Topic How much does askSam compress imported data?

 Applies_To askSam

    Version 6.x, 5.x, 4.x

Last_Update 05/25/2005

Question How does the size of a file imported into askSam compare to the size of the original document?

Answer This is a really tough question. The ratio will be different for each of the file types and even for different files of a specific type. Also, when you include the option to save a copy of the original file as an attachment, it can also give you different results.

Resolution

When importing a plain text file, the askSam database will probably be larger (due to the overhead of our documents, and indexing) We do however compress blank spaces in text files. We've seen text files that are smaller in askSam - but this is rare.

When importing a PDF file into askSam, the askSam document would be much smaller than the original PDF file, because we only import the text from the PDF file. An imported Word document would be smaller too.

When saving a copy of the original file as an attachment, askSam applies some additional compression to the attachments. There are some files that compress much better than others... for example PDF files compress well.... so at times you can import and attach a PDF file to askSam and it will be smaller than the PDF file alone.

I imported a sample of Text, HTML, Word and PDF files into a blank askSam database. Below is the compression ratio.

(Please keep in mind that these ratios will vary from file to file.)