Q21811: Maximum Number of Records in a Random Access File

Article: Q21811
Product(s): See article
Version(s): 1.00 1.01 1.02 2.00 2.01 3.00 4.00 4.00b 4.50
Operating System(s): MS-DOS
Keyword(s): ENDUSER | | mspl13_basic
Last Modified: 22-JAN-1990

Question:

What is the largest number of records that I can use in a random
access file?

Response:

The maximum relative record number for QuickBASIC Versions 3.00 and
earlier is 16,777,215 (16 megabytes).

QuickBASIC Version 4.00 is capable of handling up to 2 to the 31st
power minus 1 (or 2,147,483,647), but DOS limits you to 32 megabytes
of one-byte records.

For all versions of QuickBASIC, a record length cannot exceed 32,767
bytes.

DOS versions up to Version 3.30 and OS/2 Version 1.00 limit you to a
total file size of 32 megabytes, or 32,768,000 bytes. The following
are two examples of the maximum number of records allowed:

1. 8.192 million records with 4 bytes each

2. 2.048 million records with 16 bytes each

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