Backing Up Theatre Manager Databases

Theatre Manager consists of two components, the program and the database. Depending on the purpose of the backup, you may need to save one or both. For example, if you are:

• Upgrading to a new version, you must back up the database. We recommend that you save at least one copy of an older version of the program as well until the upgrade is complete.
• Doing daily backups, you need only backup the database files.
• Doing a year-end backup or point-in-time image of the system, you must backup both the program and the database. Why? If you only back up the data files to a device like a Zip or CD drive and you want to look at them some time in the future, there is no guarantee that a future version of the program could read the database and produce the same results. This is prudent practice for all important data like accounting files, word documents, graphics files, etc.

Saving a Database (Version 7)

The database backup process is automated in Version 7 and should have been set up for you during installation or conversion. If not, follow the instructions on setting up a backup process for the Mac or the PC

If the backups processes were created, you should have at least one recent backup. To create another one, simply follow the instructions and run the appropriate backup script on the database server machine.

1. On the mac, this generally means opening terminal and typing 'php /Users/Shared/backupTM.php'
2. On the PC, it going to C:/BoxOffice directory and running the 'BackupTM.bat' file by double clicking on it.

In either case, make sure there is a new backup in the 'Backups' directory that has 'yyyymmdd_mmhhss' as part of the file name where the date is in the last few minutes at the most.

Saving a Database (Version 6)

The database is one or more file segments for your site. The file name for segment will end in .DF1, .DF2, .DF3, etc. depending on how many segments you have. If you only have one segment, it will end in .DF1. If you have two, the first will end in .DF1 and the second in .DF2, etc.

You must make a copy of all segments to make a complete backup. If you only successfully back up one segment, then the copy of the database will not be accessible and we cannot do anything to recover it for you. Please make sure you copy all segments.

By convention, these files usually are found in a folder called 'Box Office' and are the name of your venue.

Since version 5, there is also a file called Transact.DF1 that is part of Theatre Manager. It contains the transactions for each day and must be backed up as well for a complete history. Note: it is possible to use this files in special ways if you are trying to recover the main database. Please contact Arts Management Systems if you have any need to recover a database so that we can assist you to reconstruct your business day.

Summary; to backup a database

1. Find the folder containing your database segments. It is probably called 'Box Office' and can be found on your network.
2. Ensure that the folder contains files ending in .DF1, .DF2, etc.
3. Ensure it also contains files called TRANSACT.DF1, TRANSACT.DF2, etc.
4. Copy those files to a CD, Zip Drive or another machine by dragging the entire folder to the desired backup location.

Saving the Program

Macintosh	Version 7: Find a folder on your computer called TheatreManager in the 'Applications' folder. Copy the entire program to another location Version 6: Find a folder on your computer called TM ƒ in the 'Applications' folder. To make a copy of the program, copy the entire TM ƒ folder to another folder, Zip Disk, CD or network drive
Windows	Double click on 'My Computer' (unless you renamed it) look for a folder called 'Program Files'. Version 7: Lookk for a directory called 'Theatre Manager' which is the program version 6: In that folder is a directory called 'TM' which contains the program. To make a copy of the program, copy the entire directory (above) to another folder, Zip Disk, CD or network drive.

Backup Strategies

There is a good discussion of backup strategies and decent backup devices on the internet. Please read about why you should do backups and how often. We recommend upwards of 20 to 30 backup generations.