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Bento was Apple/FileMaker's consumer database product that was discontinued in 2013. Its performance has degraded with each successive release of MacOS, but my wife has continued to use it on her MacBook Pro, up through MacOS 10.9.5. Today, all of her records vanished from with the Bento interface.

In trying to find them, I researched the default location for the Bento database, and found that it is supposedly in Home>Library>Application Support>Bento>bento.bentodb. However, looking at the file in that location on her computer shows a 1mb file that was last updated in 2013. Checking Time Machine backups for several months shows the same file, same date, same size in that location. Which doesn't make any sense, as she uses the application (and thus the database) every day.

I did a standard Finder search for the filename, and found only that one instance. But logic tells me that there MUST be another database, somewhere on the disk, that is the one actually being used. But I have no idea where or how to find it. Help?!

David S. Rose
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The location is right. That's where the Bento database is by default and you don't seem to have changed it.

Have you tried importing it to FileMaker 10,11, or 12? These versions can import Bento data directly.

Alternatively, the Bento Migration Tool can convert your Bento data to FileMaker tables in the .fmp12 format, which can be opened by all versions from 12-16. More here.

AndreasT
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  • The problem is that the file in that location is showing a "last modified" date of 2013, and is only 1mb. Since the database has been used daily (up to and including today), and is much greater than 1mb, unless the computer has not been rebooted in four years (which is not the case), then there MUST be another db file somewhere. I realize how weird that sounds, but it's now beginning to feel like I'm being gaslighted and am losing my mind... – David S. Rose Sep 22 '17 at 21:51
  • I would still try to check the contents of that file by importing or converting it, I am not convinced you can read to much into the mod date and file size. Of course I don't know what the database contains, but compressed text takes little space. – AndreasT Sep 22 '17 at 21:53
  • To rule out any other file location, you should also search for invisible files and system files on the whole system, including any external and network drives. – AndreasT Sep 22 '17 at 21:59
  • Bingo! I don't know why, I don't know how...but importing it into FileMaker did the trick, and the whole thing transferred. I have now banished the ghost of Bento from our house, and lit a candle in honor of AndreasT. Thank you! – David S. Rose Sep 22 '17 at 22:10
  • Glad to hear it. Without checking, it occurs to me that the file you found probably is a bundle with several files, and that may be why you can't see any modifications or file size changes. Anyway, feel free to upvote or accept answer. – AndreasT Sep 23 '17 at 10:20