1. H2OS Audit Trail And History page

2. What is the Audit Trail? The Audit Trail is a companion for the H2OS Customers table. It contains a historical record of changes to each customer record for future reference. The Audit Trail is a companion for the H2OS Customers table. It contains a historical record of changes to each customer record for future reference. Each time a customer record is changed, software detects the change and saves a copy of the now-changed record to the audit trail. Each time a customer record is changed, software detects the change and saves a copy of the now-changed record to the audit trail.

3. How is the audit trail created? An empty audit trail table is automatically created at the same time as the customers table. An empty audit trail table is automatically created at the same time as the customers table. The customer and audit trail tables are related to each other by the FILENO (unique customer file number) field. The customer and audit trail tables are related to each other by the FILENO (unique customer file number) field.

4. How is the Audit trail updated? When changes are made to customer records using the H2OS main screen, which can involve multiple fields, including fields associated with tab pages on the screen, the changes made are actually saved to disk when you either end the H2OS session or change the current record by navigating to another customer record, perhaps following a search. When changes are made to customer records using the H2OS main screen, which can involve multiple fields, including fields associated with tab pages on the screen, the changes made are actually saved to disk when you either end the H2OS session or change the current record by navigating to another customer record, perhaps following a search. After saving the customer record, software then saves a copy of the changed record in the audit trail, with an “audit code” indicating the type of change made. Newly added records are also copied to the audit trail with an appropriate audit code. After saving the customer record, software then saves a copy of the changed record in the audit trail, with an “audit code” indicating the type of change made. Newly added records are also copied to the audit trail with an appropriate audit code. Other H2OS processes, such as address checking, can also change customer records. In such cases, each processing program is responsible to create the appropriate audit trail record. Other H2OS processes, such as address checking, can also change customer records. In such cases, each processing program is responsible to create the appropriate audit trail record.

5. Customer database and it’s audit trail Chart shows the relationship of the customer and audit trail tables (related on FILENO) Chart shows the relationship of the customer and audit trail tables (related on FILENO) Shows that more then one process can make changes to customer records, thus all processes must implement the design Shows that more then one process can make changes to customer records, thus all processes must implement the design

6. The Audit Explorer The History page shows 1 row for each change on file for the current customer record, in ascending date/time order The History page shows 1 row for each change on file for the current customer record, in ascending date/time order To more closely inspect a change (and earlier/later changes), click the row containing the change of interest. To more closely inspect a change (and earlier/later changes), click the row containing the change of interest. The Audit Explorer will show side by side the old and new values for the fields changed by the selected change The Audit Explorer will show side by side the old and new values for the fields changed by the selected change Use navigation buttons to view the history of changes made to this record before and after the selected change. Use navigation buttons to view the history of changes made to this record before and after the selected change.

7. Recovering a database from the audit trail Use the AUDIT page to browse an audit trail Use the AUDIT page to browse an audit trail Also use to restore the customer or job tickets database from data stored in the audit trail. Also use to restore the customer or job tickets database from data stored in the audit trail.

8. The “recover from audit trail” tool H2OS does include a “recover from audit trail” feature that you may wish to attempt recovery from (i.e. by restoring a customer database backup and then using the audit trail to bring the restored database up to date). H2OS does include a “recover from audit trail” feature that you may wish to attempt recovery from (i.e. by restoring a customer database backup and then using the audit trail to bring the restored database up to date). This feature works by using data in the audit trail to apply a succession of changes to customer records in the same order the changes were initially made. This feature works by using data in the audit trail to apply a succession of changes to customer records in the same order the changes were initially made. This process is not perfect. Please see our disclaimer This process is not perfect. Please see our disclaimer

9. The “recover from audit trail” tool Disclaimer We do not guarantee the efficacy of this method of data recovery. It is offered with H2OS to help with recovery situations, but the only way to fully recover a database system with integrity is to perform a full restoration of the database and all of it’s files. Attempting to restore individual records or files after a failure (or for any reason) must be performed with knowledge of the files relationships with others, at the risk of compromising the integrity of the system. We do not guarantee the efficacy of this method of data recovery. It is offered with H2OS to help with recovery situations, but the only way to fully recover a database system with integrity is to perform a full restoration of the database and all of it’s files. Attempting to restore individual records or files after a failure (or for any reason) must be performed with knowledge of the files relationships with others, at the risk of compromising the integrity of the system. We strongly suggest creating regular and complete backups of your H2OS installation, and not partial (selected files) backups. For more information, see the automated backups topic. We strongly suggest creating regular and complete backups of your H2OS installation, and not partial (selected files) backups. For more information, see the automated backups topic.

10. The “recover from audit trail” tool Related note: we suggest that you store your audit trails (customer and job tickets databases) on a separate hard drive then the H2OS customer database, but on the same machine. In this configuration, should a hard drive failure occur with the drive storing the H2OS database, the drive containing the audit trail may still be accessible to make the audit trails available for attempting to recover the customer database from a backup and the audit trail. Related note: we suggest that you store your audit trails (customer and job tickets databases) on a separate hard drive then the H2OS customer database, but on the same machine. In this configuration, should a hard drive failure occur with the drive storing the H2OS database, the drive containing the audit trail may still be accessible to make the audit trails available for attempting to recover the customer database from a backup and the audit trail.

11. References The Data Dictionary topic in the Customer Guide The Data Dictionary topic in the Customer Guide This file is stored as C:\vls\doc\programmers guide\powerpoint\H2OS Audit Trail.ppt This file is stored as C:\vls\doc\programmers guide\powerpoint\H2OS Audit Trail.ppt