Enable Audit Trail

Any edits to a record can be tracked through an Audit Trail. When the Audit Trail is enabled on a table, an Audit icon displays next to each record. Clicking the icon opens a window that displays the date and time of the change, who changed the record, and the values before and after the change.

When Audit Trail is enabled, three tables are automatically created in the database: XXXXAudit, XXXXAuditColumn and XXXXAuditProcedure, where XXXX is the name of the table being audited. It is important to decide if the Audit tables are to reside in the same database as the application tables or in a different database. If using a separate database, register the database in the System Administration WebApp as a data source.

This topic contains these sections:

• Enable Audit Trail on a Page

• Drop Audit Trail

Enable Audit Trail on a Page

There are two options to select when adding a new table:

• Enable Auditing—If checked, any additions or changes made to data in the table are maintained in the audit tables.

• Audit Procedures—If checked, a record of every stored procedure that runs against a record as part of a Syniti Construct Page Event is maintained in the audit tables.

To enable Audit Trail on a page:

1. Click Admin > Data Sources on the Navigation pane.

2. Click Audit for the WebApp’s data source.

3. Click Edit.

4. Select the data source from Audit Data Source ID list box.

   Note

   The Audit Data Source ID is the database where the three audit tables are stored once the tables are built. This can be the same as the data source being audited; however, using a secondary database and data source can provide benefits in data management.

5. Click Save.

   Note

   The tables to be audited must be added.

6. Click Tables.

7. Select the table from Table Name list box.

8. Verify Enable Auditing check box is enabled.

9. Click Save.

   Note

   These buttons become enabled on the Horizontal View.

   • Build Audit Tables button—Creates the audit tables in the specified Data Source. Once the tables are build, the Snapshot Data button is enabled.

   • Snapshot Data button—Creates a copy of the tables when the snapshot is taken. When a record is edited, the audit trail records both the before and the after values. However, the trail only shows values that are edited. Snapshot Data can be viewed as an insert for existing records. If the audit is enabled after the table has values in it, the trail has no way of telling where the data came from, so the snapshot is a way of verifying that some data existed prior to auditing.

   • Check Columns button—Reports any differences between the columns in the table and the audit table. When the audit tables are build, all the columns from the table that are being audited are included. However, it is possible to have a case where the columns in the table and the audit tables do not match. There can be two reasons for the misalignment: 1) the Designer deliberately removed some columns from the audit table because those values should not be audited or 2) the Designer added columns to the table after the audit tables were built and forgot to manually update the audit tables.

10. Click Build Audit Tables button, a validation message displays.

11. Click the OK button.

12. Click Snapshot button to take a snapshot of the data in the table if necessary.

13. A validation message displays, click the OK button.

Drop Audit Tables

Two users are required to drop audit tables. The first user requests the drop and within 24 hours, the second user drops the audit tables.

To drop the Audit Trail:

1. Click Admin > Data Sources from the Navigation pane.

2. Click Audit for the WebApp’s data source.

3. Click Tables

4. Click Vertical View.

The first user clicks the Request Drop button. A message displays, confirming a request has been submitted. Both the Request Drop and the Drop Audit Tables buttons are inactive.

If the second user does not click the Drop Audit Tables button within 24 hours, the button becomes inactive and the process needs to be initiated again. Once the button is clicked, the audit is dropped. When Audit is dropped, the audit tables remain in the database. Once the Audit is dropped, the record must be deleted on the Audit Tables page.

Note

Dropping an Audit table is not workflow enabled; verbal communication between the two users involved is required.