DATABASE MANAGEMENT

Database catalogs
A database catalog provides a list of all databases on a server. You use the server Catalog task to create a database catalog. The Catalog task bases the catalog file (CATALOG.NSF) on the CATALOG.NTF template and adds the appropriate entries to the catalog's ACL.

All databases on a server are included in the catalog when the Catalog task runs. Only administrators can see listings for some databases (those with the "List in Database Catalog" option selected in the Database Properties box), as these databases are not included in the default views.

For databases in the default views, you can specify categories in the Database Properties box to determine how the databases appear in the categorized view of the catalog. For large catalogs, you can create a full-text index to make searching the catalog faster.

To help users locate databases across an organization, or to keep track of all the replicas for each database, you must set up a Domain Catalog -- a catalog that combines the information from the database catalogs of multiple servers -- on one of your servers. You can set up a Domain Catalog regardless of whether you plan to implement Domino's Domain Search capability.

Uses for a server's database catalog

Besides allowing users to see what databases are on a particular server, catalogs provide useful information about databases. For each database in a view, a Database Entry document provides information such as file name, replica ID, design template, database activity, replication, full-text index, and ACL, as well as buttons that let users browse the database or add it to their bookmarks. In addition, the document displays a link to the database's Policy (About This Database) document, which, for databases users are not authorized to access, they can view by sending an e-mail request to the database manager.

Administering a server's database catalog

IBM® Lotus® Domino® runs the Catalog task daily at 1 AM by default to create or update a database catalog on every server. The Catalog task creates a CATALOG.NSF database from the CATALOG.NTF template and populates the catalog with a list of all databases on the server. You can populate the catalog at any time by typing the following server command at the server console:

load catalog

To view the documents in the database catalog, open the catalog from the Domino Administrator or the Web Administrator tool (Files tab).

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