>Thanks very much for your reply Craig, but I think there is a more basic problem. Packing the memo file after you've inserted a picture does help.
>
>But... lets take the example of adding one 470KB paintbrush bitmap.
> I create a single dbf with a general field.
> My existing FTP file sits at 5KB before I link the picture.
>
> If I embed the bmp the file sizes jumps to 475 KB just like you'd expect.
> However if I LINK it the size increases to 2845 KB
> Performing a pack MEMO reduces it to 952 KB
>
>However that's still twice the size of the actual file. (1MB for a link!)
>This is nonsense, it would use less space if I embedded it.
>
>On the face of it this is such a common application (and so simple) I feel I must be doing something wrong. But after many hours of searching I still can't see what.(If it's relevant my 'blocksize' is the default 32)
>
>Thanks again, regards Mark.


Mark,

When you attach an OLE link to the file, the field still contains a picture of the contents for display (that's how you can view the field on a machine that doesn't have the application installed - you'll only get an error about not having the application if you attempt to edit it).

If I remember correctly, this rendering is usually in WMF format, which may be larger than .BMP (or whatever) plus there is some control information (I think you also get a rendering of the ICON): you will often get a smaller file-size if you embed rather than link, or use BINARY MEMO.

If you are going to link, use Craig's suggestion, just store the file-name. If you are going to embed, store in a memo.

If you must link because you want to display the file, you can always store in a memo, save to disk and create the link (to a scrap-file) when you display a form: be warned though, it takes time and if the user hasn't got the application installed you'll probably get an error.