LiveCode Server, can it read local (on the server) drives?

Roger Eller roger.e.eller at sealedair.com
Wed Aug 28 10:56:25 EDT 2013


If there is a file <path> would be much better and easier to read than:

put libURLftpCommand("SIZE " & fileToQuery, LFtpServer, LFtpUserName,
LFtpUserPassword) into tSize
if word 1 of tSize is "213" then
    put true into fileExists
  else
    put false into fileExists
end if

~Roger

On Wed, Aug 28, 2013 at 10:19 AM, Richard Gaskin <ambassador at fourthworld.com
> wrote:

> Roger Eller wrote:
>
> > A direct SQL query followed by a FTP command to check existence,
> > on a per file basis takes about 150 millisecs.
> > The same query performed by LC Server, and FTP existence check,
> > takes about 500 millisecs.
>
> FTP is notoriously slow.  All things considered, that's not bad, though on
> a server with any appreciable traffic a half-second for a single
> transaction may become problematic.
>
>
> > I doubt that all of the data (the list) could be carried in a GET
> > parameter of the URL.  I don't know the URL length limitations, or
> > if there is a limit.
>
> It does, and there is no standard.  POST can carry much more data, and
> although it's also implemented with no consistent limitation at least it
> should be big enough to handle a list of the size you describe.
>
>
> In your original post you wrote:
>
> > I wish to have the server perform a SQL query to a database of file
> > paths, and follow that request with an existence verification to a
> > local drive of that same server.
>
> Rather than FTP between servers, I wonder if it may be more efficient, and
> possible simpler in terms of the number of moving parts, to call another LC
> Server routine (or PHP or whatever else could do this) on that DB server to
> both query the DB and check for the existence of the corresponding file
> there.
>
> In LC, "if there is a file <path>" is darn fast, many times faster than
> checking a file's existence via FTP (probably by at least an order of
> magnitude).
>
> Another possible benefit of this approach is that the addition of an LC
> script as a sort of "middleware" on the other server turns that server into
> a service, one that could be extended in other useful directions down the
> road as your needs grow.
>
> In cases like this I'm often reminded of Jeff Bezos' requirement for his
> engineering team:  "Don't give me code, give me APIs".  With that mandate
> they were able to implement a system that no only grew well enough to make
> Amazon the largest retailer on earth, but also later became a product in
> itself, known today as Amazon Web Services.
>
>
> --
>  Richard Gaskin
>  Fourth World
>  LiveCode training and consulting: http://www.fourthworld.com
>  Webzine for LiveCode developers: http://www.LiveCodeJournal.com
>  Follow me on Twitter:  http://twitter.com/**FourthWorldSys<http://twitter.com/FourthWorldSys>
>
>
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