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Enabling Handheld User Database Backup

Siebel Handheld infrastructure provides a way to automatically back up a snapshot of the user's database and current settings, and to restore those settings in the event of a total device failure. The backup functionality automatically copies all the necessary files to a single compressed file. Each time the user backs up, the backup process creates a new copy of the file and deletes older backups. The backup process must close the application in order to copy the RDBMS and handheld configuration files. After the files are copied, it automatically restarts the application.

The backup feature must be enabled in the application. If the backup feature is enabled, a backup is created during every synchronization. This way, the user retains an up-to-date snapshot of the database, and older backup versions are removed.

When the database backup feature is enabled, a database backup occurs automatically at the end of each synchronization. This makes the overall time to synchronize somewhat longer. The size of the database and the speed of the CompactFlash card also affect the time it takes to complete synchronization.

NOTE:  Backups should not be used as a replacement for synchronization.

Setting Up Database Backups

In order to back up the database you must do the following:

• Provide users with an external memory card.
• Install the Siebel Handheld application with the backup functionality enabled. See, Enabling Database Backup.
• Instruct users to back up their database on a regular basis.

Backing Up to External Media

It is recommended that you back up to external media—for example, a CompactFlash card or the embedded backup storage that is included in many devices.

Enabling Database Backup

Before users can back up the database on their handheld devices, you must first enable the Backup menu item on the Siebel Handheld application. This requires editing the setup.ini file to enable backup.

NOTE:  Backup should be kept on external media or built-in storage. Trying to set the location to the main memory, such as \My Documents, will not work.

The following is an example of the default settings for the backup parameters:

[Backup]
BackupLocation = \Storage Card\Siebel Backup
BackupEnabled = N