Keep a Knowledge Base up to date
A Knowledge Base keeps a copy of what it read. When the source changes, the copy must be refreshed. This is a synchronisation. You choose how it happens, for each base.
What you need
Section titled “What you need”- A Knowledge Base. See Create a Knowledge Base.
The three ways
Section titled “The three ways”You choose the way in the field Synchronised, in the step About it of the window of the base.
| Way | When the base reads its source again |
|---|---|
| By hand | Only when you ask, and at its first search if it was never synchronised. |
| After a delay | At the next search once the delay has passed since the last synchronisation. You give the delay in hours (at least 1). |
| When the source changes | At the next search when its source changed: a file modified, a file added or removed. |
In the three ways, the base reads its source again at a search, not in the background. A base that nobody searches is not read again.
A base that was never synchronised
Section titled “A base that was never synchronised”A base is synchronised once when it is created. If it was never synchronised, for example because it was imported and waits for a setting, it is synchronised at its first search.
”When the source changes” and the kinds of source
Section titled “”When the source changes” and the kinds of source”Only the kind Files can tell, without reading everything, that something changed: it compares the names, the sizes and the dates of the files. The other kinds cannot tell. A base of another kind that is set to When the source changes reads its source again after the delay of its base, which is 24 hours unless it was changed.
If you use another kind than Files and want a precise delay, choose After a delay.
Synchronise a base now
Section titled “Synchronise a base now”- In Resources > Knowledge Bases, double-click the base. Its window opens.
- Select Synchronise.
The state goes to Synchronising…, then to Synchronised, or to Failed if something could not be read. Reading happens in the background: you can close the window.
What the state says
Section titled “What the state says”| State | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Never synchronised | Nothing was read yet. |
| Synchronising… | The base is reading its source. |
| Synchronised | The last reading went well. |
| Failed | The last reading failed. Open the base: What could not be read says why. |
If the server stopped in the middle of a reading, the base does not stay at Synchronising… for ever. It shows Failed, and What could not be read says: “The synchronisation was cut off when the server stopped. What it had read is kept; synchronise it again to finish.” Select Synchronise to finish. A search on such a base does it for you.
How to know it worked
Section titled “How to know it worked”Open the base. Last synchronised shows a new date, and Holds shows the number of documents and passages. See Look inside a Knowledge Base.
Good to know
Section titled “Good to know”- A search waits for a base that is due. The search synchronises the base first, then answers. With a large source, that search can take a while.
- A reading only does what changed. A document whose text did not change is not treated again. A document that disappeared from the source is removed from the base.
- If the first reading fails and the base holds nothing, a search says so, with the reason, instead of answering with nothing.
- Emptying a base removes what it holds and keeps its source and settings. It is read again at its next search. See Change, empty or delete a Knowledge Base.