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While the server is running, you can’t make copies of the databases. The server caches a lot of data so simply copying the files will copy incomplete data.
You could shut down the server, copy the files and restart the server but this causes problems. Any users logged into the server at the time of the shutdown will get errors the next time they access the database (even if the server is restarted).
Faircom provides a facility called “Dynamic Dumping” that dumps data while the server is still running. The databases can then be restored from the dump file. Dumps are driven by dump scripts. eTakeoff provides a dump script, "DimensionDump.txt" for Dimension. The script as provided assumes you are using the default client/server folder structure:
| Server Software: | C:\Faircom\eTkoServer |
| Dimension Databases: | D:\eTakeoffDataBases\Dimension |
If you override these folders you will need to modify the backup scripts. The scripts are simple text files you can edit with Notepad or any other text editor.
Warning: These scripts simply create a copy of the databases on the same disk drive in a different folder. That has two drawbacks:
- If the disk is damaged, both the active databases and the copies will be lost. We recommend the files be moved to another drive after they are created.
- Each time the backup scripts are executed, if the previous copies are still in the same place, they will be overwritten. This means you will only have the most recent backup. If you need earlier (or later) information you will be out of luck.
You should consult with your IT staff on a complete backup procedure.
Dimension Dump Script
The script for Dimension is DimensionDump12.txt. Its contents as provided by eTakeoff are:
The specification of the Server Software folder is highlighted in yellow. If you change the server software folder, change these parts of the script.
The specification of the Dimension Database folder is highlighted in light blue. If you change the server software folder, change these parts of the script.
The time and frequency of the dump are highlighted in light green. !TIME 03:00:00 means the dump will be performed at 3:00 AM. The dump time is specified as HH:MM:SS. PM hours are 12:00:00 through 23:59:59. !FREQ 24 means the dump will be repeated every 24 hours.
The !DELETE option means that the backup files created by the previous dump will be deleted and overwritten if they still exist when the next backup is done.
