It will not start
Nothing happens when you double-click, it sticks on the splash screen, or it says it failed to start — almost always something on this machine blocking the data engine. Three causes to check, then the logs.
Give it a minute first
The first launch — and the first launch after every update — has to bring the data engine up, usually five to ten seconds. On a spinning disk, or with antivirus scanning file by file, it is noticeably longer. While the splash says Starting the data engine — the first launch can be slow…, give it a minute.
Cause one: security software (most common on Windows)
Security suites treat "a bundled Java runtime opening a local port" as suspicious and block it silently. The symptom is a splash screen that never moves, or Tabledi couldn't start properly — whose own message lists this first: Security software blocked the bundled data engine — add Tabledi to its allowlist and retry.
Fix: add Tabledi to the allowlist and open it again. The security software's own block log usually shows it, which confirms or rules this out in about ten seconds.
Cause two: a local port is blocked
The engine listens on a local port and the app picks a free one; some firewall policies forbid loopback communication anyway. The symptom is an interface that loads but never connects, or an error mentioning a port. The startup error names this too: A local port Tabledi needs is already in use.
Fix: allow the app to communicate on the local network. It is only talking to itself and never leaves your machine.
Cause three: two copies running
Two Tabledi processes fighting over one data folder wedge each other. End every Tabledi process in Activity Monitor (macOS) or Task Manager (Windows), then open one.
A trimmed-down Windows
A stripped installation may be missing runtime libraries the engine needs, which the error box says: A trimmed-down Windows install is missing required runtime libraries. Reinstall the system runtimes, or move to a standard installation.
None of those: read the log
The error dialog has an Open log folder button (the Your data is not ready yet page has one too). It opens the app's own log, main.log:
- macOS:
~/Library/Logs/tabledi-desktop/main.log - Windows:
%APPDATA%\tabledi-desktop\logs\main.log
Start there for a failed launch — it records exactly whether the engine came up and where it stopped. The engine's own log lives elsewhere, in the data folder:
- macOS:
~/Library/Application Support/tabledi-desktop/TableDI/logs/ - Windows:
%APPDATA%\tabledi-desktop\TableDI\logs\
The file starting error is the useful one; scroll to the bottom and find the first line that does not look like ordinary startup output. Neither log contains any of your table data. Send them, with your operating system and version number, to tabledi@thingworks.com.cn.
It opens, but says "Your data is not ready yet"
That is a different thing: the engine started but could not open your workspace, usually because you exported a .tdbk from the cloud and have not imported it. That page has an Import .tdbk backup button, plus Try again and Open log folder. See Backups.
Does reinstalling lose data?
No. The data is in the folder above, the installer does not touch it, and uninstalling does not delete it. Take a fresh installer from the download page and install over the top.