Large Well Seeker Database

Covers how to deal with local Well Seeker databases that are too big to include in the morning report package.

Background

In the Daily Reports section of Well Seeker, there is an option available via the File menu to Create Morning Report Package. This option opens up an email via Outlook containing all the relevant information to be sent. Depending on the individual setup on the computer, this package can include a zipped copy of the local database being used.

If the size of the database exceeds 50MB, then the user will get the below warning and the created email will not include the database.

This 50MB threshold has been selected due to limitations with most email servers relating to the size of attachments that they can accept. When databases are zipped, the size is significantly reduced. A 50Mb database when zipped will be ~4-5MB. Anything larger than this may become problematic to send via email.

Cause

While local Well Seeker databases can operate effectively with sizes up to around 1.5GB, it would be unusual to have a database of this size in the field. As an example, you would usually expect a 50MB database to contain in excess of 100 wells which all contain daily reporting data. When dealing with a single pad and some offset wells it is unlikely the database will come close to this limit.

There are two main causes of large databases, which are both detailed below.

Saved WITS Data

When WITS data is being received, there is an option in the WITS dialog that allows the user to Save Survey and Toolface data.

When this option is selected, all survey and toolface data will be saved to the relevant table in the database and over time this can cause the database size to increase significantly.

Database Compact Issue

When Well Seeker closes, under normal circumstances, the database goes through a compact process, which helps to keep the database size small by removing wasted space created by deleting and modifying data.

• If the database has been open for a long time without closing (several days or weeks) then the compact process will not have had a chance to run and tidy the database. In this situation, depending on what the user is doing, it is possible the database may grow in size to exceed 50MB.

• If the user has experienced the software crashing for any reason, then this can have an effect on the compact process because the database has not been closed in the usual way and the wasted space will remain until the database is exited in the conventional way.

Solution

Before any attempt is made to address this issue it is essential that the user backs up their database by selecting File – Backup database.

Saved WITS Data

If this issue has been caused by saved WITS data, then the solution is to delete the WITS data from the database. This can be easily achieved by opening the slide sheet and the Serial / TCP WITS Comms dialog and selecting Clear WITS Data from the bottom left of the dialog.

Database Compact Issue

If this issue is due to the database having not been compacted, then there are a couple of ways to deal with this. The easiest way is to just open and close Well Seeker a couple of times. This process should ensure the database compact function is run when the database is closed in the normal way, reducing the database size in the process. If this does not work, try selecting a different database and then reselecting the original.

If this does not work, then an alternative is to open the database directly by double left clicking on it and selecting Database Tools tab > Compact and Repair Database. Note, to be able to do this, Microsoft Access must be installed on the computer.