The most frequent cause of index corruption are power failures while data is being written to the disk. Fire departments frequently suffer from weekly generator tests which momentarily drop power while software is running. You can tell an index may be corrupt if you get error messages or unanticipated results when running reports or doing searches.
To repair an NFIRS 5 Alive database quit NFIRS 5 Alive and open 4D Tools to the structure file as described earlier in this chapter.
Press the click on the "Repair" tab. You will see three "Quick Repair" options:
This first option repairs damaged indexes. If you have had problems with searching, they may be repaired by selecting this option.
The second option will check the data and fix any damaged records or indexes it finds. This option will take care of many, but not all, types of record damage. Unlike Compacting this option does not create a new data file. After the repair is complete you may quit 4D Tools and restart NFIRS 5 Alive. If the problem has been resolved, there's no need for any additional use of 4D Tools.
The third option rebuilds all indexes. Again, if you have had problems with searching rebuilding your indexes may correct the problem.
"Recover by tags..." should be used for persistent problems not corrected by other options.