>>I am working actually on an image database and I choose the system to have a reference to the high resolution picture and in my memo field I keep just a little thumbnail (128x128 256 colors). It works today with a database with 16000 pictures in jpg format and the thumbnails database is not bigger than 60 Megas. I keep the high resolution pictures on CDRom or a big hardisk...
>Can you help me with ideas? Can you share some samples or the way to do it?
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>What I want to do is to store images "somewhere" and be able to view it upon clicking of a button. Can you tell me how you do yours? How the end-users add image themselves? We don't want to use CD or something like that, just use Novell networking (and will need to do something regarding notebook updates, do you know how to do that as well?).
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>Chuck

We've put pictures in different directories according to categories. Let's name them for example (rep1, rep2, rep3...) In each of these directories we have sub categories classified in sub directories: (srep1, srep2, srep3...) (at the rate of a maximum of 25 sub directories by main directory). In each of these sub directories we put approximately 100 pictures. All this system is there to avoid, in our case, to reach the limits imposed by the iso 9660 format of the CdRoms (since we distribute our pictures on this support). High resolution pictures are in JPG format in resolution 24 bits and size of 800x600 what gives us pictures size of about 100ko.

In the database we foresaw a reference number field that keeps in memory the path of the picture as well as its name but without keeping the unit of the disk where this picture is. We allow thus the user to place pictures where he wants them and to introduce in the preferences of the program, disks on which he wants that the program does its search. Every picture is kept also in the database (general field) as a thumbnail 128x128 and a size of 5Ko in order to do the fast global searches.

During the search the program take in account units of disks entrances in parameters to look for pictures on the concerned disks.

There is also a procedure that permits with the help of the TreeView control to select the new pictures to introduce in the database, to create the new corresponding records as well as thumbnails of every picture.

I would have soon a demo version of my program if that interests you...

I hope I was clear enough and that I have answered to your question..
With all my apologies for my bad English...

Gilles