File/Database tab

This section describes properties on the File/Database tab of the Option dialog.

The File/Database tab enables you to choose a database and set several options related to the database.

Note Changes to settings on the File/Database tab are not applied immediately. You must restart AVEVA Production Accounting for changes to take place.

Database Path

• Database Path (*.mdb): Allows you to select the MS Access database file which will open when AVEVA Production Accounting starts. The extension of this database file is .mdb. You can also change the database file by clicking the command button to the right.

• Use Network Database: If you select this checkbox, AVEVA Production Accounting will access a network database and the Database Path field becomes disabled.

  The system architecture for a network database is client/server. The client/server architecture is embodied by client and server computers, running client and server software respectively. The client software is the AVEVA Production Accounting DR GUI program and the server software is a database server such as Oracle or MS SQL Server.

  The detail data, such as static and event data, as well as the drawing data, which includes the process flow diagram will be retrieved from and saved to the database server. In a network database environment, multiple users can share the detail data and the drawing data from the same database server instance.

  Even though AVEVA Production Accounting, when configured to use a network database, accesses the database server for its historical database, any user can also use their own MS Access database for personal purposes, such as for a case study.

• StartUp Model: Sets the startup model name if the database has multiple models.

• DB Provider: Sets the provider type of the network database.

• Database: Sets the login information to connect to the network database.

• Build Connection String: This button invokes a dialog box that permits you to build a connection string for a network database using a utility program.

  

After you choose the database type, name, and access parameters (if necessary), other options for the database can be configured. AVEVA Production Accounting support three types of DB provider for Oracle, MS SQL, and MS Access database.

• Settings for Oracle

• Settings for MS SQL

• Settings for MS Access

Accounting Time

You can set the accounting time. The accounting time is normally midnight time (00:00:00). But sometimes you might require a different accounting time such as 07:00:00 time. If the accounting time is changed at the specific date, you have to manually change the accounting time of start and end date for the selected period in the configuration file. To prevent this manual work, the utility to automatically change the accounting is added in the AVEVA Production Accounting.

Select the checkbox Change Accounting Time to use this feature.

• Previous Time is the previous accounting time.

• Next Time is the next accounting time.

• Changed Date is the specific date when the previous accounting time is changed into the next accounting time.

If the Start DateTime is selected at 2015-12-31, the accounting time of the Start DateTime is 07:00:00 but the accounting time of the End DateTime is 00:00:00 as shown below.

The accounting time for selected date is automatically changed with the above configuration.

The functionality is also applied for Run Period Reconcile.

Other properties

These properties also appear on the File/Database tab.

• Prefetch - Days of Data Prior to Current Period: You can set the number of days prior to the current period that should be queried in order to show event data for multiple days in the detail dialog of objects. The default value ("*" or blank) means that AVEVA Production Accounting will prefetch all available event data. Therefore, for the sake of efficiency, do not leave this value as the default. The event data for the selected number of days before the current period are always shown in the Events frame of object detail dialogs.

  • Prefetch * Days of Data Prior to Current Period

    

    

  • Prefetch 10 Days of Data Prior to Current Period

    

    

    AVEVA Production Accounting performs a requery of event data of the object if the selected period is before the Prefetch days.

    For example, define prefetch days as 15 days.

    

    If you open the stream object, the event data for 15 days past the chosen period are queried.

    

    After you change the period before the prefetch days, you open the stream object again and then event data of the object are re-queried.

    

• Show - Days of Data Prior to Current Period: When you move the mouse pointer over a stream on your flowsheet, the current period’s data are displayed dynamically. Normally, only the current period’s data are displayed, so in order to compare that to earlier periods, you should open the stream detail dialog or display a trend. Using the Show X Days of Data Prior to Current Period field, you can configure to dynamically display the data of several days on the flowsheet. The default value ("*" or blank) means that AVEVA Production Accounting will dynamically display the stream data of only the current period. You can change this to some number of days prior to the current period if you desire.

  • Show * Days of Data Prior to Current Period

    

    

  • Show 7 Days of Data Prior to Current Period

    

    

• Decimals to Save: You can set the precision of numeric values to be saved to the database by choosing a number of decimals to save. The default number of decimals is 3. But some numeric values that require greater precision, such as tolerance, component, composition and property will automatically have double the number of decimals.

• Connection Check before Save: You can set whether to check the connection to save the data into the database or not. Generally AVEVA Production Accounting keeps the connection to the database open but when some problem occurs with the connection, the connection is considered failed and data cannot be saved to the database. In this case, AVEVA Production Accounting always checks the connection prior to saving, which will cause the connection to be automatically re-opened. This causes a performance loss on every save, so only enable this setting if you are having trouble with keeping a continuous connection to the database.

• Save Data before exporting DR Result: If you select the global option of Save Data before exporting DR Result, all data is saved before Exporting DR Data. This option is applied when you run Export DR Data, and it is also applied when you run Period Reconcile, so you do not need to select Save All Data to DB on Run Period Reconcile window if Save Data before exporting DR Result option is used.

• Record Number to Save into Database: You can set the number of records to save the data to the network database in one pass. A higher value reduces the network traffic and reduces the time consumed by a save. The value that is appropriate depends on the speed of the company network. One hundred is highly recommended for an Oracle database. Values higher than 1 cause a predefined stored procedure in the database to be used. The stored procedure is automatically created. If the stored procedure has not yet been created, you can create it at any time using the Create Stored Procedure button.