Erik, The advantage with storing things in the database verses the file system is the number of lines of code. I manage 18 software applications. I have developed an application that reads in an XML file and will generate database java code for inserting, updating, selecting and deleting data. So for me the database is a no brainer. But when I need to store files that are uploaded by users I have to hand code the process. It is not hard. It is just time consuming. I want to keep the amount I can do per hour at a very high level. The less code the better. Using a database correctly really saves on the number of lines of code. Thanks, Lance Campbell Project Manager/Software Architect Web Services at Public Affairs University of Illinois 217.333.0382 http://webservices.uiuc.edu -----Original Message----- From: Erik Jones [mailto:erik@xxxxxxxxxx] Sent: Thursday, December 13, 2007 2:22 PM To: Campbell, Lance Cc: pgsql-performance@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx list Subject: Re: Putting files into fields in a table On Dec 13, 2007, at 2:09 PM, Campbell, Lance wrote: > I did not see much info in the 8.2 documentation on BLOB. I did ready > about "bytea" or binary data type. It seems like it would work for > storing files. I guess I could stick with the OS for file storage but > it is a pain. It would be easier to use the DB. In postgres they're simply called Large Objects (or LOBs) and there is a whole chapter devoted to them in Part IV of the manual. Note that you only need to use this facility if you're going to be storing data over 1G in size (at which point your limit becomes 2G). What kind of data are in these files? What gain do you foresee in storing the files directly in the db (as opposed, say, to storing the paths to the files in the filesystem)? Erik Jones Software Developer | Emma(r) erik@xxxxxxxxxx 800.595.4401 or 615.292.5888 615.292.0777 (fax) Emma helps organizations everywhere communicate & market in style. Visit us online at http://www.myemma.com ---------------------------(end of broadcast)--------------------------- TIP 7: You can help support the PostgreSQL project by donating at http://www.postgresql.org/about/donate
