> would it be safe to say that the methods mentioned (re-read > before write, timestamps, hashing, etc) always worked well > for you so nothing else was seriously considered? you were > able to build this into the system from day one, the bloody > thing worked perfectly and that was the end of the story?
Yes, that's about it. I haven't actually used the hashing/checksum approach, but have used other methods to check records to see if they've changed before update. We used to cover these approaches in the three-day advanced CF course we developed, way back in the CF 2 & 3 days. You can get quite specific in how you respond to records that have already been updated by another user. A common approach in our applications was to use a menu approach, where you could display the changed fields and ask which value you want to keep. > Mate, I'm with you on this. timestamps have worked well for > me in the past (I've never used the hashed record method for > this but I can't see why that wouldn't work either). In my > pre CFMX days (ASP/ASP.NET) no one bothered with anything else. > > BUT...that's not saying this "mad idea" won't work. The user > base is asking for this (locking + notification) as a feature > request, the boss (a client/server programmer for 20 years > but who doesn't yet fully appreciate *all* of the intracacies > web apps have) is saying "Why Not". If it were up to me, I'd > be happy to use timestamps, take the hit in schedual, rebuild > the app, saying "tough" to this unwieldy request and get on > with it. No, I'm not saying it won't work, either. I have no idea whether it'll work. My gut instinct tells me it's a bit too complicated and unwieldy - you'd likely end up with hotspots on the table that you use to track record "locks". In general, I think it's a bad idea to build web applications as if they were traditional client-server applications, because they're not. HTTP clients don't maintain state, and they're very dumb. This is simply the nature of HTTP - it's not designed for client-server applications, it's designed for looking at documents. The fact that HTTP applications work at all amazes me at times. They remind me of "Rube Goldberg" contraptions. Dave Watts, CTO, Fig Leaf Software http://www.figleaf.com/ phone: 202-797-5496 fax: 202-797-5444 ---------------------------------------------------------- You are subscribed to cfcdev. To unsubscribe, send an email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the words 'unsubscribe cfcdev' in the message of the email. CFCDev is run by CFCZone (www.cfczone.org) and supported by Mindtool, Corporation (www.mindtool.com). An archive of the CFCDev list is available at www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED]
