The metrics data you collect is very valuable information. Accordingly, the dashboard provides several mechanisms for backing up this information.
At any time, you can manually save a backup of your data by choosing
" → Tools → Save Data Backup".
This will prompt you for the name of a ZIP file, and will save a full
backup of your data to the given file.
Optionally, you can choose to save your data as a "Process Dashboard Backup" file. This format contains the exact same data as the ZIP file, but may be useful in organizations that forbid the attachment of ZIP files to email messages.
Finally, you can choose to save your data as a "Redacted Process Dashboard Backup" file. This format allows you to select various categories of information that should be scrambled or removed from the data backup. This format can be useful if you need to protect the privacy of individuals or if you need to obscure proprietary information. However, some types of data cannot be redacted; so if the original data is highly sensitive, you should still use caution and review the resulting backup carefully before releasing it.
To view the data in a data backup, choose
" → Tools → Open
Dataset", and a file
chooser window will open. Choose a data backup file in ZIP or PDBK format,
and a second Process Dashboard window will open, displaying the data from
that file. The data you view in that second window is transient/temporary
data extracted from the backup; any changes you make will be discarded when
the window is closed.
In addition, the Process Dashboard "Tools for Team Leaders" include a program called the Quick Launcher. You can drag a data backup file onto the Quick Launcher, and it will open a Process Dashboard window displaying the data inside. This functionality works just like the Open Dataset option on the Tools menu, but does not require another Process Dashboard window to be open first.
A data backup is just a ZIP file, containing the data in your personal data directory (along with some additional information). If you have lost or corrupted your personal data and you wish to restore your data from a backup, take these steps:
The mechanism described above is very useful for interpersonal communication. But for disaster recovery, it is important to have an automated backup strategy. If your computer and hard drive were to crash, you wouldn't want to discover that your most recent backup was several weeks old.
Thus, the dashboard has a mechanism for making backups on a regular basis. To configure an automatic backup, take these steps:
Each time the dashboard is shut down, it will create a backup ZIP file and save it to the location you've requested. If you are in the habit of leaving the dashboard running overnight, it will also save this backup each evening between midnight and 1 AM. The backup ZIP file will be overwritten each time, so at any point in time the external backup file will contain a copy of your most recent data.
If you want to keep a history of backup files, include the word %date in the name of your backup file. (Make certain to type this exactly as written: a percent sign followed by the word "date" in all lower case.) The current date (YYYY-MM-DD) will be included in the name of the file, so backups from dates in the past will not be overwritten. This can be particularly useful for the Team Dashboard, as a way to maintain a record of how the team plan has changed over time. If you use this technique, keep in mind that no old backups will be discarded, so the list of backup files could grow very large over time. You may need to visit the directory periodically and purge old backups that are no longer needed.
The backups created by this process are identical to the backups created by the manual "Save Data Backup" operation. Thus, they can be viewed in the Quick Launcher, and the mechanism for restoring from a backup is the same.
Many teams choose to use backup files for a secondary purpose. Specifically, a process coach, team leader, or PSP instructor may need to look at the data for a particular individual, so they can troubleshoot data entry problems or mentor the individual in their process improvement efforts. The automatic external backups and manual data backups provide a simple way to support this particular need.
Accordingly, your team may decide to agree upon a particular network directory, then have each individual save an automatic backup to that directory. This would provide a disaster recovery plan if a team member's computer were to crash. In addition, it could enable your coach or planning manager to examine data for a particular individual if necessary.
If you choose to follow this approach, consideration should be given to data privacy concerns. For example, you might consider configuring the permissions on the given network directory to prevent read access by arbitrary individuals. On the other hand, if your organization follows high-maturity practices and does not abuse personal data for inappropriate purposes, this may not be a significant concern. Each organization must make these decisions based on their organizational climate. If organizational data privacy concerns outweigh the benefits of information sharing, you may wish to lock down the permissions so that data backups can only be read by the individual who created them.
The mechanisms above can be very useful for disaster recovery, such as the loss of your hard drive. But occasionally you may encounter other problems. For example, you might accidentally delete a large portion of your task hierarchy. Or you might encounter a rare bug in the Process Dashboard that corrupts your data. In these cases, by the time you shut down the Process Dashboard, your external backup would already be overwritten with the problem data.
To address these types of problems, the Process Dashboard automatically maintains a set of internal backups that reflect changes made to your data over the past few weeks. Each time the dashboard starts up or shuts down, and at least once daily, the dashboard will zip up the files containing your data. This ZIP file is stored in a "backup" subdirectory underneath your data directory.
If you look in this "backup" directory, you will typically notice many ZIP files. The most recent file is a full backup of your data, similar to a manual data backup. Earlier files are not full backups - they are incremental backups, containing only the files that changed between two points in time.
Incremental backups are not preserved forever. By default, the dashboard will retain backups for three weeks. (This timeframe can be changed via the preferences editor.)
If you decided that your data had been corrupted in some way, and you wanted to restore your data to some earlier point in time, you would follow the steps below. (Make certain you understand these instructions completely before you begin, and use extreme caution when following them; incorrect actions could result in permanent data corruption! Proceed at your own risk.)