How to back up a small database automatically

Base by Zaweba backs up each database for you. When you open one, it makes a copy (once a day) and keeps the latest ten, so you always have the past several days to go back to. File > Back up now makes an extra copy whenever you want one, and File > Backup copies lists them and opens the folder where they are kept.

There is very little to set up, which is the point. The rest of this page explains what is copied, when, and how to make your backups truly safe.

What gets backed up

In Base a database is one .obase file. Your tables, records, relationships, forms, queries, reports, scripts and even the diagram layout all live inside it. Backing up therefore means copying one file, and each backup is a complete database you can open on its own.

The copies go into Documents\Base by Zaweba\Backups. You don't need to go looking for them, as File > Backup copies shows the list and opens the folder.

When copies are made

The automatic copy happens when a database is opened, at most once a day. The latest ten are kept, and older ones are cleared away so the folder doesn't fill up.

Base also makes copies at moments when something big is about to happen. When an older .obase file is moved up to the current format, the file as it was is copied first. Compact and repair makes a backup copy before it starts work. These copies are there in case you want to see the database exactly as it was beforehand.

Automatic backups can be switched on or off from the Database menu, alongside the other start-up options. For nearly everyone, leaving them on is right.

When to press Back up now

Use it before anything you might regret. Running an update query that changes hundreds of prices. Deleting a year's old records with a delete query. Importing a big spreadsheet. Redesigning a table that already holds data. Base asks before action queries run and refuses changes that would break your records, but a copy taken a minute earlier is still the simplest way to undo a decision.

It is also worth pressing at the end of a long day of data entry, since the automatic copy only happens when a database is opened.

Getting a copy off the PC

The backups sit on the same PC as the database. That protects you against mistakes, like a bad import or a deleted table, but not against the PC itself failing or being lost. For that you need a copy somewhere else as well: a USB drive, another computer, or whatever backup arrangement you already use for your documents.

Because each database is one file, this is easy. Copy the .obase file, or the backup folder, to the other place every so often. Backup by Zaweba is the Zaweba backup app if you want a tool for the job.

Opening a backup

To go back to an earlier version, open the folder from File > Backup copies, pick a copy by its date, and open it in Base. Have a look before you replace anything. Often you only need one table or a few records from the old copy, and you can export those to CSV from the backup and import them into the current database instead of throwing away a day's other work.

For a small club or business, that combination is usually enough: daily copies kept automatically by Base by Zaweba, a manual copy before big changes, and the file copied off the PC now and then.