Slow relationships

[arochford]

Hi,

I am attempting to develop again in Filemaker after not using it for awhile. I have a demo version 4.0 that I am using to see if FIlemaker can fulfil my needs before I buy developer. My concern however is speed. I have several files in the solution one of them being an Inventory file which is linked to a purchase file and an inventory use file. Therefore through relationships and a calculation field I am updating what the inventory level should be. I am concerned about speed when more records are placed in the file. I seem to remember that the more records the slower the refresh when moving through the file. Should I try to update the level of inventory via a script and a trigger everytime I leave a field or what? I am concerned that filemaker cannot meet my needs to build a robust application but I want to use this instead of Access and VB becuase it is cross platform and ease of use.

Thanks.

[BobWeaver]

I have an application with 24 related files. Some of the primary files have around 60,000 records. There are no noticable speed problems at this size. However there are certain summary/calculation fields which can create speed problems if you include them in layouts on large files. So, you have to watch out for those.

I can't compare Filemaker to Access, because my experience with Access lasted only one hour--long enough to know that I never wanted to see it again.

[This message has been edited by BobWeaver (edited January 04, 2001).]

[arochford]

quote:

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Originally posted by BobWeaver:

However there are certain summary/calculation fields which can create speed problems if you include them in layouts on large files. So, you have to watch out for those.

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Could you give me examples of some of those summary/calculations which create speed problems. It is heartening to know that there are files out there with such large record sets

[BobWeaver]

When you have calculated fields which use the GetSummary() function, or any summary field on a layout where you are likely to have a very large found set of records displayed, these fields will recalculate after doing a find or a sort operation. Therefore it is a good idea to display these fields only on layouts where you are likely to have only a small found set of records or else on larger report layouts that you don't use too often. On some of the layouts in the system that I maintain, with this many records some of the summary functions take about 5 seconds each to re-calculate. This is running mostly on older PowerMacs, not G3's or G4's. It's a bit of a judgement call. With only one summary field on a layout, it may not be a big deal. If you have 10 summary fields on a layout it can take a minute to update. However, that is something that can be minimized with careful design. I wouldn't let that scare you away from using Filemaker.