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07-26-2006, 11:20 AM | #1 |
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Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Hollern/Stade/Germany
Posts: 8,992
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Making backups of the database / How does the backup feature work?
Button "Make Backup" in the "Game" menu
The backup function does the following: - Saves the current database to get .dat files which are up-to-date - Makes a list of all files with extension ".dat" which are in the current leagues saved game folder - Creates a date-stamped folder named like backup_2006_07_22__17_03_56 - Copies all .dat files from the saved game folder into this folder To restore a backup, just copy all these files back into the saved game folder. You should delete the old folders from time to time since they will use disk space. This message will be displayed after making the backup: "The key (.dat) files from your game have been copied to a date-stamped backup folder inside your saved game folder. Note: This process only backs up the basic game files (.dat). For maximum safety, you should always perform regular backups of your full saved_game directory." A hidden feature: Add the following lines to the file /data/config/app: max_number_of_backups 10 This will tell OOTP to delete the oldest backups and to keep no more than 10 backups saved. You can use any value from 3 to 1000. 0 means not to delete any backups (default setting). <!-- / message --><!-- sig --> |
08-03-2006, 04:25 AM | #2 |
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Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Hollern/Stade/Germany
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If you're looking for information about how to set up a batch file which archives your complete OOTP database on your harddisk drive, have a look at this thread:
http://www.ootpdevelopments.com/boar...d.php?t=123858 Another thread about backups: http://www.ootpdevelopments.com/boar...d.php?t=134679 Some notes about backup strategies Why should you make a backup? 1.) OOTP, the operating systems (Windows or Mac OS), or some hardware devices could make a mistake when writing the .dat files. This is done every time when you "save the game". A .dat file with only a single wrong byte might make the database "unreadable"! So you should always have a fresh copy of the .dat files somewhere. 2.) The harddisk drive might break. It might happen tomorrow when you start your computer - nothing happens. Drive broken. You'll never get any files back from that drive. I've seen adults crying in those situations. Only a backup on another physical drive can help here. I.e. if your game is on C:, don't make your backups on drive D:, if C: and D: are on the same ohysical drive. A good idea is to make backups on CD-R or CD-RW. 3.) The computer might get lost due to high voltage, fire, theft or whatever. In that case only a backup made on an external device or disk will help. For example on a CD-R or CD-RW which if possible is not stored right next to the computer. Last edited by Andreas Raht; 12-01-2006 at 04:44 AM. |
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