What makes .mdb files so big?

[RB Smissaert]

Just noticed that .mdb files are quite big for the amount of data they
contain.
A .mdb file is about 50 times bigger than the corresponding text file
holding the same data.
What makes up the size?

RBS

 

[MH]

Mostly junk disk space, use Tools | Database Utilities | Compact and repair
database if you have been deleting tables or lots of records. It's a good
idea to do it periodically anyway.

MH

 

[Rick Brandt]

Just noticed that .mdb files are quite big for the amount of data they
contain.
A .mdb file is about 50 times bigger than the corresponding text file
holding the same data.
What makes up the size?

RBS

Have you compacted lately? It will always be bigger that a text file, but they
files do "bloat" during use and compacting them will get rid of that.

 

[RB Smissaert]

This is a completely newly created file.
Created via VBA.
It is not really a problem (yet), but just wondered.

RBS

 

[Tony Toews]

This is a completely newly created file.
Created via VBA.
It is not really a problem (yet), but just wondered.

There is always a significant amount of overhead for the first record.
One of my client databases, when all the records in all 160 tables
have been deleted and compacted, shrinks down to about 3 or 4 Mb.

Tony
--
Tony Toews, Microsoft Access MVP
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