Did you know that Chris21 data integrity can be compromised if regular housekeeping is neglected? I have written a number of blogs about the need for regular housekeeping in Chris21 but I wanted to stress that issues can be encountered if data files are allowed to grow larger than 2 gigabytes in size. This is because there is a 2 gigabyte data size limit when using Vision version 3 file format. The problem is, this is the default file format.
Unless you physically reconfigure files to use Vision version 4 format, any files that grow in excess of 2 gigabytes will be unable to hold any more data. It has been noticed that these files can become corrupt and compromise Chris21 data integrity.
So what can you do to avoid this situation?
- Perform housekeeping and archiving tasks. Regularly running these processes is the best way to keep file sizes under control because data is removed from the data (DAT) file and moved to another file. This file can subsequently be moved to a safe location for archiving. Scheduling regular housekeeping and archiving processes will adequately maintain file sizes.
- Identify files that are likely to grow large over time. Such as EMTIM (Timesheets), CHADD (Audit), EMPIT (Account History), EMPIC (Component History), and the file repository files, CHFRA, CHRD, CHFRI. All of these files will grow to over 2 gigabytes over time without sufficient housekeeping. Reconfigure these files to use the Vision version 4 format.
- Regularly review the size of these files in your Chris21 DAT directory to ensure that they are not too large.
See the following blogs for more information that will help you to understand the housekeeping and archiving processes in Chris21:
- Chris21 Database Management – Housekeeping Processes
- Chris21 Housekeeping – What You Need To Know
- Chris21 Archiving – Don’t Forget This Critical Step
- Chris21 Archiving – The Pros and Cons
Creating Vision Version 4 Files
As mentioned above, it is a good idea to convert the data flies that will typically grow larger than 2 gigabytes to Vision version 4. This will safeguard the files from corruption should any grow to exceed the 2 gigabyte limit associated with Vision version 3 files.
Converting files to Vision version 4 entails making a change to the BRE.INI configuration file. In addition to this, you must rebuild each file using the VUTIL Vision file utility. This is a technical process which must be carried out on the Chris21 server. If you don’t think you have this knowledge, please contact me and I will advise.
It’s good practice to regularly run housekeeping processes in Chris21. This will not only make your system easier to upgrade and backup, but also ensure that Chris21 data integrity issues are avoided. This can be a complex and daunting area so please feel free to contact me for advice.