problem with large database & pivot tables

[sjs01]

Hi there,
I've developed over the past 3-4 years a database holding data relating to workload figures for my place of work. It has grown to a large size (eg. one table holds 1-2 million records). I've been trying to run a particular pivot table based on the sql query below:

SELECT Tests.Test, Year([DAUTH])+(Month([DAUTH])<4) AS FYear
FROM Sets INNER JOIN Tests ON Sets.SET = Tests.[Set Code]
WHERE (((Sets.DAUTH) Between #4/1/2003# And #3/31/2007#));

When I try producing a pivot table using the above query it takes forever - has it running for over 8 hours last night - then access closed down with a runtime error. Does MS access have a problem with large databases? Is there any way I can improve the efficiency / speed of access with a download add-on? Or, will I have to resort to using something like MySQL on a LINUX OS which has fewer demands on system resources when using large databases.

Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks for reading.

 

[Dennisk]

do you have a PK on the main table. try with indexes on Sets.DAUTH , Sets.SET and Tests.[Set Code].

or break the query down into a filter query ie a query for the where clause and a query for the calculation.