Frequently Asked Question

Where is Witherby Connect data stored?

Witherby Connect uses IndexedDB (a low-level browser API, Application Programming Interface, for client‑side storage) to save the eBooks owned by the user locally.

IndexedDB is a persistent type of data storage, which means that it can only be removed by user interaction.

From the browser user interface, this means that the user needs to go the Settings menu and opt to clear “Cookies and other site data” for the eBooks to be erased, any other option can be safely selected.

So the following option should NOT be selected to preserve the saved eBooks:

(Chrome)	(Edge)

                                (Firefox)

Note: when a device is running very low on storage space, there may come a point when the browser has less available space than it needs to store all of the necessary data.

Script deleting the user’s folders

If the cache clearing is automated by script, do NOT erase the following folders:

%LocalAppData%\Google\Chrome\User Data\Default\IndexedDB (Chrome)

%LocalAppData%\Microsoft\Edge\User Data\Default\IndexedDB (Microsoft Edge)

%AppData%\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\ and protect the content of *.default-release\storage\default (Firefox)

Such script-based cache clearing (of \User Data\Default\Cache and \User Data\Default\Network but not \User Data\Default\IndexedDB) will also remove the cookies while protecting the eBooks data.

Fine-tuned data management per site

Chrome allows fine-tuning the data retention per site.
See chrome://settings/content/siteData.

The default behaviour can be set, together with the exceptions. For instance, it is possible to set "Delete data sites that have been saved to your device when you close all windows" but adding [*.]witherbyconnect.com to "Allowed to save data on your device".

Using two browsers with different cache clearing policies

With the number of web apps increasing, it may be advisable to use one browser (e.g. Chrome) for general browsing and another browser (e.g. the preinstalled Microsoft Edge) to run the web apps from whitelisted URLs.

This simple configuration allows keeping the eBooks installed on MS Edge (for restricted use of a few web apps only) while aggressively clearing all data from Chrome (used for general browsing).

Export Downloads/Import from file

This function is available from the Library Download menu of Witherby Connect.

It allows exporting a file containing the saved eBooks associated with a given account.

While the function is primarily designed to import these eBooks on another computer on the same ship, it can also be used to re-import the eBooks on the same computer if they have been accidentally lost by clearing the whole cache, including the site data.

The exported file has no date validity limit, but the user should remember to generate a new file each time the primary computer receives eBook updates.