invalid Timeframe or Timeline XML file” message in the future. Does Claude say what it changed, or can you diff the corrected backup file with the file before correction? That’d be very helpful.
This morning I used the search field to look for the missing task with no luck. Why this task disappeared remains a mystery.
Yes, absolutely. I couldn’t say either. Timeframe shouldn’t just delete Tasks by itself. Maybe it’s connected to the invalid characters.
I’m using the same Timelime/Timeframe database for more than ten years with hundreds of tasks, and this never happened to me.
Niko, I just noticed that my iPhone Timeframe app is still missing the “Personal Stuff” Task, even after a long sync. How can I restore it on my iPhone?
If all the Timeframe Tasks and Timings that are on your iPhone are on your Mac already, you can delete Timeframe on your iPhone, download it again, and turn on the sync again to get all the data from your Mac.
The XML issue: I already found and fixed it. There were exactly 2 invalid control characters (not allowed in XML) hidden inside two time entry notes:
In one note: “Recuperar los shortcuts de FileMaker con el tip de Daniel Shanahan.” had an invisible character (0x11) stuck at the end.
In another note: the word “Baño” had an invisible character (0x0E) tucked in right before the “ñ” — probably some kind of encoding glitch when the accented character was typed.
Neither one was intentional or part of the actual text, so I simply removed them. The file now parses correctly as valid XML.
I have fixed the bug now, so the app imports XML files that contain characters that are invalid in XML. The fix will be available with the next update.