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Corruption of database - Memo fields

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    Corruption of database - Memo fields

    i have looked at a number of posts about database corruption.

    would i be correct in assuming it is often the memo that sort of "goes wrong"?

    is it good practice to have a memo field in a separate table using a set with a one to one link, instead of just a memo field in the original (parent) table?

    thanks for any guidance or opinions.

    mike

    #2
    RE: Corruption of database - Memo fields

    Mike,

    The use of a separate table for the memo field, linked one to tone, is recommended by many. Isolating the memo field to a separate table provides more protection for the data that would then be stored in the primary table of the set.

    -- tom

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      #3
      RE: Corruption of database - Memo fields

      To add to what Tom said: memo field corruption appears to be universal to the dbf file system - in other words, it's not an Alpha problem per'se. So don't forget to backup - including archival backup on to CD-ROM or similar.

      Peter
      Peter
      AlphaBase Solutions, LLC

      [email protected]
      https://www.alphabasesolutions.com


      Comment


        #4
        RE: Corruption of database - Memo fields

        Peter,

        In a more general sense this kind of corruption is often the result of the file-sharing model employed by the database to manage shared access to the single data set. Without a memo field, there is no separate FPT file that has to be opened, changed, and closed. So, in a multi-user setting on a LAN edits to the table involve open, changing, and closing the CDX and DBF files, only. Add a memo field to the structure and you then have to open, change, and close the FPT file, as well as the DBF and CDX files.

        Worse, the data going into the FPT file is retrievable only if the DBF file gets a valid pointer to the beginning of the related data in the memo table. That pointer is to a fixed location in the FPT file. Imagine the mess if twelve users are editing records and updating memo fields on the same LAN, and one or more get saved to the FPT before the "first".

        This will get much, much more reliable when a client-sharing model is adopted. Instead of sharing access to the data files, relying on operating system locks and unlocks to manage things, user's edits will be queued by the server side software, and written to the table in series.

        Until then, anyone considering shared access to tables that contain memo fields need to read, re-read, and read yet again Dr. Wayne's article on "Memo fields that work" at www.learn alpha.com.

        --tom

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          #5
          RE: Corruption of database - Memo fields

          thanks for the useful replies. and dr peter wayne's article will keep me busy for a while.

          mike

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            #6
            RE: Corruption of database - Memo fields

            thanks for the useful replies. and dr peter wayne's article will keep me busy for a while.

            mike

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