# Missing OP's? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [April 3, 2002, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missing-ops/101642 "2002-04-03T20:35:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Esprix](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/esprix/32/7899_2.png) [@Esprix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Esprix)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2002, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missing-ops/101642/1 "2002-04-03T20:35:45Z")
I did a quick search in ATMB but didn’t see a thread on this. I’ve noticed that some OP’s are being eaten - for example, my thread [here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=106944). What’s the dealio? Esprix ---
**Author:** ![Anubis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dfb087/32.png) [@Anubis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anubis)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2002, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missing-ops/101642/2 "2002-04-03T21:36:51Z")
I was about to ask the same thing. Other effected threads are: [Help me Out here…(a marriage rant)](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=107421) and [Small claims court…Do I have a case?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=107315) ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2002, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missing-ops/101642/3 "2002-04-03T21:40:46Z")
Please read the “technical questions” FAQ in ATMB and if you have more questions return to this thread to post them. ---
**Author:** ![zut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zut/32/2875_2.png) [@zut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zut)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2002, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missing-ops/101642/4 "2002-04-04T13:25:03Z")
Yeah, **Arnold** , question. According to the FAQ, > [@](#): > > The Chicago Reader IS department says that due to the demands placed upon the server, the full set of database updates needed to successfully complete a thread/post creation gets interrupted, and so you may end up with inconsistent data in the database. This implies to me, although I’m probably reading it wrong, that although the server gets interrupted, it’ll eventually get around to kicking the post through. However, looks like that’s not the case, at least in **Esprix’s** thread. So, can one assume that if one’s OP doesn’t show up that it really is gone forever? Or do some eventually get recovered? Suggestion: if there is a way for users to differentiate between times when their post has really, truly evaporated, and times when the server is just hiccupping (a common cause of double-posts), that disctinction should be outlined in the FAQ; at the very least that would alert new users to these quirks (I recall my third, fourth, and fifth posts here were one grand triple-post). ---
**Author:** ![Una\_Persson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/una_persson/32/346_2.png) [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2002, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missing-ops/101642/5 "2002-04-04T13:32:16Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by zut \* > **Yeah, Arnold, question. According to the FAQ,This implies to me, although I’m probably reading it wrong, that although the server gets interrupted, it’ll eventually get around to kicking the post through.** No, it will not go back and resubmit the queries that get screwed up. So as you said, “one (may) assume that if one’s OP doesn’t show up that it really is gone forever.” > [@](#): > > **Suggestion: if there is a way for users to differentiate between times when their post has really, truly evaporated, and times when the server is just hiccupping (a common cause of double-posts), that disctinction should be outlined in the FAQ** There is unfortunately no practical way to make a distinction between one condition or the other. ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2002, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missing-ops/101642/6 "2002-04-04T16:13:02Z")
Just to confirm (not that people would doubt Anthracite) - when I say the transaction gets interrupted I mean it will be stopped and will not complete. When the server times out during a submit, you can’t tell if the submission was complete or not. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2002, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/missing-ops/101642/7 "2002-04-04T21:33:11Z")
When the server times out on me, I’ve taken to hitting “preview” to see if it showed up in the thread. If it does, fine, and if not, I’ve still got my post ready to be submitted.