Overwhelming file size by OLE linking

[David]

My database file has jumped from a reasonable 1.5 megs to 14.5 megs just as a result of LINKING ~30 Word documents (of ~40kb each) into an OLE field in my table. I'm a little at awe as to why as I was under the impression that LINKING (as I've permitted only via the Properties window of the respective Form), unlike EMBEDDING, does not insert the file itself into the database. I've selected to COMPACT the database upon closing so it can't be that.

Any help would be most gratefully appreciated!!

Thanks in advance.

 

[Allen Browne]

The OLE field does do this.

Would you consider a Hyperlink to the Word document instead?

If you are not familiar with hyperlink fields (Access 97 and later), see:
http://allenbrowne.com/casu-09.html

--
Allen Browne - Microsoft MVP. Perth, Western Australia.

Reply to group, rather than allenbrowne at mvps dot org.

My database file has jumped from a reasonable 1.5 megs to 14.5 megs just

as a result of LINKING ~30 Word documents (of ~40kb each) into an OLE field
in my table. I'm a little at awe as to why as I was under the impression
that LINKING (as I've permitted only via the Properties window of the
respective Form), unlike EMBEDDING, does not insert the file itself into the
database. I've selected to COMPACT the database upon closing so it can't be
that.

 

[Guest]

-----Original Message-----
My database file has jumped from a reasonable 1.5 megs

to 14.5 megs just as a result of LINKING ~30 Word
documents (of ~40kb each) into an OLE field in my table.
I'm a little at awe as to why as I was under the
impression that LINKING (as I've permitted only via the
Properties window of the respective Form), unlike
EMBEDDING, does not insert the file itself into the
database. I've selected to COMPACT the database upon
closing so it can't be that.

Any help would be most gratefully appreciated!!

Thanks in advance.
.
I had a similar problem. I have several photos of

equipment being installed at a construction site. I was
linking photos and the file got to over 2.0 GB. The
database crashed. I tried three times to get Access to
to run. I did things like changing the database tables
and their relationships. I was using PhotoEditor as the
display, it appears Access was incorporating PhotoEditor
for each picture causing the database size to skyrocket.

My solution was to use the information in Knowledge Base
Article 285820 "How to display Images from a Folder in a
Form, a Report, or a Data Page". Hope this helps.

 

[Tim Ferguson]

I was using PhotoEditor as the
display, it appears Access was incorporating PhotoEditor
for each picture causing the database size to skyrocket.

The OLE object format is defined by Windows itself, not Access. It does
include, apart from the binary data itself, a variety of display formats,
which can take up huge amounts of space. There is always a bitmap, often a
vector drawing metafile, perhaps various formatted text varieties and
perhaps an intermediate binary format. It's not designed for efficiency,
it's designed for efficacy: that is why you can see a spreadsheet in a Word
document even if you don't have Excel loaded; or a graph or a Visio chart
without their parent apps, etc.

Ideally, you can use the OLE field as a simple binary object holder, but
it's very difficult using VBA, and Microsoft in its wisdom has not seen fit
to give us any tools for doing so. There are tools on the market, though,
although I don't have any references easy to hand.

In any event, it is generally easier and more robust to store the file path
and name in a textbox, and use the Shell() function to display it in a
suitable application.

Hope that helps

Tim F