Utilities

Utilities are a set of tools that allow you to maintain your AE database. Doing so is necessary because a lot of data occurs during daily system operations. As a system administrator, you use utilities to keep the database size to a minimum regardless of the database type. You can use them to reorganize the repository to minimize integrity losses, keep the system more responsive, and more.

Important!

Do not start utilities in parallel to avoid unwanted side effects.
As utilities perform work against the database, they must be able to connect to it. For this purpose, each utility has an INI configuration file that has the same name as the utility itself. Specify a User ID and a password in the INI file so that the utility can log on to the AE database. For detailed information, see the INI files of the Utilities.
You can start the utilities in batch mode. For this purpose, you must specify your particular settings once in the UI of the utility. System client 0 should also be maintained. It can accumulate a lot of data because it contains the log files of the servers and agents and other data. For more information, see Start Parameters - Utilities.
Some utilities support UTF-8 while others do not. For more information, please refer to the corresponding utility documentation page or Universal Language Support (Unicode).

This page includes the following:

Overview

The following utilities are available:

AE DB Archive

Archives messages, reports and statistics, or exports them to text files for external analysis
Archive Browser

(Windows only) Use it to view data that has already been archived
AE DB Change

Changes objects that were transported with the Transport Case
AE DB Client Copy

Copies and deletes clients
AE DB Load

Loads data
AE DB Reorg

Reorganizes messages, reports, statistics and object versions
AE DB Reporting Tool

Provides evaluation reports through AE queries
AE DB Revision Report

Creates revision reports
AE DB Unload

Unloads database tables, transport cases, objects, reorganizes your database, and resets archive and reorg flags

Some utilities support UTF-8 while others do not. Here is an overview of the utilities and how they handle UTF-8 support, restrictions, and limitations in this context.

Maintaining Data Records with Utilities

A lot of data is collected during system operation. This data includes statistical records, reports, messages, and data for the AE DB Revision Report and the Open Interface to Output Management Systems. For more information, see AE DB Revision Report and Open Interface to Output Management Systems .

There are two methods to maintain the AE database. For more information on which method to use, see Maintaining Data Records

Use the AE DB Archive, Reorg, or Unload utilities. For detailed information, see AE DB Archive, AE DB Reorg or AE DB Unload

Use ILM (see ILM - Information Lifecycle Management) to reorganize and archive data.

DB2 databases only: You must not backup the table DIVDB when you use a DB2 database and want to back it up manually before you run the reorganization process. The reason is that the reorganization process uses the table DIVDB by running the following statement:

ALTER TABLE DIVDB ACTIVATE NOT LOGGED INITIALLY WITH EMPTY TABLE

You can neither restore the backup data nor run the command ROLLFORWARD anymore.

To Maintain Data Records

Archive the messages, statistics and reports. Use the AE DB Archive utility for this purpose, see AE DB Archive.

The generated files are clearly structured in folders that are organized by clients and archiving runs. As folder names also contain the corresponding dates, it is easier to locate particular data records.

You can use the Archive Browser to view data at any time, see Archive Browser. Set filters to limit the number of data records to be displayed depending on your requirements.
Reorganize the data records. Use the AE DB Reorg utility for this purpose, see AE DB Reorg.

Data records are flagged with deletion markers in this step but are not yet deleted from the database
Unload the data records. Call the AE DB Unload utility to finally delete the data records from the database. Use the option "Reorganize database". If required, you can also use this utility for resetting archive and reorganization flags. For more information, see AE DB Unload.

Tips

The processes that allow you to archive, reorganize and unload data can take some time if huge data amounts are involved. Improve your system performance by accelerating the above processes:

Do not use the option Keep the last n statistics when you reorganize data. Not using this option means that the AE DB Reorg utility does not count all statistical records of all objects. Instead, it starts the reorganization process directly by using the date as a basis.
Activate the option to reorganize reports before the statistical records. If this option is deactivated, the AE DB Reorg utility reorganizes reports and statistical records together.