Should data be encoded for db size reduction?

[trainee]

I have been creating a personal database (access 2002) to keep help keep track of all the stupid things I own. I was wondering what people think about encoding data to help reduce database size. I know that for my small database it probably doesnt matter, but it it worth it to enocde colors into a couple of characters (2) instead of having a text entry that could fit a color spelled out (15). Ex.

Gray vs. G
Dark Gray vs. DG
Black vs. B
Blue vs. BL
etc.

I have come across a number of times when I can encode data and then write code for my forms to interperet that data back to plain english for me. Am I just wasting time if I do this? Or is there a point where this is recommended? Thanks for your advice.

 

[ssteinke]

Personally, sounds like a waste of time. Assuming these items are in a lookup table, you might find better performance when using a numerical key, but I can't imagine you'll find much of a performance boost from the difference in a few letters. I wonder if their is a line though?

~Scott