How to archive mail in Lotus Notes
Lotus Notes is the supported e-mail and database application at PeopleSoft. Because e-mail is the most widely used form of communication, a mail file size can increase very quickly. The corporate-wide quota for all mail files ( NO exceptions) is 150 megabytes (MB). This generous quota allows for more efficient Lotus Notes and e-mail processing as the space used on the mail servers where the files are located will be more balanced.
As a mail file nears or exceeds the 150 MB size, an archive should be created to retain the documents that must be saved. Archiving moves the documents from the mail file located on the server to the archive database which is located on the hard drive of a user's computer. For information on managing a mail file, see Eureka! document 15002 — Managing the Lotus Notes mail file.
Note: The archive database cannot exceed 1 gigabyte (GB). If the archive nears or exceeds 1 GB, it may become corrupt and unsalvageable. Because the archive is a database located on the computer's hard drive, the bigger the archive gets, the more space it will be taking up on the hard drive. If the archive nears the 1 GB size, but has not exceed it, contact Technical Support Operations for assistance. To keep the archive at a manageable size, periodic maintenance should be done on the archive. For additional information, see Eureka! document 16202 — How to maintain the mail file archive in Lotus Notes.
Checking the size of the archive database
Creating a secondary archive database because the primary archive is nearing the 1 GB size
If a user has multiple computers, the archive should be created and used on one machine only. Trying to archive from multiple machines may cause confusion and loss of archived documents.
The archive database is created based on the archive settings the first time archiving is done. To set the archive settings:
Open the Lotus Notes mail file.
Select Actions from the menu bar.
Select Archive from the drop down list and select Settings... from the next drop down list.
Basics:
What documents do you want to archive?: Deselect all options so no check marks appear.
The archive will be located in either the mail or archive folder located in c:\apps\notes\data. The name of the archive database is a_filename.nsf (up to 8 characters) and will automatically be created based on the user's actual mail file name. The a_ indicates that the database is an archive of the mail file.
Note: An archive must be located on the computer's hard drive for archiving to work properly. The default of c:\apps\notes\data\archive or c:\apps\notes\data\mail should not be modified.
Advanced:
How do you want to archive this database?: The option Manually from my workstation to local should be selected and must not be modified.
Log archiving activity to: The archive log will be the same path as the archive database. This must not be modified. The archive log will have the file name of l_filename.nsf (up to 8 characters). The l_ indicates that this is the log for the archive database.
Note: If this option is not deselected (no check mark), any documents that are archived that have responses will not be removed from the mail file. When archiving, the documents will be added to the archive, but they will also remain in the mail file which can cause confusion and will not reduce the size of the mail file.
Click OK.
The archive settings have now been set. The archive database will be created the first time archiving is done.
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Documents can be archived from the Mail > 180 Days view, the All Documents view or specific folders:
Open the view or folder that documents will be archived from.
Select each document that should be archived by clicking in the column to the left of each document so that a check mark appears.
To select multiple documents that appear one after another, click to the left of the first document and drag the mouse to the last document.
Archiving from the Mail > 180 Days view: Click the Archive Selected Documents button.
Archiving from the All Documents view or a specific folder: Select Actions from the menu bar, then select Archive from the drop down list and select Selected Documents from the next drop down list.
If archiving from the All Documents view and the original entry (parent) for a repeating meeting is selected for archiving, all instances of the meeting will be archived and the meeting will be removed from the calendar. It is recommended that calendar entries are not archived so that future entries for repeating meetings are not removed. For information on how to change the default so that calendar entries do not appear in the All Documents view, see Eureka! document 12085 — How to make calendar entries not appear in the All Documents view in Lotus Notes.
Warning: Never attempt to archive by dragging documents from the active mail file and dropping them into the archive. Documents do not successfully drop into the archive. They will be permanently lost and cannot be recovered.
The documents selected have been removed from the mail file and will now appear in the archive.
Note: Documents will appear in the archive in the same folder it appeared in the mail file after archiving. If a folder is deleted from the mail file, it will not be deleted from the archive in case documents have been moved to that folder.
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The archive database can be opened from the mail file or from the Mail > 180 Days view.
Note: If a user has multiple computers, the archive can only be opened on the computer where it was created. If the user attempts to open the archive on a different computer, the message "File does not exist: mail\a_filename.nsf" or " File does not exist archive\a_filename.nsf" will be received. The archive should be created and used on one machine only. Trying to archive from multiple machines may cause confusion and loss of archived documents.
The archive (file cabinet) icon will not appear until after the first time archiving has been done. If the icon does not appear after archiving the first time, exit Lotus Notes and relaunch it. The icon should then appear. If the icon still does not appear, contact Technical Support Operations for assistance.
The Open archive button will not work until after the first time archiving has been done. If archiving has never been done and the button is pushed, the the message "File does not exist: mail\a_filename.nsf" or " File does not exist archive\a_filename.nsf" will be received. Once archiving has been done the first time, clicking the button will open the archive.
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The archive log lists the archive dates and times, who the archive log is for, where the archive is located and the archive database file name. When an entry in the archive log is opened, the statistics for that archiving session is given. The date, number of documents moved to the archive and number of documents deleted from the mail file are noted.
To open the archive log:
Open the Lotus Notes mail file.
Select Actions from the menu bar.
Select Archive from the drop down list and select Open Log from the next drop down list.
The archive log will open and specific entries can be viewed by double clicking on them.
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The archive database cannot exceed 1 gigabyte (GB). If the archive nears or exceeds 1 GB, it will become corrupt and unsalvageable.
Open the archive database.
Select File from the menu bar.
Select Database from the drop down list and select Properties... from the next drop down list.
Click the second " i" tab in the Properties window.
The size of the archive is shown to the right of Size:.
If the archive database is at or near the 1 GB size, the archive settings should be modified so that a new archive database can be created the next time archiving is done.
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If the archive database is at or near the 1 GB size, the archive settings should be modified so that a new archive database can be created the next time archiving is done. Because the archive is a database located on the computer's hard drive, the bigger the archive gets, the more space it will be taking up on the hard drive.
To modify the archive settings so a new archive database can be created:
Open the Lotus Notes mail file.
Select Actions from the menu bar.
Select Archive from the drop down list and select Settings... from the next drop down list.
In the Archive database field, add the number one ( 1) to the filename a_filename.nsf (up to 8 characters) which is the current archive's file name. Do not modify the path that specifies the archive location.
Example: Wonder Woman's current archive file name that appears in the Archive database window is a_wwoman.nsf. Because her archive is nearing the 1 GB size, a new one will need to be created. She will modify the file name in the Archive database window to a_wwoma1.nsf. The "1" replaced the last "n" before the .nsf because the file name can only be up to 8 characters.
Click OK.
The new settings have been saved. The next time archiving is done, a new archive database will be created with the new file name.
Note: When the archive icon is clicked to open the archive database, the new archive database will open. To view documents in the original archive, select File -> Database -> Open -> leave the server as "Local" -> double click the folder the archive is in in the Database window -> single click the archive name and check the file name. If the old archive file name appears, double click to open it.
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Created by the PeopleSoft Knowledge Management Team.
Copyright © 2002
All rights reserved.
Created: sak 10/19/2000
Revised: dcb 10/25/2002
Reviewed: 10/24/2002