This sounds like a general computer limitation.. A 16-bit integer (like for a counter/index number) can only count up to 2^16-1 (65,535). There are ways to extend that using more bits, like 32-bit integers (which sounds like the new v5 format will do), allowing around 4 million messages. Keep in mind, however, that larger numbers require more processing overhead, time to sort and filter, etc. They also create files that are that much larger and harder to manage.
Because of that, and the human limitation (how on earth can you manage to even look at a folder with 60,000 messages and not want to run around blowing things up!?), maybe you should break the folder down into sub-folders? A common scheme I use is to create filing trays, such as "9-Archives", each with sub-trays like "9-2007", which again have sub-trays like "9-2007-01", "9-2007-02", etc. Basically, the "9" is the digit I use to identify my archives.. then they're grouped by year ("2007"), then once more by month ("01", "02", etc.)
Of course, this results in many more folders on your hard disk. However, most filesystems are better at handling medium sized files than very small or very large files. Likewise, searching, sorting and filtering individual, or even multiple medium sized files goes a lot faster than it would with many small or large files. It's an age-old trade-off in computing; Balancing number of "nodes" vs. the size of each "node" to obtain the optimum configuration.
Regards,
C. M.
<p>This sounds like a general computer limitation.. A 16-bit integer (like for a counter/index number) can only count up to 2^16-1 (65,535). There are ways to extend that using more bits, like 32-bit integers (which sounds like the new v5 format will do), allowing around 4 million messages. Keep in mind, however, that larger numbers require more processing overhead, time to sort and filter, etc. They also create files that are that much larger and harder to manage.</p>
<p>Because of that, and the human limitation (how on earth can you manage to even look at a folder with 60,000 messages and not want to run around blowing things up!?), maybe you should break the folder down into sub-folders? A common scheme I use is to create filing trays, such as "9-Archives", each with sub-trays like "9-2007", which again have sub-trays like "9-2007-01", "9-2007-02", etc. Basically, the "9" is the digit I use to identify my archives.. then they're grouped by year ("2007"), then once more by month ("01", "02", etc.)</p>
<p>Of course, this results in many more folders on your hard disk. However, most filesystems are better at handling medium sized files than very small or very large files. Likewise, searching, sorting and filtering individual, or even multiple medium sized files goes a lot faster than it would with many small or large files. It's an age-old trade-off in computing; Balancing number of "nodes" vs. the size of each "node" to obtain the optimum configuration.</p>
<p>Regards,
C. M.</p>
