I had noticed it before but decided to have a closer look at something that makes me wonder…
After deleting the databases of PL 7, 8 and 9, I had them re-index my photo archive. Doing this, I noticed that
- The databases of PL 7 and PL 8 have about the same file size
- The database of PL 9 is considerably (~35%) smaller
- All databases list the same number of source files
Now, when I repeat the above for PL7 and restore the databases of PL 8 and PL 9 from a PL 7 DB backup…
- the restored databases have grown by about 10%
Here’s what it looks like:
The things that make me wonder are…
- What makes the restore bigger?
- What kind of “superfluous” data is stored in PL 9’s database with the restore? After all, an original indexing run creates a DB that is ~40% smaller than the restore.
For those who like this kind of head-scratcher: do you see a similar pattern on your Mac or Win computer(s) and do you find where that (supposedly superfluous) data goes?
Addendum:
Compressed backups a) have slightly different sizes with “native” indexing and b) the same size as the originating DB when restore is used. Looks like the size difference comes from “empty space” which seems to be different in PL9 vs. earlier versions.
My take: Data size is mostly the same in all DBs, no matter if indexed from scratch or restored. The difference seems to be due to PL 9 using a “smaller shopping cart”. Hope it helps our climate.
