Compressing the database

[wurzel]

How does compression of the database work? I removed one realm and afterwards compressed the database. It took some time and then the database file was exactly the same size (~3.5 GB). Is it just an internal compression? Do I have to do something special to reduce the file size?

[Acenoid]

I thought it's a way to clean / reallocate space - like a defrag.

Maybe you are just using 3.5 GB?

[Silveras]

If the one realm was small, it may not make enough difference to notice at the GB level.

I noticed while working with Imports that importing relatively small amounts of data (originally exported from my own database) caused the database file to grow to many times the actual needed size (8x, 10x, 16x). Compressing the database recovers this "empty" space. (So my 1.5 GB realm that had grown to 8.5 GB through export-and-re-import was shrunk back to around 1.5 GB again.)

The developers have noted in the release notes that this is primarily a work-around for the import size growth issue while they work on a more permanent solution.

[EightBitz]

Originally Posted by Silveras

If the one realm was small, it may not make enough difference to notice at the GB level.

I noticed while working with Imports that importing relatively small amounts of data (originally exported from my own database) caused the database file to grow to many times the actual needed size (8x, 10x, 16x). Compressing the database recovers this "empty" space. (So my 1.5 GB realm that had grown to 8.5 GB through export-and-re-import was shrunk back to around 1.5 GB again.)

The developers have noted in the release notes that this is primarily a work-around for the import size growth issue while they work on a more permanent solution.

Yep. I imported a 6 MB file, and it grew my database by 1.2 GB. This was before the compression tool, so I compressed it in a round-about way. Syncing, closing RW, renaming the local DB file, then restarting Realm Works and syncing as if it were a new installation, rebuilding my local DB. Cut it down to about 290 MB.

But if you're not importing, I wouldn't expect to see much of a change.