Can I reuse a Batch session to clean a different file?

Summary

Information and settings for a particular QAS Batch run are held in a session file (this is a file with the extension .ssn). If, as part of a regular process, similar files need to be cleaned, sometime the same session can be used, however this can also cause problems, as detailed below.

Solution

1. It is not advised to reuse sessions for different data files

Once a session is created to use a particular file, the file should not be changed outside of Batch. It is of course possible to re-run the same file in the same session, by just opening the session again.

2. If similar sessions will be run repeatedly, a session ‘template’ can be used

Create a folder underneath the session folder (e.g. C:\Program Files\QAS\QuickAddress Batch 6.00\Session) and call it "Templates". Then each time a session is created (and will need to be reused), close it immediately and save a copy of its .ssn and .idb database files into another labelled sub-folder in the "Templates" folder. This is shown in figures 1, 2 and 3.

Figure 1: The Batch session directory

Figure 2: A template in the Batch session directory

Figure 3: Another template in the Batch session directory

Then to use a template, you can recover the session and .idb files for that session template from the sub-folder and place them in the session folder.