Bunny in a Hat Magic Database™ Help Bunny in a Hat

Backup/Restore

The Backup function creates a text file (with the extension .bk) from your database that can be used as a restore file if you need to go back to a previous version of your data, or recover from some problem. A typical backup takes less than 10-15 seconds, so no progress bar shows while the backup is running.

When you initially create your database, we also create a default backup directory (unsurprisingly called "Backups") in your database folder.

The program keeps track of every time you update the database. If it sees that you have done five updates, and not performed a backup, it will display a warning message when you exit the program, and give you an opportunity to do a backup immediately. We strongly recommend you do so. Even if you are backing up the data files themselves, the backup function provides a format that will allow you to recreate your database even if the database files are somehow damaged.

The Restore function reads a backup file, and creates a new database from its contents. All data in the database will be deleted prior to a restore.

The database keeps track of all the backups you have done, and will issue a warning message if you attempt to restore the database from an old backup file. Of course, you may restore from any valid backup file.

We provide you with four special backup files with the distribution of the database:

  1. Empty.bk - This is will create a database with no data whatsoever. You would use it if you want to create a database that has nothing in it but the information you choose. It can also be a good starting point if you want to "fool around" with the database.
  2. AuthorsOnly.bk - This will create a database with no information in it but authors. It is an excellent starting point for a person who wants to build up information from scratch, but would rather have a somewhat easier time entering his books.
  3. Distribution.bk - This will create a database identical to the one created when the database is installed. This might be useful if you want to keep more than one database. You can backup your old database; restore from Distribution.bk; enter new data; back it up; and restore from your previous backup file. We can't exactly see a good reason to do this, but it's there if you want it.
  4. Tutorial.bk - This will create a database that has several books and tricks in it. It will give you the ability to follow the examples in the Find Trick Tutorial.