Hi! I'm new too, but here are some things I've picked up from others on the List kind enough to advise: Regarding blobs, putting even large amounts of material into them is the same as using any other data type. Some considerations: http://lists.mysql.com/cgi-ez/ezmlm-cgi?1:mss:10632 http://lists.mysql.com/cgi-ez/ezmlm-cgi?1:mss:65635 regarding keywords index: http://lists.mysql.com/cgi-ez/ezmlm-cgi?1:mss:36147 I've personally used two ways of storing images and audio clips: binary storage as blobs and, (on advice from this list, since I'm pretty new to this) as separate files. In the case of separate files, the location is stored in the database and the files are stored wherever you wish. If you employed a keyword index, having sparate files for the articles seems like a recommended way to go - it keeps your tables small and the searches will likely be faster (see the first link, above). You will want to scan your configuration file for settings relating to the maximum size allowed (if the articles are to come from elsewhere or will go to users over the net) and settings of your server itself that affect size of any given piece of data allowed. Cheers! -Warren ------------------- SNIP --------------------- Dear all, Please excuse a newbie question. I am interested in storing articles (up to 300k) in a database, and some may have formatting and contain graphics like a word document. Is it possible to do this in mySql and if so e.g. in a TEXT or BLOB field, how do I store an article and then retrieve it. I would have a separate column for an index to the article. Have I misunderstood and do I need a specialised front end client program (not Visual Basic as I am using Mac OS X ). Any help, pointers, examples would be greatly appreciated. Many thanks, Mark Bedish [EMAIL PROTECTED] --------------------------------------------------------------------- Before posting, please check: http://www.mysql.com/manual.php (the manual) http://lists.mysql.com/ (the list archive) To request this thread, e-mail <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To unsubscribe, e-mail <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Trouble unsubscribing? Try: http://lists.mysql.com/php/unsubscribe.php