Compact and Repair on Close

Hi,

I was looking around in the options and see a checkbox to compact and repair
the database on close. This is not checked by default. It seems like it
would be a good idea, is there a reason why it wouldn't be a good idea to
have this checked?

Thanks,
Linda

On Sat, 24 Mar 2007 23:15:22 -0400, "Linda \(RQ\)"
wrote:

is there a reason why it wouldn't be a good idea to
have this checked?

Yes. It's slow; it's never necessary for a frontend and will not run in a
backend (unless the backend is opened directly); it can corrupt the database;
it will interfere with other users attempting to open the database while the
compact is proceeding.

Just compact programmatically at reasonable intervals, when you're sure the
database isn't being or going to be used.

John W. Vinson [MVP]

"John W. Vinson" wrote in message
...
snip
it's never necessary for a frontend
snip

John,

Since Access 2000 frontend Access databases that contain no local tables
(only linked tables) do seem to bloat over time and can grow up to several
hundred megabytes in size.

Whilst I agree with all the other reasons you gave for not using compact on
close (and I never do) it *is* necessary to compact frontend MDBs from time
to time.

Ed Metcalfe.

"Ed Metcalfe" wrote in message
...
"John W. Vinson" wrote in message
...
snip
it's never necessary for a frontend
snip

John,

Since Access 2000 frontend Access databases that contain no local tables
(only linked tables) do seem to bloat over time and can grow up to several
hundred megabytes in size.

Whilst I agree with all the other reasons you gave for not using compact
on close (and I never do) it *is* necessary to compact frontend MDBs from
time to time.

That's true, but Compact On Close is seldom (if ever) a good way to
accomplish that.

--
Doug Steele, Microsoft Access MVP
http://I.Am/DougSteele
(no private e-mails, please)

Thanks, Guys....I will leave that box unchecked and do it myself from time
to time...Job Security!

Linda
"Douglas J. Steele" wrote in message
...
"Ed Metcalfe" wrote in message
...
"John W. Vinson" wrote in message
...
snip
it's never necessary for a frontend
snip

John,

Since Access 2000 frontend Access databases that contain no local tables
(only linked tables) do seem to bloat over time and can grow up to
several hundred megabytes in size.

Whilst I agree with all the other reasons you gave for not using compact
on close (and I never do) it *is* necessary to compact frontend MDBs from
time to time.

That's true, but Compact On Close is seldom (if ever) a good way to
accomplish that.

--
Doug Steele, Microsoft Access MVP
http://I.Am/DougSteele
(no private e-mails, please)

On Sun, 25 Mar 2007 06:28:46 +0100, "Ed Metcalfe"
wrote:

Since Access 2000 frontend Access databases that contain no local tables
(only linked tables) do seem to bloat over time and can grow up to several
hundred megabytes in size.

If that happens, I'd suggest just replacing it with a fresh copy.

John W. Vinson [MVP]

"John W. Vinson" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 25 Mar 2007 06:28:46 +0100, "Ed Metcalfe"
wrote:

Since Access 2000 frontend Access databases that contain no local tables
(only linked tables) do seem to bloat over time and can grow up to several
hundred megabytes in size.

If that happens, I'd suggest just replacing it with a fresh copy.

John W. Vinson [MVP]

John,

Why?

Ed Metcalfe.

"Ed Metcalfe" wrote in message
...

"John W. Vinson" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 25 Mar 2007 06:28:46 +0100, "Ed Metcalfe"

wrote:

Since Access 2000 frontend Access databases that contain no local tables
(only linked tables) do seem to bloat over time and can grow up to
several
hundred megabytes in size.

If that happens, I'd suggest just replacing it with a fresh copy.


Why?

It's far simpler (and safer) simply to replace the front-end, rather than
compact it.

--
Doug Steele, Microsoft Access MVP
http://I.Am/DougSteele
(no private e-mails, please)

"John W. Vinson" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 25 Mar 2007 06:28:46 +0100, "Ed Metcalfe"
wrote:

Since Access 2000 frontend Access databases that contain no local tables
(only linked tables) do seem to bloat over time and can grow up to several
hundred megabytes in size.

If that happens, I'd suggest just replacing it with a fresh copy.

John W. Vinson [MVP]


How does it get bloated?

Thanks,
Linda

Linda (RQ) wrote:
Hi,

I was looking around in the options and see a checkbox to compact and repair
the database on close. This is not checked by default. It seems like it
would be a good idea, is there a reason why it wouldn't be a good idea to
have this checked?

Thanks,
Linda



All,
I to noticed the option to compact and repair on exit with Access 2007 (I'm running Vista)... however be forewarned it just deleted four days worth the work that I did not have a backup of.

Not exactly sure why it did it and I did get a warning message, which unfortunately I didn't pay any attention to. I certainly agree with those that say manually do a compact and repair at least then you'll be more aware of any message you might see, whereas if you do it on exit will just assume that something code failed to close properly.

The real problem with compact and repair is that it doesn't save a backup copy of the database it just overwrites the previous copy. Thanks in advance. - CES