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Access file size growth

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by donald_sutton

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I have 2 Access (2003)files running in XP on a Novell network. One file contains tables with data only linked to another Access database file which is used as the Front End containing queries, forms and code modules. I have recently had a problem with file size growth of the front end file. After compacting it is around 34MB. If I change the code in module or form by say simply moving 1 line of code to another position then saving the file size grows approx 100MB to 142MB, another minor change and it becomes 214MB etc. I have been letting the size grow to about 400MB then recompacting where it returns to around 34MB. What have I done to try to correct this?
I created a new file, relinked the tables from the file containing tables and exported the queries, forms and code modules to the new Access file. This created a new file of around 34MB. The bad news is that this new file began to grow with each susequent save. If you use the database backup option from the file menu then the file size will also return to 34MB on the backup file. Any clues as to what might be happening and how do I fix it?

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by deadly ernest

I wonder if it suffers from the same growth problem in Word. Check your option settings for something that may be causing similar problems to these two MS Word problems.

1. A setting option in Word is 'Allow Fast Saves' - this should be unchecked as what it does is it saves every key stroke you make in the document, and the incremental auto saves are of the key strokes since the last save. It just keeps adding to the file size and never saving as if a snapshot of the text at a particular point in time.

I've seen a file that was a major assignment text amended a lot over a three month period end up as over 500 MB, but when this box was unchecked and the file saved, it came down to 1.2 MB.

2. Change tracking. This works much the same way as above but displays the changes made with a line through it and colour coded. This is very useful for some documents where multiple people are working on a draft, but it does mean all the early versions are kept as part of the file and it bloats out quick.

.........
Your problem sounds to me like Access is saving both the old version and the new version of the whole file, complete with all links, and you need to clear it back to the current version only - which you do when you compact it.

by donald_sutton

Thanks Deadly Ernest. It prompted me to have a look around some of the option menus and I found a `'Compact on Close' option which I checked. Today the file had grown to 325MB and to try it I closed the database and checked the files size. It had shrunk to 34.5MB so as long as I monitor the size while saving changes I have the option of running the compact command but when I exit the database it will compact automatically.

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