Saving a Database for an External CM Baseline
Very often the model is only part of an overall project that may include other artifacts such as source code, executables, documents and plans etc. It is therefore often desirable to have an easy, robust and efficient way of including a model in an externally configured baseline.
There are a number of techniques that can be used for this. If you have a very large model or you want to archive multiple versions of the same model, then one of the quickest methods is to capture a database .bak file, and to check this into your CM tool as part of a project baseline. Database .bak files are created using Model Explorer and will archive all the information in a given database.
Benefits
Database .bak files take minutes to capture and restore because they do not require the translation of data. They are a very efficient way of capturing a complete snapshot of a database.
Recommendations
It is recommended that database .bak files are automatically generated as part of overnight back ups. Providing you have a policy in place, you could take the Backup file from the previous night, and check this into CM.
.bak files need to be generated by users who have server access. If this is required regularly then you could set up certain users with remote login capabilities so they can connect to the server when needed.
.bak files contain text. If you want to email a database .bak file, then compress the file to a zip file.
If your model includes Attribute Files such as generated Word and Excel documents or you have created custom properties for your model then your backups must include the Database's ModelerATFiles subdirectory as the .bak file does NOT contain these artifacts. A Model's custom properties are stored in the Template.txt file that resides in the ModelerATFiles sub-folder for the Model. Note that use of UML profiles (Stereotypes and Tag Definitions) is now the recommended mechanism for extending base types in Modeler and use of custom properties is not recommended.
To make appropriate use of this architecture it is strongly recommended that Logging is enabled and the database is backed up regularly. You should test backups regularly by restoring and checking for data integrity.
Contact PTC Technical Support if you have any queries concerning the recommended backup procedures for your databases.