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Advanced Pears
Database Options
You can perform
several activities in SSDOT for Pears
that fall outside the typical everyday administrative tasks associated
with updating and maintaining a Pears database.
Three of these advanced options enable you to examine and manipulate data
without altering the structure or content of the database. Another option
allows you to identify when a database was last updated. Yet another gives
you a way to replay journals against a database in order to gracefully
recover it. The action tables below contain the procedures for performing
each of these advanced database activities in SSDOT
for Pears.
Contents
Recommit
Journal
Convert Input Data to BER-Formatted Records
View BER Conversion Log
Export Records to Their Native Format
Show Time of Last Database Update
Recommit
Journal
During
an update to a Pears database, SSDOT
for Pears automatically produces a temporary
journal file. So if something unexpected happens during the critical
commit phase of the update process resulting in a corrupted database,
the temporary journal may be played back
against the most recent backup copy of the
Pears database to recover it. An example would be a system or power
failure during the critical commission
of records. The table below contains the simple steps for performing a
journal recommit to a Pears database.
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1. Start
SSDOT for Pears.
| Result: |
The
following Main Menu appears:
|
Main Menu
1. Database
Registration
2. BER Records
3. Database Creation and Maintenance
4. Database Backup
5. Advanced Options
6. Exit SSDOT
Working Database:
No database selected
Type "l"
To LIST available databases
Type "s" To SET a working database
Type "u" To UNSET the working database
Press [ENTER]
key to return to Main Menu
>
|
|
2. Type
5 and press Enter to go to the Advanced Options menu.
| Result: |
The
following menu appears:
|
Advanced Options
1. Recommit
journal
2. Convert input data to BER formatted records
3. View BER conversion log
4. Export records in their native format
5. Show time of last database update
6. Exit SSDOT
Working Database: No database selected
Type "l"
To LIST available databases
Type "s" To SET a working database
Type "u" To UNSET the working database
Press [ENTER]
key to return to Main Menu
>
|
|
3. Type
1 and press Enter.
| Result: |
The
following prompt appears:
|
Name of database
to RECOMMIT or press [ENTER] key to return to menu:
|
|
4. Type the
name of the database to which you want to recommit the journal and
press Enter.
| Result: |
Information
and a prompt similar to the following should appear:
|
Database journal
successfully committed on database: marcus.
Press [ENTER]
key to continue:
|
5. Press Enter
to return to the Advanced Options menu.
|
| Warning: |
If
an SSDOT update fails due to an "out of memory error," you
must not recommit the journal files to recover the database.
An out of memory error corrupts the journals and renders them useless.
Instead, your recovery procedure will consist of simply reinstating
the most recent backup copy of the database. |
Return
to Contents
Convert
Input Data to BER-Formatted Records
In order
to identify the tag paths
to specific fields within your records, you may want to convert all or
a portion of them to BER before you actually load them into the database.
Converting them ahead of time allows you to examine them for the purpose
of deciding which indexes you want to create for the database. You need
tag paths to create
index definitions within the database description
configuration file for a Pears database. Follow the steps below to
convert your input data to BER records.
|
1. Start
SSDOT for Pears.
| Result: |
The
following Main Menu appears:
|
Main Menu
1. Database
Registration
2. BER Records
3. Database Creation and Maintenance
4. Database Backup
5. Advanced Options
6. Exit SSDOT
Working Database:
No database selected
Type "l"
To LIST available databases
Type "s" To SET a working database
Type "u" To UNSET the working database
Press [ENTER]
key to return to Main Menu
>
|
|
2. Type
5 and press Enter to go to the Advanced Options menu.
| Result: |
The
following menu appears:
|
Advanced Options
1. Recommit
journal
2. Convert input data to BER formatted records
3. View BER conversion log
4. Export records in their native format
5. Show time of last database update
6. Exit SSDOT
Working Database: No database selected
Type "l"
To LIST available databases
Type "s" To SET a working database
Type "u" To UNSET the working database
Press [ENTER]
key to return to Main Menu
>
|
|
3. Type
2 and press Enter.
| Result: |
The
following prompt appears:
|
Name of input
file to CONVERT or press [ENTER] key to return to menu:
|
|
4. Type the
full directory path to the input file and press Enter.
| Example: |
|
| Name
of input file to CONVERT or press [ENTER] key to return to menu:
<WebZ_root>/dbbuilder/dbs/marcus/marcus.dat |
| Result: |
The
following prompt appears:
|
Input record
format or press [ENTER] to return to menu (e.g. "USMARC"):
|
|
5. Type the
appropriate format type and press Enter.
| Example: |
|
| Input
record format or press [ENTER] to return to menu (e.g. "USMARC"):
USMARC |
| Result: |
The
following prompt appears:
|
Output file name
or press [ENTER] key to return to menu:
|
|
6. Type a directory
path that includes the name of an output file and press Enter.
| Example: |
|
| Output
file name or press [ENTER] key to return to menu: <WebZ_root>/dbbuilder/dbs/marcus/marcus.ber |
| Result: |
The
following prompt appears:
|
Database description
file to use or press [ENTER] key to return to menu:
|
|
7. Type the
directory path to the database description
configuration file and press Enter.
| Example: |
|
| Database
description file to use or press [ENTER] to return to menu:
<WebZ_root>/dbbuilder/dbs/marcus/marcusdesc.ini
|
| Result: |
Information
similar to the following appears:
|
Input file successfully
converted to: <WebZ_root>/dbbuilder/dbs/marcus/marcus.ber.
Press [ENTER]
key to continue:
| Notes: |
By default,
input data records directly converted to BER are not in a
human readable format. In order to display the records and
read them after you have converted them to BER, you can run
the ber2txt utility from your system prompt to convert them
to a simple text format or you can convert and display them
online using the display
option in SSDOT for Pears.
The difference between these two viewing options is that one
is performed outside of SSDOT
for Pears and the other is performed inside SSDOT
for Pears.
An example of a ber2txt conversion might be: ber2txt
-imarcus.ber>marcus.txt
You must
execute the ber2txt utility from your system prompt within
the directory where the utility resides.
|
|
8. Press Enter
to return to the Advanced Options menu.
|
Return
to Contents
View
BER Conversion Log
If you want to review
statistics on the last BER conversion that you performed, you can access
this information off the Advanced Options menu in SSDOT
for Pears.
|
1. Start
SSDOT for Pears.
| Result: |
The
following Main Menu appears:
|
Main Menu
1. Database
Registration
2. BER Records
3. Database Creation and Maintenance
4. Database Backup
5. Advanced Options
6. Exit SSDOT
Working Database:
No database selected
Type "l"
To LIST available databases
Type "s" To SET a working database
Type "u" To UNSET the working database
Press [ENTER]
key to return to Main Menu
>
|
|
2. Type
5 and press Enter to go to the Advanced Options menu.
| Result: |
The
following menu appears:
|
Advanced Options
1. Recommit
journal
2. Convert input data to BER formatted records
3. View BER conversion log
4. Export records in their native format
5. Show time of last database update
6. Exit SSDOT
Working Database: No database selected
Type "l"
To LIST available databases
Type "s" To SET a working database
Type "u" To UNSET the working database
Press [ENTER]
key to return to Main Menu
>
|
|
3. Type
3 and press Enter to view statistics on the last BER conversion
that you performed.
| Result: |
Information
similar to the following appears:
|
Wednesday, October
24, 2001 11:35:46 AM EDT <WebZ_root>/dbbuilder/dbs/marcus/marcus.dat
conversion started by user
Wednesday, October 24, 2001 11:36:03 AM EDT
<WebZ_root>/dbbuilder/dbs/marcus/marcus.dat conversion
ended by user
45 BER records created in 17.366 seconds.
Wednesday, October 24, 2001 11:36:03 AM EDT
####################################################
# Record Handler Report #
####################################################
RecordHandler
Class Name . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ORG.oclc.RecordHandler.HandleUSMARC
--------------------------------------------------------
Number of Bytes Read . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12,694,522
Bytes
Number of Garbage Bytes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0 Bytes
Number of Records Converted . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Press [ENTER]
key to continue or type "q" to quit:
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4. Press Enter
to return to the Advanced Options menu.
|
Return
to Contents
Export
Records to Their Native Format
All records in
a Pears database are stored in BER format
so that they can be searched and displayed in SiteSearch. To manipulate
them outside of SiteSearch and in their original environment, you must
first export them to their native format. The procedure below instructs
you on how to do this to records in an existing Pears
database.
|
1. Start
SSDOT for Pears.
| Result: |
The
following Main Menu appears:
|
Main Menu
1. Database
Registration
2. BER Records
3. Database Creation and Maintenance
4. Database Backup
5. Advanced Options
6. Exit SSDOT
Working Database:
No database selected
Type "l"
To LIST available databases
Type "s" To SET a working database
Type "u" To UNSET the working database
Press [ENTER]
key to return to Main Menu
>
|
|
2. Type
5 and press Enter to go to the Advanced Options menu.
| Result: |
The
following menu appears:
|
Advanced Options
1. Recommit
journal
2. Convert input data to BER formatted records
3. View BER conversion log
4. Export records in their native format
5. Show time of last database update
6. Exit SSDOT
Working Database: No database selected
Type "l"
To LIST available databases
Type "s" To SET a working database
Type "u" To UNSET the working database
Press [ENTER]
key to return to Main Menu
>
|
|
3. Type
4 and press Enter.
| Result: |
The
following prompt appears:
|
Database name
from which to EXPORT or press [ENTER] key to return to menu:
|
|
4. Type the
name of the database and press Enter.
| Result: |
The
following prompt appears:
|
Number of records
to EXPORT or press [ENTER] key for all:
|
|
5. Type the
number of records that you wish to export or press Enter to export
all of them.
| Result: |
The
following prompt appears:
|
Number of records
to SKIP or press [ENTER] key for none:
|
|
6. Type the
number of records that you wish to skip during the export or press
Enter to skip no records.
| Result: |
The
following prompt appears:
|
Output file name
or press [ENTER] key to return to menu:
|
|
7. Type the
path name to the file that will hold the exported records and press
Enter.
| Result: |
Information
similar to the following should appear:
|
####################################################
# Record Handler Report #
####################################################
RecordHandler
Class Name . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ORG.oclc.RecordHandler.HandleUSMARC
--------------------------------------------------------
Number of Records Made . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Number of Records Read . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Number of Records Skipped . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0
Report generated
by millertj
########### End
Record Handler Report ##############
Data successfully exported to: <WebZ_root>/dbbuilder/dbs/marcus/marcus.marc
Press [ENTER]
key to continue:
|
8. Press Enter
to return to the Advanced Options menu.
|
Return
to Contents
Show
Time of Last Database Update
One way you can verify
the currency of records that you are retrieving from a particular Pears
database is to look at the time stamp associated with the last update
to the database.
|
1. Start
SSDOT for Pears.
| Result: |
The
following Main Menu appears:
|
Main Menu
1. Database
Registration
2. BER Records
3. Database Creation and Maintenance
4. Database Backup
5. Advanced Options
6. Exit SSDOT
Working Database:
No database selected
Type "l"
To LIST available databases
Type "s" To SET a working database
Type "u" To UNSET the working database
Press [ENTER]
key to return to Main Menu
>
|
|
2. Type
5 and press Enter to go to the Advanced Options menu.
| Result: |
The
following menu appears:
|
Advanced Options
1. Recommit
journal
2. Convert input data to BER formatted records
3. View BER conversion log
4. Export records in their native format
5. Show time of last database update
6. Exit SSDOT
Working Database: No database selected
Type "l"
To LIST available databases
Type "s" To SET a working database
Type "u" To UNSET the working database
Press [ENTER]
key to return to Main Menu
>
|
|
3. Type
5 and press Enter.
| Result: |
The
following prompt appears:
|
Name or database
or press [ENTER] key to return to menu:
|
|
4. Type the
name of the database and press Enter.
| Result: |
Information
similar to the following should appear:
|
Tuesday, October
23, 2001 1:29:16 PM EDT
Press [ENTER]
key to continue:
|
|
5. Press Enter
to return to the Advanced Options menu.
|
Return
to Contents
See Also
Pears
System Overview
The SiteSearch Database Operations
Tool (SSDOT) (For Newton)
Creating a New Pears Database
Pears Database Description Configuration
File
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