Question: How do I use the Administrative and Repair functions in the Act! Diagnostics tool?
Product Details:
Product Family: Act!
Product: Act! Pro, Act! Premium, Act! Premium (access via web) (Server side only)
Version: 2012 (v14) and later
Answer:
The Administrative and Repair functions featured in this article are only some of the most commonly used functions in Act! Diagnostics. You can find additional fuctions and information about the Act! Diagnostics utility for your version of Act! by opening Act! Diagnostics, then clicking Help > ActDiag USer's Guide. The Act! Diagnostics tool is upgraded with each upgrade of Act!, however, if you wish to try the latest version, it can be downloaded, along with the User's Guide that goes along with it, from the following knowledgebase article:
What is the most recent version of the Act! Diagnostics utility?
Answer ID What is the most recent version of the Act! Diagnostics utility?
Detach an Act! database from the SQL Server Instance
This option will allow you to safely disconnect the Act! database from the SQL Server (ACT7) instance. This is useful for if you need to move a database in a remote synchronization environment, but you wish to retain synchronization. For instructions on detaching an Act! database from the SQL Server Instance, refer to the following knowledgebase article:
How to detach an Act! database from the Microsoft SQL Server (ACT7) instance
Answer ID How to detach an Act! database from the Microsoft SQL Server (ACT7) instance
Attach an Act! database to the SQL Server Instance
This option will allow you to attach a database that has been detached from the SQL Server (ACT7) instance. This is useful if you have moved a database and need to reattach it. For instructions on attaching an Act! database to the SQL Server (ACT7) instance, refer to the following knowledgebase article:
How to attach an Act! database using the Act! Diagnostics Utility (ACTDiag)
Answer ID How to attach an Act! database using the Act! Diagnostics utility (ActDiag)
Restore a database from a .BAK file
This option will allow you to use the .BAK file from inside an Act! backup to restore the backup in the event that there are errors restoring the backup. This can be useful for troubleshooting errors that are occurring during a normal backup restoration. For instructions on restoring a database from a .BAK file, refer to the following knowledgebase article:
How to attach a database from a backup without doing a Restore
Answer ID How to attach a database from a backup without doing a Restore
Database Maintenance
For instructions on performing database maintenance using Act! Diagnostics, refer to the following knowledgebase article:
Act! database rebuild and repair procedures
Answer ID Act! database rebuild and repair procedures
Downgrade Act! Premium database to Act! Pro
This feature will allow you to downgrade an Act! database from Act! Premium to Act! Pro. This is useful if you have a database that was created in Act! Premium, but you have purchased Act! Pro and would like to use the same database. For more information, refer to Method Two in the following knowledgebase article:
How To Downgrade an Act! Premium Database to Act! Pro
Answer ID How to downgrade an Act! Premium database to Act! Pro
Reset Database Preferences
The Reset Database Preferences option allows you to reset database specific preferences and can be done either globally or selectively. Resetting the preferences will revert them back to the program defaults established when you first created the database, allowing you to potentially resolve database issues. To reset your database preferences, refer to the following knowledgebase article:
How do I reset Database Preferences in Act! Diagnostics?
Answer ID How do I reset Database Preferences in Act! Diagnostics?
Using Command Line Functions
A number of functions in ActDiag can be run form the DOS command prompt window. You can run these commands by following the steps below:
The commands correspond to menu items available within Act! Diagnostics. See the table below for examples of how to run these commands
Important Notes:
Product Details:
Product Family: Act!
Product: Act! Pro, Act! Premium, Act! Premium (access via web) (Server side only)
Version: 2012 (v14) and later
Answer:
The Administrative and Repair functions featured in this article are only some of the most commonly used functions in Act! Diagnostics. You can find additional fuctions and information about the Act! Diagnostics utility for your version of Act! by opening Act! Diagnostics, then clicking Help > ActDiag USer's Guide. The Act! Diagnostics tool is upgraded with each upgrade of Act!, however, if you wish to try the latest version, it can be downloaded, along with the User's Guide that goes along with it, from the following knowledgebase article:
What is the most recent version of the Act! Diagnostics utility?
Answer ID What is the most recent version of the Act! Diagnostics utility?
Detach an Act! database from the SQL Server Instance
This option will allow you to safely disconnect the Act! database from the SQL Server (ACT7) instance. This is useful for if you need to move a database in a remote synchronization environment, but you wish to retain synchronization. For instructions on detaching an Act! database from the SQL Server Instance, refer to the following knowledgebase article:
How to detach an Act! database from the Microsoft SQL Server (ACT7) instance
Answer ID How to detach an Act! database from the Microsoft SQL Server (ACT7) instance
Attach an Act! database to the SQL Server Instance
This option will allow you to attach a database that has been detached from the SQL Server (ACT7) instance. This is useful if you have moved a database and need to reattach it. For instructions on attaching an Act! database to the SQL Server (ACT7) instance, refer to the following knowledgebase article:
How to attach an Act! database using the Act! Diagnostics Utility (ACTDiag)
Answer ID How to attach an Act! database using the Act! Diagnostics utility (ActDiag)
Restore a database from a .BAK file
This option will allow you to use the .BAK file from inside an Act! backup to restore the backup in the event that there are errors restoring the backup. This can be useful for troubleshooting errors that are occurring during a normal backup restoration. For instructions on restoring a database from a .BAK file, refer to the following knowledgebase article:
How to attach a database from a backup without doing a Restore
Answer ID How to attach a database from a backup without doing a Restore
Database Maintenance
For instructions on performing database maintenance using Act! Diagnostics, refer to the following knowledgebase article:
Act! database rebuild and repair procedures
Answer ID Act! database rebuild and repair procedures
Downgrade Act! Premium database to Act! Pro
This feature will allow you to downgrade an Act! database from Act! Premium to Act! Pro. This is useful if you have a database that was created in Act! Premium, but you have purchased Act! Pro and would like to use the same database. For more information, refer to Method Two in the following knowledgebase article:
How To Downgrade an Act! Premium Database to Act! Pro
Answer ID How to downgrade an Act! Premium database to Act! Pro
Reset Database Preferences
The Reset Database Preferences option allows you to reset database specific preferences and can be done either globally or selectively. Resetting the preferences will revert them back to the program defaults established when you first created the database, allowing you to potentially resolve database issues. To reset your database preferences, refer to the following knowledgebase article:
How do I reset Database Preferences in Act! Diagnostics?
Answer ID How do I reset Database Preferences in Act! Diagnostics?
Using Command Line Functions
A number of functions in ActDiag can be run form the DOS command prompt window. You can run these commands by following the steps below:
- Press the Windows Key + R on your keyboard to open the Run dialog
- In the Run dialog, type cmd, then press enter
- Type the following, depending on your operating system type and version of Act!, then press Enter:
Act! Pro, Act! Premium
- 64-bit operating system:
cd c:\program files (x86)\act\act for windows
- 32-bit operating system:
cd c:\program files (x86)\act\act for windows
Act! Premium (access via web)
- 64-bit operating system:
cd c:\program files (x86)\act\act for web
- 32-bit operating system:
cd c:\program files (x86)\act\act for web
- 64-bit operating system:
- To view a list of available commands, type
actdiag /? - Once you’ve chosen a command, press enter, then type
actdiag /[command] [database name]then press Enter again
Example: If you wanted to detach the Act! v18 demo, you’d type:
actdiag /detach ACT2016Demo
The commands correspond to menu items available within Act! Diagnostics. See the table below for examples of how to run these commands
Important Notes:
- In the Command Line examples below, substitute [database name] with the name of your database (without the brackets). Substitute [directory] with the target directory on your machine for the action
- The database used must be local to your machine
- The database used must be attached to the SQL Server on your machine, unless you are trying to attach the database
- All commands start with actdiag and then a space
- Note the proper use of spaces in the command lines
- These are only a few of the commands available, for a full list, refer to the ActDiag User's Guide
| Function | Command Line to type | Example | Result |
| Backup Database (SQL BAK file) | ACTDiag Backup [database name] [directory] | ACTDiag Backup act2011demo c:\ActBackups | Creates a SQL .BAK backup file of the specified database in the specified directory |
| Check Database | ACTDiag Check [database name] | ACTDiag Check act2011demo | Performs an error check of the specified database |
| Detach Database | ACTDiag Detach [database name] | ACTDiag Detach act2011demo | Detaches the specified database from the local instance of SQL Server |
| Attach Database (.adf) | ACTDiag Attach [path to database .adf file] [path to database .alf file] | ACTDiag Attach c:\ActDatabases\act2011demo.adf c:\ActDatabases\act2011demo.alf | Attached the specified database file to the local SQL Server. The path to .ALF (log) file is optional if you do not have that file. |
| Downgrade from Premium | ACTDiag Downgrade [database name] | ACTDiag Downgrade act2011demo | Downgrades the specified database from the Premium version to the Pro version |
| Restore SQL .BAK backup file | ACTDiag Restore [path to .bak file including file name] [file path to directory to restore to] | ACTDiag Restore c:\act backups\act2011demo.bak c:\actdatabases | Restores a specified SQL .BAK database backup file to a specified directory |
| Restore As SQL .BAK backup file | ACTDiag RestoreAs [new name of database] [path to .bak file including file name] [file path to directory to restore to] | ACTDiag RestoreAs act2011demoNew c:\ActBackups\act2011demo.bak c:\ActDatabases | Restores a specified SQL .BAK database backup file to a specified directory with a new name |