Backups

Backups are important.  Very important.  But you probably know that already, or you wouldn't be reading this page.  If you aren't convinced, I can refer you to a few people who have recently come to understand just how important backups are.

Backing up your DanceMaster stuff used to be difficult, but it is now easy.  You have no more excuses.

There are two types of things that need to be backed up in DanceMaster.  One type is "things that don't change very often", such as music and cue card files.  Once you have created them, they're done.  These things are best backed up using a separate backup program, or by simply copying them to a CD, DVD or external disk drive.

Your database file is a different story.  Whenever you use DanceMaster, your database file is updated.  That includes the details of the new dance you just entered, the additional categories you just defined, and (in the Advanced Edition) what you cued tonight and where you cued it.

(Your backup should reside somewhere other than your computer, by the way - otherwise whatever happens to your computer (crash, fire, flood, theft, etc.) will happen to your backup too.  That would make it Not Very Useful.)

To back up your database file:

How often should you back up your database file?

That depends on how much work you want to put into recreating it when (not if) you need to.  You should certainly back it up at least once a month.  You should back it up whenever you put a significant amount of work into entering new dances or correcting information such as bookmarks, timing, phase & rhythm, categories, etc. in existing dances.   If you cue every week, then weekly backups would probably be best.

Rolling backups

It is usually a good idea to keep several backup files.  Maybe the last four weekly backups, for instance.  Sometimes the reason for restoring a backup is not because the computer crashed, but because the database file became corrupted somehow.  (Rare, but it can happen.)  Or, maybe you did something... well... dumb, and you'd like to undo it.   Perhaps you deleted a dance that you shouldn't have, or decided after a particularly wild after-party to file all your waltzes as fox trots, or... whatever.  And maybe you don't discover this folly until after you have dutifully performed your weekly backup.  Rolling backups give you the opportunity to go back to one of several previous points in time and start over from there.  Of course, whatever you have done (including the good things) since the point you choose to restore from will go away.

The reason that the Player includes today's date in the file name is to make rolling backups easier.

To restore a database file:

When the day eventually comes that you need to restore your database from a backup, you should:

The Player will close.  When you restart it, the restored database file will be the current one and DanceMaster will have forgotten everything that happened since that backup file was created.