Utilities

Utilities are a set of tools to manage and maintain the AE database.

This page includes the following:

Overview

As a system administrator, you use utilities to keep the database size to a minimum, reorganize the repository to minimize integrity losses, keep the system more responsive and so on.

Important! Do not start utilities in parallel because this can cause unwanted side effects.

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(Windows only) Use it to view data that has already been archived.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.
AE.LogMix - Combining Report, Log and Trace Files
Generates one common file out of several reports, logs and trace files

As utilities perform work against the database, they need to be able to connect to it. For this purpose, each utility has an INI configuration file bearing the same name as the utility itself. You need to specify a User ID and password in the INI file so that the utility can log on to the AE database. For detailed information, see the Utilities INI files.

Maintaining Data Records with Utilities

A lot of data accumulates during daily operation of an AE system. This includes statistical records, reports, messages and data for the AE DB Revision Report and the Open Interface to Output Management Systems . One method to maintain the AE database is using the utilities AE DB Archive, AE DB Reorg or AE DB Unload.

You can also use ILM - Information Lifecycle Management to reorganize and archive data. For more information on which method to use, see Maintaining Data Records.

Overview

You can start the utilities that are used during the maintenance procedure in batch mode. The particular settings need to be specified only once in the utility. System client 0000 should also be maintained. It can accumulate huge amounts of data because it contains the log files of the servers and agents and other data. For more information, see Start Parameters - Utilities.

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 utility AE DB Archive for this purpose.

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. Set filters to limit the number of data records to be displayed depending on your requirements.
Reorganize the data records. Use the utility AE DB Reorg for this purpose.

Data records are flagged with deletion markers in this step but are not yet deleted from the database
Unload the data records. Call the utility AE DB Unload 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.

Performance Improvements

The processes to archive, reorganize and unload data can take some time if huge amounts of data are involved. The following tips can help to improve 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 utility AE DB Reorgdoes not count all statistical records of all objects. Instead it starts the reorganization process directly by using the date as a basis.
Only reorganize reports if they should be reorganized before the statistical records. If this option is deactivated, the utility AE DB Reorg reorganizes reports together with the statistical records.