Hi,

I have a requirement to save either Word documents or .RTF documents (that are can be converted into Word documents or opened in word "as-is") into SQL server 2000. In the past with VFP based systems, I would most likely have saved the file into a directory and saved some reference to the file in VFP. However, this system requires that the documents are archived in SQL server with additional audit information and can be retrieved at will.

Obviously, RTF is just text but given its "bulk", it might be better saving a compressed version in some kind of Zip type format. I suppose in this case, the same kind of binary storing would occur as would with a regular .DOC file.

So, the question breaks down into saving voluminous text (eg., the plain RTF document) or binary in the form of the .DOC/Zip data. Are there any "best practices" in this respect? (I am sure many people must have had this requirement before).

I am accessing SQL server using SQL PassThru. VFP8 SP1, SQL server 2000, Windows 2000 Advanced Server.

Any advice much appreciated.

Best