Utilities: Purge History Utilities: Purge History
The Purge History program permanently removes historical data from the computer hard drive. The purpose of the purge is to keep the data files from growing extremely large and affecting the speed and performance of the software.
It is advisable to run a purge at least once every year though it may be run as frequently as desired. The frequency of the purging process depends on the size and nature of the company.
After selecting the Purge History option from the Utilities Main Menu, the following screen comes into view.
WARNING!! This will permanently alter the History files. Before proceeding, do a complete data backup!!!
Enter the name of the module to purge or use the down arrow to select the module. There are five modules that may be purged:
1.Accounts Payable
If purging Accounts Payable, please print a complete open invoice listing both before this purge and after, and make sure that the totals agree in both reports before assuming the purge is satisfactory.
2.Accounts Receivable
If purging Account Receivable, please print a Posted Invoice Listing both before this purge and after, and make sure that the totals agree in both reports before assuming the purge is satisfactory.
3.General Ledger
If purging the General Ledger, all transactions for the selected dates and fiscal periods will be purged and the General Ledger totals will be recalculated.
4.Payroll
If purging Payroll, all timesheets for the selected dates and fiscal periods will be purged.
5.Job Costs
All General Ledger Transactions posted to the selected job will be altered to remove reference to the original job. This purge was specifically designed so that job numbers can be re-used.
6.Purchase Orders
All fully-reconciled purchase orders for the selected range of dates and vendors will be purged.
7.Posting Log
All posting and backup records in the Posting Log for the selected range of dates and vendors will be purged. The Posting Log file is the file that stores the PDF images of all posting reports, so it can become very large very quickly. After posting record has been purged from this file, the PDF reports can no longer be viewed through the Utilities > View Postings and Backups menu option. Be certain a good data backup has been performed before purging this file.
8.Activity Log
This will remove the system's history of what each user has done within the system.
This button will only be shown when purging Accounts Payable or Accounts Receivable. When the button is pressed, a list of invoices will appear and the user will be able to tag any number of records to purge.
Select the cutoff fiscal period for this purge. If no Cutoff Fiscal Period or Cutoff Date is entered, the purge cannot proceed.
Select the cutoff date for this purge. If no Cutoff Fiscal Period or Cutoff Date is entered, the purge cannot proceed.
Customer, Employee or Vendor Range
The fields displayed will vary depending upon the module selected.
General Ledger
If purging the General Ledger, there will be no fields displayed.
Accounts Payable or Purchase Orders
If purging Accounts Payable or Purchase Orders, the following fields will be displayed.
This selection field may be used to purge invoices or purchase orders a single vendor or a range of vendors. Leave the box unchecked to purge for all vendors. Otherwise, check the Select Vendor box and the From and To fields will be activated. The number of the first and last vendors whose transactions should be purged should be entered. If only one vendor's transactions are to be purged, that vendor number should be entered in both the From and the To fields. Note: This program purges invoices or purchase orders using the vendors as a limit. It does not purge vendors.
Select Vendors (check box)
Activates the ranges defined on the next lines. This option may be used to purge transactions for a limited number of vendors or a single vendor.
From
Enter the first vendor number in a range of vendor numbers or a single vendor number. Press the lookup button and the Vendors screen comes into view. Highlight the desired vendor and press the Select button. The previous screen will come into view.
To
Enter the last vendor number in a range of vendor numbers or a single vendor number. Press the lookup button and the Vendors screen comes into view. Highlight the desired vendor and press the Select button. The previous screen will come into view.
Account Receivable
If purging Account Receivable, the following fields will be displayed.
These selection fields allows the selection of the customer invoices to be purged. Leave the box unchecked to purge invoices from all customers. Enter the number of the first and last customers whose invoices should be purged. If only one customer's invoices are to be purged, that customer number should be entered in both the From and To fields. Note: This program purges invoices using the customers as a limit. It does not purge customers.
Select customers (check box)
Activates the ranges defined on the next lines. This option may be used to purge a limited number of customers' invoices or purge only one customer's invoices.
From
Enter the first customer number in a range of customer numbers or a single customer number. Press the lookup button and the Customer Entry screen comes into view. Highlight the desired customer and press the Select button. The program will return to the previous screen.
To
Enter the last customer number in a range of customer numbers or a single customer number. Press the lookup button and the Customer Entry screen comes into view. Highlight the desired customer and press the Select button. The program will return to the previous screen.
Accounts Payable or Accounts Receivable
If purging Accounts Payable or Account Receivable, the following fields will be displayed.
Purge Open Invoices (check box)
If this box is checked, the system will purge invoices and receipts, even if they are still marked as “Open.” This setting should be used with caution. The only reason to check this box is if very very old invoices and receipts suddenly start to show up on current aging reports.
Purge Transactions to Open Jobs (check box)
If this box is checked, the system will purge invoices and receipts, even if the Job they are assigned to has not yet been closed.
Payroll
If purging Payroll, the following fields will be displayed.
These fields allows the selection of the employee(s) whose timesheets are to be purged. Leave the box unchecked to purge timesheets from all employees. The number of the first and last employees whose timesheets are to be purged should be entered. If the purge is desired for only one employee's timesheets, that employee's number should be entered in both the From and To fields. Note: This program purges timesheets using the employees as a limit. It does not purge employees.
Select Employees (check box)
Activates the ranges which are defined on the next lines. To select a single employee, enter the employee ID number in both the From and To fields. Highlight the desired employee and press the Select button.
From
Selects the first employee in a range of employees or a single employee. To purge a limited number of employees, enter the first employee's ID number in the range of numbers. Press the lookup button and the Employees screen will come into view. Highlight the desired employee and press the Select button.
To
Selects the last employee in a range of employees or a single employee. To select a limited number of employees, enter the last employee's ID number in the range of numbers. Press the lookup button and the Employees screen will come into view. Highlight the desired employee and press the Select button.
Delete Employees with No Detail After Purge (check box)
Once the file has been purged, there may be some employees who no longer have any payment history in the system. Check this box and these employees will be deleted from the employee file at the completion of the purge process.
Job Costs
If purging Job Costs, the following prompt will be displayed.
Specify the job number, range of jobs, or list of jobs to be puged. The purge program will seek out GL Transactions associated with the job(s) and remove the job-specific information from the transaction.
Equipment Logs
If purging Equipment Usage Logs, the following fields will be displayed.
This selection field may be used to purge equipment usage logs for a single piece of equipment or a range of equipment. Leave the box unchecked to purge logs for all equipment. Otherwise, check the Select Equipment box and the From and To fields will be activated. The number of the first and last equipment whose logs should be purged should be entered. If logs for only one piece of equipment are to be purged, that equipment id should be entered in both the From and the To fields. Note: This program purges usage logs using the equipment id numbers as a limit. It does not purge equipment records.
Select Equipment (check box)
Activates the ranges defined on the next lines.
From
Enter the first equipment id number in a range of id numbers or a single equipment id. Press the lookup button and the equipment lookup window comes into view. Highlight the desired equipment and press the Select button. The previous screen will come into view.
To
Enter the last equipment id in a range of vendor numbers or a single equipment id. Press the lookup button and the equipment lookup window comes into view. Highlight the desired equipment and press the Select button. The previous screen will come into view.
Posting Log
The Posting Log includes a record of every posting completed in all modules of the system. Included with each posting record is a PDF copy of the posting reports produced during the posting. These can be accessed and viewed using View Postings and Backups from the Utilities menu. When this file is purged, the user has the option of saving the Posting PDFs from the postings into a folder. The following prompt will appear:
Use the lookup button to find the folder where the reports should be archived. The individual PDF files will be named using the Control Number of the posting they represent.
Activity Log
This will remove entries from the User Activity Log. There are no special promts for purging the User Activity Log, the program will remove all the log entries for the date range specified.
While the module is being purged, the Progress will be reflected in this box. When the purge is completed, the number of records in the Original and the new file will be displayed. The number of records read will also be displayed.
This group of settings will only be available when purging Accounts Payable or Accounts Receivable.
Purge Open Invoices (check box)
If this box is checked, the purge program will purge all invoices within the date and fiscal period ranges, even if they are still marked as Open. If this option is used, make sure to set an old date range.
Purge Transactions to Open Jobs (check box)
If this box is checked, the purge program will purge invoices even if they are charged to jobs that are still marked Open.
When the Proceed with Purge button is pressed, the following type of Confirmation screen will come into view. The message will vary slightly with the module selected.
No (button)
This button, when pressed, will cancel the Purge process and return to previous screen.
Yes (button)
This button, when pressed, will proceed with the Purge process.
When the Yes button is pressed, the following type of Confirmation screen will come into view. The message will vary slightly with the module selected.
Press the OK button to accept the Purge. Press the Undo button to cancel the Purge. Warning: Once the OK button is pressed, this process is not reversible.