AX1043
You can restore one or more plan files as of a particular point in time (a "restore point"). This feature is intended to ease the process of "rolling back" plan files if a process is run by mistake or if a change has unintended impacts.
For example, imagine that someone runs Create Plan Files and accidentally overwrites 10 plan files that should not have been overwritten. You can use the restore utility to restore all 10 plan files to the state they were in before they were overwritten.
This feature is limited to administrators and to users with one of the following security permissions: Administer File Groups (for all file groups) or Modify File Group (for specific file groups). Users with the Administer File Groups permission can restore all plan files for all file groups, even if the user does not otherwise have access to those files. Users with the Modify File Group permission can only restore plan files for which the user has read/write access.
NOTES:
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This process is intended to restore plan files that were changed by a bulk process such as Create Plan Files or Process Plan Files. If you want to restore a prior version of an individual plan file, see Viewing document history.
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This feature does not apply to file groups that use virtual plan files. In this configuration, physical plan files do not exist and therefore cannot be restored.
How restore points are created
Restore points can be created in various ways:
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You can manually create a restore point for plan files at any time. For more information, see Managing restore points.
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You can optionally create a restore point before processing plan files. For more information, see Process Plan Files dialog.
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Certain features in Axiom Software automatically create a restore point before performing their activity. These features include:
- Create Plan Files (if existing plan files are overwritten)
- Update Persistent Plan Files
- Apply Calc Method Changes
- Archive Plan Files
Performing a restore
When restoring plan files, you first select a restore point and then you select the plan files to restore.
NOTE: If a plan file is deleted, it cannot be restored using restore points. Restore points can only restore earlier versions of existing plan files.
To restore plan files:
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On the Axiom tab, in the Administration group, click Manage > File Groups.
The Axiom Explorer dialog opens, with the focus on the File Groups folder.
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Select the file group for which you want to restore plan files, then click the Restore Plan Files button in the toolbar. (This command is also available on the right-click menu.)
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On the first screen of the Restore Plan Files dialog, select the restore point to use, and then click Next. Restore points are identified by date/time and description. System-generated restore points list the name of the associated process in the description.
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On the second screen of the dialog, select the plan files to restore, and then click Finish.
This screen only lists the plan files that have been changed since the date/time of the selected restore point. You can select individual plan files or you can select the check box in the header to restore all of the plan files. You can use Axiom grid features to sort and filter the list.
If no plan files have been changed since the selected restore point, a message informs you of this.
The restore process creates a new plan file version that is a copy of the version from the selected restore point, and that new version becomes the active version. For example, imagine that the current plan file version is version 10, and you want to restore version 9. The system creates version 11 of the plan file, which is a copy of version 9. Both version 9 and 10 still exist as independent versions in the document history for the plan file.
You can create custom restore points and you can delete existing restore points that are no longer needed. For example, you may be preparing to open the file group for end user input, and you want to manually create a restore point before users start editing plan files.
To manage restore points:
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On the Axiom tab, in the Administration group, click Manage > File Groups.
The Axiom Explorer dialog opens, with the focus on the File Groups folder.
- Select the file group for which you want to manage restore points, then click the Manage Restore Points button in the toolbar. (This command is also available on the right-click menu.).
- Manage restore points as desired:
- To create a new restore point, click New. Enter a description for the new restore point, and then click OK. The date/time for the new restore point will be the current date/time.
To delete a restore point, select the restore point and then click Delete. This action simply deletes the restore point so that it is no longer available for selection; it does not delete the associated plan file versions from the database audit history.
NOTE: Restore points are automatically deleted when the plan file versions associated with the restore points are no longer available in the database audit history. See the following section for more information.
Availability of plan files to restore
The availability of restore points and the associated plan files depend on your system purge settings, as defined in the Scheduler system job System.SystemDataPurge.
The setting Audit History: Number of days to keep system history determines how long old plan file versions are stored in the database. For example, if this option is set to 15 days (the default setting), then you can only restore plan files from the last 15 days; anything older than that has been purged from the database. Therefore, Axiom Software also uses this setting to automatically delete old restore points from the same time frame, since those restore points no longer have any plan files available to restore.
