See also:
Introduction
Troubleshooting flow chart + worksheet
How to troubleshoot damaged data
Database myths
Causes of data damage
How to repair
How to export/import
Troubleshooting FAQs
Tips for preventing damaged data
Inside the database
Database size
Windows tips
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The Clients & Profits Database Guide is a complete do-it-yourself guide to maintaining, checking, and managing your C&P database.
This guide takes a straightforward approach to managing your Clients &
Profits Pro 10.1.x, Clients & Profits Classic 10.1.x, or Job Tracker 10.1.x
database. You?ll find easy-to-understand explanations of how the database
acts, how it can be damaged, and your options for fixing it here. The
guide also offers tips that can help prevent data problems.
Damaged data, bad data - important differences
It's important to first understand the differences between damaged data
and bad data. It's not uncommon for Clients & Profits users to see bad
data in their database accounts balances that aren't correct, reports that
don't print correctly, one-sided journal entries, billing amounts that
don't add up, etc., and assume that their database is damaged.
But bad data isn't the same thing as damaged data. Bad data happens
because of posting problems and user mistakes as well as system errors. It
may look bad, but it doesn't mean the structure of the database is
corrupted. When a database is damaged, it means the structure that holds
the shop's clients, jobs, costs, etc. is actually broken in some way.
The database structure holds your actual data (i.e., clients, jobs, costs,
G/L entries, and everything else) in place, invisibly to the users. Users
see only a single file, the C&P database, on the server. Inside this
document, however, are dozens of data files and thousands of records. As
you add data, it grows in size behind the scenes. If the structure of any
part of this file becomes damaged, the data that's stored in the database
may be lost, misplaced, or made unreadable.
Bad data can certainly be caused by a damaged database, but not always.
But it's far more likely that the bad data was caused by ordinary
data-entry errors (like when someone guesses wrong about an adjusting
entry, making the account balance even worse) or operator errors (like
someone turning off their computer after seeing a padlock cursor). Seeing
bad data doesn't always mean the database needs repairing. It just needs
troubleshooting.
Why is this important? The procedures you'll use to fix bad data and
damaged data are different. So you'll always need to know exactly what the
problem is before you jump in to fix it. Otherwise, you may not fix the
real cause of the problem, and therefore the problem won't go away.
Tough, but not bulletproof
The internal structure of the Clients & Profits database is very
resilient. It's takes a lot of abuse over a long period of time to damage
it beyond repair. But it all depends on just what's happening, whether the
corruption is caused by disk fragmentation on your file server, power
failures or power surges, or a faulty piece of hardware. Whatever the
problem, Clients & Profits provides a built-in self-diagnostic tool (the
Quick Check) that checks the database's integrity throughout the day. So
you'll know about data damage very quickly after it occurs. Data errors
are unpredictable. In some databases, part of the internal structure can
become damaged (which everyone notices), while in others the damage only
affects certain records themselves (and is hardly noticed).
Using a damaged database is like driving a car that's been in
fender-bender; it may actually drive, but it's not as reliable as before.
And just like with a car in an accident, you may not see the hidden damage
until weeks later. Fortunately, you'll be constantly reminded that the
database is damaged by the Quick Check, which checks the database's
integrity every time a manager-level user opens it.
Data corruption - Plan for the inevitable
Since every ad agency, design firm, and other creative shops are
networked, the potential problems are multiplied over the last few years.
Fortunately, the most common problems are minor (like a job report that
won't print) and easy to fix if caught and solved early. But sometimes the
damage is serious, such as when no one can open the database. It's
difficult to prevent these data corruption problems entirely (for a list
of tips, see 15 Tips for Preventing Data Damage). So it's prudent to
expect data corruption from time to time, and be prepared to deal with it.
This guide will help you fix damaged data as well as offer tips and advice
for preventing data problems. Don't ignore your backups: Data corruption
can be spontaneous and unpredictable, and it can happen without much
warning. So it's absolutely necessary to keep daily backups of your work.
A good backup helps you avoid expensive, time-consuming delays.
How damage happens
Since Clients & Profits is not a client/server system, there is no C&P
application running on the file server itself. Instead, the Clients &
Profits software runs independently on each workstation. When running, the
C&P software sends and receives data from the file server (e.g.,
AppleShare, Windows NT, Netware). All of the program's processing happens
on the user's workstation, not the server. Clients & Profits requests data
from the server, does whatever the user asked it to do, then sends the
data back to the file server for storage into the database. Clients &
Profits doesn't actually tell the file server where to specifically save
the data; that's the server's job. It just says "save this job", and the
file server saves it. When some kinds of systems, servers, and network
errors interrupt a "save" in progress, those parts of the database being
used by the user can become corrupted (this page lists common causes of
damaged data). As your database grows and more people use it, the chances
of these kinds of events increase, and you're more likely to have damaged
data. Fortunately, there are quick and easy ways to both find, fix, and
prevent data problems. You'll find solutions and answers in the following
pages.
Next Page: Database Troubleshooting
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