Pros and cons of where to store image data

[Richard Gaskin]

erik hansen wrote:

> --- Richard Gaskin <ambassador at fourthworld.com>
> wrote:
>> everything in a stack file is loaded
>> into memory whenever you open
>> it, so referring to them is a good option for
>> stacks with lots of images, as
>> that generally takes less memory since it only
>> loads the images needed for the current card.
> 
> in terms of say, hundreds, is a ball park
> estimate possible for "lots of images"?

It depends on the size of the images:  200 icons will take up a fraction of
the space required ny 200 photgraphs.

The main considerations extend further than just size.  Think about how your
app will be deployed, and whether its practical to require a subfolder with
your images to be carried along with your app.

Also, consider what your app will be doing with the images.  If it's a photo
of your cat for an About box then by all means simply import it.  But if
your app is a slide show viewer it makes more sense for the user experience
to just have them point it to a folder than to do the extra step of
importing.

As a general rule (very general), I externalize media for "multimedia" apps
and embed media for "workflow" apps.  But the lines between such arbitrary
categories are ever blurred....

-- 
 Richard Gaskin 
 Fourth World Media Corporation
 Developer of WebMerge: Publish any database on any Web site
 ___________________________________________________________
 Ambassador at FourthWorld.com       http://www.FourthWorld.com
 Tel: 323-225-3717                       AIM: FourthWorldInc