On Thu, 3 Dec 1998 08:50:10 -0500 , Les bureaux de credit du nord
<[log in to unmask]> wrote:

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>My computer programmer would like to know how to read and update =
>records
>of an
>image database using a multiple record access  (in blocks) for fast
>updating in S.P.L.
>language.

For fast serial access to IMAGE data, buy Suprtool from Robelle
(www.robelle.com). They've already done the work, and for you to
duplicate it will cost you much more than the $4000 list price for
Suprtool. You can update with Suprtool, but guess what? They use the
IMAGE intrinsics just like you would.

The IMAGE intrinsics for manipulating IMAGE data are as fast as they
can be and still be safe. If you want to bypass those intrinsics and
write your own, then you run the very real risk of breaking your
database. By the time you write your own routines to make sure all the
IMAGE block pointers and internal "bookkeeping" structures get updated
correctly, then I would bet that they end up being slower than the
IMAGE intrinsics, which are written by people who have many many years
of experience coding with IMAGE and MPE. Plus you've wasted how many
man-months duplicating what you already had......?

In short, for fast reading get Suprtool. For fast writing, a) upgrade
your system b) reorganize your database to eliminate unnecessary paths
and sort items c) analyze your application programs so as to minimize
database I/O.
---

Mark Landin                   "For anyone who was never good at
T. D. Williamson, Inc.         anything, technology has been a
UNIX Sys. Admin                real boon" --- my mom