>Which database is better at storing and retrieving Binary Large Object data.
>
>
>Security issues aside......
>Is it VFP or SQL Server.
>
>Is either of these a good technology for storing this type of data or are the BLOBS better dealt with as independent files in a folder.
>
>All comments gratefully received.
I have no experience with SQL Server.
In VFP, I did some testing. The results are interesting:
A JPG file (a picture of one of our shoes), kept as a separate file, used about 50 KB.
Inserted into a general field (in a test file), the DBF + FPT (mainly FPT) increased in size by over 1 MB. This is a factor of over 20.
Therefore, I only reference the filename in an 8-character char field. (8 character is enough for our purposes, since we use the article code; path and extension are the same for all files).
BUT: perhaps general fields are easier to manipulate in some cases. However, because of the tremendous difference in file-size, if required, I would copy them into temp files on-demand (like, for reports).
HTH, Hilmar.
Difference in opinions hath cost many millions of lives: for instance, whether flesh be bread, or bread be flesh; whether whistling be a vice or a virtue; whether it be better to kiss a post, or throw it into the fire... (from Gulliver's Travels)
