Maintaining the Project Database

Over time with editing, the project database underlying a project can become fragmented and performance can be reduced. During project development, you should periodically clear out all duplicated records and any orphaned ones.

Improperly maintained databases can result in communication errors detected at runtime. Many communications errors detected come from having duplicated or orphaned records in the communications database.

Sometimes orphaned records from a previous I/O server are left behind in the database files. As the forms are indexed on the I/O server name, you can use the scroll bar to navigate quickly to the end of the current range of records for a particular I/O server. You can examine the last few and next few records to validate that they should be there. If you find extra (unwanted) records, delete them.

You should also check that there are no duplicated records. Use the record search facility to search for duplicate entries of devices that are causing unexplained communication errors detected. If you find extra (unwanted) records, delete them.

Once you have deleted orphaned and duplicated records, pack the project. Packing the database removes deleted records, and re-indexes the database. To pack the project databases, from the Projects activity in Plant SCADA Studio, click Pack.