Archiving the database is required every few months to keep the database size to a minimum, maintain database integrity (the process repairs broken links) and speeds up report generation. The data is removed from the main database and stored in compacted smaller databases. These can be restored if you ever need the data back, using the Restore facility.
Not a version 8 user?
If you are using an earlier version of PABXSoft then we recommend that you run the Latest Upgrades file for your version before archiving. We still do minor tweaks to the earlier versions and a significant enhancement was done to the Archive program.
How to Archive
Close down ALL PABXSoft programs
(Call Collector/Call Collector Windows Service, Reports, Watchdog, Scheduler)
On the computer that runs the Call Collector, and where the database will be located, open 'My Computer' and browse to C:\Program Files\PABXsoft\Call Collector and take a backup copy of the DATA folder in case something goes wrong. Then go up a level into C:\Program Files\PABXSoft\Reports and double click the file Archive.exe
The 'From' date is the earliest dated record PABXSoft can find in the database and there should be no need to change this date.
The 'To' date is the date you can archive up to, but we recommend you do no more than 6 months per archive.
If you have neglected to Archive for some time and you have years of old data then you should do several archives rather than one large one.
Next click on the 'Browse' button opposite Archive Location and select a folder (we recommend creating a new folder inside C:\Program Files\PABXSoft\Call Collector\Data called Archives...that way all you data is in the one place and can be easily backed up). Create a file name (e.g. "Jan to June 2006") and then click the Archive button.
Important !
The time it takes will depend on the size of the database and the speed of the computer, but once it starts you should not stop it as this can completely destroy the database (see note earlier about taking a back-up of your data folder before starting). It may appear to be hanging but unless you get an error message just leave it.
Allow it to take about 10 minutes per 100meg of database size. So it can take over an hour for a really large database.
Maximum database size is just a little over 1 gigabyte. If you allow the database to get to that size then it will fail and it can not be recovered. You are then forced to download a new empty database from the Downloads page of this web site and start all over from scratch.