# Problem exporting and importing txa - blank procedure imported

**URL:** <https://clarionhub.com/t/problem-exporting-and-importing-txa-blank-procedure-imported/7361>\
**Category:** questions\
**Tags:** txa\
**Created:** [August 2, 2024, 1:57am UTC](https://clarionhub.com/t/problem-exporting-and-importing-txa-blank-procedure-imported/7361 "2024-08-02T01:57:32Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 7\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![greg](https://clarionhub.com/user_avatar/clarionhub.com/greg/32/2771_2.png) [@greg](https://clarionhub.com/u/greg)\
**Post date:** [August 2, 2024, 1:57am UTC](https://clarionhub.com/t/problem-exporting-and-importing-txa-blank-procedure-imported/7361/1 "2024-08-02T01:57:32Z")

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I have a form procedure in my app which compiles fine, however when I export the procedure to TXA format and import it in another app using the same dictionary I can only see blank procedure with description and category only. All embeds, extensions, file schematic definitions are gone. It does import some, but not all local data variables definitions.  
When I export the whole app and import it into a new one it stops importing procedures after this very one, leaving them as (ToDo) even though they are there in txa.  
Anyone experienced this behaviour? Other procedures and apps export and reimport just fine.

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**Author:** ![RobertoArtigas](https://clarionhub.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/r/9d8465/32.png) [@RobertoArtigas](https://clarionhub.com/u/RobertoArtigas)\
**Post date:** [August 2, 2024, 2:17am UTC](https://clarionhub.com/t/problem-exporting-and-importing-txa-blank-procedure-imported/7361/2 "2024-08-02T02:17:22Z")

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More than once. This is due to a possible corruption of an app file. It happens when a pointer to a procedure gets corrupt. There are several ways that can happen. Periodically getting out of the IDE and saving the app and doing periodic TXA of the whole application, will minimize that type of problem. If you are copying procedures from an app to another, after done, get out of the IDE and come back.

See if you can export the offending procedure into a TXA file by itself. Or see if you can export everything else into a different TXA or APP. You can also attempt to copy the offending procedure to an empty app file and then copy it back. If you get lucky, only the internal pointer to the next procedure is bad, and it is not in the middle of the app.

Worse case scenario, you will have to export everything as a single procedure and import into a new app a procedure at a time. Do not wait to fix this. It will compile, but it can cause other areas to behave badly. And it will tend to happen at the worst possible moment.

There is the other side of things. When the DCT goes bad. Regular backups, both of the DCT and APP and the text formats for those two need to be done on a regular basis.

Watch your memory usage as you use the IDE, and if the IDE starts acting funny, save everything, close the IDE and bring everything back up. I have had to reboot the computer to clear up possible IDE fragments left running on the computer.

You will need to isolate the offending procedure and figure out how to put it back.  
Sometimes your backup app is ok, sometimes not.

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**Author:** ![RobertoArtigas](https://clarionhub.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/r/9d8465/32.png) [@RobertoArtigas](https://clarionhub.com/u/RobertoArtigas)\
**Post date:** [August 2, 2024, 3:02am UTC](https://clarionhub.com/t/problem-exporting-and-importing-txa-blank-procedure-imported/7361/3 "2024-08-02T03:02:58Z")

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Make sure you save the corrupt APP. If the corrupt procedure needs to be rebuilt into a working APP that TXA’s correctly, you might need the #EMBEDs to resolve any unique logic.

I keep by-weekly directories of the complete application directory tree. And when working on an area heavily, keep backups of an app with date and time every hour or so,

If work has been lost, only a few hours has been lost.

Good luck with your recovery.

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**Author:** ![greg](https://clarionhub.com/user_avatar/clarionhub.com/greg/32/2771_2.png) [@greg](https://clarionhub.com/u/greg)\
**Post date:** [August 2, 2024, 12:50pm UTC](https://clarionhub.com/t/problem-exporting-and-importing-txa-blank-procedure-imported/7361/4 "2024-08-02T12:50:41Z")

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Thanks Roberto

Actually I identified the problem and it’s not a corrupt app, but possibly a bug in txa export. I have added a local variable to the procedure in question and a long description for it to remember what it was for. However this for some reason is adding extra Carriage Return when exporting the field, which in turn disrupts importing anything after the blank row in the txa/apv file

```
[LONGDESC]
!Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Fusce pretium 
!sapien nibh, convallis laoreet ante blandit id. 

!Pellentesque non magna vitae metus hendrerit volutpat quis in enim.
!
```

The solution is to simply remove the blank line and then the whole text imports just fine.

I edited the long description of the variable in the app removing some spaces and now my app exports without this blank line.  
So the problem was caused by a couple of spaces at the end of the paragraph in my “Comment” ( LONGDESC )

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**Author:** ![RobertoArtigas](https://clarionhub.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/r/9d8465/32.png) [@RobertoArtigas](https://clarionhub.com/u/RobertoArtigas)\
**Post date:** [August 2, 2024, 1:18pm UTC](https://clarionhub.com/t/problem-exporting-and-importing-txa-blank-procedure-imported/7361/5 "2024-08-02T13:18:32Z")

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Thank you for the information. Glad to learn something new. Will keep a mental note in this, since I tend to use the long description for additional manual documentation.

I am happy to be incorrect, since it has been always a less-than-pleasant time fixing broken applications or dictionaries.

Kudos on finding the problem. Very good hunting.

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**Author:** ![CarlBarnes](https://clarionhub.com/user_avatar/clarionhub.com/carlbarnes/32/1859_2.png) [@CarlBarnes](https://clarionhub.com/u/CarlBarnes)\
**Post date:** [August 2, 2024, 3:54pm UTC](https://clarionhub.com/t/problem-exporting-and-importing-txa-blank-procedure-imported/7361/6 "2024-08-02T15:54:21Z")

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One thing that will break a TXA is having am Open Bracket `[` in column 1 because TXA uses Brackets for sections e.g. `[LONGDESC]`

A likely way this can happen is to Copy an Embed from the Tree, that is wrapped in `[DEFINITION] [SOURCE]` … `[END]` tags.  
Then Paste it into a Source Embed and OMIT it.  
That leaves the [xx] decoration in Column 1 that will break TXA import.

```auto
    OMIT(' **END Original Code**')

[DEFINITION] <---- Breaks TXA Export / Import
[SOURCE] <---- Breaks TXA Export / Import
PROPERTY:BEGIN
PRIORITY 1300
PROPERTY:END
IF RECORDS(SELF.ListQueue) AND KEYCODE() = MouseLeft2
  !Pass dragged data
  SELF.TakeNewSelection()
  SETDROPID(Tea:Number)
  POST(EVENT:Drop,LOC:DropControl,LOC:DropThread)
END

[END] <---- Breaks TXA Export / Import

    !end of OMIT(' **END Original Code**')

```

I do this sometimes to save the original code before changing, or to have a copy of code from some other Embed in the one I’m working on.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![RobertoArtigas](https://clarionhub.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/r/9d8465/32.png) [@RobertoArtigas](https://clarionhub.com/u/RobertoArtigas)\
**Post date:** [August 2, 2024, 6:29pm UTC](https://clarionhub.com/t/problem-exporting-and-importing-txa-blank-procedure-imported/7361/7 "2024-08-02T18:29:22Z")

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Greetings -  
Thank you, Mr. Carl  
Regards,  
Roberto Artigas