Rebuilding a Database

DEVONthink Tips
1

Hello,

I have noticed that a lot of older attachments have gone missing. Verify and Repair did recover most of the files. This has only started occurring in the past few months so I am concerned that there might be a database integrity issue. Other DT databases are fine and I have not have any hard drive issues.

Would running Rebuild Database accomplish anything? This database is 900MB and I assume a rebuild would take a long time. I just want to make sure it makes sense to do this.

Thank you.

2

A Rebuild Database exports and reimports the files, creating a clean new index at the same time. It actually should take that long with a 900MB database.

3

Thank you, it was pretty fast. Does DT remove the backup? If not can you tell me where to find it?

The rebuild appears to have also removed the missing files. Is there a way to tell DT to let me know if it there is a missing file or is running the verify the way to do this?

Finally, does DT delete the backup database? If not, can you tell me where to find it?

Thank you.

4

There is no “backup database”. It is all handled internally in the database and cleans up after itself.

You can check Window > Log, but periodic Verify & Repairs are the way to keep an eye on the health of your database.

5

Thank you.

6

Is there a way that I can search for missing files? I’ve verified a 26 Gb database and there are about 50 missing files and 1 inconsistency. I’d like to find them as I’ve tried to rebuild the database 3 times, and each time, DTPO crashes, leaving me with a database that shows the right size but no records are visible.

7

Missing Files are reported in Window > Log after a Tools > Verify & Repair. You can right-click results and choose Reveal or Move to Trash. Do note the Trash is still a location in the database, so you need to empty the database’s Trash to remove the references too.

8

Thanks

9

Hi, slightly off topic here, however if we go ahead and Rebuild Database, do tags get treated as if they are indexed, i.e. searchable outside of DT3, once they are reimported? I don’t have an integrity issue with my databases so much as requiring this search attribute. Thank you.