> My point is: if I need to be 100% sure that what is referenced on the database > is accessible all the time when the reference is, then I need to have this on > the database Not necessarily. It does take carefully controlling access, with a good deal of thought and error-checking on the part of the code that has write access to the files, but it can certainly be done. > But if there are other people touching > things -- moving / creating / deleting / changing files and directories -- > then things get more complicated to manage. Absolutely. But allowing the kinds of tools mentioned earlier for examining files does not require giving anyone write access ;-) -- Scott Ribe scott_ribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx http://www.killerbytes.com/ (303) 722-0567 voice