Scheduling administrative tasks

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Scheduling administrative tasks

Planning in advance what jobs need to be scheduled for ongoing maintenance helps you determine the schedules you need to manage these tasks for multiple Concordance Desktop databases and all your users and clients. By setting up a standard maintenance schedule, you can inform your users in advance to ensure that they set up their review times around these schedules. You want to make sure that all users are out of the database and the database is taken offline when performing administrative tasks.

The Jobs tab in the Concordance Desktop Admin Console assists with management tasks, like reindexing and packing. All scheduled tasks on the Jobs tab are processed on the Concordance Desktop Server.

You can find your database indexing time by reviewing the Log tab in the Concordance Desktop Admin Console.

For more information about automating tasks in the Concordance Desktop Admin Console, see About scheduling jobs.

Exclusive Administrative Tasks

Some database management tasks require that all users are logged out of the database. The administrator is the only user allowed in the database when the following processes are occurring in Concordance Desktop:

File > Modify

File > Index

File > Administration > Pack > Database

File > Administration > Zap

File > Administration > TRK Maintenance Tool

The following database management tasks in Concordance Desktop do not require the database to be taken offline, but they should be taken offline to ensure validity of all data:

File > Reindex

File > Administration > Pack > Dictionary

Documents > Import

Documents > Export

Creating productions (Tools > Production > Production... or Tools > Production > Native File Production)

Indexing and Reindexing Databases

Actively changed databases need frequent updating to keep the index and dictionary entries current. An index is the exclusive process of creating the database dictionary and index for the purpose of enabling full-text searching. A “reindex” simply updates the existing database dictionary and its corresponding index. A reindex is not an exclusive task. Concordance Desktop administrators are responsible for ensuring that all data is reviewed and proper backups are made before indexing/reindexing the database with updates. These processes are done from the File menu in Concordance Desktop, by selecting Index or Reindex.

One way to verify whether a database requires reindexing is to check the File menu in Concordance Desktop. If there is a check mark next to Reindex on the File menu, then the database dictionary is not current with additions or changes. You can also verify reindexing status on the Databases task pane at the bottom of the Current Database panel. If the active database dictionary needs updating, the panel displays Needs Reindexing. Lastly, you can query on any documents that have changed under the Search menu.

There will be times when you need to perform full index updates to include modifications to the dictionary, stopwords list, and punctuation settings. This is an exclusive process and only the Concordance Desktop database administrator can access the database at the time during the process. To perform a full index, open the database, and on the File menu, click Index. Reference the following Indexing and Reindexing Checklist to ensure you have completed all necessary tasks prior to performing these processes.

Checklist: Indexing and Reindexing

 

Reindexing

Did you select the Allow exclusive indexing check box on the Indexing tab in the Preferences dialog box (Tools > Preferences) in Concordance Desktop to prevent reviewers from searching during a reindex?

Did you pack the dictionary to optimize reindexing speeds up to 6x?

Did you set up the ReindexingDaemon_V10.xx.cpl under the Windows Task Scheduler to automate this task?

 

Indexing

Have you planned your indexing processes to run when it does not impact regular work hours?

Have you considered performing a full index for individual databases locally on dedicated admin machines?

*Indexing and reindexing on a separate machine will not impact Concordance Desktop Server performance.

Did you send a broadcast message to alert reviewers of when indexing will occur and the timeframe for when the system may be available again?

*You can do this by sending broadcast announcements from the Connections tab in the Concordance Desktop Admin Console.

Did you ensure that all reviewers are logged out of Concordance Desktop and .FYI by checking the Status column on the Connections tab in the Concordance Desktop Admin Console?

*Processing can take hours and impacts access to the system and work activity. You can schedule these tasks on the Jobs tab in the Concordance Desktop Admin Console.