Database or TXT File

[gaza165]

Hi guys,

 

Is it quicker to insert and retrieve into a txt file on the server than it is making a connection to a database??

 

Im trying to write a chat program and was wondering if it was quicker to store the data in a txt file or into a database??

 

thanks

 

Garry

[Alex]

DATABASE

[gaza165]

Im going for speedy message posting and message retrieval... is a txt file not a good idea?

[Alex]

There are so many more advantages of using a MySQL database over a txt file-storage system. First off it will be faster. Second off I'm sure you're going to want to limit chat displayed, that's much easier with MySQL. Google 'MySql vs text file' you'll find tons of reasons to use a database over a text file.

[gaza165]

The problem i find with using a database is that because im making constant connections to retrieve the last message, it is often slow and glitches because of the amount of connections it has to make each time.

[Alex]

What other language are you using to make it besides php/mysql? I made a 'chat box' using Ajax/Php/MySQL, if it's done efficiently and correctly there shouldn't be any issues.

[gaza165]

I have done the same... used Ajax/JQuery/PHP

 

http://myshoutbox.thedesignmonkeys.co.uk

[gaza165]

<?
include ('dbconnect.php');
include_once "init.inc.php";
require_once 'HTML/BBCodeParser.php';
$parser = new HTML_BBCodeParser(parse_ini_file('BBCodeParser.ini'));

$lastid = $_GET['lastid'];
$nick = $_GET['nick'];


$message = mysql_query("SELECT * FROM chat WHERE chat_id > '$lastid'") or die(mysql_error());

$maxid = mysql_query("SELECT MAX(chat_id) FROM chat");
$lastid = mysql_fetch_row($maxid);		
$lastid = $lastid[0];	

if(mysql_num_rows($message) == 0) { $norecords = "No Posts As Yet"; }


while ($row = mysql_fetch_array($message))
{


	$body = $row['message'];
	$body = str_replace('','<img src="img/smilies/485.png" width="15px" height="15px" class="icon">',$body);
	$body = str_replace('','<img src="img/smilies/486.png" width="15px" height="15px" class="icon">',$body);
	$body = str_replace('','<img src="img/smilies/363.png" width="15px" height="15px" class="icon">',$body);
	$body = str_replace(':S','<img src="img/smilies/286.gif" width="15px" height="15px" class="icon">',$body);
	$data = array('id'=>$row['chat_id'] , 'name'=>$row['nick'], 'message'=>$parser->qParse($body),'time'=>date("H:i:s",strtotime($row['timestamp'])));

} 

$json = '{"latest":"'.$lastid.'","noofposts":"'.$postrow[0].'", "response":[';
$json .= json_encode($data);
$json .= ']}';

echo $json;	



?>

 

 

function Get_Message() {				
$.getJSON("action/getmessages.php?lastid=" + id + "&nick=" + $("#name").val() + "&room_name=" + $('#room-select :selected').text(), function(json){					
id = json.latest;
$(".noofposts").html(json.noofposts);
$.each(json.response, function (i, item){
$("ul.shoutbox").append(
"<li><h4>" + item.time + "</h4><h2>" + item.name + ": </h2><p class='word-wrap'>" + item.message + "</p></li>" 				
);			
});		
});


var objDiv = document.getElementById("scroll");
objDiv.scrollTop = objDiv.scrollHeight;
}