Growing MS Access File Size problem

Question

I have a large MS Access application with a lot of computations in VBA code. When I run it it eventually crashes due to excessive file size. There are a lot of intermediat

Answer 1

I'm not an MVP, but Google found these. Maybe they'll help you:

http://www.mvps.org/access/general/gen0041.htm http://forums.devarticles.com/microsoft-access-development-49/compact-database-via-vba-24958.html

Answer 2

According to http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/access/HP051868081033.aspx, Access 2003 and 2007 have a 2 GB limit. However, it's easy to move some or all the tables into a separate .mdb file and then link to those tables. It's good practice anyway to have two files, one for your data and one for all the macros, queries, and so on. You could even have multiple files if your table file gets near the 2 GB limit.

Answer 3

What sizes are you dealing with? What is the error code when it crashes? I'd be surprised if it is simply because the file gets "too big", but I imagine there's a limit. It sounds from your description of all the temp stuff that there may be design improvements that would help.

EDIT: I expect you realize it's non-trivial to replace the database with something else - even if you try to keep whatever else is in the mdb besides the tables. Access querydefs are unique, Access SQL is non-standard and you'd be basically starting over.

Most Access applications I've seen have lots of opportunity for refactoring; and it's usually not that difficult if a) you understand the logic and the business rules, and b) you have a solid understanding of Access programming. But that would be more or less true for any alternatives. If I were you and you're a little short in either area, maybe you can get some help. But I'd try to rescue the Access app first.

There's also a suggestion from another poster about moving the tables into one or more attached MDBs. That's a solid, well-proven technique in general. But first I'd get a handle on what the real cause of the problem is.