Recreation Software Support

Today I would like to discuss how the RecTrac recreation software has many cleanup options available to users that want to make sure information comes up quick and easy for end users and/or clerks. Information can become slow and cumbersome to load when certain areas of the database have too much information in the tables. I will specify some areas to review when deciding on your process to cleanup and optimize your database.

• Truncate BI File
  1. The BI File or Before Image File is what the live backup process uses to create your “live database backups” when the database engine is running.
  2. This file will grow larger as the database grows. It’s good to periodically truncate that file using the utilities provided on the server to run this.
• Truncate Log Files
  1. As you add processes to RecTrac running Appserver schedules and Webtrac you will now have log files stored on the server, typically in c:\vsi\rectrac\logs\.
  2. These files tend to grow large if you do not truncate them manually (i.e. delete information from asrtlive.server.log) or as long as the log settings in the broker properties is set to Verbose or lower (Error Only) and the append toggle is not checked those files will be relatively small.
• Household Merge
  1. Household data can get overwhelming in a RecTrac database if proper care is not taken to not duplicate records. But this does happen and to correct those duplicate households in the database, you need to do two steps.
     1. Run the Duplicate Household Listing in RecTrac.
     2. Run the Transfer/Merge Program in RecTrac.
  2. This doesn’t delete households or data but merges it into the correct household you should have in your database.
• Purge Old files
  1. When you have been running your RecTrac database for a few years, depending on data retention policies in your Park District or Recreation Department, you can purge old information from the database.
  2. In the Period End function > System pull-down > Period End Purges you will find a list of purge programs that can be used to reduce the size of records in the database. As long as you have reported on any of these items in the list you can purge (as long as you have permission).
  3. You should always purge information from the database and not go into files and delete records for the best integrity of your database.