Database tools question

RootsMagic
1

Please refresh my mind. When running the database tools. Is there certain order to run them? I usually start at the top and work down. Thanks!

2

Note that there are not in the same order depending which location

file menu

image
image1677Ă—265 18.9 KB

Tools menu

image
image658Ă—192 6.71 KB

1 Like
3

The Help file shows this:

screenshot-1764723986719
screenshot-17647239867191839Ă—988 236 KB

If the Test Integrity does not produce OK, taking a screenshot and saving it might be prudent, at a minimum, for later followup / help.

3 Likes
4

The order I generally follow & why …

  • Integrity check … first I make sure the existing database is generally healthy. If not, I stop and use a back-up file. (I’ve not had to do this so far.)
  • Remove phantom records … to get rid of the detritus
  • Compact database … to then shrink the resulting tidy database
  • Rebuild indexes … to dress in the tidy database with all the proper pointers for max efficiency
  • Integrity check … to do a final check to make sure everything is now ship-shape
1 Like
5

I recommend a different order.

Integrity check - after a disruption.

If it passes, do nothing unless you have a concern.

If it fails the integrity check, Rebuild Indexes may fix it. Recheck. If it still fails, Compact might fix it. Recheck. If it still fails, restore from a backup.

On their own, Rebuild Indexes and Compact are rarely needed. If year-only dates in Index, summary, etc seem off, Rebuild Indexes. If you’ve done gross deletions, mass merges and find the database performance lagging, try Compact.

2 Likes
6

Now why ya gotta go calling people in my tree “gross” ? :wink::zany_face:

Thanks for the db guru perspective Tom :blush:

1 Like