16012-101 Rev. C
33
Appendix B - Procedures for Retiring a Full IOPac Database
The IOPac Pachymeter examinations database, called P20Dbase.pdb, is designed to hold about 1000 examinations in
memory. Given that there is more than 8 MB of memory available, database capacity is probably somewhat higher but it
is difficult to estimate given the fact that other applications may also grow as the examinations database does.
It is considered good practice to backup the IOPac database weekly to ensure that the list of exams is relatively up to
date should the database on the Pachymeter be lost for some reason. This leaves a recent copy of the database on the
user’s PC as well as the original on the IOPac itself.
Archiving or ‘retiring’ a database is a somewhat different process than just HotSyncing since the IOPac database is
eventually deleted from the Pachymeter and an empty one created in its place.
When to Retire the Database
Users are alerted by the IOPac software that the 1000 exams limit has been reached and that the P20Dbase.pdp file
should be ‘archived’ (backed up) and the database on the PDA deleted. What this means is that the ‘full’ P20Dbase
needs to be copied from the IOPac to a PC using a USB HotSync cable and that the ‘full’ database on the PDA then
needs to be deleted and an empty one created. A user can do the final delete-and-create step using the IOPac software
alone but not the copy step, which requires a HotSync Manager program be installed on the PC. – see Appendix A for
help on installing HotSync support on a PC.
HotSyncing
The HotSync process is well described in the Palm documentation and is familiar to most Palm users as a way of both
moving files from the PC to a Palm and moving files from a Palm back to the PC. Briefly, these are the steps followed in
HotSyncing:
1.
Install the Palm Desktop program on a Windows PC shortly after receiving the IOPac
Pachymeter.
2.
Connect the IOPac to one of the PC’s USB ports using the supplied cable.
3.
Make sure that the HotSync Manager is running – look for its icon in the Windows Tool Tray at
the lower right corner of the monitor. -. (If the HotSync Manager service is not already running
start it from Start-Programs-Palm-HotSync Manager)
4.
Turn on the IOPac and proceed to the Home screen by tapping on the Home button (this exits
the IOPac software). Then tap the HotSync button on the screen to begin HotSyncing.
Retiring and Archiving The Database
1.
On the PDA, close the IOPac program and return to the Home screen by tapping on the Home button.
2.
On the PC, locate the
C:/Program Files/Palm/IOPac/Backup
folder and see if it already
contains a P20Dbase.pdb file. If it does, move this file somewhere else – this file is an older backup of the
database.
3.
Now perform a HotSync as described in the previous section. This copies the current database into the PC
folder where the Palm Desktop was first installed (typically
C:/Program
Files/Palm/IOPac/Backup
).
4.
After HotSync has completed, look in the
IOPac/Backup
folder on the PC and see if the P20Dbase.pdb
file from the IOPac device has appeared. If it has, move this to a safe place, (e.g. a backup floppy or CD-
R) as this file contains the latest 1000 exams from the Pachymeter.
5.
Once the P20Dbase file has been copied to the PC and moved to a secure location it is safe to delete it
from the Pachymeter. To do this, start the IOPac program and select the drop-down menu from its main
page. Select menu item Delete Database which deletes the old database and automatically creates a fresh,
empty one.
Note:
If the above steps have been followed correctly, the old database should now be safely stored somewhere on
the PC or on a CD and with a fresh database created on the Pachymeter - the user is free to save another
1000+ exams before the examinations database will need to be archived again.
Summary of Contents for IOPac Advanced
Page 1: ...ADVANCED User s Guide ...
Page 37: ...16012 101 Rev C 37 Notes ...
