Restoring Your Database From Backup

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Ideally, you should never have to restore your database using a backup file. However, if your existing database files become damaged (for example, due to hardware failure), you may need to return to a previously saved backup.

When you restore a database, MainBoss asks you to specify a directory where MainBoss should store the various files associated with that database. This should not be the same directory as your existing database—even if you want the restored files to take the place of your existing database, restore to a different directory first.

To restore from a backup file, select Administration —> Database —> Restore from the menu. MainBoss will display a window that contains the following:

Restore from: The file that contains the backed-up database. You can either type in the name, or click the Select button to locate the file.
Restore to directory: The directory where MainBoss should store the backed-up database. You can either type in the name or click the Select button to locate the directory.
Restore: Tells MainBoss to proceed with restoring the database.
Cancel: Closes the window without restoring the database.

Using a Restored Database: Once you have restored the database, there are two ways to use it:

The safest way is to create a Windows shortcut that refers to the new database. To do this, use the right-hand mouse button to click the Windows desktop, then click New, then Shortcut. Windows will start a wizard to help you specify the new shortcut. For Command Line, click the Browse button and find the MainBoss program file (named mboss.exe under the directory where you installed the software). Assign any name you like to the shortcut.
Once you have created the shortcut, use the right-hand mouse button to click on the shortcut and then click Properties. Windows opens up a "property sheet" for the shortcut. In the Shortcut section, change the name in the "Start in" field to be the name of the directory where you restored the database files. Finally, click Ok to close the property sheet.
Double-clicking on this shortcut will start MainBoss; however, instead of using your standard database, this version of MainBoss will use the database restored from backup. You can perform any operations with this database that you can perform with your previous database.
Note that any operations you perform on the restored database will not affect your "standard" database.
After you have spent some time examining the restored database to make sure it is working properly, you may decide to replace your "standard" database with the restored one. If so, copy all the files and subdirectories from the directory where you restored the database to the directory containing your "standard" database. This overwrites your standard database with the restored one.
From this point onward, you should get rid of the shortcut you created to the restored database and resume using your "standard" database.

Note: Make sure you keep track of which database you are using. If you are in doubt, look at the title line in the main MainBoss window—it tells you the directory containing your database files. Changes that you make in one database do not affect the other, so don't get confused about which database you are actually using. If you intend to replace your standard database with the restored one, restore the database, check the restored database to make sure the data looks all right, and then copy the restored data over the standard data.

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