Custom Data Set - Field Limit

Question

I am using Civi 5.38 on a WordPress site. There have been multiple custom data sets created and used for Activities which have all worked fine apart from the most recent set which needs 70+ fields adding to it. Once we get to adding 65 in the fields it seems to cause a database fault as the screen freezes when trying to add it. If I refresh the page the field then shows in the list but then none of the activities load on the homepage or show in the contact records. Is this a known limitation of custom fields on a set? When checking other forum posts there seems to be people creating upto 90 in a set so not sure what is causing this to fall over if that's the case.

Thanks!

Answer 1

See https://lab.civicrm.org/dev/core/-/issues/1191 and you can also try https://github.com/civicrm/civicrm-core/pull/18968 to see if it solves it for you.

Answer 2

I'm not sure if the issue is what Demerit is suggesting (join limits), or one of database length limits. Your CiviCRM log should give a more detailed error. If you find the error, you can edit your question to include it for better help.

I suspect you're hitting a database length limit. The solution depends on your version of MySQL/MariaDB, but I'm guessing that changing your database row format to DYNAMIC may help.

If you don't have the ability to change this (e.g. you're on a crappy shared host) then consider creating fields with a lower maximum length if you need to fit more - or breaking the custom fields up amongst two groups.