Memo field has maximum of 255 characters

[Mythblstr]

Is it possible to increase the size of a memo field to more than 255 characters
Any suggestions would be appreciated...
John

 

[boblarson]

A memo field has a maximum of about 65,000 characters via a text box and 2 Million characters if done through VBA. Why do you think it can only handle 255 characters?

 

[Kryst51]

Are you sure you're not using a text field, it's maximum is 255, but a memo field can hold way more.

Edit: Oops, Bob beat me to it....

 

[Mythblstr]

It says Memo in the data type. when I copy text into the field any text after 255 characters is removed when I click save. I know it's 255 characters because I copied the remaining text into Word 2007 to do the count. It said 255 including spaces. In the properties I have an ampersand for the format and rich text for the text format. I don't have any idea why it's doing this. I am an novice at best with Access.
????

 

[boblarson]

It says Memo in the data type. when I copy text into the field any text after 255 characters is removed when I click save. I know it's 255 characters because I copied the remaining text into Word 2007 to do the count. It said 255 including spaces. In the properties I have an ampersand for the format and rich text for the text format. I don't have any idea why it's doing this. I am an novice at best with Access.
????

Is your underlying recordsource for the form a QUERY by chance? Is this a bound form or an unbound form or are you doing this directly in the table? You say when you click SAVE it does this truncation but where is this "save" you are clicking and how is it supposed to save the record?

 

[Mythblstr]

"Is your underlying recordsource for the form a QUERY by chance? Is this a bound form or an unbound form or are you doing this directly in the table?"

I created a form that I believe is bound to the table but I'm not certain of bound and unbound.


"You say when you click SAVE it does this truncation but where is this "save" you are clicking and how is it supposed to save the record?"

I created a form and I am copying the text from an online database called Galileo (ati-online.com) directly into the form. Is it possible that that is the problem?

 

[boblarson]

You don't have an input mask or format set on the field do you?

 

[Mythblstr]

I had an ampersand in the format field. I didn't put it there, it did it itself for some reason......

 

[Mythblstr]

Here is a snapshot of the properties for the field

 

[gemma-the-husky]

Bound form:

the form (properties) has a recordsource which is either a table name or query name


Bound Control:
the control (properties) has a control source which corresponds to the field you want ot use - in this case "Notes"

this control should now accept data up to 64000 characters. Either direct entry, or by cut and paste.

 

[Mythblstr]

It continues to truncate text beyond 255 characters. I can copy more text than that into the field but as soon as I click save it's gone!

 

[boblarson]

It continues to truncate text beyond 255 characters. I can copy more text than that into the field but as soon as I click save it's gone!

Again, I don't understand what you are clicking to save. In Access, a bound form will save automatically when you move to another (or new) record. What are you clicking to save?

 

[Mythblstr]

Here is an image where I am saving it at....

 

[boblarson]

Here is an image where I am saving it at....

Just an FYI - that button has nothing to do with records. It is for DESIGN CHANGES to your objects. Paste the text in the control and then move to a new record.

 

[Mythblstr]

Thank you Bob, I did not know that. When I saw the save button there I just clicked it automatically, from spending so much time in Word

 

[The_Doc_Man]

When a memo field is being truncated like that, usually there is some intermediate at work. A wizard, for example, frequently truncates long text when importing or exporting. Spreadsheets impose limits. Some functions use byte offsets internally so get truncated. Also, if there is a variant present and it thinks you have text, it might decide that you have "ordinary" text rather than "memo-sized" text.

I've seen this before but it is usually tricky to find the culprit. It has always been some form of intermediate that silently truncates for you.

 

[Rabbie]

This link may give you some insight into possible reasons for truncation of memo fields