Whats the bestway to manage articles on a website?

[Showjumper]

I am wondering how some of you do it. I have a project that will displays a
number of articles viewable via the browser. These articles are more then
the 8K limit in sql server so i have been looking at the text datatype
which can hold 2Gb but the text data type has limitations. How should i go
about storing the article text? Maybe just store the articles themselxves as
xml files instead?

Thx Ashok

 

[Chris Hayes]

Hello Ashok,

Both options are viable.

My personal preference would be to store the articles as a text object in a
SQL Server so that I wouldn't have to manage the individual XML files. I'd
prefer to make the SQL Server do all the work of storing them.

Given the two scenarios you have, I would say go with the one that is most
comfortable for you.

Chris

 

[Showjumper]

Thanks for the opinion Chris. Can i ask you one other question? I am new to
working with the text data type in sql server. As i understand it all that
is stored in the column is a pointer. Where then is the actual text?

 

[Steve C. Orr [MVP, MCSD]]

Why reinvent the wheel? There are all kinds of content management systems
out there, some are free.

Here's a couple such projects worthy of your investigation:
http://www.dotnetnuke.com/
http://www.asp.net/Default.aspx?tabindex=9&tabid=47

 

[Chris Hayes]

Hi Ashok,

Yes, there are pointers involved in storing Text or Image data, but SQL
Server takes care of all the necessary management of where the data is. It
stores the data for you and the pointer in the record essentially is a link
to the binary data you have stored. SQL Server takes the binary data you
send to it and puts it into its own file structure, then SQL Server takes
care of the details of storage. You don't have to worry about it at that
point because even though SQL Server has the 8K limit it still stores Text
and Image data by placing it in its own storage schema. Make sense?

I would encourage you to explore SQL Server's capabilities whenever you get
the chance, I am still doing so and I am constantly amazed at what it can
do!

Chris

 

[Showjumper]

Thanks Chris that clears it up a lot.

Hi Ashok,

Yes, there are pointers involved in storing Text or Image data, but SQL
Server takes care of all the necessary management of where the data is. It
stores the data for you and the pointer in the record essentially is a
link to the binary data you have stored. SQL Server takes the binary data
you send to it and puts it into its own file structure, then SQL Server
takes care of the details of storage. You don't have to worry about it at
that point because even though SQL Server has the 8K limit it still stores
Text and Image data by placing it in its own storage schema. Make sense?

I would encourage you to explore SQL Server's capabilities whenever you
get the chance, I am still doing so and I am constantly amazed at what it
can do!

Chris