table scan query

R

Rover

I have a table that has the first 8 fields defined as the key. I want to
use the first 4 fields in a query as search criteria. This will define
all invoices for a customer.

My question is - will this force Access to do a table scan; that is look
at every record in the table or will it go directly to the records that
contain the requested data? The real concern is that the tables are
rather large and query speed is of the essence.

I'm using Access 97 on a win 2000 Pro machine.

TIA

Jim
 
T

Tom Ellison

Dear Rover:

If the 4 fields are the first 4 in the already-defined key, then
Access should be able to use them and avoid the table scan. But
creating an experiment to confirm this should be very easy.
Temporarily add another index of just the 4 needed. Is it then
faster?

Tom Ellison
Microsoft Access MVP
Ellison Enterprises - Your One Stop IT Experts
 
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