[AccessD] Should I use Attachments?

Darrell,

I worked with a client who had a database and was using the attachment
fields type to store documents. The form with those fields was really slow,
painfully slow. I was not able to prove that this field type was the
problem, but suggested that we store the documents separately in a document
directory. The owner of the company wanted the documents in the database and
for other reasons wanted to upgrade the back end to sql server. We did this
and I stored the documents in binary format in sql server and the speed went
up dramatically.

I can't prove that attachment fields are slow, but that is my assumption.

Doug

-----Original Message-----
From: accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com
[mailto:accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com] On Behalf Of Darrell Burns
Sent: Saturday, May 14, 2011 5:33 PM
To: 'Access Developers discussion and problem solving'
Subject: [AccessD] Should I use Attachments?

New subject: my client wants to link PDF documents to records in an Asset
table in an A2007 app. The attachment data type is perfect for what I want
to do, but I've heard bad things about it. I know one caveat is that it's
not backward-compatible. I've also heard that it's a performance drag. (I
tried using OLE fields in A2000 a few years ago and quickly abandoned that
approach). The Asset table would range from a few hundred to a couple
thousand records per client. I'll be deploying the app as a runtime.

I'd be interested in hearing the pros & cons of attachments. 

Thanx,
DB

--
AccessD mailing list
AccessD at databaseadvisors.com
http://databaseadvisors.com/mailman/listinfo/accessd
Website: http://www.databaseadvisors.com