How to create and use a backup of your WeatherCat preferences file

From WeatherCat Wiki (Mahler)
Jump to: navigation, search

Contents

Why do I need a backup copy of my preferences file?

It is a good idea to create a backup copy of your main WeatherCat preferences file (weathercat.plist). This file can become corrupt and the only solution is to delete it and recreate a new one. The problem with this is that you have to re-enter all of your preferences from scratch. It is much easier to make a copy of your functioning preferences file so that if you have to create a fresh file, you can simply delete your old one and replace it with the backup copy. Please note that there are several plist files in WeatherCat. This entry only addresses the main preferences file as it is the only one to date that becomes corrupt and requires first aid.

How do I know if I need to replace my WeatherCat preferences file?

There are a few different manifestations of a corrupt preference file, including the following: If you are trying to edit your preferences and you are unable to make a change in one of the settings, your plist file has become corrupt. If you reset your console and can no longer connect to it from WeatherCat your plist file may have been corrupted. If your WC email works sometimes, but not all the time, your plist file may have been corrupted. If WC suddenly stops working, loading, or uploading properly after upgrading your version of macOS, your plist file may have become corrupted. If one of WC's processes that has worked for a long time suddenly stops working, your preferences plist file may be corrupt.

What if I do not have a clean backup copy of the file?

You can use a backup copy from TIme Machine, Carbon Copy Cloner, SuperDuper, Backblaze, or any other backup software you use, but only IF that backup copy is old enough to be clean and is not just a backup of your corrupted file. If you absolutely do not have a clean backup of the plist file, you are in for a long day. You will have to recreate your file from scratch, so create a bunch of screenshots of your current WC preferences so you can quickly got though the options after you delete the corrupted file.

Where is my WeatherCat preferences file located?

Your WeatherCat preferences file is located in your home folder:

~/Library/Preferences/com.trixology.weathercat.plist

where the ~ is a substitute for the actual name of your home folder on your Mac. Keep in mind that OS X has been hiding the Library folder by default since OS X 10.7. In recent versions of macOS use the following procedure to quickly go to your home directory:

  1. Open Finder
  2. Select the Go pulldown menu
  3. Select Home

How do I most simply create a backup of the file?

First, make sure your current plist file is clean and works properly. If WeatherCat is working, your plist file is clean. Select the com.trixology.weathercat.plist file with a single click, then right click on the file and select Duplicate. This creates a file called com.trixology.weathercat copy.plist. You may either leave this file where it is, or move it to another folder of your choice.

What if I change one of the preferences in WeatherCat?

If you change one of the preferences in WeatherCat, you need to delete your backup copy and make a new backup copy. Otherwise, your backup copy will not reflect the same settings as your current WeatherCat setup.

How do I replace my corrupted preferences file with my backup copy?

If you need to replace your old preferences file with a new one, follow this procedure EXACTLY:

  1. Quit WeatherCat
  2. Move com.trixology.weathercat.plist to the trash
  3. Empty the trash
  4. Rename com.trixology.weathercat copy.plist to com.trixology.weathercat.plist
  5. Restart your Mac
  6. Start WeatherCat

Step 4. above assumes you left your backup copy in the same directory as your original and assumes the name of your backup copy is "com.trrixology.weathercat copy.plist". If this is not the case, you have to move your backup copy from wherever you keep it to the ~/Library/Preferences/ folder and make sure the backup copy is now named "com.trixology.weathercat.plist".

Why do I have to empty the trash and restart my Mac? Why can't I just replace the plist file and restart WeatherCat?

Dream on. Just because this used to work, does not mean you can get away with it now. Due to the automatic caching feature in recent versions of macOS, you have to restart your Mac in order to flush the old plist file from the cache. If you do not restart the Mac, your old plist file will be moved into place from the cache and you will still be using the old plist file even though you replaced it with a new one. Restarting your Mac permanently eliminates the old plist file from your cache.

The last step

After confirming your newly replaced pfile solved your issue, DO NOT FORGET to make a new copy of your plist file to use as your backup file for next time. Even if it didn't fix your particular problem, you still need to make a backup copy of your plist file because you just used your backup file to create your new plist and no longer have a backup.

Personal tools
Namespaces

Variants
Actions
Navigation
Tools