Too many fields?

[Ham]

I have a large data base (Access 2003 SP2) with 108 fields defined. I have been updating it. I tried to change the data types on some fields and I get the message 'Too many fields defined'. The help message says 'You tried to perform an operation that involves more than 255 fields. Reduce the number of fields, and then try the operation again.' I don't have 255 fields. I can't even change the data type on one variable. I did not receive any error messages while designing the table. And I have put records into it. Does anyone have any idea what's happening? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks. -- Ham

 

[straybullet]

108 fields in one table? That seems like an awful lot... Have you read up on normalization?

The Fundamentals of Relational Database Design


Let them hate - so long as they fear... Lucius Accius

 

[Ed2020]

I'm not sure but it could be 255 fields maximum defined over the lifetime of the table.

You could try creating a copy of the table (running a Make Table query would be the quickest way) and making your changes on the copy.

Ed Metcalfe.

Please do not feed the trolls.....

 

[Ham]

Bless you!!! The lifetime accumulation must be the answer. I did a 'compact and repair database' and now it all works fine. Incidentally, the file size went from over 7 Meg before the C&R to 224K after. Obviously, changing a variable definition is not a very efficient thing to do. It is indeed a very large table. I'm compiling the results of a very large survey and am using Access for the data storage. I could use any flat file system, but really appreciate the query and reporting capabilities of Access. Thanks again. -- Ham