"Born, Ken" wrote:

> We are in the process of taking proposals for a new system.  One of the
> requirements is that the database must be able to store images(Mugshots).
> Can IMAGE store images in its database?  Are there any plans to?  Would I
> need to migrate over to ALLBASE?

well, yes and no.  image can't directly support blobs (unless they were
perhaps very small and you made the effort to put their contents into fixed
length records).  otoh, image can very nicely maintain a dataset that is a
simple list of file names that 'point' to external 'blob' files (think of
using hfs namespace!).  of course, the problem then is trying to maintain the
files -- since they're external to image (think of a broken 'pointer' (a
missing file)) -- and trying to enforce security (it's a different ball of
wax outside of the database).

i believe allbase could handle blobs (but don't take my word for it).  i
don't see that you'd need to convert the entire database to allbase though --
and given allbase's precarious state (imo), it certainly casts a shadow on
the 'using allbase' decision.

with some work (system design) i believe you can find a suitable solution --
but sadly i don't think it will be an 'off the shelf' sort of
answer.             - d

--
Donna Garverick     Sr. System Programmer
925-210-6631        [log in to unmask]

"Unix _is_ user friendly.
It's just very selective about who its friends are.
And sometimes even best friends have fights."

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