Where are session stored?

R5294

I've been using SessionRestore for a couple months. Every week or two I save a session to go back to, thinking if Safari crashes it would help me recover. Well it finally crashed today. And when I went back to restore the last session, the "sessions" page with all the sessions I've stored (which previously showed 8 sessions), is blank. Where did they go? Is a backup saved to disk somewhere? Thanks.

SweetP

the data is saved in this file:
~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.Safari.Extensions.plist

Im not sure why it would be removed...
but, you could restore that file from a time machine backup if you have one

R5294

I found the .plist file and within it the entries under:
<key>ExtensionSettings-com.sweetpproductions.sessionrestore-X9X8XCXMXK</key>

They appear to be the stored sessions. I use manual backups rather than Time Machine but the last backup preceded the use of SessionRestore. Is there a way to get the information in the .plist back into SessionRestore (like an "import"so I can click on it to restore that saved session?

R5294

Russell, I've tried -

duplicating the old plist file (renaming it "com.apple.Safari.Extensions copy.plist"), saving a new session in SessionRestore window of the browser, and then quitting Safari - then swapping the old plist file (properly renamed) for the new plist file; and
just copying the relevant data from within the old plist file (from <key>ExtensionSettings-com.sweetpproductions.sessionrestore- . . . through the data I want to recover . . . to the <string>'9.0.2"</string> </dict> and pasting it into the new plist file - substituting from the same beginning to ending text points that matched inside the file.

Unfortunately, when I relaunched Safari and tried to use the SessionRestore function, neither approach re-opened the SessionRestore "sessions" page with my original sets of sessions allowing me to pick one of them to restore. Only the subsequent sessions that I saved since writing you showed up. I would be grateful for a suggestion for how to do it the right way. I have several days of work tied up in the sets of tabbed browser windows, so if you can steer me in the right direction that would be great. I'm guessing it is fairly simple if I know the secret handshake. Thanks in advance.

SweetP

ok,

heres an app you can use to create a file which you can Import into SessionRestore:
https://sweetpproductions.com/products/sessionrestore/tools/SRRecover.dmg

-run the app
-either:
1. drop your com.apple.Safari.Extensions.plist file onto the drop zone
2. use the Generate Import File button
-open the newly created file* (it will be on your Desktop)*
-copy the contents
-open SessionRestore
-goto the Sessions tab
click Import
paste into the import box

let me know how you go.

R5294

Thank you Russell. I'm running Yosemite. SRRecover requires El Capitan, but I'll give you an update after I upgrade.

SweetP

Ive uploaded a new version which should be 10.10 compatible:
https://sweetpproductions.com/products/sessionrestore/tools/SRRecover.dmg

OnMacSince92

I've used SessionRestore for quite a while now, but was shocked when it disappeared from my Safari installation following my last Mac OS update (to Safari 11.1.2 / MacOS 10.13.6). Reading elsewhere on the SweetP BB's, I found both an updated version of SessionRestore (v9.1) and a utility for recovering previously stored sessions (SRRecover v1.0). However, dropping a com.apple.Safari.Extensions.plist file on SRRecover doesn't create an import file.

Is there a High Sierra compatible version of SRRecover? I really want to restore all of my previously saved sessions! Thanks.

SweetP

The version posted is compatible with High Sierra
https://sweetpproductions.com/products/sessionrestore/tools/SRRecover.dmg

perhaps your com.apple.Safari.Extensions.plist was overwritten during the upgrade?
do you have a time machine backup?

OnMacSince92

Yes I do, and restored it to my desktop according the the procedure you prescribed above on 2-28-2017, 02:48 AM. However, only the session https://sweetpproductions.com/support/showthread.php?tid=582 is restored - namely, the page that contains this BB forum.

This is odd because in looking at my old, restored com.apple.Safari.Extensions.plist file, I see seven (7) text blocks beginning with the string data:image/png;base64. Peeking at them with a text editor, I can easily see that they contain the URLs of the sites contained in the old sessions.

Not sure what to do next.

SweetP

if there's no privacy concerns, you could send it to me and I can see what I can do
support@sweetpproductions.com