An audit file is created by DMSII and contains the raw format of changes made to the DMSII database by update programs. Audit file records contain the deletes, adds, and modifies that were made to the various structures. It can contain, for example, hours', days', or weeks' worth of information.

DATABridge uses the audit file for the raw data of each database change to exactly replicate the primary database. DATABridge records the audit location (AFN, ABSN, SEG, IDX) between runs, so it can restart without losing any records.

If you set the DBEngine Read Active Audit option, DATABridge can access the current audit file. If you do not set Read Active Audit = true in the DBEngine parameter file, DATABridge can access audit information up to and including the current audit file minus one. The audit file contains the update level at the time the audit file was created. The update level in the audit file and the update level in the DESCRIPTION file used by DATABridge must match before DATABridge will update a replicated database.

When an audit file is closed, DMSII creates the next one in the series. Audit files are closed for several reasons, including the following:

• An operator closes the audit file with the mixnumber SM AUDIT CLOSE command.
• The audit file reaches the file size set in its DASDL.
• There is an I/O error on the audit file.
• There is not enough disk space for this audit file.
• The database update level changes due to database definition changes
• A DATABridge accessory closed the file in preparation for the fixup phase after extracting records from a DMSII database.
• The current audit file could not be found.
• A file reorganization was executed to modify the DMSII structure.

The replicated database. The replicated database is the database that usually resides on the client machine and contains records cloned from the DMSII database. The replicated database is updated periodically with changes made to the primary (original) DMSII database. The periodic update (or tracking process) is explained later in this section. Compare this to the primary database.