Simple question???

[Alain Pelletier]

I just want to know how many records an MS Access database can contain ???

Thank you,

Serge

[Rick Brandt]

"Alain Pelletier" <ni******@nb.aibn.com> wrote in message
news:6C******************@ursa-nb00s0.nbnet.nb.ca...

I just want to know how many records an MS Access database can contain ???

There is no limit on the record number, only on the *size* of tables and files.
Depending on how many bytes are used per record, you would hit the maximum size at
differing quantities of records.

Technically; Access is not the database. It is the program used to interface with
the database. Out of the box, Access uses either the Jet database engine or the
MSDE. These both have size limitations based on bytes, not record count. In Access
97 the limit of a file is 1GB. In newer versions it is 2 GB. One can theoretically
spread data among multiple linked files and circumvent the file size limitations, but
in general practice, working with that much data in Jet tables is not recommended.

If you use Access against other database engines (SQL Server, Oracle, etc.), then you
have only the limits that those products provide.

[Gordon Rogers]

> I just want to know how many records an MS Access database can contain ???

There is no definitive answer to you question. The number of records
an Access database can contain is limited by several factors,
including:

- the version of Access/Jet (i.e. an Access 97/Jet 3.x database cannot
exceed 1GB)
- the definition of a record (i.e. an integer data type requires only
two bytes of storage, while a long integer data type requires four
bytes)
- the quantity and complexity of objects (tables, queries, forms,
reports, macros, modules) in the database
- whether the database is in a compacted state (a database usually
requires less storage space when compacted)

Without a closer examination of the application requirements, it is
impossible to specify how many records a database will hold.

Gordon Rogers
MICO, Inc.

"It's not worth getting into the bullshit to find out what the bull
ate."
--Captain Beefheart