I lose touch

[Steve S]

ok.. So i made a pretty solid database a few months back and it has been performing well. problem is my lack of forsight. One of the fields in this database is a container field containing images. Originally there was only going to be very low res files in here, so I was willing to leave it as is, but now it seems the image files are getting increasingly larger in size, causing slow browsing through records as well as large DB file size.

So, i want to move the image field off to a new database. My original idea was to make a new database that was pretty much just for the image container field, then in the old DB, replace the previous container field with a link to the new database. ie - a click here to view image button or such. This would speed up the record browsing in original DB. would still be slow to look at the image container, but we could pick and choose which we wanted to see. Overall i think it was be much faster.

problem is I cant seem to get it to work. Maybe my thinking isnt right, I dont use FM regularly so tend to lose alot through the gaps. Is what i'm looking to do possible?

give you an idea of current structure.

I have two databases. DBArt and DBSupplier. Suplier_ID = ::Supplier_ID

DBArt holds container field 'Image'. if it's possible to move this field and its current contents to a new database, say DBimages, I'd also like to include some fields from each of the other two DBs on the main layout.

any help would be appreciated.. Till then i'll continue to be poking around.

thanks,

Steve

[Steve S]

ok. this is what i'm figuring out. Hopefully someone can tell me if i'm going in the right direction.

in DBart i have Art_ID as the key. I made a new Database called DBImage and made one Container field and an Art_ID feild I used to make the relationship. Art_ID = ::Art_ID

now I'm seeing what I think needs to be done. I need one record to exist in DBImage for every record that exists in DBArt. This way, when I click on link, i can go to related record in DBimage to see the appropriate container field(filled or not) and any other related fields i may want to throw in there.

heres my problem now, i cant figure out how to make it automatically create a record in BDimage each time I create an record in DBArt. And holding along these lines, What if I delete a record from DBart, can it automatically delete the matching record in DBimage.

i know these may be newbie questions, and i apologize for that, but I'm a bit of a newbie.

thanks in advance

Steve

[kenneth2k1]

Hi:

The method that you have found may fix the problem in the short term, but it might be good to consider that FM files have size limits (2GB). If you expect your images database to grow larger than that (which I expect it might), then I would avoid this.

FM stores images such that they cant be exported. You can move them into other apps (like MS Word and PS for example). It could be very time-consuming though. Then when you move them back into your database, store them as a reference, or use the Troi File plugin which is very good. Then your images are stored in a folder on your HDD.

Ken

[Steve S]

Thanks ken for responding so quickly. I didnt know the 2gb thing and yes, that will be a problem down the road. Better, as you said, to head it off now. I think I understand what you're saying as a solution, but from my small tests(not using Troi Plugin), even when storing the cuts as only a reference, theres a considerable pause when browsing through the records.

Also, though I'm testing all this local, I will be implementing this on a FM server hosted DB. If I only store a reference when logged in from a client, where would the image have to reside for all clients to be able to access it? I'm assuming the answer is any volume mounted on the actual server itself. That makes for a messy procedure, especially for one that will be done pretty often.

I was really hoping to make it easier for the users to put an image on a form. Rather then having to mount a volume - copy image to volume - insert picture - navigate to volume & select - and dont forget to check the reference only box!

My users aren't dumb, but everyone forgets steps. I wish there was an easier way. does the Troi plugin make this process any easier? i know i cant get around the copying an image to the server thing, but maybe forcing the reference only option?

Any addition advice would be more then welcomed.

thanks again

Steve

[kenneth2k1]

Hello again.

You are correct in saying that serving images from a mounted drive is how to do this in a multiuser environment using FM Server. However, usually you would set up FM Server on a server machine and users open FM Pro on their machines and connect to the server using the Hosts button. The image library can be loaded on the server machine and the key is to have the relative path name be static.

As far as having a considerable pause when accessing an image, well size, machine speed and image format might all have something to do with it.

Ken