Cleanup tasks in F2
| The content of this website is last updated to F2 version 12. cBrain are working hard on supplying you with the newest documentation of F2. |
F2 automatically cleans up data using cleanup tasks. A cleanup task automatically deletes various types of data from the database every night. Cleanup tasks are performed for two reasons. First, cleanup contributes to ensuring that F2 performs optimally. Second, cleanup ensures that the data in the organisation’s database complies with the organisation’s data deletion policy and relevant legislation.
See descriptions of individual cleanup tasks in F2 for detailed information.
| Cleanup tasks related to the organisation’s data can be configured to match the organisation’s data deletion policy. F2 is configured in cooperation with cBrain. |
Types of cleanup tasks
F2 has different types of cleanup tasks. F2 distinguishes between cleanup tasks that make data inaccessible in the user interface and those that permanently delete data from the database.
Soft and hard deletion of data
It is essential to distinguish whether data is only deleted from F2’s user interface or whether it is permanently deleted from the database. When a user deletes data (for example a record or document) from the user interface, this is referred to as soft deletion. Soft deletion of data means that a user can neither access nor recreate this data in F2’s user interface.
Soft-deleted data still resides in the database. A hard deletion is when soft-deleted data is also deleted from the database. This deletion is pemanent.
Certain cleanup tasks in F2 delete soft-deleted data from the database, meaning the data is hard-deleted. These tasks run nightly. Some cleanup tasks always delete data on the same night. However, the cleanup tasks concerning the organisation’s original data only delete data after the number of days specified in the task configuration.
Your organisation should specify the default values for the cleanup tasks that permanently delete soft-deleted data. Read more about default values for data deletion from the database.
Read more about soft deletion options for users in F2:
| Metadata about soft-deleted data may appear in reports created in the F2 Analytics module. This happens if a generated report does not exclude data about soft-deleted elements. Even though metadata appears in a report, it is still not possible to access the soft-deleted element. The element remains inaccessible in the user interface. |
Default values for data deletion from the database
A range of cleanup tasks contain default values for how long data remains in the database before it is soft-deleted or hard-deleted. The default values apply, for example, to documents that are deleted by a user in the user interface. When a user deletes the document, it is soft-deleted. A default value can be the number of days since the document was soft-deleted from the user interface until the cleanup task hard-deletes the document from the database.
The purpose of the default values is to ensure that the organisation complies with applicable legislation regarding how long an organisation may retain data, for example personally identifiable data. The organisation should specify the default values for the individual cleanup tasks that hard-delete data from the database.