Differences between current version and revision by previous author of FlatFiles.
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Newer page: | version 4 | Last edited on Sunday, August 10, 2003 5:06:51 pm | by PerryLorier | |
Older page: | version 1 | Last edited on Sunday, August 10, 2003 4:44:28 pm | by DanielLawson | Revert |
@@ -3,8 +3,10 @@
/etc/passwd is a typical example of this.
The 'Flat' refers to the lack of ordering or hierarchy within the files.
-FlatFiles are inefficient for large volumes of data, as lookups tend to be O(n) and there is no way of placing an index on the file. If you are using a very large [[
FlatFile and want to improve performance, try storing its contents in a better FileFormat, such as a dbm, or a good SQL database.
+FlatFiles are inefficient for large volumes of data, as lookups tend to be O(n) and there is no way of placing an index on the file. If you are using a very large !
FlatFile and want to improve performance, try storing its contents in a better FileFormat, such as a dbm, or a good SQL database.
-Most configuration files are in [[
FlatFile format. This is normally fine, but in some cases you want good dynamic control over the contents of the files. If the program you are using cannot support a better FileFormat than FlatFiles, then you could always store your data however you like - eg in [SQL] or [LDAP], and have a script which runs regularly and updates the FlatFiles your program relies on.
+Most configuration files are in !
FlatFile format. This is normally fine, but in some cases you want good dynamic control over the contents of the files. If the program you are using cannot support a better FileFormat than !
FlatFiles, then you could always store your data however you like - eg in [SQL] or [LDAP], and have a script which runs regularly and updates the FlatFiles your program relies on.
+
+It's common that you use !FlatFiles for configuration and then use "hashdb" to "compile" the configuration file into a dbm, this is often done with /etc/passwd, /etc/shadow, /etc/aliasias, /etc/mail/virtusertable etc
.