For years, there has been a diagnostics tool included with Act. It's called Actdiag. While it's not a tool that everyone will want to use, it's powerful and can get your Act database out of a jam in a crisis.
There are several options that Actdiag can handle. The one I am going to cover today is Reindex.
Within Act, under the Tools menu, there is a database maintenance option that an Administrator can use to Check and Repair a database. This is something that should be done on a regular basis to keep your Act database running smoothly and efficiently. You can set it up to run using the Act scheduler as well. It can be run from a workstation that is connected to the Act server.
If you run check and repair and it gives you an error, then you need to use Actdiag to fix the issue.
Part of the check and repair from within Act is a reindex function. What this does is go through all the tables and reorganize data. When you do adds and deletes in your Act database, over time the indexes get fragmented. A reindex "realigns" them. Running the reindex inside Act does a bit more than just the realignment. It puts things in place so that your searches work fast. If you have done a check and repair and cannot find something via a search, that you know is in your data, then you want to perform a Reindex using Actdiag.
For the most part, running Check and Repair inside Act is sufficient. Running a reindex from Actdiag will be faster because it is doing less other steps. You want to do it from Actdiag if you suspect, like mentioned above, that there is data that is in such a squirrely state (that's a technical term) it cannot be fixed by the normal check and repair.
The other important thing to realize is Actdiag needs to be run on the server hosting the Act database. And, when you run a reindex from Actdiag, it will disconnect any users currently in the database so you want to use this tool either off hours or let people know there will be a temporary disruption in access to the database.
There are lots of other things you can do with Actdiag, but the reindex feature is the one you may need to turn to if you can't get to support or your Act consultant and you are stuck.
To use Actdiag, click on the Windows Start button and enter ACTDIAG in the run box. And remember you need to run it on the server hosting the Act database.
If you want to know additional information about this nifty tool give us a call (423-875-2652) or call your local Act consultant.