Forced responses in backup reminder screen

[mowgli]

This screen http://www.dentalit.com/odbkpremind.htm pops up once a month in v6.1 and forces a user to answer 3 multiple choice questions about backups before the program can be opened. I understand the legitimate concerns about backup (and wonder if a data loss inspired the feature), but it seems like a policy matter between Open Dental Software and its customers is being coded into the software. Many will simply click whatever answer just to get past the screen.
Since backup is typically the responsibility of IT people to set up and staff people to execute or monitor, presumed liability may be handled in various ways, such as a signed backup agreement or other arrangement not covered by the specific questions on this screen. What if every software that generated any kind of user data (Dexis, Apteryx, QuickBooks or even Word) forced its own backup nag screen? This could get pretty annoying.
If the feature must remain, and without an option to turn it off in the program itself, how about having a hidden setting in the preference table called BackupRemindFrequency to provide flexibility (i.e., if ValueString=0, default 1x/month; 1=every 90 days; 2=every year; 3=never)? Or simply a BackupRemind preference (1=on, 0=off)? If someone is able to change this directly in the database, he probably also understands the importance of backups. Note that our policy has always been to make as few changes as possible to the source code of the official Open Dental version.

[drtech]

i agree...i use a cron job on my linux server everynight to my home over a ssl connection to do all my backups and never use OD's method, so I don't want a message to prompt me to back up.

[jordansparks]

Even if you choose to ignore the screen and click "whatever", it's still very useful to remind you how important it is. I'm not doing it to enforce a policy matter. I'm doing it out of moral obligation. It's not in response to one data loss. It's in response to a sickening series of constant data loss events. Years worth of data regularly lost by a wide variety of users. It's completely unacceptable. If you feel like hacking the system, just change the date for that pref to a date that's years in the future. You will never see the window again.

But I would object to a vendor changing that date without the fully informed consent of the dentist. Even if a third party is setting up the backup process, I think the dentist must be restoring at home. It would be very stupid to fully trust a third party to get it right. The OD database is far far more imporant than any other data on the computer, so there's no comparison to other programs. Hundreds of thousands of dollars are at stake for each office.

[mowgli]

Yes, I'm aware of the option of changing the last backup reminder date. Thanks for the response, as it clarifies your views on the matter.

[tmv2]

> "just change the date for that pref to a date that's years in the future"
This can be set in OD or in some piece of code? I'm also doing daily backup using cron over ssl and I would like to prevent the office from seen the backup screen since they would not know what to do with it.

thanks.

[drtech]

in the mySQL database. use SQLYog or something similar.

[jordansparks]

I don't think it's safe for average users to set this date. If you don't know how to set it, I don't think anyone should be explaining it to you. Why is it so bad for the front office to see this reminder once a month? It says right in the screen that they can guess. So what if it slows them down a little until they figure out how to click through it?

You say you are doing daily backups using cron over ssl. Have you read the reminder window? That's only one of the three tasks that you need to be doing to ensure good backups. How are you doing the other two? I think it's worthwhile to annoy users with this window. I remind everyone that hundreds of thousands of dollars are at stake for each office. That is not an exaggeration. We're talking about bankruptcy here people.

[drtech]

very true, follow Jordan's advice and make sure you are TESTING backups!

[tmv2]

I take data protection and backup very seriously. I have mirroring set up in the office, running daily cron backup over ssl and restoring it at a different geo location, and storing the backups on DVD. I also backup all the mysql bin logs to restore the data up to any points in time. In addition, my entire linux is encrypted.

I understand your point about the important of backup and agree that most offices should see the backup window as a monthly default, but all good applications should have a way to control defaults and warnings.

[jordansparks]

You sound like a very advanced user. In that case, AND ONLY IN THAT CASE, should you consider turning off that feature. You can only do it through a direct database tool by editing the value of that row in the preference table. If your backups are as good as you claim, then there is not as much risk of you corrupting your database without having a good backup to restore from. Do you have enough info now to change it? You can change it. You just have to be an advanced user to figure out how.

[tmv2]

Got it. Thanks for the pointer.