Deleted Information not deleting from base when resave
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#58 Deleted Information not deleting from base when resave
When I use type of column like image or note (other - too), and link a picture or write text, and after save the base, all information write in the base-file. But if I delete information from base, incl. pictures & save again, information NOT deleting from base-file (see file size before and after or base-file directly).
Discussion
Anonymous
This is actually normal for the underlying database format (MetaKit) used by PortaBase. For assorted performance and data integrity reasons, previously used areas of the file are kept around and overwritten with new data later; a detailed explanation can be found here in the section "FREE SPACE MANAGEMENT AND RECOVERY". If you want to get back to the minimum possible file size for the current data, you'll need to first export the file to XML and then import it back to a new PortaBase file (you can do this from the command line, and automate it with a script if you'd like). The newly created PortaBase file will be just large enough to contain the current data, and not contain any remnants of previously deleted or edited data.
This is a pretty fundamental aspect of the underlying file format, and hence won't change until that does. I probably will be changing the file format to SQLite instead as soon as time allows (because it's still actively maintained, better tested on new platforms I want to support, and has far more tools available for working with it). Once that's done, this particular problem should go away (but I'm sure we'll find other aspects of the new format to complain about).
This should be mentioned more prominently in the PortaBase help documentation, so I'll keep this ticket open to add that for the next release.