All this talk about DataBases - but how to select?

[Mark Talluto]

On May 31, 2007, at 3:55 PM, J. Landman Gay wrote:

> Or you could store it in a text file and just read that in. In any  
> case, it's all the same approach; store the data as a single text  
> variable. With this method, you use offset() or lineoffset() to  
> find the record(s) you want, and use a display card to load in each  
> record as needed. The display card  would have the same number of  
> fields as record items (40 in your case) and parse out the record  
> data to fill each field appropriately. You need to write your own  
> navigation commands with this method, re-filling the fields with  
> the next or previous line of data on demand. When the user changes  
> cards, you need a closeCard handler that gathers the field data,  
> inserts appropriate item delimiters, and writes it back to the  
> correct line in the text variable.
>
> This is the method I used for a 40,000 record data set. The data  
> was stored in a text file on disk and the application was only a  
> single card that displayed the current record. This has the  
> advantage of keeping the data separate from the interface, and the  
> client only needed to backup the text file.


Here is an example of this method.  I use this to customer data and  
registration information.  Once can easily modify it to match their  
needs.
<www.canelasoftware.com/pub/rev/Key_Maker.rev.zip>  I removed some  
code that makes our key system work.  The rest is there for dissection.

It is commented pretty well and is very basic to get someone  
started.  I have been using it for years and have never had any  
problems with the integrity of the data.  I tested with with dummy  
data in the amount of 100,000 records.  It held up just fine.

The data is stored as a text file for easy import into another DB  
system. I am sure it can be improved in many ways.  Hope it helps  
someone just starting out.


Mark Talluto
-- 
CANELA Software
http://www.canelasoftware.com