I’m wondering about DB maintenance. How often or when should repair and verify’s be done, and how often should the DB be rebuilt?
Rebuilding isn’t necessary until there’s a problem or a new version recommends it (last one was DT Personal 1.8 two years ago). Verifying on the other hand is recommended before using “Backup & Optimize”. It’s also a good idea before burning a CD/DVD.
Dan:
Following my “belt and suspenders” policy, I make a practice of manually triggering Tools > Verify & Repair followed by Tools > Backup & Optimize following episodes when I’ve invested significant time and effort into the database – capturing lots of new data, reorganizing the database structure or doing important (to me) writing and editing.
That gives me a freshly backed up database.
I use Backup Archive fairly frequently. Select DT Pro’s Scripts > Export > Backup Archive. I recommend making an external copy of the Backup Archive file to an external HD, CD or DVD. Who knows? A hard drive could fail or a laptop could be stolen.
Backup Archive is one of those operations that’s convenient to trigger at break time. It automatically runs Verify & Repair and Backup & Optimize before storing an external compressed and dated archive of your database.