> I've always wondered about the MS-SQL datatype "image"... > isn't this type of application what that datatype is there > for? Why is it even a bad idea in the first place? Is it > just because you have to make SQL grab many 1's and 0's > when you can hit the file, already compiled, straight > from the folder?
Yes, the image datatype is designed to contain binary data. Just because you can, doesn't mean you should. Using the database to store images makes the database connection a bottleneck for returning images; it'll take a lot less time to simply retrieve a string of text pointing to the image URL, and include that text in the generated HTML page - the browser can then fetch the image from the web server without needing the application server or the database. Static content is always faster than dynamic content, all other things being equal. Also, CF specifically doesn't deal with binary data very well. Finally, there's very little benefit to using images within the database in most cases. SQL is good for dealing with text, and you're unlikely to be able to query the image data itself by specifying filters within that data - for example, I can't have SQL Server return all of the images that fit some criteria (say, beach photos) without storing that criteria as text in another field (essentially, as metadata). Dave Watts, CTO, Fig Leaf Software http://www.figleaf.com/ voice: (202) 797-5496 fax: (202) 797-5444 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Get the mailserver that powers this list at http://www.coolfusion.com FAQ: http://www.thenetprofits.co.uk/coldfusion/faq Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/index.cfm?sidebar=lists
