Total Visual Agent Product Guide

Microsoft Access databases are relatively easy to create and deploy. Over time, they contain more and more critical data and perform more sophisticated tasks. As a file server database, Jet databases need periodic maintenance (visit the Microsoft site for keeping Jet databases working in top condition).

Bottom line: Access/Jet databases need periodic system administration to perform optimally. Total Visual Agent institutionalizes these tasks so you don't need to worry about them!

Total Visual Agent: A System Administrator's Dream! - PC Week

People and computers run on different schedules. The best time to perform routine maintenance tasks on your databases—compacting, repairing, and backing them up—is when nobody is actively using the databases. For most organizations, this means the middle of the night or the weekend, but nobody wants to be the one to stay behind to compact and repair the databases.

Total Visual Agent solves this problem by automating your most tedious maintenance chores. You schedule the Events for Total Visual Agent to execute, and Total Visual Agent performs the specified Actions on your behalf while you are sleeping or at a ball game. Events can be scheduled multiple times per hour, hourly, daily, weekly, monthly, or on a one-time basis.

Total Visual Agent can also perform a variety of other tasks:

• Track statistics on the number of objects in your databases.
• Track statistics on the number of records in your tables.
• Create rolling "archive" versions (copies) of your databases.
• Extract data from selected tables and write them into another database while users are in the database.
• Run macros and command line Actions.
• Create named Task Groups containing the Actions to perform against several different databases.
• Automatically perform Actions on all of the databases or other files found in a specified directory.

The latest version of Total Visual Agent supports all versions of Access through 2016, as well as Visual Basic 6.0 and Jet. It manages databases in MDB, ACCDB and ADP formats.

System Administrator Features and Benefits

Feature	Benefit
Manage multiple databases (including secured and password protected databases)	An unlimited number of databases can be managed by one installation of Total Visual Agent (provided the machine can see across the network and has sufficient rights).
Perform multiple tasks on each database	Several tasks can be performed on each database in the order you specify.
Automated, "hands-off" execution	Once setup, the tasks are executed on schedule without the need for user intervention. Even use the Total Visual Agent Service to run on a server, without having a user logged on!
Complete audit trail	Every task on every database is documented with start and end times.
Email notification of problems	An email is automatically sent to the system administrator if a problem is encountered.
Create named Task Groups to contain a list of actions to perform against a group of databases	An advanced enterprise feature to simplify the execution of the same tasks on multiple databases.
Automatically perform actions on all the databases or files located in a specified directory	An advanced enterprise feature to simplify the management of all databases or files in a directory (no need to know names in advance).

Available Actions (Tasks)

Action	Benefit
Compact/Repair the database	Recover unused disk space, optimize the database, and update query statistics, which can improve query performance. The database is repaired if Jet determines it is necessary.
Copy and zip databases or create rolling "archive" versions	Multiple backups ensure you can easily fall back to a previously saved copy of your database.
Perform "live" data extracts	Databases cannot be copied while users are in it. Data extracts backs up data when you would otherwise not be able to make a copy. Ideal for 24 hour a day operations.
Run macros and other command line actions on a database	Provides the flexibility to schedule any action you can launch from an Access macro such as downloading or uploading data, printing nightly reports, running reconciliation analysis, etc.
Track statistics on the number of objects in your database	Monitor the growth of your important databases.
Track statistics on the number of records in your tables	Track trends in data acquisition. Can be used to monitor usage by hour of day.

Total Visual Agent Quick Start

Total Visual Agent is made up of three separate programs:

1. The Manager sets up the schedules and track previous history and statistics.
2. The Monitor runs in the background, waiting for the time to process the next scheduled Event.
3. The Service can be used in place of the Monitor to execute scheduled actions in a more secure manner.

The first step is to create the schedule for the activities you wish to perform on your databases. Launch the Total Visual Agent Manager:

Total Visual Agent ships with four sample schedules to get you started. You can use these schedules, or create your own.

Create an Event and Specify How Often it Should Run

To begin working with Total Visual Agent, select the schedule you wish to modify in the treeview control, or create a new schedule. Specify the schedule type (Daily, Weekly, etc.), and the parameters for that schedule type:

Perform your daily chores in the middle of the night! You can even back up data while users are in the database (ideal for 24/7 environments) or execute your own custom code such as printing reports or data uploads and downloads.

Add Items and Actions to Each Event

For each schedule created, you can add one or more databases, ADPs, Task Groups, or Directories. In this example, a database named Sales.accdb is specified.

Specify and Set the Actions to Perform

Each individual Action has options. For example, you may specify the location for compacted or archived databases, the name of the macro to run, etc.:

Activity History Log

As events and actions are performed, a complete activity log is maintained so you know what happened:

The comments field shows information on the original size, final size, difference and percent of space saved for each database that’s compacted.

Database Statistics

If you are collecting database statistics, you can see how your databases grow over time:

System Requirements

Total Visual Agent 2021 has the following system requirements:

• 40 MB free disk space for Total Visual Agent program file
• 150 MB free disk space for Microsoft .NET Framework 4.6.2 if it's not already installed
• Microsoft Access does not need to be installed on the PC unless Access specific tasks are selected such as running Access macros and compacting ADPs
• To support ACCDB databases with the new formats introduced after Access 2016, an Access version (64 or 32-bit) that can open the database must be installed on the PC.

Licensing and Pricing

Total Visual Agent is licensed on a per installation basis. One installation can manage databases across an entire network. A single license is $399, and a 5-license package is available for $1199. Existing Total Visual Agent customers can upgrade a single license for $299. Site licenses are available by contacting FMS, Inc. All FMS products offer a 30-day money back guarantee.

Visit the New Features for Total Visual Agent 2021 page for details of new features. Here are some highlights:

Your Microsoft Access databases represent a major investment of time and resources. There is a tendency to forget that system administrative tasks are required after an application is deployed. To maintain optimal performance and minimize corruption, you must be sure that database backups, compacts, and other critical operations are carried out on a regular basis. With the new Total Visual Agent, you can manage these tasks with ease and complete confidence!