Important Note: When backing up or recovering your database, please make sure SurveyTrak is not running. Additionally, it is recommended that all applications be terminated before starting these processes.
1. Backup. There are essentially two methods of backup. The first method is using the systems Data Files Export capability detailed in chapter 5. This method makes recovering the database a bit more difficult because you must recover by copying the data for each database table one at a time. We will not cover recovering the database from exported files, as this is a lengthy process. The data file export function was built into the system for the purpose of data sharing with other systems. For this reason, we highly suggest the second method of database backup by simply making a copy of the database file itself.
When the system was installed on your computer the database was installed at the same time. The database filename is SurveyTrak.db. You will find this file in the default installation directory C:\TrakSoft\SurveyTrakDesktop\DB, unless you changed this directory during installation. When initially installed, this file is about 800k in size and can easily be copied to a floppy disk drive for backup. This file will gradually grow as you enter data into the database to a point where it will not fit on a floppy. At that point you will have to back it up to some other media such as a secondary hard drive, network hard drive, data tape drive, jaz or zip drive.
We suggest that you backup your database on a regular basis. We recommend that you backup your database at least once a week. If you are a heavy user, you may want to increase the frequency of your backups.
2. Recovery. Database recovery is a simple process. To recover the database from a previous backup using the second method described above involves copying your backup copy of the database file SurveyTrak.db back to the Database Installation directory described above.
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