New Automatic Backups

Tekla Structural Designer
2021
Tekla Structural Designer

New Automatic Backups

While Tekla Structural Designer has always had an Autosave feature which provided additional file security to cater for unexpected PC/ program problems this had some limitations. These are addressed in Tekla Structural Designer 2021 with the addition of a comprehensive new Backup facility. This ensures that, whatever happens, there can be previous versions of the model to revert to. Another benefit is an automatic history of the model (limited by the configuration settings - see below).

  • The Backup configuration settings are in the Home > Settings > Autorecover group as shown in the picture below. Via these you can:

    • Enable/ Disable the Backup process via the Enabled check box - default = enabled.

    • Set the time Interval for backup creation - default = 30 minutes

    • Define the backup Location directory - the default is your Windows user profile Documents directory. Click the link to browse to your preferred location (both local and network locations are allowed).

    • Specify the Maximum number of backups per project - default = 10 (when the limit is reached the older backups start to be automatically deleted).
  • Backup File List - the list of backup files for the currently opened model is accessed from the new “Model Backups'' option in the File menu. This opens a new dedicated Model Backups dialog listing all the current backup files.

    • Note that it includes the unique Model ID which is used for the model’s specific backup directory name.

    • Click the Backup path to open the backup directory in Windows Explorer.

    • The date and time of each backup file is added to the end of the file name. The backup files are saved with read-only permission

      • Similar to autosaves, backups are core saves of the model - they are only created if, at the end of an interval, there have been changes since last backup.

  • Using Backups for Recovery:

    • Manual Recovery - this can be accomplished from the Model Backups dialog or directly from Windows Explorer for numerous eventualities/ reasons.

    • Handled Exceptions - in a process that has been in place for some time, when a program error occurs a dialog is displayed when possible, prompting the user to select from a list of file Revert options - these depending on when the error occurs and what previously saved/ autosaved files exist. Backup files can now be selected for reversion in this eventuality:

      • Where they exist, Backup files are now added to the list of options via a new “Revert to automatic back up this model” radio button option, this includes a drop list of existing backup files from which you can select the preferred file.

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