Database front-end, back-end split problem

[hunoob]

Hi there Everyone! I am very new to Access, and I already got a lot of help on this forum while creating a database. So I have now my very nice database and I would like to split it to front-end and back-end database. The front-end would be an mde extension file.
Actually I have already split the database and have my back-end mdb and created the front-end mde. But there are some things I do not understand..maybe someon can explain it to me. The back-end mdb is 136 megabytes, which is ok as there are many records. But my problem is with the mde file. The mde extension is 68 megabytes....which seems to me very big as there are only two forms, two queries and two reports. I thought that the mde file contains only the forms, codes and queries...that way the file should be no more than a few megabytes. I thought that the mde contains the forms and queries which are connected to the back-end database. Can someone please explain why is the front-end mde so big in size, and how could I decrease it's size. Thank you in advance!

 

[RuralGuy]

Did you Compact and Repair the FrontEnd before creating the MDE?

 

[hunoob]

Hi! Rural Guy! Yes, I did. But maybe I did not split properly the file.
Here are the steps what I did:

1. Create the back-end: Tools » Database Utilities » Database Splitter
2. Prepare the original mdb file for mde:
- Compact and repair
- Decompile
- Debug the code
- Compact and repair
3. Create the mde

The weird is that when I remove or delete the back-end file then I get an error in the mde. So actually everything seems to be allright... but why is the file so big? I really do not understand!
Thank you!

 

[RuralGuy]

A FrontEnd can grow depending on what you are doing, event an MDE. Set your FE to Compact on Close before making the MDE and see what happens.

 

[gemma-the-husky]

images tend to make databases bloat (although not to the extent you mention)

do you have embedded images in your front end?

secondly are you sure you deleted all the tables - the size of the dbs indicates some tables could still be there, esp if compact/repair isnt freeing space

 

[hunoob]

Hi Everybody! Thank you for your comments. I have found the problem, but it really makes me very sad.

When I started to create this database the first and most important issue was to be very user friendly because it will be used by REALLY computer illiterate people. So I have added a graphical background to the forms. The total sizes of jpg's (which I embedded in the mde) by themselves is around 3 - 3,5 megabytes. And this is what makes the mde to be 68 (!!!) megabytes. I just tried to delete the graphics and then check the size of the mde, and it got back to normal. So the jpg's are making the size so huge. Is there any way to decrease the size of the mde or this is it? (I would not like to delete the jpgs as I have many many hours of work in the file to make it have a very user friendly enviroment). If you have any ideas please share it! Thank you in advance!

 

[gemma-the-husky]

you can link the images instead of embedding them which will reduce the size -

but does it really matter - all software is bloatware nowadays, to some extent!

the size wont matter, and it wont affect performance

 

[boblarson]

68 MB for an Access FE is not really a significant number. I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[hunoob]

Hi All! Thank you for the ideas and oppinions. You know convinced me that 65 mb is not too much... Thank you!