The keyword !PROTECT, without an argument, added to a dynamic dump script file suspends updates to each non-transaction file while it is being dumped. This ensures the file’s data integrity. The associated index files for a data file are not guaranteed to be consistent with the data file because the files are not dumped at the same time. With transaction files, the files are consistent because transaction log entries are used to bring all files back to the same point in time, i.e., the effective dump time. In most situations it is more efficient to dump only the data files and rebuild to recreate the indexes.
The update suspension is enforced only at the ISAM level unless the keyword !PROTECT_LOW is used instead. !PROTECT and !PROTECT_LOW are mutually exclusive options. The last one in the script is used. FairCom suggests using the !PROTECT_LOW when using low-level function calls.
Whether or not !PROTECT or !PROTECT_LOW are used, resource updates are suspended at the AddResource(), DeleteResource(), and UpdateResource() entry points.