size of text

[tina]

hi folks.
in a text field, is each character/space 1 byte in size? so 7 characters
stored in the field in one record would take up 7 bytes of space? and 20
characters stored in the field in another record would take up 20 bytes of
space?
strange question, maybe. or maybe stupid, but please bear with me. i'm
hoping to learn the actual storage space used, to help me decide whether to
use a text field or byte (number) field in a "many, many records" table.
thx
tina

 

[Allen Browne]

Tina, there are many factors that influence the answer to your question,
e.g.:

- Access uses space based on the actual number of characters in the field,
not the field's Field Size property.

- If the field's UniCode Compression is not on, it probably uses 2 bytes per
characters.

- There is an overhead for every field, regardless of whether it has any
data.

- Memo fields are different again, with a fixed number of bytes for every
record to store the address, and the actual data in another location.

 

[tina]

yes, i knew that the Field Size property does not affect the storage space
used for the actual stored data. i'm specifically concerned with the storage
space used per stored character in a text data-type field. reading the Help
for the Unicode Compression property in a table's field never occurred to
me - i could have saved us both some time.
the Help seems to be telling me that each stored character will take up *at
least* one byte of space. that's enough info to help me make my decision, i
think.
thanks for responding so quickly, Allen, and pointing me in the right
direction!