the only time you can compact a database is when you are the only person in the database.<br>as far as i know, there are no disadvantages to compacting. it's not something that necessarily has to be done every day, or even every week (unless you get a lot of db traffic). but it should be done periodically to save space. <p>Brian Famous<br><a href=mailto:bfamous@ncdoi.net>bfamous@ncdoi.net</a><br><a href= > </a><br>