Thoughts on BLOBs in SQLite

[Bob Sneidar]

Better is a relative term. Do you need to occasionally edit the images? Will the database continue to grow over time? My instinct is to keep files as files on the disk, because managing them is not dependent on access to a database. However, having the images universally accessible in a multiuser application is much easier if you store them in a database because then you wouldn't have to deal with maintaining images on a users file system. 

I keep the binary equivalent of blank PDF forms in a binary blob in mySQL. This way I can create new PDF forms on the fly without much fuss. I do NOT however, keep the FILLED forms in the database (although I've been tempted to) because these will keep multiplying over the life of the application, and I am worried about database bloat. Backups get larger and take longer, and eventually this would pose a scalability problem if the app was used extensively by a whole lot of people. 

Bob S


> On Aug 23, 2017, at 09:11 , Glen Bojsza via use-livecode <use-livecode at lists.runrev.com> wrote:
> 
> Hello,
> 
> I was looking for feedback on whether it is better to store images as BLOBs
> in an SQLite database for a LC app or store paths to the images in the
> SQLite database and the images in a separate folder.
> 
> Any help in understanding possible performance and memory issues is what I
> am looking for.
> 
> Can I assume that any issues would be the same for both Android and iOS?
> 
> thanks,
> 
> Glen