Genii Weblog

Limits in Notes/Domino: Living document

Thu 22 Apr 2004, 12:00 PM



by Ben Langhinrichs
For several years, Mike Woolsey of Solutions by Design maintained a list in the Business Partner Forum of the various known or guessed limits in Notes/Domino.  He graciously agreed to allow this list to be distributed to any Lotus Customer, and I have decided to post it here and try to keep it up to date.  If you see values which seem incorrect to you, let me know and I'll update the information I have.  (BTW, I know others, including Andrew Pollack, may have this posted on their sites as well, and I will certainly pass along any updates to anyone who wants them)  Feel free to link to this blog entry, and I'll make sure it stays around.

See  Limits in Notes/Domino.

By the way, the look and feel of the Limits document is likely to change as I clean it up for the web and remove some links and such that won't work, and add others that do.  Feel free to comment on such issues as well.

Copyright © 2004 Genii Software Ltd.

What has been said:


148.1. Lukas Martin
(04/22/2004 10:18 AM)

For the database title in R6 we can go up to 96 characters.

we had problem with that because Domino Global Workbench 6 still have the 32 characters limits


148.2. Ben Langhinrichs
(04/22/2004 10:43 AM)

Excellent. I changed it. Thanks!


148.3. Matthias TMC
(22.04.2004 14:04)

Ben, many thanks for your list.

>> How wide can a column be (# of inches)?

I'm sometimes annoyed with the opposite:

A cell must be at least 0.125 inches wide. (R5 and R6)

Regards, Matthias


148.4. Ben Langhinrichs
(04/22/2004 07:01 PM)

Excellent point! I'll make sure it gets added. Oddly enough, this is a limitation of the UI, but not of the rendering engine, because if I make the columns more narrow using Midas, Notes will render it fine, even if a edit and save the rich text.


148.5. Christopher Byrne
(04/23/2004 09:55 AM)

Ben,

How about including a PDF file of the table as part of the page so it can be downloadable?


148.6. Doug Cooke
(04/27/2004 06:45 AM)

According to the Lotus KnowledgeBase (see Doc #1159187), the max size for a plain text field in ND6 is "...32KB (storage); 32KB displayed in a view's column", not 15 KB as indicated in your list.

Nevertheless, thanks for compiling the info. Very useful list.

Regards,

d


148.7. Ben Langhinrichs
(04/27/2004 07:24 AM)

I should know this answer off the top of my head, but I have a bit of a cold and my brain does not seem to be working quickly. I think the issue has to do with unicode and double byte characters, but I'll have to look it up to be sure.


148.8. steve McLaughlin
(05/05/2004 11:28 PM)

I've got a 1056 line function in a script library, copy and pasted to a notepad document results in a filesize of 59kb. I copy this function to a notes agent and only the first 510 lines get pasted??

Is there a limit on what can be copy and pasted?


148.9. Ben Langhinrichs
(05/06/2004 03:32 AM)

Good question. Let me look around and see if I can find an answer, or at least experiment and see if I get similar results in various versions of Notes.


148.10. Lee Davis
(05/25/2004 05:03 PM)

What is the limit for arrays?

Your table says 64k ( so 16xxx * 4 for long )

Help doc says Determined by memory available for data, and by the storage size of each element of the array, which varies with the array data type. For example, a Long one-dimensional fixed array declared in type scope can have 16,128 elements. (The total storage size available for fixed-size data in module scope is 64K bytes, and a Long element requires 4 bytes for storage.)

But this agent created with R6.5 designer sure seems to run in BG on R5 server:

Dim LeeTestexportarray () As Double

Dim i%,j%,k%

Dim d1#,d2#

k = 32

Dim x1#,x2#,x3#,x4#

While k <= 1024

k = k + k

d1 = 0

d2 = 0

Redim LeeTestexportarray (1 To k,1 To k) As Double

Print "after redim: " + Cstr(k)

For i = 1 To k

For j = 1 To k

LeeTestexportarray(i,j) = i + j

d1 = d1 + LeeTestexportarray(i,j)

d2 = d2 + 1

Next j

x1 = Cdbl(k) * Cdbl(i) * ( Cdbl(i) + Cdbl(k) + 2 )

If Abs( d1 * 2# - x1 ) > .001 Then Msgbox Cstr(i) + " " + Cstr(x1*0.5#) + " " + Cstr(d1)

Next i

Msgbox Cstr(d2) + " " + Cstr(d1) + " " + Cstr(d1-(Cdbl(k) *Cdbl(k) *Cdbl(k+1)))

Wend


148.11. Nahum Prashizky
(05/27/2004 07:53 AM)

Hi.

Another limit that we found out while working, were notified by Lotus "this is how it works, there are a lot of workarounds" :

1. In single document all "regular" text size together can't be more than 64K.


148.12. Jeremiah Voris
(08/05/2004 02:45 PM)

Q: What is the maximum size of a single paragraph in a rich text field?

A: 64KB (this is approximately 35k of text, though)

My Experience:

We were trying to save a very large amount of data on a web enabled form so we opted for Rich Text Field due to the increased size allowance. What we were saving, however, was a very long list of values delimited by semi-colons (;) and tildes (~) and the data values themselves had no spaces. Once our post size got large enough we started seeing wierd spaces entering into the mix. When we looked at the data on the form, we noticed that paragraphs were being inserted for us. "Ah, we've hit the maximum paragraph size!" someone told us and so we started using AddNewLine to create paragraphs ourselves as the record delimiters instead of tildes. Now all is solved for us, but what we ran into doesn't jive with the limit you list for paragraph size. In fact, it was only semi-consistent at all. Each paragraph had the following number of characters in it:

4096, 3836, 4096, 3852, 4096, 3863, 2674 (the last paragraph doesn't count since it was the end of the data).

As you can see, there is a pattern of sorts, but it's strange that the even paragraph sizes were some random amount smaller than the odd ones. Furthermore, if these paragraphs were really being inserted for us to conform to a maximum paragraph size, it looks a lot like the max is 8kb instead of 64...


148.13. Matt
(27/10/2004 10:24 PM)

Hey Ben - great list.

Couldn't find a listing in the table for the maximum size of an OU name. Was curious to see what the limit was in R6 so I mucked around a bit on my test box and found it to be 32 chars. Has this increased from R5?

Cheers.


148.14. Ben Langhinrichs
(10/28/2004 07:18 AM)

Matt - Thanks for the limit. I confirmed this information and found a bunch of related limits in the "Table of Domino naming requirements" in the ND6 Admin Help database, so I added them all to the document. There is no such table in the R5 Admin Help, but I confirmed that most are the same from various other bits in that R5 Admin Help. I appreciate the information, as it helps keep this list useful and relevant.


148.15. Chris Rivett
(03/11/2004 04:04)

How many documents can be held in a document collection. Is there a limit? I have a db.search that does not bring back the same as a view. I am missing 118 documents in the search.


148.16. Lee Davis
(11/04/2004 03:31 PM)

Thanks for the list!

Database limit on Mac OS X seems to be 2GB even though the OS limit on filesize is not 2GB.


148.17. n00b
(02/03/2005 08:29 AM)

I don't see an entry for Lists... what is the maximum size for those? What I can find seems to imply that there is only a memory limitation, but then I saw something saying they're just like a one-dimensional array... there isn't a limit on list entries equivalent to an array is there?


148.18. Ben Langhinrichs
(02/03/2005 08:39 AM)

@Simon (#17) - I'll see if I can figure out where to add that in. Good tip.

@n00b (#18) - There doesn't seem to be a maximum other than space. It is not a one dimensional array, or even close to it, and I have heard reports of huge numbers of items in a list with great performance, so I wouldn't worry about it too much.


148.19. Hynek Kobelka
(29.04.2005 02:26)

Hi Ben,

I recently discovered the limit that you can only have a maximum of 255 entries on the clients replicator page. This includes database entries as well as "folder"-entries (R6). Once you add more AND start to replicate the client crashes.

I tested it now on several PCs with versions R5 (5.0.13 ENG) and R6 (R6.0,6.5.1,6.5.4) so it seems not to be only an error of one specific release.(nor is it due to som corrupt desktop,bookmarks or whatever)

You can however have more local databases than this and replicate them if you create several separate location-documents and on each one have less then 255 entries.

I had no confirmation from IBM on this so I dont know if you want to include as an official "limit".

Bye

Hynek


148.20. Dhanasekaran
(06/02/2005 06:21 AM)

Hi,

I am using list which will contain more no of values. Currently i am using 2000 values in list. Will it affect the performance. Or how many no of values can a list have which will not affect performance?

-dhana-


148.21. Ben Langhinrichs
(06/02/2005 06:38 AM)

Dhana - I have been told by a number of people I trust very much that lists can be 15000 and more without effecting performance. This seems to have been something IBM has done very well and very scalably. You should have no trouble with 2000 values.


148.22. Dhanasekaran
(06/02/2005 06:43 AM)

Hi Ben,

Thank you very much for your immediate response, Now i will increase the no of values in my program.

Once again thanks a lot

-dhana-


148.23. Monica
(07/12/2005 05:14 AM)

Does anyone know how I would be able to pull out nested groups in Domino or of a software that offers this capability? Many Thanks! We are using ND6.


148.24. Ben Langhinrichs
(08/15/2005 04:58 PM)

Mika - Duly noted. Thanks!


148.25. Tim Rattray
(23/08/2005 00:41)

Hello everyone, the limits doc says there is no limit on the number of views, besides it getting unweildly and slow.

But what about folders? There is no mention of folder limits, yet a few people have encountered a "Exceeded maximum folder count in database" error in R6, which would suggest that there is a limit on the number of folders. I have one user (sigh, there's always one...) who has 1530 folders (I counted 'em). Does anybody know of a limit on folders in 6.5.3?

Regards

Tim


148.26. Joachim Mutter
(25.08.2005 03:24)

Does anybody now the maximum count of entries in an ACL?


148.27. Mike Dill
(08/31/2005 11:31 AM)

Great table of info. Kudos to you and Mike Woolsey.

Another piece of info that would be helpful to include is the limit on ACL "role" names (which is 15 characters for both R5 and ND6).

Also, I'm not sure what release of R5 began support for database titles greater than 32 characters, but I know 5.0.13 supports 96 character DB titles (just like ND6).


148.28. Virendra Pandya
(09/13/2005 11:58 PM)

Hi,

Two Limitation in Lotes Notes.

1, New rules can not be applied on the Mails that have already been Received in the Mailbox. This facility is available in microsoft outlook.

2, Can not Sort the Search Result.

If anybody have solution it will be highly appriciated.

Thanks

Virendra Pandya


148.29. Rodd Ahrenstorff
(05/03/2006 11:44 AM)

I can confirm the database size limitation in R6.5.3 (Domino & Lotous Notes) as 64GB. We had such a database, when it reached that size it started throwing errors like "database (.nsf) is too large, please..." and attempting to open documents created errors like "General LSE Failure".

This is a Windows 2003 Server Enterprise Edition. We were forced to compact (temporary fix) and later redesign some elements to reduce the overall size.


148.30. vengoin
(05/10/2006 03:29 AM)

Sir,

We are using Domino Web Access 6.5.5, I am trying to send mail activated through Powerbuilder client software. On clicking the send mail button in PB application, it opens the domino web access through IE, but I am able to paste only 3 lines of text (approx 200 charcters) in the body of the mail where I need to paste more than 3 lines of text (approx 1000 charectsrs). How to do this?. I have tried the same with Domino Web Access 7.0.1 where its not allowing me to paste any content. Please help me to solve this problem. Please tell me how to attach any document to web client through my PB software??


148.31. mel
(23/05/2006 05:00)

Do you know What is the maximum number of http actives sessions ?


148.32. Michael Niermann
(27.06.2006 06:40)

How many documents can be copied at once from a view ?

Answer: 2335

(Notes 6.5.3 says so when selecting more)

Michael


148.33. Michael Niermann
(27.06.2006 06:54)

Question: What's the maximum number of documents to be copied from a view?

Answer: 2335

Source: Errormessage from Notes 6.5.3

Michael


148.34. Chris
(07/18/2006 09:03 AM)

Hi,

I was interested to read your limit on "What is the maximum number of individual reader names/group names in a single document?" as I have been struggling with this problem all day!

I experienced the exact same behaviour - I have documents that, when saved, pick up certain users and add them to readers and authors fields.

When these go over a certain limit, the documents completely disappear from view and appear to be gone, yet they can still be accessed programatically or through a doclink if one is available.

I'm not sure if my limit matches yours of 2005 but it must be something similar to that. Any idea if Lotus has recognised this limit?

Cheers,

Chris


148.35. Chris
(19/07/2006 02:13)

Hi,

I was interested to read your limit on What is the maximum number of individual reader namesgroup names in a single document as I have been struggling with this problem all day!

I experienced the exact same behaviour - I have documents that, when saved, pick up certain users and add them to readers and authors fields.

When these go over a certain limit, the documents completely disappear from view and appear to be gone, yet they can still be accessed programatically or through a doclink if one is available.

I'm not sure if my limit matches yours of 2005 but it must be something similar to that. Any idea if Lotus has recognised this limit

Cheers,

Chris


148.36. Gary Groeller
(09/07/2006 12:29 PM)

"maximum database size for R6" is 64Gb, *not* "maximum OS disk size" as I believed up until one broke the limit. Look to your R6 Admin help & other pubs from IBM


148.37. Vince Mills
(10/10/2006 07:44)

I read with interest your Notes R6 limits. However one I'm looking for was not mentioned.

What is the limit on the number of documents that can be searched and returned using database.search

on a non indexed database?

Regards


148.38. dimitris
(13/02/2007 07:01)

This is true for view / folder names and Notes Client 6.5.2:

For a plain name (non-cascading) the limit is 64 single-byte characters.

For cascading names (e.g. "abcd\efgh\ijk") the limits are 64 s-b chars per level, 129 s-b chars in total, including the "\" characters.

To this you can add at least an alias the length of a UniqueDocumentID (32 chars?).

If you are using multi-byte characters the actual characters are less.


148.39. jake
(10/25/2007 02:40 PM)

Does anyone know the maximum amount of folders that an ND8 database can have?


148.40. Keith Brooks
(01/18/2008 06:48 AM)

Ben,

Just found this, I have some items that need answers(well one can try):

Maximum number of LDAP directories in looklup view and in the config. doc.

Maximum number of Sametime entries in the connect client or the embedded client or the java client.

Maximum number of person entries in a names.nsf NAB/Directory on a Domino Server.(OK, this one is just for fun)

Maximum number of mail-in databases listed in NAB(Quickplace issue possibly).

Maximum number of roles a Notes db can use in it's ACL.

See you in Orlando.


148.41. Cate Ross
(26/03/2008 10:53 PM)

Hello, it's been a long time since this post page has been used!

There was a promise to display R5 limits, but I cannot find them. I have R7 clustered mail servers, using an R5 Hub to direct outbound mail. A user is getting "too many recipients" error.

Thanks for your help.


148.42. eliss
(04/22/2008 08:05 PM)

thanks for the useful info...


148.43. Mike VandeVelde
(07/28/2008 12:35 PM)

I think I've come across a new one: default value has a size limit. Seems to be around 32k, copying what it can read out to a text editor gives me 35,671 chars. This is in Designer 7.03.

"End of formula reached before end of quoted string, date/time or array accessor: "" - when my formula ends just fine, way beyond that point.

*I'm trying to make the default value of a rich text field to be the DXL of a document that can include images. I've finally got the output of NotesDXLExporter formatted to be an @Formula, with escaped quotes and slashes and quoted lines with @NewLines in between, and it will not fit into a default value :-(


148.44. Ben Langhinrichs
(07/28/2008 02:30 PM)

Mike - Thanks! I'd never noticed that, but I'll add it.


148.45. Mike VandeVelde
(07/29/2008 12:35 PM)

Well it's an odd thing I was trying to do. And I guess the limit is more generally on the size of formulas, not limited to default values. Who knows, maybe it will help someone to know about it before hand!


148.46. Michael Niermann
(18.05.2009 09:01)

Hi,

something which isn't a technical limit but a limit of what you the user will accept:

Too many subforms will drastically slow down the display of a document in Notes (not Web).

I have a form with 10 subforms and that takes over 30 seconds to display.

I remember this behaviour since Notes R5.


148.47. Thomas
(17.06.2009 11:54)

It looks like a Notes User Name can have up to 3 characters as middle initial.

also it is a bid misleading that the CN part can have 80 characters, while the user name can only have 79.