This is really a bit more complex than Dantz is indicating (not surprising, given that the readers of their notes are not all that likely to understand things like database consistency, read/write exclusivity, and disk caching).
I think this also is giving me a better idea of what your real question is. You seem to want to know how you can tell if the backup of a file is okay if the compare for that file fails. The short answer is you cannot without knowing a lot more about the particular file, and your planned usage of the file. In some cases - such as log files - you may be able to accept the compare failing, whereas others - such as database files - you may not. Some people may back up often enough or receive a low volume of mail so that the database does not need to be reliably backed up every time. Most of us would prefer to be sure to get it every time. Going back to the short answer to make it shorter, the answer with Entourage is you cannot know. Therefore, if the compare fails, you should quit Entourage and backup again to make sure you have a clean copy of the database. -- Eric Hildum > From: Thomas Schierle <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Reply-To: "Entourage:mac Talk" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Date: Tue, 16 Jul 2002 14:42:39 +0200 > To: Entourage Talk <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Subject: Re: Do backup/sync programs fail on Entourage DB (?) > > On 2002-07-16 02:12 +0200, Pam Lefkowitz wrote: > >> <Dantz Knowledgebase:> >> If you know the file was in use at the time the copying was done, a >> compare error is usually nothing to worry about. It simply means the >> file changed between backup and verification. > > Exactly that's my point -- compares are likely to fail if I backup > an open database, and therefore I'm left without any indication if > I have a snapshot of the database in a sane state -- or a corrupted > snapshot. > > Remember, somebody said a backup of an open Filemaker database > *always* results in a (mildly) corrupted backup. -- To unsubscribe: <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> archives: <http://www.mail-archive.com/entourage-talk%40lists.letterrip.com/> old-archive: <http://www.mail-archive.com/entourage-talk%40lists.boingo.com/>
