The Journal

March 2008
Volume 9, Issue 3

INTRODUCTION

Welcome to Spring 2008! Spring is traditionally a time of rebirth. Of flowers and trees. Of animals cute and otherwise. And of allergies. (Pardon me while I rub my eyes and try not to sneeze...)

This month's Tips & Tricks talks in depth about database maintenance for The Journal, and we have a new set of writing prompts.

Thank you for choosing DavidRM Software's The Journal!

Download the latest update of The Journal from here:

http://www.davidrm.com/download/jnl4setup.exe

Check to see if you have the most recent update of The Journal by clicking on the Help menu (in The Journal) and choosing Check for Update of The Journal.

Add-on Packages Available for The Journal

MemoryGrabber - Start your autobiography or help your loved ones start theirs.
Learn more about MemoryGrabber for The Journal.

Writing Prompts 1 - Improve your writing skills!
Learn more about Writing Prompts 1.

Writing Prompts 2 - Prose Challenges by Mike Hommel - Stretch your mind and your writing skills!!
Learn more about Writing Prompts 2.

Devotional Prompts 1 - Keep a record of your reflections about God, yourself, and others!
Learn more about Devotional Prompts 1.

Extended Security - Do you need a higher level of security?
Learn more about Extended Security for The Journal.

Steve Pavlina's Templates - 20 journaling exercises to help you discover your life purpose, assess your relationships, solve your problems, and more!
Learn more about Steve Pavlina's Templates for The Journal.

To order the add-on packages for The Journal, or to order The Journal on CDROM:
1. Click on the Help menu in The Journal.
2. Choose "Upgrade The Journal".

TIPS & TRICKS

TIP: The Journal Database Maintenance

The Journal uses a database format that has proven to be highly stable. However, we don't live in a perfect world, and either because Windows crashes or The Journal crashes or some other software or hardware decides to fail at an inopportune time, your entry database can become corrupt.

In most cases, you can simply run The Journal's repair utility to fix any problems, as described here:
How to force The Journal to repair its database

(The repair utility also optimizes your database, which can improve performance and reduce the amount of disk space used by your Journal Volume.)

Sometimes, though, you're going to have to restore from a backup. And that means you *must* have a valid backup file to restore from.

By default, The Journal prompts you to backup your Journal Volume (your entry database) once a week. This is a good starting point, but if you use The Journal in a volatile configuration, such as on a USB drive or via a Windows emulator on your Mac, or if you put a *lot* of information into your journal on a daily basis (like me), you might want to increase the frequency of your backups.

Also, you may want to adjust where The Journal places your backup file. By default, the backup file "JournalBackup.jbk" is created in your "My Documents" folder. Which means that every time you do a backup, you overwrite the previous backup file. Again, this is sufficient for a lot of users, but depending on your needs and situation you might want to adjust the location, or otherwise prevent the previous backup from being overwritten.

To customize how The Journal performs a backup, click on the "Journal" menu, "Maintenance" sub-menu, and choose "Backup Settings..."

A nearly complete list of The Journal's backup settings is here:
Backup Settings

Since that newsletter tip was written, a new backup option has been added: "Add date/time to backup file name" This option gives each backup file a unique name, so you don't overwrite your previous backup. Plus, you can see at a glance when the backup was created.

Why would you want more than a single backup? Because all too often we do another backup *before* we know that we needed the previous backup--which was just overwritten. You can use The Journal's "backups per archive" setting to work around that issue, or you can use the date/time added to the backup file name option.

Either way, my recommendation is that you keep 3 backups. Your most recent backup, and the 2 backups prior to that. That will give you the most flexibility in dealing with possibly catastrophic database or hard drive errors.

Finally, I recommend that you copy your most recent backup file to a secure location *off* your local hard drive. You can copy the backup file to a CDROM or DVDROM, or to a network drive. The idea is to separate the fate of your backup file from the fate of your computer.

I would love to guarantee that The Journal will never have any database issues. But I'm not perfect, so The Journal's not perfect--and neither is Windows, now I think about it--so it's best to put good backup practices into place now. *Before* you need them.

WRITING EXERCISES

Free Writing Prompt - Write for 20 minutes using the following as your starter: "What Dorothy found..."

Journaling Prompt - What is your obsession?

Memoir Prompt - Write about your more most memorable spring break and spring vacation.

SUBMISSION INFORMATION

If you would like to contribute to the "How I Use The Journal", "Writing Exercises", or "Tips & Tricks" sections, or would like to submit an article about journaling or another The Journal-related topic, we would love to hear from you.

Submissions for the newsletter should be sent to: davidrm@davidrm.com

If you are submitting for a particulare section, please indicate which one. Try to limit your submissions to 500-1000 words. Submissions may be edited for length and content.

If you prefer to remain anonymous, please state this in the email. Otherwise your name (but not your email) will be used in the article heading.

As always, if you have any suggestions for, or bug reports about, The Journal, please feel free to email them. Both are always welcome.

Editor: David Michael (davidrm@davidrm.com)
Copyright © 2008 by David Michael.