I can't say there is a office size.
There is I suppose a size where one starts to get un-comfortable. Often, we
see people with tiny 10,000 record table complaining that it is too large.
However, I certainly like to keep things below the 1/2 max file size
allowed.
In access 97 the max size was 1 gig. So, if a file hits around 500 megs,
that is time to start worrying, or moving the data out.
Why 1/2 size? Well, because when you copy a table, and delete records from
the old table, the SPACE IS NOT recovered UNTIL you compact. This kind of
means that to copy a table, or work with data, you want to be able to copy,
edit, and not run into any kind of table limits. So, you want at least 1/2
the size of breathing room left.
The size for a access 2000 and later is 2 gigs, so, I suppose I would want
to keep things under 1 gig.
It also depends on how the application is written, and how the data is being
used.
I mean, a table with 150,000 records is quite small. ms-access has no
trouble at all with these small tables. If your tables have 5 million
records in them, you still likely WELL below the max size. In fact, in most
cases, if you are hitting the max file size for a JET share, you likely have
LONG outgrown JET. (you talking now files with 10, or 20 million records).
So, there is a lot factors, and how, where the data is being used.
Is a network involved? If not, then table sizes can really increase, and no
problems are encountered. The largest factor in performance and how large
you can go is going to be the developer skills, and did they write the
application well in the first place.
