My final birthday present for the year came in last week, a book of graph paper which I put to work today when keeping the 7-yr old company and sketched out thoughts on expanding the 4096 items per annex database limits.  This is the culmination of at least a decade of pondering the topic.  The core question comes down to, "How do we blow away the limits while reducing dependence on code we don't own?"

As I continue designing, I'll update this thread.  For now, a photo of the page of notes.

 

Backward compatibility so that existing BattleSets and databases work?  Yes.  That is where mapping tables are so important

Adding new annexes? Yes.  That is not an initial goal when it comes to deciding if satellites are aircraft should go in a new annex, this becomes important.  Said 7-yr old from the initial post is going to be learning orbital mechanics with me this Spring so we need a place to apply that knowledge.