The System Archive window is divided into two portions: the Archives list in the top pane and the Archive Details in the bottom pane. For each archive record in the Archives pane, records in the Archive Details pane indicate what data in a single database table will be archived based upon the constraints established in the Archive_WC column. This means the archive record serves as an umbrella for the various actions needed to archive data from a single database table.

Archives Pane

The Archives pane shows all defined archive sets in the database. An archive set is composed of the archive actions indicated in the Archive Details pane. When you right-click an archive set, the system displays a shortcut menu. This menu contains the common commands along with the following special commands:

Archive: This command initiates the archive actions for the highlighted archive set. For archive sets with multiple detail records, the archive actions are performed in the order, from lowest to highest, indicated in the Order column of the Archive Details pane.

Note: If you attempt to use this command to archive data previously archived, the system will warn you that this will destroy the previously archived data. You may then choose to proceed with the archive or abort the process.

Restore: This command moves the data specified in the highlighted archive set to the user-accessible portion of the database.

Archive Details Pane

The Archive Details pane defines all tables and the portion of data per table that will be archived when the Archive command is activated for the selected archive set in the Archive pane. Each detail record defines the data archived for a single table. To prevent the loss of data, several detail records may be needed for a single archive operation and the order that these tables are archived must also be set appropriately. The order is set in the Order column, and the archive actions are performed starting with the lowest-ranked table.

Note: If a table is included in an archive, then all tables that have a foreign key to that table must also be included in the archive with a lower value.

The Archive Details pane contains the following columns:

Archive Count: This read-only column indicates the number of records archived for the table associated with the detail record.
Archive_WC: This column contains the Oracle WHERE statement that indicates what portion of the table's data is to be archived. This statement typically defines a time period for which data will be archived. For example, "archive all data more than 3 years old" would be translated into DATE_WORK < SYSDATE: 365*3 for the Labor Day Cards table.
Order: This column indicates the order in which each table is archived. Tables are archived in order of lowest to highest. Remember that tables with foreign keys must have lower numbers than their parent table.
Table Name: This column shows the name of the table being archived.

Note: When you right-click this pane, the common commands are available. However, the Insert command works slightly different than in other windows. It not only inserts a new record in the Archive Details pane, but also displays a window that contains a drop-down list of all table names so you can select the appropriate table for the new detail record.