Re: JBA ML - ARCHIVE AND PURGE

Also you should see the System/21 Redbook...   http://www.redbooks.ibm.com/
If you visit this web page and search on the keyword GEAC...
You will find one link to  SG24-5967-00 which you can view online or download
your own .PDF copy...

Unfortunately, Michael's warning is well heeded...
The standard Purge/Archive routines leave much to be desired in the package...
JBA has even issued Support Alerts for some of them in the past...

I guess I would ask the reason you are interested in purging...

Are you looking for more disk space or are you seeing performance problems due
to the large files...?
Perhaps there are other less obvious reasons...?

There are a number of transaction files that can (and should in my opinion) be
purged of old transactions on a regular basis...

We wrote and run monthly a program that purges all transactions from these files
that are over 13 months old...   You could certainly adjust that number to keep
less than 13 months...
I have never needed to use any records from any of these files beyond the
previous month...  With the exception of FIP45 and FIP51...
I shared this program with many of the users on this list several months ago and
would be happy to send it out again...
The program name is SY800U...  This program does require SQL and an RPG ILE
compiler.
Here is a list of files that we included in the purge program:
PCP01,PCP02,PCP03,PCP04,PCP06,PCP52,PCP53,PCP56,PCP58,PCP59,PCP62,PCP65,PCP93,FIP45,
FIP51.
I have also changed these files to reuse deleted records and this eliminates the
need to REORG these files after the purge...
If you want a copy please send me a private post to  jaklipa@harvardind.com
OFFLIST...  Let's not flood the list with requests for the program like last
time...  Thanks...

Also, in Inventory there are some procedural steps that can help reduce unneeded
records...  For example...
31/INR - Movements audit report:
The Movements Audit Report clears INP96 (Movements) of all transactions
processed by AFI since a report last produced. Run this option after the
inventory AFI extract is complete for the month and after Inventory month end
procedure.
Note:
The Movements Audit Report is a prerequisite for running the Negative Stock
Report. If you need to run the Negative Stock Report on a daily or weekly
schedule you must run the Movements Audit report on the same schedule.  Only
after closing the inventory month are records from INP96 cleared.

Again it depends on your motivation for wanting to purge/archive the old data...
There are other 3rd party products available that can make your machine run more
efficiently like OS Director from OS Solutions (http://www.os-solutions.com/)...
I really like that product for what it does in the background to tighten our
system and keep it running at optimal performance...  The list of what it does
is far too long to include here...!

And other innovative packages like David Shea's ARCTOOLS (
http://www.arctools.com)that sound like a sorely needed tool for a critically
important task that has been mostly neglected...  I have not looked at this tool
lately but it sounds intriguing...

There are many things you can do to improve system performance and reclaim
wasted disk space so keep your options open...

Best Regards.







mslayton@ambrake.com on 01/23/2002 04:20:08 PM











  Subject      JBA ML - ARCHIVE AND PURGE
  :






Can anyone tell me what is archived and what is purged in the IM, AP, AR,
GL modules?  How difficult is it to perform archives and purges?   What
ramifications can you see for us when we do this?   Can any of this
information be viewed in the screens in the Historical Data options?  I
have printed some of the archive and purge material from the books
provided by JBA, but I want input from someone who has done this. Thanks,
Margaret