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4941: Re: [MUD-Dev] World Persistence, flat files v/s DB v/s ??
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From: Greg Munt <greg@uni-corn.demon.co.uk>
Newsgroups: nu.kanga.list.mud-dev
Date: Sun, 22 Mar 1998 18:41:31 +0100 (GMT+0100)
References: [1]
Organization: Kanga.Nu
On Sun, 22 Mar 1998, Chris Gray wrote:
> [Ben Greear:]
>
> :The two things I'm pondering now are binary flat files (one per object,
> :a collection of objects?? I dunno) or a database.
>
> A binary form has the distinct advantage that it is relatively easy to
> replace a single entity in the file. With text files, variations in
> formatting of things like numbers make that harder. If you need to save
> more than one kind of thing in your file (fairly likely!), then you can:
>
> - have multiple files, one per type of entity
> [can be expensive in terms of file handles and space]
> - reserve portions of the file for arrays of the different entities
> [what happens if you overflow a portion, needing more space?]
> - set up means by which varying lengths and types of things can be
> interspersed in the file, and properly found and updated.
> [can get complicated]
>
> The third choice is pretty close to writing your own DB system.
Any hints and tips on this third choice? References? Web sites? (Good) Books?
--
Greg Munt, greg@uni-corn.demon.co.uk; http://www.uni-corn.demon.co.uk/ubiquity/
"Deliver yesterday, code today, think tomorrow."