Roger Eller wrote: > ...so for protecting the initial md5digest, I might store it in > a database rather than a file. That could possibly make retrieval > of that code more efficient, and also add a protective layer.
If someone has sufficient access to modify files on your server, that may include your database as well.
Databases are handy for working with very large data stores, esp. where you need relationality but for simple things like a checksum value for a file, Mark Weider's suggestion is probably the simplest and most efficient, to just store a checksum file with the actual file,
With a database your client talks to Apache, Apache loads your CGI, your CGI connects to the DB, then it submits the request through the the driver where the DB traverses its hash table to find the record, returns that data back through the driver interface to your CGI, then your CGI hands it back to Apache for delivery to the client.
As a file, Apache just gets the file itself and returns its data to the client.
On some file systems you may be able to measure a performance difference if your directory has more than 32l files in it, but even then it's probably not as much as the overhead of connecting to a DB.
-- Richard Gaskin Fourth World LiveCode training and consulting: http://www.fourthworld.com Webzine for LiveCode developers: http://www.LiveCodeJournal.com LiveCode Journal blog: http://LiveCodejournal.com/blog.irv _______________________________________________ use-livecode mailing list use-livecode@lists.runrev.com Please visit this url to subscribe, unsubscribe and manage your subscription preferences: http://lists.runrev.com/mailman/listinfo/use-livecode
