Saving the Database

Like any other software program, we recommend saving your work often. You can manually save the database by clicking on the Save button on the left side of the ribbon bar's Home page. When this button is disabled, it means that nothing in the database has changed and therefore it isn't necessary to save. Every time Aspect saves the database, it displays the message "Database Successfully Saved" in the left side of the status bar at the bottom of the main Aspect window. That way, you can be sure your data has been successfully saved to the database.

Saving the customer database also saves the global database.

You can also use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+S to save the database.

Aspect can also auto-save the database at several user-configurable points. You can configure these automatic save points in the Settings window. These are the automatic save points available to you:

Point	Default Value	Notes
When a row in the trees is changed	Off	The database is saved whenever you move to a new row in any of the tree views. This does provide the most frequent automatic saving of the database but might be considered too frequent for some users.
When a location or equipment inspection status changes	On	The database is saved whenever the inspection status of a location, piece of equipment, or component changes. Because these status codes typically mean the conclusion of working with these elements, this auto-save point is highly recommended.
When a customer database is closed	Off	The database is saved whenever the customer database is closed, either by manually closing the database in the Backstage view or by exiting the program. Note that if this setting is off, Aspect will still ask you if you want to save the database before closing it if it has changed.
Before a report is run	On	The database is saved right before running any report. Actually, Aspect requires that the database be saved before running any report to ensure data integrity. Therefore, this auto-save point merely saves you from Aspect prompting you to save the database.

There are also a few points in Aspect where the database is automatically saved because it must be in order to maintain data integrity. One such example is the creation of new sites and inspections. Because asset folders are created along with a new site or inspection, it is imperative that the asset folders match up with the site/inspection number. The only way to guarantee this is to mandate saving the database. Another example is activating sites and inspections. Aspect needs to access the customer database in a saved state to ensure data integrity while initially loading site and inspection data.