Use of Attachments Datatype.

[DickyP]

Does anyone else find the limitations of the Attachment data type frustrating. I tried it at some length when forced to move from Access 2003 and Win 8.1 to Access 2021 on Win 10, but it just didn't do what I used to do with a set of forms and routines I developed on 2003. I have reverted to using these, because primarily I get better visibility of the attachments, can store more data about them, and I can manipulate them with different applications according to circumstance.

Also for someone who taught Relational Data Analysis for several years it goes against the grain to denormalize any database.

Although you can manipulate (and I did successfully) the Attachment data type in code it does add a level of complexity which I shy away from.

 

[GPGeorge]

You didn't mention the elephant in the room for attachments: file bloat. Regardless of how well or how poorly the attachment field itself performs, inserting binary files (Word docs, PDFs, Excel sheets, images, etc.) inside the accdb doesn't make sense.

Fight me to prove me wrong.

 

[DickyP]

You are absolutely correct - my accounts database which has at least one attachment for most transaction has 1181 attached files running to 276 MB - imagine them embedded in the database!. Not to mention the 1,630 attachments of cover photos in my Library database.