Monday, July 14, 2008

halFILE Manager Status Bar

In halFILE 3.0, you may have noticed a new status bar at the bottom of the halFILE Manager screen. It has two frames labelled Backup Status and Archive Status. The halFILE Manager checks sets the status for each of these and sets them to "normal" or "failed," depending on what it learns from checking as follows.

Backup Status
When halFILE Technical Support installs halFILE or upgrades you to version 3.0, they will set up a halFILE database backup process which serves as a secondary backup of your halFILE database information. This process stores text backups of your databases in a designated halFILE "backup" folder. So, the Backup Status indicator on the halFILE Manager tells you that this backup is running as it should or, for some reason, that it has failed.

Important Hint: If you click on the Backup Status frame, you will be taken to this halFILE "backup" folder so you can see the files that are being created.

If the Backup Status shows "failed" you should check the scheduled task or job that performs this process to see why it has failed. The most common issues are (1) the password under which the process runs has been changed or (2) the SQL Server Agent under which the job runs has been stopped. The halFILE Backup is usually run as a SQL Server job or a task in Windows Task Scheduler on the database server.

Archive Status
Archive is the process of moving images out of the halFILE basket and to a controlled archive area for permanent storage. This process is necessary for smooth operation of your halFILE system. Therefore, the Archive Status indicator on the halFILE Manager will show the status of the archive job(s) which perform the archive process. If the halFILE Manager determines that the archive process has failed, it sets this status to "failed."

Important Hint: If you click on the Archive Status frame, each of the archive job logs will be loaded into Notepad for your review.

If a failure occurs, the Archive Log may show you why. Common issues are similar to the Backup Process above: (1) the password under which the process runs has been changed or (2) the SQL Server Agent under which the job runs has been stopped.

Check the status bar to make sure your halFILE processes are operating properly. There are also configuration options that can be set to define how many days can elapse before a failure is reported. Contact the halFILE Technical Support staff for more information. This is just another great new feature of halFILE 3.0!

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