rename, append--please help

["Marjorie Pryse" <mpryse@nospam.nycap.rr.com>]

Notabene colleagues--
        I have messed up in a major way, I think.  After our recent discussion 
of
subsets and databases in Ibidem, I did what I thought was a simple
thing--renamed my general database.  Subsequently, I couldn't get into
either the original database or the new one.  Error Message: couldn't open
"lock file."  I tried a few things, impossible to reconstruct at this point.
One thing did work, or seemed to initially: I appended my disk copy of my
original database to the newlynamed database.  Results:  both original and
new database now open, but with (of course, should have known) about twice
as many record numbers.  Clearly, in appending the file, I simply added
duplicates to the existing database (and may have renumbered them all, as
far as I can tell).  (I have always been wary of the caution in the Ibidem
help file about "can't undo" append function, and guess I found out why.
Here's where more "text" in the help screens would be helpful.)  Of course I
don't want to remove records from this new data file arbitrarily, because my
entire book manuscript only opens for editing on original database (although
the manuscript itself, including original record numbers in codes view,
seems intact, so I have a history there if I can use it or need to in order
to reconstruct original database.  But whether those files would still open
with a reconstructed database now seems unlikely to me.).
        Here's my question: how do I start over?  My original data file is 
still on
my computer; it's just that I can't get Ibidem to access it.  For example,
when I tried moving the new appended data file to the recycle bin, keeping
only the original data file, I no longer could get access to the data base
through Ibidem.
        I would like to remove renamed database and move appropriate files to
original name database so that it could all be as it was.  (Sigh.)
        Any thoughts?  --Marjorie

Prof. Marjorie Pryse
Chair, Department of Women's Studies
Professor of English and Women's Studies
University at Albany
Albany, NY 12222
<mpryse@nospam.nycap.rr.com>