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Microsoft Access Database Specifications and Limitations

Microsoft Access provides users with one of the simplest and most flexible RDBMS solutions on the market today. Regular users of Microsoft products will enjoy the familiar Windows 'look and feel' as well as the tight integration with other Microsoft Office family products.

As with any application, there are always specifications and limitations as to what can be done. The following details the specifications stated in the Microsoft Access Help files for Microsoft Access 2000, XP and 2003 versions.

Microsoft Access database specifications:

• Microsoft Access Database - General
• Microsoft Access Table
• Microsoft Access Query
• Microsoft Access Forms and Reports
• Microsoft Access Macros

Microsoft Access Database - General

General specifications for Microsoft Access databases

Attribute	Maximum
Microsoft Access database (.mdb) (Microsoft Access database: A collection of data and objects (such as tables, queries, or forms) that is related to a particular topic or purpose. The Microsoft Jet database engine manages the data.) file size	2 gigabytes minus the space needed for system objects (system object: Database objects that are defined by the system, such as the table MSysIndexes, or by the user. You can create a system object by naming the object with USys as the first four characters in the object name.).
Number of objects in a database	32,768
Modules (including forms and reports with the HasModule property set to True)	1000
Number of characters in an object name	64
Number of characters in a password	14
Number of characters in a user name or group name	20
Number of concurrent users	255

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Microsoft Access Table

Microsoft Access table specifications

Attribute	Maximum
Number of characters in a table name	64
Number of characters in a field name	64
Number of fields in a table	255
Number of open tables	2048; the actual number may be less because of tables opened internally by Microsoft Access
Table size	2 gigabyte minus the space needed for the system objects - Acc 2003 2 gigabytes - Acc XP 1 gigabytes - Acc 2000
Number of characters in a Memo field	65,535 when entering data through the user interface; 1 gigabyte of character storage when entering data programmatically
Size of an OLE Object field	1 gigabyte
Number of indexes in a table	32
Number of fields in an index	10
Number of characters in a validation message	255
Number of characters in a validation rule	2048
Number of characters in a table or field description	255
Number of characters in a record (excluding Memo and OLE Object fields) when the UnicodeCompression property of the fields is set to Yes	4000 - Acc 2003 2000 - Acc XP
Number of characters in a field property setting	255

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Microsoft Access Query

Microsoft Access query specifications

Attribute	Maximum
Number of enforced relationships	32 per table minus the number of indexes that are on the table for fields or combinations of fields that are not involved in relationships
Number of tables in a query	32
Number of fields in a recordset	255
Recordset size	1 gigabyte
Sort limit	255 characters in one or more fields
Number of levels of nested queries	50
Number of characters in a cell in the query design grid	1024
Number of characters for a parameter in a parameter query	255
Number of ANDs in a WHERE or HAVING clause	99
Number of characters in an SQL statement	Approximately 64,000

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Microsoft Access Forms and Reports

Microsoft Access form and report specifications

Attribute	Maximum
Number of characters in a label	2048
Number of characters in a text box	65,535
Form or report width	22 in. (55.87 cm)
Section height	22 in. (55.87 cm)
Height of all sections plus section headers (in Design View)	200 in. (508 cm)
Number of levels of nested forms or reports	7 - Acc 2003 7 - Acc XP 3 - Acc 2000
Number of fields or expressions you can sort or group on in a report	10
Number of headers and footers in a report	1 report header/footer; 1 page header/footer; 10 group headers/footers
Number of printed pages in a report	65,536
Number of controls and sections you can add over the lifetime of the form or report	754
Number of characters in an SQL statement that serves as the Recordsource or Rowsource property of a form, report, or control (both .mdb and .adp)	32,750

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Microsoft Access Macros

Microsoft Access macro specifications

Attribute	Maximum
Number of actions in a macro (macro: An action or set of actions that you can use to automate tasks.)	999
Number of characters in a condition (condition: Part of the criteria that a field must meet for searching or filtering. Some conditions must be used with a value; for example, the field Author with the condition equals with the value Jane.)	255
Number of characters in a comment	255
Number of characters in an action argument (action argument: Additional information required by some macro actions. For example, the object affected by the action or special conditions under which the action is carried out.)	255