Question:
What happens to the file size when contacts are deleted?
Answer number one:
It is normal for Claris Organizer to fluctuate file size a little bit, even when deleting. The space freed up by the deleted contacts will be reused the next time you save after modifying the file, and space at the end of your file will be truncated. This system is set up so that you never corrupt your data in the event of a system crash or power failure while saving a file. Also, by reusing space in the existing file, saves are faster than having to recopy the entire file every time.
The more technical answer:
When contacts are deleted, each of the blocks containing one of these contacts is marked as a modified block. On a save, all modified blocks must be rewritten to the data file before the old blocks in the file are deleted. This is so that if a crash occurs in the middle of the save operation, the existing data is not corrupted. The next time a save occurs, however, the old block images are reused based on a best fit algorithm. This system makes saving time faster because we do not need to rewrite the entire file every time you save: only the modified blocks. The end of file marker is truncated whenever possible.