I currently have one database that has gotten rather large and contains multiple areas of interest. I would like to convert my one database into multiple databases.
Is there a simple way to do this without exporting all the documents?
Tony Stinson
Ex/importing is one possibility. Another one is to create several copies of the database package in the Finder while DT Pro is NOT running. Afterwards open each copy and remove the unnecessary stuff.
I’m about to do the same – split a rather large database with ~12 million words.
With the option of duplicating → deleting unnecessary stuff, is there much of a chance of corrupted / carry-over information being transferred? I.e., is a “clean install” better than this “update” method?
With the option of exporting / importing, are all the hundreds of DEVONtech_storage files going to cause a problem? And what happens with replicates?
In short, is there a “recommended method,” and are there pitfalls to be aware of?
Thanks.
I’m not quite sure what you mean by “clean install”. Either method mentioned by Christian will work. In either case, be sure to run Tools > Verify & Repair and Tools > Backup & Optimize before commencing, so as to work with a sound database.
Those DEVONtech_storage files are created with the purpose of carrying over to the new database the metadata of material exported from the original database. Otherwise you would lose, e.g. the URL data of an HTML document and the Path of an Imported PDF file to the internal Files folder.
Either method works. Sometimes it’s easier to make multiple copies of the big database, rename each copy appropriately, and delete the material that’s not wanted in it.
The major pitfall would be to start with a corrupted database. Make sure its in good working order before the split operation(s).
Exactly – that’s what I meant by using the export/import method, to possibly avoid starting with a corrupted database, since it would be freshly importing into an empty, clean database.
But if you think verify / repair is good enough to insure a uncorrupted database, then perhaps the duplicate / delete method would be easier, without additional risk.
Getting lots of unrepairable errors when running Verify & Repair is always a sign of database problems.
Getting a “no errors” report is usually a good sign that the database is OK.
A “no errors” report is a very good sign if your operating system and disk directory are well-maintained and in good order. 