I have been working in Landscape Design 20 for a couple of weeks. I have created and saved several files. As of today I can no longer open any of my saved files, either by double clicking directly in the Finder or by opening from with Landscape Design.

I am running mac OS 11.1 (Big Sur). I do not have a docking station.

I submitted to technical support as you suggested. I am dumbfounded by the response.

I sent them two files. One file was one of the seven that I have saved on my hard drive. When I try to open these files, I get a brief "opening animation" and then nothing happens. The file I sent them of this type they referred to as my "master" file.

The other file was one that when I tried to open it I got a "cannot open file alert." This particular file I had downloaded from a cloud backup service to try and recover my lost work. I was able to open it, and I started redoing some of the work I had lost. After awhile, it started acting a little flaky. For example, the text associated with a Leader I had created stopped moving with the leader endpoint when I repositioned it. I quickly saved the file for fear of again losing my work. When I closed and then tried to reopen this file, I got the "cannot open file" alert.

The response I got from Shakrukh Asghar in technical support was the following:

"Your master file is working fine on our end. Other file is crashed. Please take a look at the attached video. Thanks"

So I went to the video thinking there was going to be some instruction as to how to repair or open my file. Instead the video briefly showed my master file open, with the mouse cursor moving around, basically demonstrating proof that it was working for them.

So, in summary, as far as I can tell, the tech support response is, "yep, the one file is crashed, sorry about it." And, "We are able to open your master file just fine, not sure what your problem is." So I now know that one of my files is apparently irretrievably damaged, and the other file works somewhere, in some environment, on some computer, with some operating system.

I am a home owner, not a Landscape Designer or other professional. Nevertheless, I have dozens of hours into my drawings and I cannot open the files. Is this Punch Software's best and final effort to solve my issue? If the new V21 software is more stable and would solve my issue, I would ask that I be provided a free upgrade to that version. If that won't solve the problem, I would request that some additional effort be made to get my files working.

High Patricia -

I couldn't reply to your last post for some reason, so I started a new Subject.

Thanks for your responses, and I appreciate your volunteer status. Punch doesn't seem to make it easy to request tech support or escalate tech support issues. If you hadn't sent me that link, I would not have known how to submit a ticket (maybe I just don't know where to look). Maybe someone from Punch monitors this forum and will address my issues.

As for the "file opening animation" comment, it's not highly germane to my issue. I was just describing the computer's behavior when I tried to open the file in case it would be helpful to tech support. Everyone who uses a Mac sees a brief "opening animation" whenever they open a file from the finder (whether they have noticed it or not).

As for the "cannot open file alert," I did not use the exact wording of the alert, just provided a generic description. I have attached an image of what I saw. Again, I provided this information in the event that it was helpful to a trouble shooter.

As for the cloud situation, you have it backwards. I am working locally on my computer. The cloud only came into play because I downloaded a file from my cloud backup service. That file in fact worked briefly locally on my Mac until it became corrupted and would no longer open.

Anyway, thanks again. As you can imagine, I am extremely frustrated that I have purchased software, invested hours into using it, and am now stuck.


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