Hi,
I'm unsure if what I'm wanting to do is possible in HM3 (yet) but if it is I'd be very grateful to learn how to do it.
What I'm wanting to do is go from my current practice of keeping a single lifetime database to having two databases, one "Lifetime Database" (everything ever, for full analysis) and one "Current Database" (the most recent x months, for general use and playing, and to help HM3 performance in typical usage outside of full analysis - hopefully I'm correct in assuming that a database stripped of a chunk of hands yet retaining villain stats is both possible and would imply reduced memory usage).
In my head my plan for doing this involves i) duplicating my single lifetime database; ii) purging hands (not stats, just hands) older than x months in the duplicated one I'll use as the "Current Database"; iii) renaming the databases; iv) periodically merging/importing the new hands of the "Current Database" into the "Lifetime Database." to keep it up to date.
If I understand purging correctly, purging hand histories (or at least, doing so in a specific way) does not remove the accumulated villain stats for HUD purposes, so the new current database would still allow me to have the same HUD stats I've collected on opponents - I'd just not be able to analyse/replay the hands purged from the streamlined database, but would still be able to do that in the lifetime one. If my understanding isn't correct on this, it would change the viability of doing this in the first place, as I wouldn't want to lose so much HUD information. Similarly, since I'm assuming that keeping a lifetime and a current database in this way would result in better performance (faster loading of the current database vs lifetime database, less RAM usage within the current database vs lifetime database etc) if this assumption is incorrect, then the value to me of switching from a single lifetime to a lifetime plus a current database would be reduced.
So my first questions are to verify the correctness of two assumptions that my plan is predicated upon:
1) Does purging hand histories in HM3 (or using purge in a specific way) just purge the hands for analysis/replay purposes whilst ALL villain stats are retained for HUD purposes?
2) Would doing the above result in HM3 performance gains whilst using the current database relative to the lifetime database (quicker loading of the smaller current database, lower ram usage, etc)?
If the answers to 1 and 2 are affirmative (and therefore there's value with me making this change), then in terms of practically actioning my plan:
3) What's the best (priorities being reliability > speed > ease) way to make a new duplicate of an existing database? (Exporting all hands and reimporting? Creating a new database and importing hands? Creating a new database and merging? - not sure if such an option exists - Selecting the file in Windows and copy pasting? - not sure if that would even work)
4) What are the specific steps to ensure that when purging hands in the duplicated database (to make it a current one) I do so in a way that retains my villain stats for HUD purposes?
5) How do I rename databases? I can't find an option within HM3 to do this, and I'm not sure if renaming the actual .hmdb file in Windows Explorer would do the trick or be a terrible idea.
6) For the purposes of the regular periodic updating of the Lifetime database with the new hands from the Current database, I'm not finding a merge or sync database option in HM3. Would the best way to do it therefore be to use good ol fashioned import hands or something else?
Thanks (and sorry for so many questions, I'm fresh to HM3 and wanting to get to grips with it ASAP so I can be fully comfortable and efficient using it and get back to improving my poker )
PS. I know this is a general support forum and I am seeking general support, but the context of this does lend itself to a few feature suggestions for consideration (basically stuff that if it was in HM3 I would have clicked through and used to accomplish what I'm trying to do here), so I hope it's okay for me to append them here, and if appropriate I could cut/paste this bit into the feature forum: [File Menu > Rename Database] [File Menu > Duplicate Database - perhaps too niche use, but here I am wanting to do it!], [greater clarity for uses wanting to purge hands whilst retaining their valuable villain stats for their HUD - could be realized either within the software or by a guide/tutorial - assuming my understanding of purging is correct ofc], [an automated (set and forget) or semi-automated (a few clicks) way of keeping a lifetime and current database and having the new hands from current make their way into lifetime - in my head I see the "sync to cloud" feature of HM2 repurposed to a "sync to other database" feature in HM3, or a merge feature - perhaps too niche use, but here I am thinking it would be handy for me, especially if my plan above is viable].