This message was edited by MangoJack at 2006-8-4 7:26:38

---

Hi .. Basically I am about to Update an Application (ver6 over 12 Years)
but prior to commencing have to make a decision on the data storage side.

I have always used Random Access files for Data storage , Sorting / Manipulating ect and this is OK..., but is this "Professional" as finally am thinking of making a dollar from it.

To give you a general picture, the application would create anywhere up to 4 Folders per Year ... each Folder holding 4 Main Files ...

File1 approx 50 records of 12 Data Types ( Updated Weekly).. (Totals)
File2 approx 50 records of 6 Data Types added Each Week
File3 approx 10 records of 6 Data Types added Each Week
File4 approx 10 records of 6 Data Types ( Updated Weekly).. (Totals)

Further to this every Week each folder has approx 5 files created
holding 72 Records ... (14 kb each)
Name as String * 40
Number(40) as Integer
They are kept separate so at any stage any file can be reloaded into a Form containing 1080 labels for the first 15 integers in any record..
All 40 integers are loaded back into arrays and scrolls supplied to view remaining ..

And i was going to keep this simple ..

I can handle the first 4 files in each folder ( nice and neat)ect
But the folders start getting a bit bloated with the 5th File /s

I have Never played with data bases ... Record Sets??
The above system WORKS and has done for many Years
Should I be looking to improve / update the data storage method

Any Feedback / Suggestions would be Appreciated and of Value

I learned from Turbo Pascal in the early 90's. That was my first experience with records, and it prepared me for Object Orieented Design used today. They were also manipulating memory through stacks and overlays, that really confused me at the level I was at then. Fortunately, the memory systems have done away with the segment:offset systems that made a mess of keeping up with pointers.

Perhaps you can consider 64bit LongInt and Char manipulations. C++ has great libraries, or you could write your own. It really depends on the Operating System of your client. The variants of BASIC work great on thier systems, whereas a true database designer will most likely want a UNIX type system. The only reason to use a database, is if you are working on a network, where access will be requested from multiple users.

Consider writing some kind of encryption into the data, and make it look nice. That is all anyone can really ask for.