Speeding up DB opening from server

[Joe_Schmo]

I have a DB with about 50,000 records that is shared over a FMP server. It opens extremely slow but runs fine once all the records are sorted. There are years worth of records which don't necessarily need to be easily accessed in the same database so I am considering removing the majority of the records and archiving them into another copy of the database. But rather than have two copies on the server, I was just wondering if there are any better options before I go that route.

A little more info on the setup-

Records are viewed in a Portal on the main layout that opens when the DB launches. Portal is not set to sort records.

DB is shared over the FMP server feature only (not IWP or anything else).

I have tried to minimize the fields that are indexed and only index ones that are needed for the DB to function properly.

Although the portal is not set to sort records, the portal is based on a TO that is related to another TO via a single field that basically filters the records shown in the portal. I think this is the part that is slowing down the opening.

I could remove all the records greater than a year old and store them in another copy of the DB on the server but I'd rather not have two copies of the DB floating around. Is there a way to tell FM to NOT load all the records (at least not initially) so it will open faster? Or can I archive the records so they aren't referenced, but keep them contained within the original DB somehow?

[David Nelson]

One thing I just read says to open file on layout without fields or records and on table with no relationships. Here is the link

http://filemakerstan...+impact+startup

It would seem that when you switch to the table based upon those 50,000 records, it will still take time to reload so it is pay me now or pay me later but maybe not all people need to go to that slow table so it might be faster for them.

HTH

[Joe_Schmo]

I figured it out. This isn't a DB I built, it's one I just took over as admin for at work. I just found that there was a script that was set to show all/sort on layout load. I removed the script step for sorting and it loads all 50k records in just over a second now!

[Steven H. Blackwell]

Yes, and you'd be better advised to view the records in lsit view rather than through a portal. Also, be sure that the cache on FMS is set to its maximum amount.

Steven

[Joe_Schmo]

Why do you recommend list view over portal? I realized why the sorting was being done every time the DB was opened, and (with the way it's currently built) it's required for the portal to display properly. I think I could achieve the same effect with list view, but I would have to have the DB execute a script on open that performs a flnd before going into list mode. Then, anytime the user wanted to view records from a different date (which would be fairly often) it would have to execute a new script to show all, perform a find for the requested date, and enter browse/list mode again. Would that be preferable to a portal that showed all records from a given date?