libreoffice-base: Firebird: Data loss, data changes not saved

[Peter Nowee <peter.nowee@gmail.com>]

Hi,

I have a Firebird-embedded Base database that I edit a few times per
week for a few years already.

On 2024-10-03, I upgraded from libreoffice 4:24.2.6-2~bpo12+1 to
4:24.8.2-1~bpo12+1. Since then, I suffered data loss twice.

On 2024-11-18 my laptop had a power loss. On 2024-11-21, I noticed that
data changes made between 2024-11-09 and 2024-11-17 were missing, even
though I had frequently saved the file during that period.

I re-entered the data and started regularly making backup copies of the
.odb file.

Today 2024-12-15, I did a regular reboot. I think I closed libreoffice
properly, saving all open files before or during closing. After reboot,
I started libreoffice again. There were no warnings, but soon I noticed
that I had lost all data changes made between 2024-12-08 and
2024-12-14.

The latest backup copy I made was of 2024-12-14, but unfortunately the
backups were also missing all changes made between 2024-12-08 and
2024-12-14.

Unzipping the backup files, I notice that `database/firebird.fbk` still
has a timestamp of 2024-12-08 and is bit-identical across backups, even
though other files inside the backup have more recent timestamps.

Perhaps related, I noticed at least since 4:24.8.2-1~bpo12+1 that data
changes no longer mark the file as "edited" anymore. That is, the
Save-button does not get the red indicator anymore. That seems to be
for both HSQLDB and Firebird Embedded databases, though.

I am running Debian bookworm 12.8. Some of the relevant packages:

    ii  libreoffice                           4:24.8.3-1~bpo12+1 amd64
       office productivity suite (metapackage)
    ii  libreoffice-base                      4:24.8.3-1~bpo12+1 amd64
       office productivity suite -- database
    ii  libreoffice-base-core                 4:24.8.3-1~bpo12+1 amd64
       office productivity suite -- shared library
    ii  libreoffice-base-drivers              4:24.8.3-1~bpo12+1 amd64
       Database connectivity drivers for LibreOffice
    ii  libreoffice-common                    4:24.8.3-1~bpo12+1 all
       office productivity suite -- arch-independent files
    ii  libreoffice-core                      4:24.8.3-1~bpo12+1 amd64
       office productivity suite -- arch-dependent files
    ii  libreoffice-sdbc-firebird             4:24.8.3-1~bpo12+1 amd64
       Firebird SDBC driver for LibreOffice

    ii  firebird3.0-common            3.0.11.33637.ds4-2    all
  common files for firebird 3.0 server, client and utilities
    ii  firebird3.0-server-core:amd64 3.0.11.33637.ds4-2+b1 amd64
  Firebird engine core
    ii  firebird3.0-utils             3.0.11.33637.ds4-2+b1 amd64
  Firebird command line utilities

Just let me know if more information is needed or I should report this
elsewhere.

Thank you, best regards,
Peter Nowee