Menu Option: Area : Manage Areas
Use the Manage Areas screen (Main Menu: Area: Manage Areas), to create, delete, and organize the data sets (Areas) on your computer. The Manage Areas screen is divided into three panes. The table in the top pane shows the areas installed on your computer. Below you can view and edit notes associated with each area, and manage the backup versions of areas (see below).
Top Panel
The top table contains the following columns:
Name: the name of the area.
Zipped: a checkmark indicating whether the area is currently zipped (i.e. compressed into a single "zip" file). You can double-click a checkmark to zip or unzip an area.
Created By: the user who originally created the area (on older format data sets, this will be marked "unknown").
Last Saved By: the user who last saved changes to the area.
Last Saved: the date when changes were last saved.
Password: the password-protection status of the area: none, required to edit, or required to open.
Toolbar
The Manage Areas toolbar gives access to a variety of options for managing areas:
New Area: Use this option to create a new Area data set. You
can create one based only on the default data, or you can create it
as a copy of an existing Area.
Delete: Use this option to delete an area. NB: deleted areas
are permanently deleted from your hard-disk, and unless previously
backed-up, cannot be restored.
Rename: Use this option to
rename a folder.
Archived: Use
this option to compress an entire area's data files into a single
".leap" file.
Backup Use this option to make a back-up copy of an area. The
area will first be archived into a single .LEAP file. You can backup
to any drive or folder on your PC or on a local area network connected
to which you are connected.
Restore from... Use
this option to restore a previously backed-up data set, or to install
an area sent to you by another person. You will be prompted to select
the name of a .leap or .zip file. LEAP will check the file to ensure
that it is a valid LEAP area.
Pack: Use this option to pack the data files of an area, removing
unused space and compacting the data files.
Change Password: Use this
option to add, change or delete passwords for protecting access to
an area. If an area already has a password, you will be prompted to
enter the current password, before you can enter as new password.
Note: for password-protected areas, the delete, repair and rename
options require that you first enter a password.
Available Versions
LEAP saves multiple versions of areas, in case you decide you want to go back to a previous version of your data. Backup versions of areas are automatically created when the area is saved. Previous versions are placed in the _backup folder and named with the area name and the backup date and time. For example, a version of FREEDONIA from 2.30 PM on March 2, 2015 would be named freedonia_2015_3_2_14_30.zip.
As versions accumulate,
LEAP will selectively and automatically delete some of the saved versions,
balancing the need to keep previous versions, with the need to preserve
hard disk space. Several versions will be preserved from the previous
24 hours, plus one per day for the last seven days, one per week for the
last month, one per month for the last year, and one per year before that.
Note: LEAP will never automatically delete a version that has a comment.
You may also manually create a version from the Area:
Make Version menu option (
)
and give it an optional comment. It is useful to create named versions
at important milestones in a project. For example, once you have finished
entering the Current Accounts for an area, you might create a version
with the comment "Current Accounts complete." As another
example, suppose you had just finished a study and written a paper, you
might create a milestone version, with the comment "Data set corresponding
to finished paper."
The bottom-right part of the Manage Areas screen lists any available backup versions for the area selected in the top table and allows you to manage these backups. The panel has its own toolbar containing three options:
Make:
Use this option to create a new saved version. You can optionally
give it a name,
Revert: This
option lets you revert to a previously backed-up version of a data
set. Use this option with care as it will overwrite the current
version of your data set.
Comment:
allows you to edit the comment associated with a saved version of
an area. For example, you may wish to mark versions made after
important events such as project milestones.
Delete:
deletes a version.
Auto-Versioning: Use this check box to globally enable or disable the automatic creation of versions. We strongly recommend leaving this option enabled.
Notes:
The Make
and Revert options are also
available directly from the Area menu of the main screen.
The Backup function creates backup copies of an Area in any selected disk or folder. Backups record the current state of the area but can also optionally include the information in earlier versions. For more information see the topic describing the Backup function.