APPX Software Library

Chapter 7: Analysis and recovery

Analyze a working copy

The command-line analyzer is useful for a closer physical check. Its commands are shown as text; the manual's screenshots remain APPX GUI captures.

  1. Stop access and make a separate working copy of the complete .dat and .key pair. Keep the matching structure and original administration context available.
  2. Run the analyzer as an account with the required access to that working copy. The utility opens files for read/write access, so preserve the original separately.
  3. Use an APPX engine appropriate to the file format, with the originating system's applicable registration available through the correct administration tree.

The following Unix example uses an engine under /opt/appx, data under /opt/appx/data, and a working copy under /srv/appx-recovery. These are example paths and will usually differ from yours. Preserve any required APPX_0SA_PATH and FMS overrides.

export APPXPATH=/opt/appx/data
/opt/appx/appx -an=/srv/appx-recovery/PROSPECT

For Windows PowerShell, substitute your own paths:

$env:APPXPATH = 'C:\APPX\data'
& 'C:\APPX\appx.exe' '-an=C:\APPX-Recovery\PROSPECT'

At the analyzer prompt, enter these commands exactly, without leading spaces:

DUMP HEADER
COUNT REC
VERIFY KEY #ALL
VERIFY FREELIST
QUIT

DUMP HEADER identifies the physical file format and its ENCRYPTED flag. COUNT REC reports active and deleted records. VERIFY KEY #ALL checks the indexes against the records, and VERIFY FREELIST checks free-space structures.

Here, an index-oriented analyzer command means one that reads the .key index structures. VERIFY KEY #ALL is the index check used above: it checks all defined indexes against the data records. VERIFY FREELIST checks reusable space in the datafile; it is a different check. Use the complete matching pair for the sequence shown here. When the index is missing, follow Decide whether to rebuild a missing or damaged index first; do not start this analyzer session with an incomplete pair, including for DUMP HEADER.

The encrypted PROSPECT copy in this test showed ENCRYPTED, 7 active records, no deleted records, and 7 entries on each of its two indexes. Treat analyzer output and any record dumps as confidential: authorized utilities can display decrypted values.