If you have set up mirroring or synchronization replications, there may be times when you also want to execute a full refresh (snapshot) replication, as in the following examples:
If the Replication Agent has been stopped for a period of time that exceeds the length of time that logs are kept available, a refresh replication can capture all the changes that are no longer available in the log.
If a field value changes in every source record of a large table, it can be more efficient to run a refresh replication instead of capturing the change using mirroring or synchronization.
When replicating from an IBM Db2 for i table which uses RRN (relative record numbers). If the source table is reorganized, the RRN are modified and the new information needs to be present on the target database for subsequent mirroring replications to work correctly.
The Replication Properties dialog for mirroring and synchronization replications allow you to specify that you want to perform an initial refresh (erase all records from the target database and complete copy from the source database based on the mappings in your replication definition.) You can avoid truncating all records on the target database by writing a script for the Refresh_onBeforeTruncate.
You can either define an initial refresh to occur when setting up the replication (typically using the Replication wizard) or you can pause the replication schedule to add a refresh operation:
Disable and/or stop the replication. The replication must be both stopped and disabled before you can modify its properties.
In the Management Center, expand the metadata for the replication.
Select the replication that you want to refresh.
From the right mouse button menu, choose Replication Properties.
Click Scheduler in the left hand pane to view the Scheduler tab.
In the Start Time field, click Now.
Check Execute Initial Refresh, if it is not already checked
Click OK to close the Replication Properties dialog.
Monitor the refresh operation in the Replication Monitor tab of the Management Center.
If your replication is part of a group, first remove the replication from the group, set the initial refresh, then add the replication back into the group.