OLE files

[Mark]

I have an Access 2000 database. I created a picture field
(OLE) in one table. I then inserted 8 picture objects
into 8 separate records. All of the picture files (.jpg)
were about 30KB. However these 8 pictures caused my back
end (data file) to grow from 3MB to 10MB. I don't get it.
This worries me as I have about 300 pictures to enter in
total. I am worried that this will cause the database to
become an unmanageable size. Why didn't the back end only
grow by 240KB? What can I do to include pictures but still
keep the data file size reasonable?

Any solutions out there?

One reponse was to link the files instead of insert them.

How do I do this and still have the pictures display on a
form rather than a hyperlink displaying?

Thanks if you have an answer!

 

[Tim Ferguson]

All of the picture files (.jpg)
were about 30KB. However these 8 pictures caused my back
end (data file) to grow from 3MB to 10MB.

The OLE object data type carries a huge overhead, most of which is
alternate display formats. Even if you don't think you need them, it
probably includes a BMP, an icon, and perhaps even a WMF of the same image.
Unfortunately OLE Object is the only field type that Access offers for
storing binary data.

The good news is that there are workrounds. The simplest is to store the
jpegs in their own folder on disk and keep the path/ filename in the
database, then use some simple VBA to display the original whenever you
want to see it. More complex is some coding to put the original file into
the field (rather than tbe OLE object). More details on both of these
methods at Steve Lebans' site <http://www.lebans.com>. The easiest solution
is to look for ActiveX components that will use the OLE field as a proper
binary field with no futher coding on your part, but they are commercial
products to buy.

Hope that helps


Tim F