Question Database Size...

branston

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Hi,

I was just wondering what the main contributor to database size was? E.g. Linked tables, queries, tables, report or vba code?

Trying to cut down the size of my db, and this would be very helpful to know!!

Thank you!
 
i don't have a direct answer to that but one thing you could do is create several empty dbs and import all objects of a similar type into each - 1 db for tables, 1 db for queries, 1 db for code etc., and check the sizes. not sure how exact that would be but could give you an idea.
 
Linked tables add very little to the size of the database in which they are linked (they are stored at full size in their native db, obviously) - indeed, a workaround for databases pushing the 2GB limit is to farm out the tables to separate databases, then link them back in.

Objects such as images or documents (stored inside an OLE field, rather than just as a path) are probably the most likely items to cause a database to grow rapidly - if you have them.

Memo fields can end up taking up a fair bit of space, even in tables which appear small by their record count.

Have you tried compacting and repairing? - your DB size could just be the result of cruft and kipple.
 
Hi. Thanks for your replies. I have all my tables linked at the moment, which is helping keep the size down. I also compact and repair regularly.

I have done a quick look like sugested by wazz (Thank you!). Queries are tiny (which i expected) Forms are a lot bigger, and reports bigger still.

This is really usefull, as at the moment i have a lot of queries which are similar and then a lot of forms which are the same apart from they are linked to different queries. I think i can bring the size down considerably by changing the recordsource to a different query in VBA.

Thanks for all your help & sugegstions!
 
How big are we talking about here? None of what you've described should make it 'scary big'.

Is there a portability issue or something that you're up against?
 
Just under 380,000KB. Thing is, its only just starting out - theres a lot more to be done, so i thought if i figured out small ways of saving space now then i would be in the habit of doing it later!
 
Make sure you link all of your inserted objects instead of embedding them if you want to keep the size down. One embedded image bumped my DB by 60MB. :)
 
do you mean 380Kb

or 380Mb (380,000Kb)

-----------
380 Kb is tiny

380Mb is big (max size is 2Gb - 1Gb for A97)


the main reasons for databases of this size is

a) just a big database - hundreds of forms/queries etc - but still not likely to be 380Mb
b) large data tables - which realy should be an a separate backend linked database (already pointed out)
c) embedded images - they increase size to an amazing extent
d) loads of temporary tables
e) also note that queries create temporary internal objects in the dbs (that you never see) these are recovered by compacting.


note that a big database isnt a problem in itself - it just is what it is. So a dbs up to 30 or 50Mb may not be an issue - just a big database
 
as in 380Mb.

Thanks for all your suggestions.

I do have a lot of forms etc so i will try and cut back on them as preciously mentioned.
All my data is linked from a backend, so that shouldnt be a problem.
I do have a couple of images which are dotted around most of the forms - so i will store them in the back end and link them (this will also make sense just incase they ever change!)

Thanks again for all your help!
 
branston,

Is the front end's size 380Mb after you compact the database?

When you enter design mode on a form or report, this can cause lots of bloating of a database. While developing on a database, I have seen a database grow 10 times in size when going into design mode on lots of objects. This is one of the reasons why I like to deploy my front ends as an MDE/accde.
 

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