The IMatch Database

The IMatch database stores all the information about your files, their metadata, and other information.

An IMatch database is a normal file with the .imd5 file extension on your hard drive that contains all the data IMatch manages for your files. The file name of the database is defined by you when you create the database.

IMatch databases do not contain copies of the files you manage with IMatch. IMatch manages your files at their original locations and does not require moving them into the database or some form of repository. All the files stay right where they are, because IMatch can work with whatever file system structure you prefer. Whether your files are all on your local hard drive or distributed over multiple drives or servers, IMatch can handle it.

Open a Database

IMatch automatically remembers and opens the last opened database at startup. To open another database, use the Database menu > Open Database command.

Where to Store Your Database?

You should store your database in a separate folder on your fastest SSD. IMatch creates temporary files while a database file is open in IMatch. These files are created in the folder containing the IMatch database and are deleted when IMatch is closed.

It is very important that you store your database separately from the files you manage in IMatch.

IMatch monitors the file system to detect changes made to folders managed in the database. IMatch updates the database all the time. If you store the IMatch database in a folder (or subfolder) or a folder indexed by IMatch, this will generate a huge number of "file system modified" events, which IMatch will try to handle. While doing this, the database will be updated again, which causes new events. IMatch will perform very badly in this situation.

Most users find it best to create a new folder in the root of their hard drive, e.g. c:\IMatch Databases. Using a separate folder on the top-level makes it easy to back up the database, set up file system permissions, and exclude the database folder from on-access virus scans, etc.

File System Privileges

All users who need to work with the IMatch database must have read, write, and modify access privileges for the folder containing the database. You can configure these privileges in Windows Explorer.

For information on how to configure Windows file system privileges, see the Windows Help.

IMPORTANT: Virus Checkers

A virus checker constantly scanning the database on every access will bring down the performance of IMatch to a crawl.

If you run into performance problems with IMatch (slow database load times, general sluggish performance), you should exclude the folder (!) containing the database from "on-access" virus checks for optimal performance. Excluding the entire folder is crucial because IMatch and the database system create short-lived temporary files in that folder all the time. By avoiding unnecessary virus checks on these temporary files, you can ensure optimal performance and a smoother user experience.

Let your virus checker scan the database folder at least once per day to be on the safe side.

For information on how to configure your virus checker, please see the documentation accompanying your anti-virus product.

Database Backup

This is a very important topic. Although IMatch databases are rock-solid and employ top-notch security technologies, a database can become corrupted by drive problems, a hard power failure, network problems, or application errors.

Please take these rules as a guideline:

Back up your IMatch database at least daily to ensure continuity of operations.
Do not overwrite the database backup every day; instead, keep each backup for future reference and troubleshooting purposes.
Keep these backups for a few weeks or longer at minimum. This protects you from scenarios where an IMatch database becomes damaged but the error is not immediately detected.
Run the Database Diagnosis tool frequently to detect and fix problems in database files, helping you maintain a healthy and reliable IMatch database environment.

Following these simple rules will keep your database safe.

Locked or Read-only Databases

If IMatch reports that a database is locked or read-only, there are several things to check:

IMatch Trial Version.
A trial version of IMatch is used and the database is older than 30 days. The trial version opens databases older than 30 days in read-only mode only.
The database has been opened in writable mode by another user.
If a user opens a database in writable mode, no other user can open until the user closes the database again
The database has been opened in read-only mode by another user.
In this case, other users can open the same database in read-only mode only. You can enable this in the Database menu.
The user tries to open a database in writable mode, but he has no write privileges to the folder containing the database.
Check the file permission for the user in Windows Explorer.
The user tries to open a database in read-only mode, but he has no write privileges to the folder containing the database.
Check the file permission for the user in Windows Explorer. Even for opening a database in read-only mode, the user must have write permissions for the folder containing the database. The database system creates temporary files. You can give the user read-only access to the database file itself, though.