What is the best way to save a lot of data?

bagzli

Hello,

I am creating a program which has a lot of data in it and I am trying to figure out what would be the best way for me to save/load this data once the program closes/opens. Let me first describe the program, It has a list box on the left and a rich text area on the right. Depending on the selection in list box, the rich text area will be populated with text of different font, size, etc...

So since I need to load correct text every time a selection in list box is changed, what would be my best approach towards this. Rich text is going to have a lot of text in there, lets say about 500-1000 chars in length. I was hoping to use access database, but this is not a must, only a thought. I could really use some suggestions for this.

Please feel free to ask me any questions if I wasn't detailed enough.

Regards,

Bagzli

4 Replies

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Vulpes14y ago
Well, if you don't want to save the path to the .rtf file in the database, then I suppose you could you could try and save the .rtf file itself in binary form within the database using the BLOB data type.

However, it's not a very efficient way to do things IMO.
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bagzli14y ago
For argument sakes, even if it is not the best way. What would be other ways of doing this if I really want to use a database? Please don't say create .rts files and manage names through database =)
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Vulpes14y ago
I'd save data such as that in .rtf files because (apart from plain text) that's what the RichTextBox is designed to work with. The content of such files can be pulled in quickly without the need for a database connection using the RichTextBox.LoadFile method.

If you create a sub-directory off your main application's directory, you can store all the files (one file for each ListBox selection) in there to keep them all together and easy to manage.

If you intend to install the application on machines other than the development machine, then you can find the path to the current executable (and hence to the .rtf files) with Application.StartupPath.
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bagzli14y ago
Is there anyone who can help me out on this one?
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