RE: Storing pictures

[Bill Eyring]

Javier   I currently run two different applications that access photos. The first one accesses(excuse the word) about 5000 photos, the other about 435,000 photos.   I've never estimated the growth of the rb files if they were loaded internally as my initial (and subsequent) reaction to handling these files (all jpegs) was to keep the database as lean as possible. Of course I have a lot of disk space available to me on our file servers and I run W2k Server and W2K Professional on my workstations.   I set up the file names and locations inside my database and place the photos in my forms and reports using the DmStretch setting of Rblob. All this works very well and I don't have to artificially inflate the size of my database files and sacrifice performance.   Hope this helps.   Bill Eyring     -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On Behalf Of Javier Valencia Sent: Monday, September 23, 2002 12:08 AM To: List RBASE Subject: Storing pictures I have an application that will require access to app. 1000 photos (could grow to 4000-5000) currently stored in JPEG format and app.400 Kb in size (each). The options are: - Store the pictures in a separate directory and have a table in the database that stores the filename and path and when the photo needs to be displayed, it simply "launches" the photo using a an external viewing software (such as photo editor) - Load the picture as a blob, store it in the database and display it from (or within) a form. - Store the photos in a separate database, attach it to the main database for access and display. What is the compression/overhead when storing pictures as blobs? The database is currently app. 60 Mb and it would grow considerably if the photos are stored in the database. What would be the performance penalty? Any thought on these approaches or any other that some one has successfully used would be greatly appreciated.   Javier Valencia, PE President Valencia Technology Group, L.L.C. 14315 S. Twilight Ln., Suite #14 Olathe, KS  66062-4571 (913)829-0888 (913)649-2904 FAX