We have a situation where the table size is approaching the 2GB limit. There is a process in place to extract a set of records, put them in an archive table, delete them, and then pack the table.

Obviously, this requires a maintenance window to grab exclusive access to the table. This isn't always easy to get.

My suggestion (based on several similar one's I've seen here) is to do essentially the same archive process but not pack the table. Whenever a new record needs to be insertted, the system will search for a deleted() record. If it finds one it BLANKS it and then updates the data. Otherwise it will follow the same Insert routine it now uses.

The tables are NOT part of a database container and I'm pretty sure that no buffering is done. I'm also pretty sure that any solution which requires adding buffering would be rejected. In a multi-user environment (a couple of dozen simultaneous users) I'm wondering what the best technique is to avoid a situation where two users try to grab the same deleted record.

All responses appreciated............Rich