By Wally Johnson
Created on 6/20/2005

Technical Note Summary:

This document was written to explain the purpose of the Textbook Tracker archive.  It also details how to set up an effective archiving schedule, and recover from an archive, should the need arise.

What is an Archive?

For the purpose of this document, an archive is an automatic backup created by Textbook Tracker at specific times and before specific events.  The archive is not intended to be the sole backup of your Textbook Tracker data.  For information on creating a backup strategy, see the technical notes entitled “Creating a Backup of Textbook Tracker’s Data for Windows Users,” or, “Creating a Backup of Textbook Tracker’s Data for Macintosh Users.”

Textbook Tracker will automatically create an archive at scheduled times and before certain key events.  The purpose of this is to create a local backup that is easily accessible should a problem arise.  The backup is stored in the Archive folder inside the Textbook Tracker folder.  On a Windows machine, the default path for this folder is C:\Program Files\Textbook Tracker folder\Archive.  On a Macintosh, the archive folder is found inside the Textbook Tracker folder, which by default installs to the Macintosh hard drive.  The archives are exact copies of the files found in your Data folder; they are not compressed or modified in any way.

Each archive is named after the date and military time it was created in the following format:  Archive YYYYMMDD TTTT.  For example, an archive created May 4, 2005 at 2:30 PM would be named Archive 20050504 1430.

When the maximum number of archives to keep is reached, Textbook Tracker will automatically remove the oldest archive and replace it with one it has just created.  This method keeps your most current backups available while making room for them by clearing away older archives.

Archive Preferences

To set your archive preferences, go to Edit and then Preferences, then select Archive and Global from the dropdown menus (Image 1).

Image 1 – Archive Preferences

The first preference is Archive files on these days.  This preference allows you to determine what days Textbook Tracker will automatically archive on.  By default it is set to Monday through Friday, which is the setting most school libraries should use.

The next setting is At these hours, which controls which hours Textbook Tracker should archive during.  Typically there should only be one hour selected.

NOTE:  WHEN SETTING THE TIME TEXTBOOK TRACKER SHOULD ARCHIVE, PLEASE REMEMBER THAT YOUR DATA STATION MUST BE ON AND TEXTBOOK TRACKER MUST BE RUNNING.  IF YOU SHUT DOWN YOUR MACHINE AT NIGHT, YOU MAY WANT TO HAVE TEXTBOOK TRACKER ARCHIVE DURING YOUR HOURS OF OPERATION.

The next preference is At these minutes, which, along with the At these hours setting, sets the time that Textbook Tracker automatically archives.  Normally only one of these should be selected.

Current Archive Folder sets where the archives are stored.  By default this is the Archive folder found in the Textbook Tracker folder.  If you change this setting, technical support will have no idea where your archives are stored.

If you choose to archive to a network drive or mounted drive, please be aware that the drive must be available when Textbook Tracker archives.

NOTE:  IT IS HIGHLY RECOMMENDED THAT THE ARCHIVE FOLDER BE SET TO A LOCAL HARD DRIVE.  BECAUSE NETWORK DRIVES MAY BECOME UNAVAILABLE FOR A VARIETY OF REASONS, KEEPING THE ARCHIVE FOLDER ON THE LOCAL MACHINE ENSURES THE ARCHIVE WILL TAKE PLACE AND WILL BE AVAILABLE.

The number of Archives to Keep determines how many archives Textbook Tracker is to keep before removing the oldest archive and replacing it with the current one.

The Archive Now button allows the user to immediately create an archive of their current data.

Archive Scheduling

When selecting a time to archive, please remember that an archive can only be created while the Textbook Tracker program is running on the data station.  The archiving process generally takes less than a minute.  Prior to archiving, Textbook Tracker will display a message asking if it can archive now (Image 2).  Click on Proceed to start the archive.  If you are busy with circulation, you can cancel the archive by clicking on Cancel.  If you have cancelled an archive you can go to the archive preferences by going to Edit, Preferences and selecting Archive (Image 2).  From the archive preferences click on Archive Now to complete the archive.

 

Image 2 – Archive Prompt

 NOTE: IF TEXTBOOK TRACKER IS CLOSED AT THE TIME OF THE ARCHIVE, THE NEXT TIME TEXTBOOK TRACKER IS OPENED IT WILL BRING UP A PROMPT INFORMING YOU THAT AN ARCHIVE HAS BEEN MISSED AND ASKING IF THE SYSTEM SHOULD PERFORM ONE NOW (Image 3).