Specify the archive properties for archive, purge, and restore jobs

The Archive system parameters group in the General Parameters module allows you to set the following properties for archive, purge, and restore jobs.

Archive query window size (hours)

The time span (in hours) used to divide the amount of records being archived and purged at one time into smaller sets. This strategy helps to reduce the amount of data that is being retrieved and so lessen the impact of archiving and purging on database performance for production.

The queries that are used to retrieve the data records to archive or purge will ask only for data within the hourly window, based on the last_edit_at datetime in the data records. For example, if the window value is set to 6 hours, the first data retrieval will retrieve the first 6 hours of data records and archive or purge them. When that operation is complete, the next 6 hours of data records will be retrieved and processed, and so on until the final records are reached.

The default value is 6 and the minimum value is 1. If there are large amounts of data to be archived within the 6‑hour window, you can lower the value so that smaller amounts of data are archived at a given time. This should help prevent performance issues such as timeouts.

Archive root directory path

The root directory path (relative to the server) to which archived data is saved and from which archive data is restored.

The default path is C:\Program Files\Wonderware\MES\Archives.

Note the following:

• The archive root directory path must be the absolute path, including the drive letter.

• The path cannot be c:, c:\, or blank. If it is, it will revert to the default path.

• Make sure that any users who are performing archive and restore jobs have access to the archive directory.

Archive server host

The name of the archive server host where the archive files are located.

If blank, the local host is assumed.

Granting MES Middleware Access to the Archive Root Directory or Server Host

When the MES DB/MW Communication component is configured in the post-install Configurator after the initial MES installation, access to the archive root directory path is granted to the MES middleware's Windows user account. If the archive directory or server host is changed, configure the MES DB/MW Communication component again to grant the MES middleware's Windows user account access to the new directory location. For more information, see the MES Installation Guide or online help.