23  Backing up the T.O.V.A. Database

The T.O.V.A. maintains all of your subjects’ test session data in a database, and it’s critical that you back up your T.O.V.A. data.

23.1  Easy database backup

This is the simplest way to back up all of your data.

1. Run the T.O.V.A. and click ‘Help’.
2. In the Help window, click ‘Back up database...’.
3. Choose a destination and click ‘Save’.

The T.O.V.A. will begin exporting all the sessions in your database to a T.O.V.A. file at the chosen location. To restore from backup, simply import the .tova file as you would any other T.O.V.A. file (see section 24 for more information).

Note: If you are using a “Separate" database configuration–separate databases for each user on the computer–you will need to back up each user’s database separately.

23.2  Automatic backup

The T.O.V.A. also has an automatic database backup feature. By default, it backs up your database every seven days. See section 27.5 for details.

23.3  Back up to the T.O.V.A. server

The T.O.V.A. can automatically and securely back up your database to The TOVA Company’s servers. This is independent of the automatic local backups, and it can upload test sessions as soon as they are saved or modified. We still recommend you employ other backup solutions as well. See section 27.5 for options.

23.4  Other backup options

You can also use your computer’s own backup software to back up the database folder. Here’s how to find it:

1. From the T.O.V.A. main window, click ‘Preferences’.
2. In the Preferences window, click ‘Database’ (see Figure 36). Here, you will see the database type (‘Separate’ or ‘Shared’) and path.

Database options

The path listed here (under the selected database type) is where your database is stored. You will want to back up the entire contents of this path.

Note: If your database type is ‘Separate’, each user on this system will have their own database. Therefore, you will need to back up each of these databases to secure your data.

This does not back up the T.O.V.A. application itself. If your hard drive fails and you have to rebuild your computer, simply re-install the T.O.V.A. software and restore the database to the selected database folder.

If you have specific questions about backing up your T.O.V.A. data, T.O.V.A. technical support (section 29) is happy to help! Please call us before you lose your data.