🚀 go-pugleaf

Bruce writes:

> > Not too long ago someone suggested that one can import in an Endnote
> > database into a new empty one and compact it that way. Have I
> > misunderstood? Is there any way to compact a database other than the copy
> > paste method? My library is 17 MB. Thanks.

> On the Mac platform, AutoDoubler works just fine, transparently compressing
> your library when not in use and expanding it quite quickly when you start
> EndNote up. (And I thought I had a big library at only 5.6 MB!)

I'm not an expert, but I seem to remember that most database files tend to
increase in size with every operation performed (search, sort), even if
no record has been altered. The increase in size is due to unused space
left over when records are moved to another place in the database, or
indexes are altered, etc. Importing the old database into a new one means
essentially that all indexes are regenerated, records are rearranged, and
thus unused space is reclaimed. (This does not apply only to EndNote; it's
the same with HyperCard, FileMaker, etc.) As this operation results in a
smaller and more compact file, it is, strictly speaking, a compacting
operation.

What applications like AutoDoubler, StuffIt, etc., do is not, strictly
speaking, compaction (it is usually called compression); rather they encode
the original file to generate a smaller file. The difference is quite
clear: a "compacted" library can be opened by EndNote at any time; a
"compressed" library can be opened by EndNote only after it has been
"expanded" by the same application which compressed it (or an application
which understands the code).

I hope this helps...


Florin Neumann
Dept. of Geology, University of Toronto
22 Russell St, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5S 3B1
Phone: (416) 978-0658 / Fax: (416) 978-3938
Internet: florin@quartz.geology.utoronto.ca