Understanding Archiving

The tables that store asset information accumulate large volumes of data over time. Eventually some of this data is no longer needed on a routine basis. You can use PeopleSoft Asset Management to archive inactive data on the cost and depreciation of assets, and if that data is ever needed again, you can use PeopleSoft Asset Management to restore the data that you archived. The benefits of archiving inactive data include improving the performance of reports and processes and reducing the space that your system needs to store asset data.

Before you archive inactive asset information, you should keep these general guidelines in mind. You cannot archive:

• Retired assets.

• Group assets.

• Assets with depreciation based on schedules.

You can archive active assets one at a time or by using a range of asset IDs. You must archive each asset book by book. The fiscal year must be closed before an asset can be archived. The archive period automatically defaults to the last period of the specified fiscal year.

You can archive an asset more than one time. If you archive an asset multiple times and later decide to restore the data, you will need to restore each archive one by one. For example, if you archive an asset two times, you will need to restore the asset information two times, one for each archive that was run.

The process that archives data actually moves application data from the application tables to the archive tables. The process then deletes data from the application tables.

The archive tables are just like other application tables. You can back up these archive tables using another disk or tape for storage and then manually delete the contents of the archive tables if desired. This approach allows you to use tools, such as PS/Query, to report and review the contents of the archived files. The data in the archived files can also be joined to the application tables to provide a complete picture of activity including active and archived data.

After you archive an asset, you cannot perform a transaction or a transfer involving that asset before the archival date unless you restore the archived asset. For example, if the asset has been archived through December 31 of the previous year, you will not be able to perform any transactions on the asset in the previous year.

All historical data showing transaction costs in multiple currencies is supported in the archive and restore processes. You can save transactions with multiple currencies just as they occurred and restore them as well.

You can archive, delete, and retrieve archived data, accumulated by a process that updates high volume asset management transaction tables: ASSET_NBV_TBL, DEPR_RPT, OPEN_TRANS, and DIST_LN. Using the Run Mass Transactions component, you can use the delivered mass transaction for each transaction table to archive, delete, or view archived. This method enables improved performance for day-to-day transactions while maintaining historical data for reporting and audit purposes.