Accidentally converted a folder to a .META file.

I'm not sure what would be the right section for this, so I'm just going to hope this is right.

Anyway, my problem is that when experimenting with something irrelevant to the subject, I somehow managed to convert my Animations folder into a useless .META file. Quitting the project without saving did nothing considering that this didn't affect the scene itself and all that, I can't restore the project to an earlier version and I never made a backup.

I suspect that this folder and all its animations is gone forever, but considering that it represents hours of work I doubt I could replicate with the accuracy I would need to make it work again, I'm still asking if anyone knows a way to fix this. If there's some hidden backup somewhere or if there's a way to convert the file back to a folder with no loss of data, etc.

 

You did not converted a folder to a .meta file (folder /=/ file).

Every files and folder have a correspond .meta file used to record connections between files or a file setting inside Unity.
So your folder seems pretty much gone yes...

I advice you to use source control, there is a lot of solution (SVN, Perforce, Git...).

Here is a Unity tutorial to use costless source control with Git: https://unity3d.com/fr/learn/tutori...creating-your-first-source-control-repository

The concept of this is to send every time you want your project onto a server that keep track of the change, this mean you can go back in time when you want to retrieve an older version of a file, even deleted files (locally or on the server).

 

I see... I guess I'll use something like that for the future then. Ugh, it still really stings to lose so much work... This might force me to discontinue the entire project.
Thanks anyway, though.

 

I understand your frustration...

I'm so used to use version control that when I'm not, I live in a constant fear of losing my work.

 

If the folder was deleted, maybe check your Recycle Bin? Assuming you're on a PC with Windows, that is.

 

Did you rename the folder to "folderName.meta"? In that case you should simply be able to remove the name extension if that's confusing Unity.

 

No, I checked my recycle bin and nothing was there. The problem is that the folder wasn't deleted, I wish it was, but instead it was converted into a useless file, thus being beyond redemption as far as I can tell.

 

There was no renaming involved. I was trying to add a file to the folder through a script, specifically an Avatar (I'm still looking for a workaround to be able to mobilize the Avatar Mask without having to rig my character in a program like Maya, and this was such an attempt), however since I didn't know what kind of file an Avatar is, I foolishly left the .(something) part blank, making the script think I wanted to create a .META file (Apparently its substitute for .(nothing)) in place of my folder, overwriting the folder. That is at least what happened as far as I can tell. This stuff it alien territory to me. Hence why I screwed up so badly.

 

A folder is not a file... you can't "overwrite a folder" neither apply an extension to it.
The concept of folders is just to sort files but when a file is written onto your HDD memory, moving a file from a folder to another will not move the file's content memory position.

Windows API consider folders and files as different kind of stuff, I really don't think naming a folder "myfolder.meta" will confuse Unity, it will juste create a "myfolder.meta.meta" file, that's all.

There is two options to me:

You somehow flag your folder to be hided by windows, that's why the .meta is still there (Unity delete automatically .meta files from inexistant files/folders). If so, go to your folders options and enable "display hidden folders & files".

Or you deleted your folder without knowing it but as I said, Unity should remove the associated .meta file automatically if the folder is not there anymore.

 

Okay, so... Turns out the folder didn't turn into a .META, it only HAS a .META. The actual file is just called... "File". Although that doesn't improve my situation from what I can see. It only makes more sense since not specifying what kind of file it is shouldn't make it a .META, but a... well, an undefined file, I'm guessing is what it is.

 

You can see there is one .meta per folder (and file).



The content of a folder meta file:

Code (CSharp):

1. fileFormatVersion: 2
2. guid: a012ab13afa6afb4ea2b0a2854db31c7
3. folderAsset: yes
4. timeCreated: 1485380109
5. DefaultImporter:
6.   userData:
7.   assetBundleName:
8.   assetBundleVariant:
9.  

The content of a texture meta file:

Code (CSharp):

1. fileFormatVersion: 2
2. guid: 6e3bf915df5d41741bda8bd0777d0003
3. timeCreated: 1486500872
4. TextureImporter:
5.   fileIDToRecycleName: {}
6.   serializedVersion: 4
7.   mipmaps:
8.     mipMapMode: 0
9.     enableMipMap: 0
10.     sRGBTexture: 1
11.     linearTexture: 0
12.     fadeOut: 0
13.     borderMipMap: 0
14.     mipMapFadeDistanceStart: 1
15.     mipMapFadeDistanceEnd: 3
16.   bumpmap:
17.     convertToNormalMap: 0
18.     externalNormalMap: 0
19.     heightScale: 0.25
20.     normalMapFilter: 0
21.   isReadable: 0
22.   grayScaleToAlpha: 0
23.   generateCubemap: 6
24.   cubemapConvolution: 0
25.   seamlessCubemap: 0
26.   textureFormat: 1
27.   maxTextureSize: 2048
28.   textureSettings:
29.     filterMode: 0
30.     aniso: -1
31.     mipBias: -1
32.     wrapMode: 1
33.   nPOTScale: 0
34.   lightmap: 0
35.   compressionQuality: 50
36.   spriteMode: 1
37.   spriteExtrude: 1
38.   spriteMeshType: 1
39.   alignment: 0
40.   spritePivot: {x: 0.5, y: 0.5}
41.   spriteBorder: {x: 0, y: 0, z: 0, w: 0}
42.   spritePixelsToUnits: 32
43.   alphaUsage: 1
44.   alphaIsTransparency: 0
45.   spriteTessellationDetail: -1
46.   textureType: 8
47.   textureShape: 1
48.   maxTextureSizeSet: 0
49.   compressionQualitySet: 0
50.   textureFormatSet: 0
51.   platformSettings:
52.   - buildTarget: DefaultTexturePlatform
53.     maxTextureSize: 2048
54.     textureFormat: -1
55.     textureCompression: 0
56.     compressionQuality: 50
57.     crunchedCompression: 0
58.     allowsAlphaSplitting: 0
59.     overridden: 0
60.   - buildTarget: Standalone
61.     maxTextureSize: 2048
62.     textureFormat: -1
63.     textureCompression: 0
64.     compressionQuality: 50
65.     crunchedCompression: 0
66.     allowsAlphaSplitting: 0
67.     overridden: 0
68.   - buildTarget: Android
69.     maxTextureSize: 2048
70.     textureFormat: -1
71.     textureCompression: 0
72.     compressionQuality: 50
73.     crunchedCompression: 0
74.     allowsAlphaSplitting: 0
75.     overridden: 0
76.   spriteSheet:
77.     serializedVersion: 2
78.     sprites: []
79.     outline: []
80.   spritePackingTag:
81.   userData:
82.   assetBundleName:
83.   assetBundleVariant:
84.