Standalone - Using stack as DB

[Richard Gaskin]

Scott Morrow wrote:
> I think a common variation is to have a standalone application (which  
> most "long-timers" try to put minimal code into), a "program main  
> stack" (perhaps with substacks) which can also be a stack file that  
> the standalone loads first to establish the interface (and doesn't  
> need to be saved), and data files which can also be substacks.  Then  
> just the data substacks need to be involved with the save process.   
> Keeping the data separate from the everything else has been consistent  
> advice on this list.

Yep, that's how I work.  I've come to love using stack files for data 
storage.  They give me all the flexibility I've enjoyed with my own 
custom formats but I don't need to worry about parsing the file, since 
the built-in routines for getting and setting properties make it dirt 
simple to stuff any data I need discretely.

Extra bonus points:  simply setting the password of the data file makes 
the data unreadable to other apps.  Sometimes I do this with hard-wired 
passwords just for modest on-disk protection.  If I need user-managed 
security I use either fwPack/fwUnpack 
(<http://www.revjournal.com/tutorials/handy-handlers-005.html>) for very 
modest security, or Rev's encryption externals for industrial-strength 
security.

And a nice extra:  in those rare cases when a save is interrupted, the 
engine has automatically made a backup of the last good save (the "~*" 
copy), which has made a couple of my end-users very happy to learn about. :)

-- 
  Richard Gaskin
  Fourth World Media Corporation
  ___________________________________________________________
  Ambassador at FourthWorld.com       http://www.FourthWorld.com