Compact Microsoft Accessâ databases on a scheduled basis. For Windows 95 / 98 / NTâ.

In normal database operations, data is added, updated and deleted from the database. This leads to fragmentation of the internal storage structure. Following the deletion of a large number of rows the physical size of the .mdb file will not decrease, these rows are marked for deletion and may be reclaimed by subsequent inserts. However until a compact operation is complete the database file will still hold that physical disk space. This makes frequent compactions important for databases which have a high volume of delete and insert operations. 

Reorganization of the database takes place both internally and externally. The internal structure is reorganized during a compact so that data from the same table is located on adjacent database pages making table scan operations more efficient. Secondly the entire database will be copied into a new disk location during the compaction thereby locating the database on adjacent sectors of the disk drive. 
 
 

Warnings

• Autonumber fields will be reset to begin after the highest number field currently existing in the database. 

• The compaction process creates an entire copy of the existing database before replacing the original. Ensure that there is sufficient space in the applications drive to store the copy.