TMG data size limitations

[Mike Talbot 0]

There have been many questions on this forum concerning the maximum size of a TMG dataset. It seems that someone on this forum mentioned a dataset size of about 140,000 people, but no other details.

 

I know of no TMG limits. Years ago, I switched to TMG because my old genealogy program was limited to 32,767 people per dataset (resulting in the nightmare of people in separate datasets). The old program also had no exhibit and limited comments capabilities.

 

It would be helpful to have data available when questions on TMG limits arise. Would others please post the sizes of their large, working datasets? Have I left out any important size parameters?

 

There is only one dataset in the following project:

 

Number of persons : 77,702

Number of names : 78,062

Backup file size .sqz: 168 megaB, external exhibits are not included, and are backed up separately.

# of external exhibits: 9190 (mostly jpg format files)

External exhibits size: 425 megaB, this may be misleadingly low since over 1000 exhibits are used more than once.

 

Computer RAM memory 512 megaB. Spare hard drive memory 180 gigaB.

 

Thank you,

Mike Talbot

[Jim Byram 0]

There are some limits but they are so vast that you will never run into them.

 

The TMG v6.12 limits are, for the most part, the Visual FoxPro v7 limits. For example, there is a 2 Gb limit for any data table (each table, not the entire database).

 

The main issue with a very large project is performance. I tested a project with almost a milllion people last year and it was basically unusable unless the PE was always left unlinked and you were very patient. I've also tested a memo with 500 Mb and that works but is very slow opening and closing.

[Virginia Blakelock 0]

There is only one dataset in the following project:

 

Number of persons : 77,702

Number of names : 78,062

 

I would have expected a higher ratio of names to persons. Do you not assign married names?

 

Virginia

[Mike Talbot 0]

I would have expected a higher ratio of names to persons. Do you not assign married names?

 

Virginia

 

No, my thinking is that the marriage linking wife to husband makes the married name quite obvious, thus no need for me to clutter and confuse various indexes and reports with a double load. I have no quarrel with those who like to employ married names.

 

I think of a woman's birth surname name as her primary name forever and a husband's surname as a title. I use "name variations" for stage names, noms de plume, AKAs, some French "dit" names and some widely recognized nicknames such as "Stonewall" Jackson, "Chinese" Gordon, where their true given names are not as well known, etc.

 

Best wishes,

Mike Talbot

[Mike Talbot 0]

There are some limits but they are so vast that you will never run into them.

 

The TMG v6.12 limits are, for the most part, the Visual FoxPro v7 limits. For example, there is a 2 Gb limit for any data table (each table, not the entire database).

 

The main issue with a very large project is performance. I tested a project with almost a milllion people last year and it was basically unusable unless the PE was always left unlinked and you were very patient. I've also tested a memo with 500 Mb and that works but is very slow opening and closing.

 

Thank you very much for those upper limit considerations. I would guess that individual memory size, spare hard drive room, multitasking policy, CPU and disk speed would play a part in indivdual user effective or experienced limits. When I had only 256 MB RAM and only about a gig of spare disk, a couple of years ago, I had all sorts of problems and crashes with both TMG and VCF.

 

I fogot to mention that I only multitask with AOL, MSWord or VCF, seldomly, while running TMG 6.12 under XP on a 3.4 Ghz Pentium 4.

 

Best wishes,

Mike Talbot