The Database Maintenance function allows super users and managers (with rights) to schedule data clean up tasks.  Cleaning up the database allows for faster more effective searches, deletion of orphaned records, and archiving logs.

Data Table Maintenance

  • Re-index Tables - Recreates the indices and improves the performance.  This option is highly recommended.
  • Remove Deleted Records and Re-index Tables - Removes the deleted records and compacts the data tables.  This option removes the ability to recover deleted information.

  • Do Not Perform

Select the Options to Perform:

  • Delete Orphan Records - Analyzes the data tables and removes orphaned records.
  • Archive Transaction Log - Archives the transaction log. The transaction log stores all activity on the Course Evaluations server and can grow large over time. This archive will only run once per month and then only if there are 100,000 entries. The transaction log is shared among all instances/databases on the Course Evaluations server. If not selected to run here, it may have been selected in another instance/database.    
  • Archive Deselected Participants - Removes all deselected participant records for surveys that are closed over 60 days. This is especially useful for Rotation Surveys.
  • The following only affect Rotation surveys with the option to select whom to evaluate applied:
    • Remove Never-Selected Evaluated Individuals - Removes evaluated individuals from Question Category Settings on closed Rotation surveys if the individuals were not chosen to be evaluated. This will only affect surveys with the option turned on to select the people to evaluate. This feature provides the largest benefit for rotation surveys where the list can grow large when field preceptors are added to every Block and Site. In this case, the Results Access list grows for each person who can view the results.
    • Include Zero Submissions - Includes Course/Block/Sites that received no submissions. This recommended option will uncheck all individuals when there are no submissions, shortening the survey access list.
    • Active Surveys, Closed - Includes Active Surveys with Course/Block/Sites that have closed. This recommended option will improve reporting performance and shorten the survey access list when reports are released as the Course/Block/Sites close.
  • Deactivate Accounts - Marks user accounts as inactive, if they were active on surveys prior to this number of years, but have not been active on surveys since.
  • Delete Unused Courses - Deletes old, unused courses for the periods selected.  Courses in these periods will be deleted if never included on a survey.

IMPORTANT NOTE: ONLY select periods that are in the past.

  • Archive Questions - Automatically sets questions to archived if they have not been used for a number of years. The manager user selects the number of years (from 2 to 10) to start this process the next time that the maintenance is scheduled to run or it can be set to run now. Also, if the response set(s) are attached to archived questions and are only used on archived questions, they will be archived with the question. 

IMPORTANT NOTE: Once the response sets are archived, they can no longer be chosen when adding or editing questions or in Survey Administrations - Display Options. 

Archived response sets will no longer appear for selection in Survey Administrations - Display Options unless they have previously been selected. The response set drop downs have been limited to only show the same type of response set that was currently selected for use. For example, if the question has a radio response set that is archived, only radio response sets will appear that can be chosen. These changes will improve page load performance due to having smaller lists.

Select when to run the maintenance:

  • Select the day of the week
  • Select the time
  • Run Immediately

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